Chapter Twenty-Six
It had been an emotionally draining day. They returned home and had a quiet dinner—too quiet, in fact. With each mile they’d put between themselves and Connecticut, Harper had sensed Colson withdrawing, so by the time the meal was finished, he was far in his own head. Harper put David to bed, then took Colson upstairs.
He started with a soft kiss, but instead of the usual flare of passion, he was met with hesitancy. He stopped and took Colson’s face between his hands. Sadness rested in Colson’s eyes. No matter their estrangement, it had to be devastating to be met with such ugly indifference from a parent. But he waited to hear what Colson had to say, knowing that no matter what it was, he’d only love him harder to make the hurt less painful.
“What’s wrong? Talk to me.”
“I don’t think…I mean, I’m…I’m a little tired.” His shoulders drooped. “I’m sorry.”
Harper skimmed the outline of his lips. “Hey. Remember what I said? It’s not the sex. It’s what’s in here.” He placed ahand over Colson’s heart and felt the rapid pump. “Let me take care of you tonight.”
They undressed and got into the shower, where he shampooed Colson’s hair. Harper soaped Colson up and rinsed him off, tracing his tattoos with his lips.
“Harper.” Colson sighed, putting his arms around Harper.
“It’s okay.” Harper tried to rein in his tumbling emotions. His skin was tight, stretched to the limit from all the love and pain he kept bottled up, not only for David, but now for Colson.
Colson’s lips moved against his shoulder. “I’m not going to let what happened with my father prevent me from loving you.”
“Oh, I know that.” His lips kicked up in a quick grin before he became serious. “I love you and meant every word I said to him. You talk about me needing someone to take care of my needs. Tonight, and every night afterward, I’m here for you.”
On the outside he remained calm, but inside he raged at a parent who so callously tossed away a beautiful person like Colson.
“I know you are. You’re more of a family—a home—in this short time together than I ever had with my parents.”
Dried off and in bed and under the covers, Harper snuggled Colson in close. “Never let anyone make you feel like you don’t deserve to be happy.” He traced the tattoos of the birds and butterflies. “There’s no need to fly away anymore. Not when you have a safe place to call home.”
“As long as I’m with you, I’m home.”
***
Sunday was, by unspoken agreement, a family day. Colson picked up bagels, and Harper smiled to himself as they all—Luis included—sat around the table for a late breakfast. Colson broke out a bottle of Dom Perignon and toasted.
“To our family.”
He could see them, years into the future, enjoying mornings like this. His family. Forever. Now they had Connecticut too, and he looked forward to creating new memories. Nolan and Gina with their baby could come visit, and Colson’s friend Hogan with his family as well. A full house filled with so much laughter and love. Knowing how Colson’s grandparents cared so deeply for him, he imagined it would be exactly what they wished for.
“You’ll love the house, Luis,” Colson said, piling his bagel high with lox. “Tons of room, and there’s a pool. I’ll have to get someone in to put in a chair lift so David can use it. I bet aqua therapy would be good for him.”
“It is, yeah.” Luis’s eyes shone bright. “He gets it once a week and it helps to massage his leg muscles, but having a whole pool would be amazing.”
After they’d eaten, Colson sat with Luis and discussed the book, while Harper put on a movie for David and lay on the couch to work on his notes for the push-in robberies.
Warm breath tickled his ear.
“Huh?” His eyes fluttered opened. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. You fell asleep.” Colson stuck his tongue in Harper’s ear, and blood rushed to his dick.
“Troublemaker.” He rubbed his eyes. “How long was I out?”
“About two hours. Luis wants to order Chinese. He said David loves lo mein. He’s just changing his ostomy bags. And you like my kind of trouble.”
“Chinese sound good to you, Harper?” Luis pushed David into the room.
“Yeah, sure. Order me some chicken in black bean sauce, please. And spareribs.”
“All right.” Luis nodded and pulled out his phone. “What about you, Colson?”
