“I went into that appointment today wanting answers,” Vince says. “Something concrete, or a timeline, or just…somethingso I could make a plan.” He shakes his head. “But I left with even more questions.”
I barely nod. I’m not sure what he wants me to say. Doesn’t he know I was hoping for that too?
“It overwhelmed me, Fletch. That’s all. I just shut down, and I’m sorry.”
“I get that. I was even expecting it, to be honest. But it isn’t only you I’m worried about. It’sus.I don’t know where we stand right now, Vince, and that scares me. I get that you’re worried about your MS, but it still feels like you have one foot out the door because of it.”
He reaches for my hand, sighing. “That’s what I’m trying to say, though. The only thing I knew for certain before this morning was that you made all of this less scary. From the day we met until today, you’ve been right there, even when I didn’t deserve it.” He shakes his head. “I still don’t believe you want me like this.”
“Vince—”
He holds a finger up. “Let me finish?”
He threads our fingers together, searching for words. “I think you’re right. I think my illness was hanging over me. It felt like everything was weighing on it, even before I moved in with you, if I’m honest. It affected everything. Where I’d live, where I’d work. Who I could trust.” He brushes his thumb over my hand. “But then I met you and things changed.”
His jaw ticks in frustration, but he remains calm. “I still don’t have answers, and that’s always going to bother me, but I don’t want to wait anymore either.” Vince moves closer. “It’s like we said at the cabin. I don’t need certainty. I just need to trust that things will still work out, one day at a time.”
I chew on my lip, not trusting myself to speak.
Vince looks down at our hands, turning mine over to trace the small scar by my wrist. It’s a long time before he speaks again. “I need to know if you’ve really thought about what we heard today. About how difficult this could get.” When he lifts his gaze again, my heart sinks at the pain there. The fear. “I’d understand if you don’t want that.”
I don’t hesitate, cupping his face. His skin is incredibly smooth and warm under my palm.
“I don’tneedto think about it, Vince. Being with you, loving you, has been the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I want this. All of it. That hasn’t changed.”
Something in his face breaks open. Relief. Wonder. Joy.
“I just never know if you actually want me too.”
He leans in, voice steady. “I’ve never wanted anything more. I love you.”
Exhaling hard, I kiss him. “I love you too.”
He pulls me onto his lap, holding me like he’s afraid I’ll disappear. I wrap my arms around his neck, refusing to go anywhere.
Vince lifts me so we can lie down, limbs tangled together. We kiss, slow and unhurried. Clothes fall away without urgency until I’m on my back and Vince is above me. The intimacy that follows isn’t desperate—it’s grounding. Every touch deliberate. Every breath shared. He rolls me to my side, entering me in one smooth, tight glide. His arms stay wrapped tight around my chest as he bottoms out. And somewhere in the middle of it all—the heat of him, the feel of us joined, hearing those three words again in my ear as he begins to thrust—I finally let go of the fear.
Vince is choosing this, he’s choosing us. Even with the unknown. Even with the troubling future. He’s trusting me to be there.
And that’s everything.
“Yes,” I say, arching my back as he sinks deep. Vince’s warm lips graze the back of my neck, large hand circling around my cock. I cover it with mine, coaxing him into a rhythm that sends me over the edge.
Vince groans, driving in hard. Heat floods my insides as he comes, his breath hot against my skin. I’m surprised he didn’tneed more stimulation, but maybe he had been just as on edge as I was. Maybe he’d needed it just as much as me.
I reach back to touch his thigh, overcome with emotion. I’m so damn grateful he came into my life. I don’t ever want to be without him.
Later, after we shower and change the sheets, we lie tangled together, his head on my chest, my arm around his shoulders. The world feels still in the best possible way.
“I think I’m going to talk to Declan about reducing my hours.”
The comment is so unexpected and so loud in the quiet room that I startle. It takes a second for my sleepy brain to catch up.
“Wait… what?”
Vince props himself up on his elbows. “I’ve been thinking about it for a little while. I don’t want to quit. I like it there, but it’s getting too hard to complete my shifts, so I think I want to cut back.”
“What are you going to do?”
