“Need any more coffee?” Gabe asked as he walked out, the wood creaking under his steps. He was in a pair of blue and white plaid boxers and a black tank top. His hair had grown a little longer than I was used to seeing him with, and his five-o’clock shadow looked more like a ten-o’clock beard growing in.
I loved it.
“No, I’m good, thanks, babe.”
He sat down next to me, leaning back in the chair, legs spread. He reached over and placed a hand on the back ofmy neck. I closed my eyes and dropped my head forward as he rubbed. “God, that feels good.”
“I still owe you a full-body massage.”
“You do,” I said.
“Although I do think you cheated on that final round last night.”
“I absolutely did not,” I said, grinning, eyes still closed as Gabe’s strong fingers pinched and pressed at the muscles and knots in my neck. “You’re just not good at Jenga, and that’s okay. You can’t be good at everything.”
“You seem to be,” he said.
My smile widened at that. My heart warmed. I was still getting used to this feeling, being praised and supported by my partner. I’d been so used to walking on eggshells, feeling like I was always swimming upstream just to get some sort of approval or sign that I was doing a good job, trying to better myself for someone and not even thinking about myself.
It wasn’t that way with Gabe. Never had been. I’d always been more than enough for him. I didn’t have to prove myself, didn’t need to better myself.
I just had to be me.
And wow, was that a liberating feeling.
“I’m not good at painting, so there’s that,” I offered.
“You probably just need a couple lessons.”
I looked over at Gabe. “Maybe,” I said, his breathtaking blue eyes making me melt into a puddle on my chair. He hand shifted from the back of my neck to over my chin. He rubbed a thumb over my chin, brushing against my lip. “I’m so happy I found you, Gabe.”
“You were always meant to find me.”
“I guess so,” I replied, my chest feeling like it’d been infused with sunlight and butterflies.
“You saved me, Eli, in more ways than one. I look back at my life before meeting you—before that night I ‘bumped’ into you in Downtown—and it was all so gray. So lifeless. I woke up to train, play hockey, then go to sleep, to do it all over again. There weren’t any moments I could look back on with someone and smile about, no shared memories, no exciting side quests. Just all blah. I had fooled myself into thinking I deserved that. Maybe that’s the real reason I stayed in the closet for so long…” He licked his lips, his gaze locked on mine. “Then you came into my life, and that all changed. It’s been close to seven months now, and I’ve already collected so many happy moments and good memories. I can’t wait to see what a lifetime with you brings.”
A lifetime.
How did that still not sound like enough time with Gabe?
“I feel the same. I put up with years of being with someone who made me feel like shit on a daily basis. I thought that was the norm. I couldn’t imagine how much better life could get. You showed me that.” I smiled, feeling a tear well up at the corner of my eye. “It’s why I’ve decided I want to go ahead with the full moon ceremony. I’m ready to make this official-official. I love you.”
His ocean eyes glowed as if I had told him he’d just won the lottery. It wasn’t a decision I’d just made out of nowhere, although it did feel like a decision that had been slowly taking shape ever since I found out about it. It felt good, knowing that I at least had a choice in the matter and wasn’t tied to what fate had determined.
“I love you too.” He leaned across the chairs and kissed me, his hand returning to the back of my neck. It was a soft kiss at first. Tender. His tongue startedto probe deeper, as did mine, tasting him, wanting more of him. His grip on my neck tightened, pulling me in closer, deepening the kiss.
The chirping and chattering of birds started to disappear. Fucking hell, the entireworldbegan to disappear. My universe focused in on the man currently stealing my breath away.
His other hand landed on my knee. He moved it higher, rubbing my thigh, palming my bulge, massaging me as he kissed me. I groaned as the fire in my belly sparked and crackled. I reached up and felt his soft hair between my fingertips, grabbing the back of his head, steering this kiss.
“Mhmm,” Gabe said as he broke away. He looked down and licked his already wet lips. “I love how hard you get.”
I made my cock throb and push up against my gray sweats. I wore nothing underneath. “You do this to me,” I said.
“Good,” he said and leaned back. “Because you do the same to me.” I saw now that his thick, rock-hard cock had slipped out from the front of his boxers. The head already glistened with precum. I wanted to get a taste and moved to slide off the chair, but Gabe stopped me with a hand on my chest.
Then he got down on his knees. The half-cocked grin this man had on his face was hot enough to melt a fucking hockey rink. He reached for the waistband of my sweats and pulled them off. My dick sprang free. I opened my legs a little wider, enjoying how Gabe looked at me, blue eyes fixated on my cock.
