Jared smiled. “I didn’t find what I was looking for, but I think I found something better.”
“Oh?”
“I’ve felt more like a whole person since I came here. I have a job, if I can manage to keep it with these headaches and migraines. I have somewhere to live, and I’m doing a pretty decent job of being independent most of the time. I’m happy here.”
When he’d had been quiet for a couple of moments, Kyrone tapped his finger against Jared’s lips. “You’ve missed out somethingveryimportant from that list. You’ve also got an amazing, gorgeously hunky, sweet and sexy boyfriend.”
Jared’s mouth curled into a smirk. “Do I?”
“Yes!” Kyrone grabbed Jared and pinned him to the bed, kissing him so hard the mattress springs squeaked beneath him. “Don’t make me keep kissing sense into you,” he said firmly.
Jared pouted. “But I like it when you do that.”
Kyrone waggled his eyebrows and then kissed him again, softly this time. “Are your parents okay with you being here?” he asked once he’d settled back down beside Jared.
“Not at all.”
“Oh.”
“They want their son back.” The words stabbed at Jared’s heart. “And I can’t make that happen.”
“You’re still here,” Kyrone said hesitantly. “You didn’t die in that accident.”
Jared grimaced. “I might as well have. They sat by my bed for weeks, Ky, praying for their son to wake up. Instead, they got a blank slate. I have no emotional connection to them. I spoke to the neurologist because I thought something was wrong with me—I couldn’t even feel sad that the man I’d been in the car with was dead—but she said it was normal. How could I love them when I didn’t even recognise them, let alone know them? How could I grieve for a stranger?”
Kyrone kissed his hair but stayed quiet, giving him the space to talk or vent, which was what it felt like he was doing.
“My parents want me to fit back into my old life. To go back to university and finish my law degree, but how can I when I don’t rememberanyof it and when it takes me forever to read anything, let alone understand it? I don’t even knowwhyI was studying law. They told me I wanted to, that I enjoyed it, that I was doing well, that my intention was to graduate and then take my bar exams, but I’ve only got their word for it.” He paused and took a deep breath. “That sounds awful, doesn’t it?”
“No,” Kyrone said. “It sounds like they were putting a lot of pressure on you that you didn’t need.”
Jared sighed. “Yes, but I didn’t help much. I could have tried harder to reclaim the life they wanted for me.”
“But it wasn’t what you wanted?” Kyrone prompted.
“I didn’t know what I wanted. I had no aspirations beyond getting stronger and putting weight on. Coming here gave me purpose. Ihadto be strong enough to cope alone because Iwasalone. Then I met Faye, and she gave me something else to work towards, something I enjoy. It’s not even close to the life I was going to lead, but I’m okay with that.” He sought Kyrone’s hand out and clung on to it. “It would be nice if my family could accept that and be happy for me.”
“I’m sure they will. Have they visited? Have they seen how happy you are?”
“I haven’t wanted them to.”
“But they know where you are?”
Jared nodded. “They sent cards on my birthday, and they call me. I’m actually impressed that they’ve respected my wishes for them to stay away, for now. By the way they hovered around me, I’d expected them to visit with frightening regularity. It just goes to show that I really don’t know them.
He rubbed at his temples. His headache was starting to get worse again, which wasn’t what he wanted at all.
“Are you okay?” Kyrone asked.
“I’m sorry. I’ve thrown all that at you, and now I’m going to cry off with a headache.”
“It can’t have been easy to tell me all of that.” Kyrone turned onto his side and leant on his elbow. He caressed Jared’s face. “Why don’t you take a nap and see if it helps your headache. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Jared frowned. “Don’t you have to be at the club tonight?”
“Not for a few hours. If you need me, I’ll call my boss and tell him I need the night off.”
Jared shook his head. “I can’t ask you to take time off for me.”
