“Are you okay?” Linc was next to him in a second, his big hand on Avery’s back. The warm pressure was helpful, giving him something else to focus on while his heartbeat and breathing came back into orbit. Except then he remembered the warm arm around him, holding him close until his skull stopped trying to drill holes in his brain.
He almost shot off the couch again. “We were cuddling!” And they were sitting in the dark. “Why are there no lights on?”
“You were—” Linc pulled his hand back, rubbing his palms over his knees. “You were in pretty bad shape. I was trying to avoid bright lights and loud noises.”
“So, you’ve been sitting here for—” He glanced at the display on the microwave. “Oh my God, it’s after nine. How long have you been here? What are you even doing here in the first place?”
“I—” Linc grunted and leaned over toward the small light that sat on an end table. “Can I?”
“Yeah.”
The light clicked. Linc’s cheeks were flushed, and a day’s growth of stubble shadowed his chin.
Avery smacked his lips and remembered his mouth still tasted like barf. He rose to get a glass of water, then froze, slow horror spinning him back to Linc.
“Did you have to clean up my puke?”
Linc ran a hand over his hair. “No, you made it to the bathroom.”
“Oh man.” He covered his face with his hands again.
“What? It’s fine.”
“No, it isn’t.” He remembered a little now. Linc’s phone call that morning. The warm, buzzy feeling at the thought of seeing him again. Linc’s gentle hands as Avery had tried to crawl out of the bathroom because he couldn’t get his muscles to pull him upright again after throwing up his lunch, probably most of his breakfast, and half his stomach lining. Linc tucking him into bed—oh God, he’d tucked Avery in like a child.
“How did I end up in your lap?”
Linc let out a soft laugh, his eyes skipping away for a second. “You kind of just did? You came out of the bedroom, you were—I don’t know. I’m not sure you were actually awake.”
“The meds make me foggy.” Better than hemorrhaging out his eyeballs, but it did tend to lead to some awkward situations. Like forgetting “mute” was a thing TVs did. Or waking up with his head mere inches from Linc’s dick without so much as a “How’s your day been?” first. “I’m really sorry. About the forced cuddling.”
Linc’s smile widened. “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
They stared at each other for a minute. Avery licked his lips, and Linc followed the motion before glancing away again and sinking down on the couch.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Avery said.
“Water’s fine.”
“I have beer.”
Linc paused. “You do?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged, trying to look cool about it.
“You didn’t have to.”
“I wanted to.” Good thing the migraine had passed, because his face was flaming, and the heat and the pain would not have been a good combination. But hehadwanted to because he wanted to see Linc again. Wanted him to be comfortable here. The desire was pathetically small, but he needed to know he had something to offer.
“Oh, I got us a date,” Linc said as Avery went to the fridge, making him bobble the beer.
“What?”
Linc cleared his throat. “Not like that. My coworker, Vasquez—she and her girlfriend said they’d be up to hang out sometime. Maybe go find a bar where people don’t corner you on the way back from the toilet.”
Avery swallowed. “Is that the firefighter who was here the day you came?”
“Yeah.”
