Afterspending two hours at the gym, Beau needed sustenance. Grabbing his cell phone,Beau checked the time and noticed that he had a text. Several actually.
Shit.
Fuck.
Shit.
Ethanwas on his way over.
Thesudden knock on the door confirmed it and Beau jumped, looking around to seewhat type of shape his apartment was in. Not good. It wasn’t messy, more like desolate.And depressing.
Hedidn’t want Ethan to see it but somehow he’d missed the texts and now he had nochoice but to answer the door. With a shaking hand, he pulled the door open,cringing at the loud squeak from the hinges.
“Hey.”
Ethansmiled and suddenly, Beau didn’t have a care in the world. It didn’t matter thathe hardly had any furniture or that there wasn’t a single thing to eat in hishouse. Everything revolved around the handsome man now standing in his doorway.
“It’sa damn good thing my brother answered the phone or I would’ve been knocking onevery door until I found the right one.” Ethan’s tone was light and Beau juststood staring back at him. “Invite me in, Beau,” Ethan said with a gruff chuckle.
Beaupeered behind him at his apartment and then opened the door wide.
“Sorry,it’s…” Shit, Beau didn’t even know what it was. Pathetic was one word. “Ididn’t see your text. I would’ve met you at your house. I… There isn’t muchhere.”
Ethansilenced him by pulling him against him, his strong arm circling around, hishand cupping the back of Beau’s neck, scorching him with pleasant warmth. “It’sfine.”
No,it really wasn’t, but how was he supposed to argue with Ethan when he now hadhis tongue in his mouth. The only important thing on Beau’s mind was devouringhim until he couldn’t stand on his own two feet.
Unfortunately,he didn’t get that opportunity before Ethan pulled away, smiling at him beforeturning to check out his apartment. Every room was visible from right wherethey were standing, including the tiny bathroom with the clear shower curtain,the secondhand table that sat in what was supposedly the dining area and thetwo mismatched chairs that he’d found at a garage sale.
Hedidn’t have a couch, just a small loveseat that had belonged to his grandmotherand was handed down to him as the only house warming gift his mother had beenwilling to get him. Then, of course, he could see his bedroom and the mattressand box spring with the white sheets and tan blanket that lay in a rumpledbunch hanging off the side.
Damnit.
“Yourplace is much nicer,” Beau said nervously.
“Fromwhere I stand, there’s only a couple of differences between my place andyours,” Ethan said sharply.
Beausnorted. A couple?Right.Still he was curious to hear Ethan’s thoughtprocess. “What’s that?”
“You’vedone everything on your own. I had mine handed to me.”
Beauknew that to be only partly true. Lorrie and Curtis didn’t shower their kidswith money or gifts. They ensured they were taken care of, but they made theirboys work for what they wanted. But it wasn’t surprising that Ethan didn’t givehimself nearly enough credit.
“That’sonly one,” Beau stated, waiting to hear the rest.
Ethanlooked back at him, his eyes serious. “The other difference is that I own mineoutright. You’re renting this place.”
Ok,Beau felt as though he were seriously missing something. “That’s obvious,” Beauretorted.
“Whichmeans…” Ethan paused, glanced down at his hands and then back up to meet Beau’seyes once more. “Which means living with me would only make more sense.”
“Livi–” Beau nearly swallowed his tongue. “Wait, what?”
Ethansmiled and again Beau felt a little off balance. No, wait. He felt a lot offbalance.
Then,Ethan moved closer once again, sliding his hand up behind Beau’s head andholding him there. He wasn’t sure whether Ethan knew just how much he neededthe touch at the moment.
“Iwant you to move in with me,” Ethan whispered roughly.
