Before It's Too Late (Troubled Hearts Book 3)

by Savannah Brooks

  Zach’s insides warmed as he let the vision before him soak into his brain. He couldn’t have plucked a more perfect image of what he wanted from his thoughts if he’d tried. The only difference from this and what he’d always imagined was Cael—his best friend, and a man, not a woman as he’d always expected, and Zach was perfectly okay with that.

  “Zaa!” Taylor squealed, trying to say his name. As cute as it was, he couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from Cael.

  Cael twisted his tanned and toned upper body and glanced back at Zach, a warm smile stretched across his face, as though he’d been waiting all morning to see him. Or maybe, that was just Zach hoping for something that wasn’t really there. Still, it was enough to stir that crazy fucking feeling in the pit of his stomach and shoot a tingling sensation straight down his spine.

  A moment later, Cael turned off the burner as he wrapped up his phone conversation. “Listen, Zach’s up, so I gotta go, but thanks, Jemma. Will do. Later.” He pressed the button on his earpiece, then removed it from his ear and shoved it in his pocket.

  “Hey, Pook. Just in time for breakfast.” Cael grabbed two paper plates from the cabinet.

  “You didn’t have to,” Zach said as Cael spooned scrambled eggs onto the plates.

  After setting the pan back on the stove, Cael opened the fridge and pulled out a bowl of sliced bananas and strawberries.

  “Well, I have to eat too so it didn’t make sense not to make some for you as well.”

  He dished some fruit onto each plate, then put a little on Taylor’s tray before setting the still half-filled glass bowl on the table. Cael paused and looked at him as Zach still stood frozen in place, simply watching him.

  “Well, don’t just stand there. Grab a plate and some coffee and sit down.”

  Oh. Right. Coffee.

  Zach grabbed a mug and filled it with the hot, fresh brew, then added his usual milk and sugar. After taking a careful sip, he joined Cael at the table, sitting opposite him so they could both reach Taylor if needed.

  “So, why were you on the phone with Jemma?” Zach asked, taking a bite of eggs. Jemma was a friend of Chloe’s who also happened to be a pediatrician and Taylor’s primary doctor.

  His mouth full, Cael pointed at Taylor with his fork as he worked to chew and swallow the fruit in his mouth.

  “I noticed she kept batting at her ear last night, and again this morning. I thought it might be an ear infection. Jemma said it sounds like it, so I made an appointment to take her down later this morning to check it out. Hope you don’t mind.”

  “Mmm-mmm.” Zach shook his head. “Thanks. I was beginning to wonder if I should anyway with the way she’s been screaming off and on the past few nights.”

  “I can take her if you want. Give you some more time to yourself.”

  “No, I’ll take her.” Zach poked a strawberry slice and stuck it in his mouth. He wanted to ask Cael to come with him, but he figured it might sound a little weird.

  Cael shrugged, dismissing the issue quickly. “Suit yourself.”

  Zach stared at him for a moment, trying to ignore the fact that his chest suddenly hurt. It was obvious Cael wanted to go on about his day. Just because he stayed last night and made breakfast this morning didn’t automatically equate to him wanting Zach.

  “What’s wrong?” Cael asked.

  “What? Oh, um… it’s nothing.” Zach gave his head a subtle shake, drawing his brows together and clearing his throat. Fuck it. “I was just thinking, maybe you’re right. Maybe I need to get out. If Chloe can babysit.”

  “You want to go out tonight?” There was something odd in the way Cael asked and the way he looked at Zach, as though he was hopeful but hiding it. That wasn’t possible, was it?

  “Uh, yeah. Or earlier.”

  “Okay.” Cael whipped his phone out of his pocket and, holding it in his palm, swiped and tapped the screen with his thumb. “Where do you want to go?”

  “I don’t know. You pick.” Zach didn’t care. He actually didn’t want to go anywhere. He just wanted to be with Cael, preferably some place where he might be able to get him to kiss him. Fuck, did I really just think that?

  “You really don’t want to go out, do you?”

