“Let me get this straight. The moment I was gone, you turned around and called Miguel?”
I was about to leap to reassure Austin when I spotted a little twinkle in his eyes. God, I’d hated that month of separation, but this Austin had more confidence than the man I’d hugged goodbye a month ago. “Brat. It wasn’t like that. I wanted to set my life straight, so I was bringing less baggage with me. Anyhow, turns out he’s okay, busy training horses. He has a boyfriend, but they’re in an open relationship. Miguel says it works for him.”
Austin eyed me. “Would you ever want to try something like that?”
“God, no.” I hesitated. “Unless you—”
“Are you kidding?” He pressed a kiss to my mouth. “I’m even jealous of a phone call. More power to them, but I’m a one-man guy.”
“I do worry I’m shortchanging you,” I admitted. “You haven’t been with a lot of men.”
“I wasn’t a virgin.”
“No, but it sounds like you had thirty-second blow jobs with closeted kids.”
Austin patted my cheek sharply. “I lasted more than thirty seconds.”
“Okay, okay. My point stands, though. You may think I’m hot right now, but what if there’s some guy out there—”
“Shush.” Austin caressed my lips with a gentle fingertip. “If I wanted different, I could’ve said yes to one of the men who flirted with me at the store.”
“Men flirted?” I coughed. The way Austin looked? Of course they had. “Forget I asked.”
The smirk on Austin’s face was becoming my favorite thing. “Yeah, a few. Not as many as the women, holy shit, but I could’ve tried out a hook-up if I wanted to. I wasn’t interested.”
“I love you,” I blurted out. I might’ve said it somewhere in there while we fucked, but things were a bit hazy. “I mean…”
Austin grabbed the back of my head, pulled me toward him, and kissed me with tongue, teeth, demanding lips— a passionate intensity that took my breath. Then he leaned away a few inches, his hand still tangled in my hair, and smiled. Softer this time, his eyes bright. “I love you too, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
I ducked my face to the hollow of his neck and breathed in the scent of his skin, tinged with sweat and cum. Whatever happened, that specific smell was always going to arrow deep to my heart in a way no other man’s ever had. “You,” I murmured.
“Huh?”
“Just, you.”
He laid his hand on the back of my head, cradling me against him. “In a minute, we should shower, and have pie, and then come back to bed and you can be the big spoon.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I didn’t lift my head.
Austin kissed my temple. “For now, I’m going to hold you.” He worked his other arm under me and pulled me close. “Okay?”
“Very okay.” I wrapped my thigh across his and slid a hand behind his head.
For long, sweet minutes, as the world spun outside, we lay in that warm space together and held each other.
Chapter 15
Austin
Christmas morning dawned bright and far too early. At least, for guys who’d spent half the night with their mouths on each other’s dicks. I woke to John pounding on Seth’s door.
John’s voice came muffled. “Hey, I see you made it back here. Come muck out so my wife can have a morning off.”
Seth stirred beside me, groaned, and shouted back, “Fuck off. I said I couldn’t work this morning.”
John bellowed, “Yeah, but you’re here.”
I nudged Seth. “Tell him yes. We’re not going to get back to sleep now. My dick’s ready for a break anyhow.”
