“I don’t want anything to hurt him,” he said.
Theresa set the oven to preheat. “I appreciate you worrying about him. Sometimes I still do too. It’ll always be my job as his mother. But you’re a part of the family now, so I’m considering it my job to worry about you as well. And I can tell that Skyler having to do all this PR dating nonsense hurts you too. Probably more than it hurts him. You’re allowed to admit that. You don’t always need to be the strong one for him.”
There was suddenly a lump in Trevor’s throat, preventing him from speaking. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to admit it hurt him—it was that he was stuck on theyou’re a part of the family now.
Not caring if it was embarrassing, he rushed across the kitchen to hug her, and when she wrapped her arms around him, he held on tighter.
He and Skyler would figure out how to make everything work. Because they were more than boyfriends. They were partners. A family.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Now
TREVOR
Trevor’s never been areligious person, but lying naked in this bed right now, in the middle of the afternoon, with the sun streaming through the large windows warming his skin, he thinks this must be what heaven is like. And if he tried to write something that sappy and cliched into a song five or ten years ago, he would have been a bit disgusted with himself. In this moment, though, he wants to write a hundred songs like that, and he’s pretty sure it still wouldn’t be enough.
Skyler isn’t cuddling him—they’re both sweaty and gross—but his thumb is rubbing back and forth over Trevor’s hip, and somehow it feels like the strongest physical connection imaginable. Stronger even than when Skyler was inside of him.
Since they got back together, they’ve been having so much sex. Which isn’t unlike their relationship the first time around. Only this time, they have the luxury of time and space and privacy. They spend every night in Skyler’s apartment. Not sleeping in hotel rooms or on tour buses. They have all the time in the world to worship each other’s bodies.
Or maybe it’s only the illusion of time and privacy. Maybe this gorgeous penthouse is a bubble that’s going to burst soon. Skyler will need to go back to L.A. eventually. Back to the studio, back on the road. Back to his real life.
He’s recording his acoustic set in a few days, and then who knows what will happen next? But Trevor would rather not worry about that right now. Rightnow he’s happy, and perfectly sated, and he’s going to live inside this bubble for as long as possible.
Rolling over onto his side, he spots Skyler’s assortment of rings scattered on the nightstand. It sends a wave of heat through his body as he thinks about what happened an hour ago, how Skyler slowly pulled each one off his fingers and set them there. How Trevor shivered in anticipation, knowing exactly what that meant—what Skyler planned to do to him.
He can’t help but grin at the memory of Skyler’s fingers buried in his ass, playing with him as skillfully as he plays a guitar, until Trevor begged for release. Trevor can still feel the pleasant ache inside his body.
He reaches out for the opal ring, for no other reason than it’s pretty and he wants to touch it. Skyler makes a questioning noise beside him, but neither one of them has found the energy to speak yet.
It’s not until the ring is in the palm of Trevor’s hand and he’s rolled onto his back again that Skyler’s eyes widen, and he says, “Wait.”
Before Trevor can ask why, he notices something engraved inside the thick silver band. Bringing the ring up to his face, he takes a closer look, and his breath catches in his throat.
An all-too-familiar date.
He slowly turns to Skyler, clutching the ring so tightly between his fingers it hurts. “Is this…”
Skyler’s eyes dart guiltily between Trevor and the ring. “It’s the first ring you gave me. I got it reset to add the stone.”
“But,” Trevor says eloquently. And then, gathering himself, “Why?”
“It’s not a big deal, it’s just…”
As Skyler trails off, Trevor gapes at him, because this is thebiggest deal. He’s looked for that ring on Skyler’s finger. He assumed Skyler got rid of it long ago. But no. It was right there, hiding in plain sight, the heart etching covered up.
Skyler’s been wearing it all this time.
Skyler reaches for the covers pooled at their feet, tugging them up to their waists before turning onto his side. Trevor mirrors him. They watch each other, an entire conversation happening silently between blinks and lip twitches and breaths.
And Trevor knows, somewhere deep down, why Skyler did it. But he wants to hear it out loud, so he urges, “Tell me why.”
Skyler’s hand crosses the tiny amount of space between them to run his finger over the stone of the ring Trevor isn’t giving up. “I couldn’t get rid of it, but it also hurt too much to see that heart there. But I guess I kept it as a reminder of what I had and what I lost. Maybe a reminder that if I was ever lucky enough to find a love like that again not to screw it up.”
His expression is pained now, and Trevor opens his mouth to say something, but Skyler shakes his head, so Trevor lets him go on.
“I assumed I’d never be that lucky again though. I knew I’d never be able to love someone else the way I loved you, and I never dared to imagine that you’d come back to me.”