  Zach scrunched his lips, shaking his head, then looked at Taylor. She had banana goo mashed in her little fist, squishing out between her fingers. Christ, little kids were so fucking messy.

  “Okay, how ‘bout this?” Cael’s phone chimed, and he looked at the screen. “Chloe says she can be here around five. You come over to my place, we’ll order some pizza, drink some beer, and blow apart little pixels on a seventy inch screen. Better?”

  Alone with Cael in his house with beer, pizza, and video games. Fuck yes.

  Cael smirked. “Yeah, I thought so.”

  “You know, you fucking scare me sometimes with how well you know me.”

  “You? I scare myself sometimes,” Cael laughed.

  Pushing his chair back, Zach stood and headed to the sink as Cael cleared the table. After wetting the washcloth, he returned and cleaned Taylor’s hands and face, then wiped the tray. As Zach rinsed the cloth, Cael lifted Taylor and carried her into the living room, then set her in her playpen.

  “What time is her appointment?” Zach asked as Cael plopped down on the sofa with the remote in his hand.

  “Eleven-thirty.”

  Zach glanced at the clock on the microwave. Ten-thirty. “Shhhoot. I’d better shower and get dressed.”

  Chuckling, Cael turned his head and looked at Zach with one brow raised. “Heard that.”

  “Whatever, man.” Zach had been trying to watch his language more now that he had Taylor around all the time. “You still good to stick around a bit longer?”

  Returning his attention to the TV, Cael waved him off. “I got her, Pook. Go do what you need to do.”

  Zach stared at Cael, unable to stop thinking of what it would be like to kiss him. He wondered if he’d even like it.

  He’d fantasized about kissing Cael for weeks now. But then a worse thought entered his mind. What if Cael didn’t like it? Then what? Things could get awkward. Zach could lose his best friend—pretty much his only friend—and then he’d have no one. But if he didn’t try something, anything, he’d lose his fucking mind with constantly wondering what might have been.

  Fuck it. Right now, he didn’t have the time, but tonight, he would—they would—and Zach promised himself he would come right out and fucking say it, because now that he’d figured out who his heart wanted, he didn’t want to wait any longer.

  Chapter 10

  If Zach looked at Cael tonight the way he did when he stumbled into the kitchen this morning, Cael would end up doing something he might regret—something he’d wanted to do for years now, like kiss him. If it had been anyone else giving Cael that look, he would have already, and then some.

  With Zach though, Cael didn’t have the slightest clue what had been going on behind those contemplating, wistful eyes of his. What Cael did know was how lost and alone Zach had been feeling, particularly since Abbey’s accident, and Cael hated it.

  It helped Zach, having Cael around to help out, but Cael could see it wasn’t enough. That he wasn’t enough. If he could, Cael would pull Zach into his arms and hold him and hug him and kiss him every moment possible—anything to make his pain go away—but Zach needed someone he loved to do that, and Cael was sure that it wasn’t him.

  As Cael pulled a clean T-shirt over his head, his cell phone rang. He glanced at the screen. Seeing his sister’s name, he answered it.

  “Hey, sis.”

  “Oh. My. God. You have to tell him.”

  Cael scrunched his brows. “What?”

  “Zach just left to head over there, and, well, just trust me. You need to tell him.”

  “Tell him what?”

  “Don’t give me that. You know exactly what.”

  “Chloe.”

  “Cael. Just do it.”

  “Tell me why.”


  “I can’t. I promised Abbey I wouldn’t. Just freakin’ trust me on this, okay?”

  “Is this about your bet?”

  “Yes, but no. I’m telling you though, you need to. Tonight. I guarantee he’s ready to hear it. He wants to hear it.”

  Wants? “How do you know?”

  “You’ll see when he gets there. Oh my God!” Chloe squealed in his ear, so loud Cael had to pull the phone away a little. “This is your chance, bro. Don’t blow it. I’ve got Taylor, and I’ll stay with her all night if you guys need me to.”

  All night? His pulse quickened. She couldn’t possibly be right about any of this, could she?

  “Are you sure? I can’t afford to mess up, Chloe. Zach’s my best friend. I don’t want things getting all weird between us.”

