“Good,” Denny replied. He got up to bring his own plate to the sink. “Whatever helps you is fine by me.”
“I…. Do you think—”
“Yes, you can sleep with me tonight, too.”
“Do you think Doc would agree with this?” The corner of Josiah’s mouth twitched as he took Denny’s plate and rinsed it, too.
Denny grinned. “I mean, we’re not going tosleep togethersleep together, so….”
Jo chuckled. “True. I don’t think we’re there yet.”
“No, we’re not. I want to be, don’t get me wrong, but we’re not.”
“Yeah. Okay, you go unpack and shower. It’s getting late. I’ll text the kids to make sure everything is okay and then join you.” Josiah’s eyes widened. “In the bed. Bedroom. Holy shit.”
Denny burst out laughing and went to get his carry-on. The fact that his brain fixated on Josiah in the shower with him and his dick perked up felt oddly good. He brushed the thought away, knowing where it would lead.
After showering separately, they curled up to sleep in Denny’s bed, and it was… everything. Having Josiah there so close, feeling his body heat through their T-shirts and boxer shorts felt like a miracle Denny hadn’t known he had been waiting for.
“I love you,” Denny murmured, his chest doing something painful as he waited for Josiah’s reaction.
“I love you too,” he said, turning his head to look at Denny over his shoulder.
Denny frowned, trying to find the words. “No, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m clearlyin lovewith you.” Yes, that definition seemed to be what his heart wanted to get out.
Jo rolled over to study his face in the dim light of the bedroom. He raised a hand and traced Denny’s face with his fingertips.
“I think I’ve waited for you to say that for so long that I didn’t believe it would happen.” He brushed his thumb over Denny’s lower lip and his gaze flickered from his lips to his eyes and back as if he wanted to kiss him. Denny would’ve let him, hewantedthat kiss, but it wasn’t time yet, and Josiah had clearly come to the same conclusion. He cupped Denny’s jaw instead and made pointed eye contact. “I’m in love with you too. I don’t know how tonotbe in love with you at this point. You’re the best man I’ve ever met, Denny.”
“Ditto.” Denny leaned closer to kiss Josiah’s forehead before pulling him into an awkward hug.
Somehow they fell asleep like that, holding each other with their bodies tangled together from head to toe.
When Denny woke the next time, they’d moved and he was the small spoon. Smiling, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
It turned out that Josiah’s parents had had a plan in place for their eventual deaths. They’d donated most of their money to their church—something that Jo said had to have happened after he moved out, because they’d never been particularly religious while he was a kid. There was also one extra thing: his mother had made sure that Josiah would get her share from the sale of the house.
“I don’t get it,” Jo said as they sat at the kitchen table with his laptop open to a video call with Zoe Garcia.
“They left a decent amount of money for renovations before the sale, too,” she was saying, quite obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation. Not that Denny blamed her, this couldn’t have been what she was used to.
“Wait, so somehow my dad left money to fix up the house to get better money for the church but also for me? That makes no sense at all.”
Denny sat across from Jo and reached for his hand. The attorney knew he was there, he’d said hi, but he wasn’t in view of the camera and neither were their hands.
“Your mother’s will states that this is what she wants,” Garcia explained, then looked even more uncomfortable as she added, “In fact, it’s written down as her ‘dying wish.’”
Josiah squeezed Denny’s fingers so hard he almost reacted, but then the pressure eased and Jo glanced at him apologetically. Denny smiled at him and mouthed “it’s okay.”
“I guess that’s who she was,” Jo told her. “She was always subservient to him in a way that now makes me uncomfortable, but there were things she wouldn’t budge on and he accepted them. I guess this might’ve been one of those things.”
“So let me get this straight,” Denny interrupted, leaning awkwardly over the table to show his face for a moment. “All that you need from Josiah is to sign some paperwork that he’s received the money once you’ve fixed and sold the house?”
“That’s pretty much it. I’m going to be overseeing the renovations myself.” Then she glanced down and sighed. It seemed as if she was trying to organize her words or thoughts. When she looked back up, she said, “I went there on Saturday just to see what I was working with. Went through the whole house. There was a box in the attic of what I assume were your old belongings. Toys and things like that. Would you like me to ship it to you?”
Josiah’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently. “I… I don’t know.”
Denny stroked the back of his hand with his thumb. “She could ship it to my office? Then we’d have it somewhere safe in case you want to see it at some point.”
