“Let him sleep,” I whispered. “You already took his shoes off, so he’s fine. If he wakes up later, we can put him in pajamas.”
“Okay.” He stretched and eased himself off the bed so he wouldn’t wake Cody.
I put my arms around him and held him close. “This is nice. How about if we get you some pajamas and get you in the shower? I can even join you.”
He gave me a slow, sensual kiss. “I like that idea a lot.”
I got us both pajamas and led him into the bathroom. I got the shower running while he undressed. I closed the bathroom door and joined him in the shower shortly afterward. He immediately dragged me into a kiss that turned scorching hot in seconds. He cupped my bare ass and pulled me close so our hard cocks were wedged between us. I grabbed the conditioner from the shelf, poured a liberal amount in my hand, and wrapped it around our rigid dicks. Zach did the same, and we groaned at the pleasure the friction brought us.
Our mouths met again, and our tongues tangled as we thrust into our fists. It didn’t take long for my orgasm to build. Spine-tingling pressure built in my balls and spread outward. I moaned into Zach’s mouth. “That’s so good.”
His hand slid over my ass until his fingers teased open my crease. He slipped the tip of one finger into my hole, and that was all it took. My cock thickened and pulsed, shooting cum over our hands. Zach followed close behind, his moans of pleasure filling the small room.
We stood under the warm spray, foreheads touching, just catching our breath and rinsing the cum off our bodies. “That was incredible,” Zach said.
“Definitely,” I replied.
He wrapped his arms around me. “I’ve missed that. I’ve missed touching you. I feel like we’re always apart doing other things.”
I grabbed the body wash and poured some into my hand. I lathered up and ran my soap-slicked hands over his chest. “I miss you too. But this will pass. Things will go back to some semblance of normal. Right now, we just have to hang on. We have each other, and we have our big, extended family. We will get through this.”
I washed the rest of his body, except his hair—I couldn’t reach it—and he did the same for me. We stayed in the shower until the water started to cool, then got out and dried each other off. We got into our pajamas and decided to cuddle on the couch to take advantage of the quiet before everything was crazy again.
I snuggled into him until I wriggled my way onto his lap. He chuckled and kissed my nose. “Hey,” he said affectionately.
I sighed and rested my head against his chest. “Hey.” After a long pause, I leaned back so I could look into his eyes. “I figured something out today.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“I love you.”
I watched myriad expressions cross his face. His eyes got shiny, and his lips trembled. “You do?”
Tears came to my own eyes. “Yeah, I do.”
A single tear slid down his cheek. “I love you too. So much.”
A feeling of contentment settled over me as I sat in the circle of his arms, protected by his love. Whatever we had to face, we would do it together.
CHAPTERFORTY-FIVE
ZACH
Miguel loved me. The words repeated in my mind over and over. They filled me with a warmth I hadn’t known I was missing. They sustained me through the night when Cody woke up screaming for his mother and we spent two hours getting him to calm down and go back to sleep. They held me up while I stood beside my sister’s casket, greeting the mass of people who came to tell me what a wonderful person she was and how much they were going to miss her.
And they were bolstering me now as I watched my mother, dressed in black, long salt and pepper hair in a neat braid down her back, makeup lightly applied, stumble and weave her way past the rows of chairs, nearly falling into the photo collage of pictures from Allie’s life. She stopped briefly to touch a flower arrangement that was set on a low table. She looked around as if to get her bearings and accidentally ran into a group of people. Beside me, Miguel stiffened. “Is that your mother?”
“Yes,” I replied through clenched teeth.
“Oh my god, she looks just like Allie. I mean,” he corrected, “Allie looked just like her.”
“Yes, she did,” I acknowledged.
“Is she”—he hesitated before continuing—“drunk?’
“Yep,” I answered, popping thePwhile keeping my eyes on her approaching figure.
“Shit.”