  “Screw the bet. Sorry, Abs,” she mumbled. “Take your blinders off, Cael. Zach’s been in love with you for years, and he’s finally figured it out. He was so nervous before he left here, it was the cutest freakin’ thing. I think he’s hoping tonight ends up more like a date or something, and if you don’t man up, you’re gonna end up disappointing him. So grow some balls and tell him, or, I don’t know, at least kiss him or something, before it’s too late.”

  Cael opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. This can’t be possible. “But… Zach isn’t gay.”

  “Well, duh. But there is such a thing as bisexual and pansexual. Or did you forget about that?”

  He sucked in a sharp breath. She did have a point, but Zach had never shown any indication that he was anything other than straight. Then again, he did let him jerk him off a few weeks ago, plus there was the night Zach had kept asking Cael to kiss him when he was drunk, and the way Zach would sometimes look at him lately…

  Maybe Cael had been looking at everything all wrong.

  “Chloe. If you’re wrong about this—”

  “I’m totally right. Just open your eyes, bro. You’ll see it.”

  Cael caught a glimpse out his bedroom window of Zach’s Edge pulling into the single-car driveway. “Okay, fine. Whatever. Zach’s here. I gotta go.”

  “Do it.”

  “Bye.”

  Cael disconnected the call and shoved his phone in his pocket, his heart racing. A date? He had not prepared for anything like that. He’d freakin’ planned for classic arcade games and pizza and beer, and maybe they’d catch a movie on Netflix, because that’s what Zach liked when he was depressed.

  Fresh out of the shower, still barefoot and wearing grungy jeans and a T-shirt, Cael did a quick check in the mirror, combing his fingers through his short damp hair. Taking a calming breath, he headed down to meet Zach. He paused at the top of the stairs at the sound of the double knock on the door followed by the key twisting in the lock. The door clicked open, then closed. The clack and jingle of keys falling in the wooden bowl signaled Zach’s routine entrance, setting Cael at ease a little.

  After a few seconds, Cael jogged down the stairs and found Zach still standing by the door. Damn, he looked good. Better than good. But that’s not what sent Cael’s heart into overdrive, aching in his chest. It was the way Zach stood. His shoulders slumped forward, Zach stared down at his phone, his eyes narrowed and mouth pressed into thin line, bordering on a frown. Cael hoped it wasn’t more bad news.

  “Hey, Zach. Everything okay?”

  Zach looked up at him. Cael closed the space between them. Zach’s eyes strained, and he took a deep breath.

  “Just my dad, letting me know he found some paperwork Abbey had filled out last year naming me as Taylor’s guardian should anything ever happen to her.”

  “Well, that’s a good thing, right? Just means you won’t have to fight the state for custody.” Cael cringed the moment the words fell out.

  “Yeah,” Zach whispered hoarsely. He blew out a long, heavy breath.

  “Sorry. Anything I can do?”

  “I, uh…” Zach stared at him, thinking hard on something. He shook his head, barely. “I don’t know.”

  Cael wished Zach would give him some tangible clue so he could know for certain whether Chloe was right or not.

  “Well, if you think of anything, you know all you have to do is ask. For now, how ‘bout a beer?”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  Cael went to the kitchen, trusting Zach would follow, and he did.

  “How’d Taylor’s appointment go?”

  “Okay, I guess. It was an ear infection, like you said. Jemma said the pain would subside after about twenty-four hours on the antibiotic.”

  “Good.”

  Cael grabbed two beers from the fridge and popped the caps, then handed one to Zach. Zach grabbed hold of it, but Cael didn’t let go. Instead, Cael tugged Zach toward him just a little, testing the waters because, Jesus H. Christ, he wanted him, and if there was a chance Zach wanted him too, after all this time, he needed to know, because it was getting significantly more difficult to hide it.

