“I don’t remember that,” he admitted before adding, “but I don’t doubt it. Terry is better than everyone else.”
“I love you,” Terry said, cutting into their conversation. Brian glanced over, surprised by Terry’s fierce tone. Terry was watching him as if he’d been waiting for him to meet his gaze. When he had Brian’s attention, he added, “so fucking much. It would kill me if you regretted me.”
Brian shook his head. “Never,” he swore.
With a smile, Terry switched his attention back to Kip. “So, he’s your friend?”
Even though there hadn’t been an ounce of judgment in Terry’s tone, Kip’s expression turned ferocious, as if daring anyone to mock her as she answered. “I’m not sorry. He’s a bad person, but he wasn’t when it came to me, and he was the one. I’ve accepted I’ll never see him again and I’ve moved on, but I’ll never move on, you know?”
Terry motioned toward the phone. “Where there’s a connection, there’s hope.”
“No.” Kip shook her head and then she repeated the word as if making it real. “No. There isn’t, but that’s sweet. Now, seriously guys, please go away and let me sulk in private.” Brian could tell Terry didn’t want to believe, didn’t want to hope. Obviously, Kip saw it as well. “Trust me, if you need something taken care of, there is no one better than Konstantin. Friends in low places with friends in high places are the best to have.”
Brian was skeptical too but he wouldn’t turn down a chance to spend the day with man he loved.
He pushed his stool away from the island and moved to Terry’s side. “Come on,” he said, urging him away. Terry didn’t budge. Instead, he eyed Kip questioningly.
“Will you be okay?”
Kip pulled a strained smile. “Don’t worry about me. Seriously,” she added when Terry didn’t look convinced.
“All right,” he said, giving in. “Even if they don’t call, it means more than I can say that you tried, and I wasn’t joking, you’re staying here.” It couldn’t have been more obvious Terry believed that call would never come.
Kip gave a jerky nod and Terry finally headed back down the hall. Brian pulled Kip into a bear hug.
“Thank you.”
She patted his arm. “I don’t want to cry again. Go away.” With a chuckle, he moved to do as she bade. Her phone beeped drawing his attention before he could take a step. Out of pure habit, he glanced down. Konstantin’s name appeared. If the text had been longer, Brian might have missed it or at least he would’ve attempted to tear his gaze away without reading it. As things were, the two-word message was impossible to miss.
Meet me.
In his shock, he didn’t have time to look away before another text appeared beneath the first.
Action Heliport on Las Vegas Blvd. in two hours.
“I thought he’d been deported.” Silence met his statement. Before he could change his mind, Brian retrieved his keys from the hook by the back door. He set them on the table next to her phone. “The gold one is for the back door. The silver is for the front. My car is in the garage. I don’t want you stuck here without a way to get around.” Without waiting for a response, Brian went in search of Terry.
*
Terry stared at the ceiling doing his best to keep his mind blank. In spite of his best efforts, his heart raced along with his thoughts. He couldn’t let himself believe. The disappointment would be too much when it came. The sound of Brian closing the bedroom door drew his attention, giving him something else to focus on. As he crossed the room, Brian tugged his soft, gray t-shirt over his head and tossed it aside. His body was harder than it had been when he’d left. The months of constant training and back-to-back bouts had caused a slight change in him. He intended to give up his chance at the title. The knowledge didn’t sit well with Terry, but one battle at a time.
At the foot of the bed, Brian paused. “I have to know. Is this thing meant to be sat on?”
Terry craned his neck as if he could see the bench Brian referred. It was too low. Not that it mattered since he saw the thing every day. “I have no idea,” Terry admitted, causing Brian to bark out a laugh. At the sound, Terry added, “Honestly. I’m a bit scared to find out.”
Brian shook his head as he climbed onto the bed. He crawled across until he was straddling Terry’s hips. At the last second, he seemed to remember the bruises on Terry’s thighs and moved higher. Sitting back on his heels, he pinned Terry to the bed while keeping his weight balanced on his knees. Terry appreciated his efforts. As a matter of point, he was thankful for a lot when it came to Brian. Terry stared up into the face of the man above him, doing his best to memorize every nuance. The sharp angles, full lips and eyes that were an indescribable shade of light brown mixed with amber, combined to make Brian almost as gorgeous on the outside as he was on the inside. That was saying something. There was a tiny scar above his left eyebrow where it had obviously been pierced at some point. He had a hard time picturing it, but he also imagined it had been sexy as hell.
“I missed you. Have I told you that enough times already?”
