Page 27 of Mine

“I need water,” I said suddenly because it was my last gambit.

“You do?”

I nodded.

He left and I could hear the ice trays in the kitchen being cracked, dumped into the tray in the freezer, and then the water running as he refilled them. When he came back, I saw the splotches of dried cum all over him and how he shivered. I thanked him and drained the glass. I saw it then; saw Landry back behind his eyes. That I had needed a favor, small, simple, and domestic, that had grounded him, reminded him of who he was, who I was, and about the two of us together.

“Let’s strip the bed and take a shower, okay?”

He nodded because he was coming down—quiet, contained, and worried suddenly about what he had done.

I ran the shower and put him under the warm spray before I went back to take care of the sheets. We had two sets of linens for the bed and that was it. Lucky for us, the apartment had come with a washer and dryer, so that was really all we needed.

By the time he padded into the bedroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, I was done.

“Okay, I’m gonna go jump in the shower. I’ll be right back.”

He nodded, but I heard the stilted breath so I stepped in front of him on my way out of the room.

“Are you mad at me?”

I put my hands on his face. “Hell no, why would I be mad? You fucked me good.”

He didn’t like the answer, too glib, so I bent and kissed him, softly, tenderly, my tongue tracing over his bottom lip until he whimpered in the back of his throat. When I lifted away, he leaned with me.

“I love you, I will always love you, everything’s fine and I’m not mad. I just need to sleep. You wore me out.”

Lots of nodding, lots of smiling, and he let me go. By the time I was done with my shower, he was passed out in the bed. He didn’t even move when I slid under the covers with him and turned off the light. That night we had both learned something, I understood my absolute place in his life and what he needed, and my boy learned how to top. It had been win-win in my mind from something that had started out very scary.

“TREV?”

I looked over at Conrad, the spell of my memories broken.

“Listen, you’re not in any danger if you just are smart. Stay away from places you do business, simple as that.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay? What were you thinking about?”

“Nothing.”

“Can you focus, please?”

“Sure.”

“About the gun. If you go out of town, put the gun in the lockbox I gave you, and it goes in the hamper with the dirty clothes.”

“Got it.”

“Good.”

My eyes flicked to his. “You know I appreciate it, right? Everything you do for me. I don’t know how to show it without giving you money so you know I’m sincere.”

“I know you’re sincere, it’s why I give a shit.”

I nodded and then yawned, my eyes watering.

“You’re so fuckin’ tired.”