  “All that aside, this is your night, Pook. I’m not gonna limit how much you drink unless you want me to, and we’ll do whatever you want to do, but just a reminder that if you drink too much, not only will you wake up with those little leprechauns chiseling away inside your skull but you’re also gonna be stuck sleeping here with me tonight.” Cael said it that way purposely, keeping his eyes locked on Zach’s, and the reaction from Zach was not at all what he had expected.

  Zach actually relaxed a bit and rolled his eyes at Cael, of all things. Even laughed a little. “You that hard up that you’re trying to get me in bed with you, Manning?”

  Cael laughed, going along with it. One, because Zach sounded like his old self and it was absolute music to his soul, two, because if he didn’t, Zach would probably figure out just how much Cael did want him in his bed, and three, Cael had no clue if he was purely joking or not, especially after his recent conversation with Chloe.

  “I don’t know. Is it working?”

  Zach took a swig of beer. “I’ll let you know after I’ve had a few more beers.”

  Cael didn’t usually get hard when he said stuff like that, but this time… “Tease.”

  Zach raised both eyebrows, giving Cael a once over and a shrug. “Who says I’m teasing?” he smirked, then left the kitchen, heading for the living room.

  Zach set his bottle on the table and proceeded to pull out the old Atari game system Cael’s grandpa had handed down to him years ago before he died, leaving Cael short of breath with a major hard on.

  Frack me.

  Cael adjusted himself and drained about half his beer, watching as Zach settled in the middle of his worn-out, extra-comfy couch and plugged the two joysticks into the console. Cael sank down into the cushions next to Zach. They sat shoulder to shoulder. It was about as close as Cael would normally sit, which was still far closer than most straight guys would, friends or not, but Zach had never minded.

  Never minded? Geez, had he really been that blind? If Chloe was right about him, Cael would never hear the end of it from her.

  Grabbing the second-player controller, Cael set his beer down and leaned back, his dick straining against the denim in an obvious bulge. With a discreet wiggle, he adjusted himself again as Zach leaned forward and flipped the switch to power on the game.

  Zach remained sitting on the edge of the couch with his elbows resting on his knees, staring at the TV as if mesmerized by the auto game play sample taking place on the screen. He set the controller down on the coffee table then pushed both hands into his hair, letting his forehead rest on his palms. Without warning, Zach abruptly pushed to his feet and headed straight into the downstairs bathroom, locking the door behind him.

  Okay, even Cael knew there was something to what had just happened. He wasn’t that blind to think he just suddenly needed to pee. Zach was nervous or worried or something.

  Cael pulled his phone from his pocket and texted his sister.

  Cael: How sure are you about Zach?

  He stared at the bathroom door, hoping Chl
oe answered before it opened.

  Chloe: Did you screw up already?

  Cael: No. Just tell me.

  Chloe: 100%

  Cael: He seems nervous.

  Chloe: I told you he was.

  Cael: What should I do?

  Chloe: Did you tell him yet?

  Cael: No.

  Chloe: Kiss him.

  Cael: What if he doesn’t want me to?

  Chloe: You’re such a wuss. Trust me. He wants you to.

  The bathroom lock clicked, and the door opened. Zach stepped out and came back into the living room just as Cael’s phone dinged with another notification from Chloe.

  “Who’s that?” Zach asked, his voice catching a little in his throat.

  “Just Chloe.”

  Zach tensed. “Is everything okay?”

  “What? Oh, yeah. Taylor’s fine.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Zach bent to grab his beer from the table. He drank down the rest on his way to the kitchen.

  “You okay, Pook?” Cael asked, pushing to his feet and heading in to join him.

  Zach furrowed his brow as if confused by Cael’s question. He leaned back against the counter, setting the cold, fresh beer he pulled out on the counter next to him. “Yeah. I’m good.”

  “Good.” Cael ignored Zach’s unconvincing response. “Because there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about, but I sort of have to show you something first.”

  “Okay,” Zach said, drawing the word out. “What?”

  Cael couldn’t afford to overthink this. He just needed to do it and hope to God that Chloe was right. A kiss couldn’t’ be any more awkward than a hand job, right?

  He crossed the small space, closing the distance between them, and without any further hesitation, Cael took Zach’s face between his hands and kissed him.