Maybe Sacha was still somewhere in the Ice Castle? His gut told him he wouldn’t be. Sacha was angry and hurt. He would want to get as far away as possible. Damn it! Gio was so angry with himself. How had he not known? Again, he’d been so wrapped up in his jobthat he hadn’t realized something was wrong with the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
Outside, it was snowing, making the night appear more beautiful and, at the same time, lonely. The main street was silent, with everyone at the party or in the market square. Gio removed his phone and called Sacha. There was no answer, so he hung up and sent Sacha a text asking him where he was. Nothing.
Not waiting for a response, Gio started walking. There weren’t many places where Sacha could be. Their family was back at the party, and the SUVs were still parked on the street.
Most of the shops were closed at this time of night. He doubted Sacha would have gone to the ice skating rink or the busy market. Gio sent a couple more texts before checking the pub, just in case, but the owner, Clarence, hadn’t seen Sacha come in.
Time passed, and Gio hadn’t received a response to any of his texts. Where could Sacha be? If his boyfriend wanted to be alone somewhere, where would he go? Somewhere he could sit. Gio remembered the small children’s park behind the town. They’d gone there just this morning with the dogs.
Gio was a little breathless, but he put it down to walking around in the cold. The snow was really coming down now, and the wind had picked up. Thankfully, he made it to the park just as a dizzy spell hit him. His heart rate had picked up from the stress, and he knew why. He was so fucking scared. What if he’d messed things up with Sacha? He’d worked himself up and needed to calm down, take one of his pills.
Sitting on the first bench he spotted inside the park, he reached into his pocket. With a frown, he checked the other one. Shit. Where were his pills? Wait. This was his black coat.Damn it. He’d switched coats this morning and, in helping Sacha get the dogs ready for the park, Gio forgot to take the spare bottle of pills out of his other coat. He closed his eyes and breathed, using the technique his therapist had taught him.
How the hell had this happened? He lay on the bench, afraid he might pass out. Removing his phone, he sent one more text to Sacha. The same one he’d sent back when they’d first started dating, the first time he’d done something foolish and feared he’d lost Sacha.
I need you.
Closing his eyes, he was grateful for the awning over the bench. He was cold, but at least he wasn’t wet. An empty park bench in the middle of winter wasn’t an ideal place for him to pass out, but he really didn’t have a choice.
“What are you doing?”
Gio opened his eyes at that beautiful, growly voice. “I left my pills in my other coat.”
“Good thing I always have some on me.”
“You do?”
Sacha nodded and removed a little pill bag from his coat pocket. “There’s a water fountain over there. Do you think you’re okay to get up?”
With a nod, Gio carefully sat up. He was dizzy but okay. He pulled off one of his gloves, took the pill bag from Sacha, removed one, and got up to get a sip of water. Pill down, he returned to Sacha.
“How long have you been carrying spare pills?” Gio asked, warmth spreading through him at the thoughtfulness. But then, that was Sacha, always thinking of Gio.
“Since we started dating. Why did you need your medication?” Sacha asked as he sat on the bench.
Gio sat next to him. “Because I got myself worked up, and I got scared.”
“Of what?”
“That I had messed things up with you.” Gio sighed. “I’m so sorry. I should have seen what was happening. She asked me about the Echo K9 Foundation, and I got so wrapped up in telling her about it that I was completely clueless about her intentions. I thought we were friends, and she thought there was an opportunity for more.”
“I knew it!” Sacha got up and grabbed his crutches. He started pacing, or at least did his best to, considering his cast. “When I saw her with her hands on you, I was like, ‘Fuck, they make such a beautiful couple. Maybe he’s better off with her,’ and then I was sitting on that swing over there, and a fucking squirrel of all things—don’t tell Ace—jumped from the branch it was on, causing a fucking avalanche of snow to fall on my head, and it hit me. I mean, the snow literally hit me, obviously, but it also hit me that I was a being a fucking asshole. The fuck I was going to let someone take the man I love from me. I don’t think so. I was Special Forces. A fucking Green Beret. I willendher. If she thinks a bounce of her perky boobs is going to be enough to get you to leaveme, oh, she has no idea.”
Sacha turned and waved a crutch. “I might be a grumpy asshole who curses a hell of a lot, leaves his shit everywhere, and sheds almost as much as his dog, but I dare anyone to tell me they can fucking love you as much as I do. Okay, so I could do better in the romance department, but that doesn’t mean you’re not my whole fucking world. I might not spout poems and shit, but sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and see you there and think of how I’m the luckiest bastard in the world. I’m shit at giving gifts, but that doesn’t stop me from getting breathless every time you smile at me. You’re gorgeous and smart, and the kindest and most generous person I know, and you smell so fucking good all the time. You make me so happy it hurts, and fuck anyone who thinks they can take that from me.”
Gio bit down on his bottom lip, his vision blurry from the tears he was holding back. At the silence, Sacha turned, his eyes going wide.
“Why are you crying? Oh my god, is it that bad? I’ll try harder, Gio. I promise. I love you so fucking much.”
Gio stood and closed the short distance between them. He cupped Sacha’s face and kissed him so deeply and thoroughly that there was no way Sacha could think Gio wouldeverlove anyone else the way he loved Sacha. Pulling back, he couldn’t help his smile at the dazed look on Sacha’s face.
“My beautiful Sacha. I am yours, heart, body, and soul.” He kissed Sacha again, holding him close. When they pulled back, Sacha let his head fall against Gio’s chest.
“I’m sorry I was such a grump. I…got scared, too.”
“Of Mariam?”
Sacha shook his head. “That one of these days, you’ll wake up and remember everything you gave up, that you were happier traveling the world. You have to miss it, Gio. You’d been traveling since you graduated college, and since you’ve been back, you’ve only been to a handful of places.”
