He lay on top of Garridan, which seemed to be their thing lately. They would start out spooning with Garridan wrapped around Sage, creating a wonderful cocoon good for hibernating. Somehow, they would inevitably wake up in a weird position with Sage on top of Garridan. Sage suspected he was the main instigator.
Sage lifted his head from Garridan’s chest and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He eyed the alarm clock and noticed it was still early. He went to grab his phone from the nightstand and realized how close to the edge they were. Poor Garridan was about ready to fall off. Sage grabbed his phone and then tried to move away, but Garridan tightened his hold.
“You’re on the edge, love,” Sage whispered.
Garridan rolled them over so that he was on top. Sage chuckled and held on tight. Garridan rubbed his cheek against Sage’s. “Why are you awake so early in the morning? The sun hasn’t even come up yet.”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s my body’s way of telling me I need to go back to work. Why are you awake so early?”
“Because someone kept wriggling around on top of me. It’s like sleeping through an earthquake.” Garridan kissed his cheek and then commenced with the rubbing. If Garridan had started purring like a big cat, it wouldn’t have surprised Sage. Nevertheless, Sage loved it. “Is your mind racing? Do you need me to help you relax?”
Sage smiled. “No. I’m relaxed.”
“Then what keeps you awake, baby?”
“I used to get up really early every morning for my job at the diner. I guess I’m just ready to get back to work. I was going to text my boss and ask her to put me back on the schedule.”
“Only if you’re ready.”
“Will you go to work with me? Just for a little while, until I feel comfortable going on my own.”
“Yes. But only if you do something for me first.”
Sage smiled and wrapped his legs around Garridan’s waist. “Do I get to pay you in sexual favors?”
Garridan chuckled. “I was going to ask you to read our book to me, but I like your idea better.”
Sage laughed. “We can do both, but I have an idea. Why don’t we go to my cabin later and make love in front of the fire? Maybe we can even spend the night there.”
“We need to stay close to the family.” Garridan lifted enough to meet his gaze. It seemed as if he liked the idea but didn’t want to take the chance of something bad happening.
“Just one night. Please. It will be romantic, and we could be alone, which I think we both need. Especially after what happened last night with Vaughan and Lucas.”
Garridan sighed. “Alone sounds nice.”
“Very, very nice.”
Garridan rolled off Sage, pulling him against his side. “I guess we could do that this one time.”
Sage climbed on top of Garridan, straddling his lap and practically bounced on top of him in his excitement. “It’ll be so romantic. You just wait and see.”
Garridan grabbed the book off the nightstand and handed it to Sage.
Sage stepped into the diner for the first time in months. He felt different as if he had lived a hundred lives since the last time he had been in there. He couldn’t say that he was better off back then. Maybe in some ways he was, he really didn’t know. The rape had changed him in ways he couldn’t undo no matter how much he wished it would be different. Some of those changes weren’t pretty.
He lifted on his toes to give Garridan a kiss. “You can sit in that corner booth if you want. It usually doesn’t get that busy on a Wednesday, so I doubt Andrea will make you move for paying customers.”
Garridan nodded.
“Do you want me to bring you anything before I get started?” Sage fell into his waiter routine, just by walking through the door.
“Coffee?”
Sage smiled and let Garridan’s hand go. Garridan had brought their book with him and he held it as he sat in the booth and made himself comfortable.
Sage went behind the counter to start the coffee. Sage was glad the restaurant was empty. He needed time to adjust. Garridan knew justhow ugly his psychosis could get sometimes. He was a lot better than he had been months ago, thanks to Garridan, therapy, and medication, but he still had his weird moments that set him off. Moments where he thought people were following him. Of course, they only came when Garridan wasn’t around, which wasn’t very often.
They were in each other’s pockets more times than not. That would have to change, though. Garridan had just gained many responsibilities with the beta position. He also would probably want to get a job of his own at some point, which reminded Sage to talk to Andrea about the empty storefront next door.