Although Brian had said it a time or two, he’d never get tired of hearing it. “I missed you too.” The admission led to another as Terry suddenly wanted Brian to know his every secret. “I gave up competing because I found out I had cancer.” His gaze shifted from Brian’s face to the flat pads of his chest. He couldn’t look him in the eye and say things he’d never told another soul. “A week before Gray died I was diagnosed with early stage Non-Hodgkin’s. It was treatable and as far as diagnoses go, it wasn’t that bad. Nonetheless, the radiation and chemo weren’t a walk in the park either. I retired. That’s how I met Anna and Betty, by the way. Nobody knew. McKenna was avoiding me and I wouldn’t have burdened her with it even if she hadn’t been. Gray’s death was still too fresh.” He paused, swallowing against the emotions brought on by the memories of that time in his life. “Anyhow, it seemed as if I was always scheduled for chemo at the same time as Anna. Truly, it’s as tedious as hell. Eventually, you sort of feel like you know everyone there. We started talking one day as if we’d always known one another.” A bitter smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “So, yeah, that’s why I took her death the way I did. It was just so unfair, you know. She was a teenager and a good person.”
Thankfully, Brian stayed quiet, giving him the time he needed to work through his thoughts. It was harder than Terry had been expecting, but Brian deserved to know everything. He was incapable of holding back the rush of anger overwhelming him when he looked at things too closely.
For the first time in his life, Terry wanted what Brian offered with his silent strength—a safe place to express his fury. “Gray was a good person too. It didn’t seem to count for anything and that really pisses me off. In my life, I’ve met so many people who are the lowest pieces of shit and waste of good air. They always breeze through life while the truly amazing people do nothing but suffer one setback after another. Not long before we met, I started having chest pains and days when I didn’t want to get out of bed. In the back of my mind, I knew, but I tried to pretend as if it wasn’t happening. There was a small part of me that thought to simply let nature run its course. The day Anna died, I knew it was time to face it. When I found out I was right and it was worse than before, at least I knew, unlike Anna and Gray, I’d done plenty of things in my life to deserve it.”
“No,” Brian said, surprising Terry with the anger in his tone. Getting down in his face, he braced his weight on his palms until Terry didn’t have any choice except to look him in the eyes. There was only honesty and love in his gaze. “What I told Kip was the truth. You are better than everyone else is. I didn’t say that because I’m in love with you. I fell in love with you because it’s true.”
It went against everything inside him to show even a hint of weakness but he couldn’t hold back. “What if I used up the last of my good luck when I got you?”
A hint of a smile passed over Brian’s features. “Nope.
It was all preordained. I realized it while Kip was making that phone call. Being in this situation caused you to see something in me the day we met and you didn’t stop until you had me ready to head out on my own. When I did, I met Kip. It was all meant to happen exactly the way it has. This thing between us, it wasn’t some accidental clashing of souls or whatever.” He shook his head, as if he didn’t know how to explain it. Terry got it. “It was all part of a bigger plan.”
Terry wanted to believe Brian. No way did he intend to fail him but if he did—damn. He couldn’t leave him feeling the way Gray had left McKenna, as if it was somehow her fault. “You’re perfect. You know that right?” Terry asked in a desperate attempt to make Brian see what he did.
Brian closed the final gap between them, touching his lips to the corner of Terry’s mouth and placing light kisses there. “Only in your eyes,” he said before moving to the other corner of Terry’s mouth. It wasn’t true but Terry had time to make him see. He could argue later.
As things were, he was having a hard time concentrating on anything with Brian’s lips clinging to his. He didn’t attempt to deepen their kiss. It was driving Terry insane.
The harder he tried to tempt Brian, the lighter Brian’s touch became. The man possessed an unnatural talent. No one kissed the way he did. It was the stuff of fantasies. No way had anyone ever willingly walked away from him and he belonged to Terry. A rush of possessiveness ran through him. Snagging the back of his neck, Terry held Brian in place as he lifted his head and did his best to deepen their kiss. The bastard chuckled.
Not only did Brian know what he’d been doing, he still managed to find a way to torture Terry by refusing to completely meet him stroke for stroke. With one final nip at his bottom lip, Terry gave up. Splaying his arms wide, he let his head drop back to the pillow, showing his surrender.
“Fine, tease, I’m at your mercy.”
As the final word left his lips, Brian slammed his mouth over Terry’s, pushing his way inside. Brian’s tongue stroked his boldly. The world disappeared. They could’ve been anywhere for any length of time. Terry wouldn’t have known or cared. There was nothing left except the way he felt. He was a bundle of emotion and sensations. Brian moved to Terry’s jaw, trailing kisses to his ear.
“I’m not teasing now. Kip said we have one day. For the next twenty-four hours, I’m all about pleasing you. Tell me what you want and I’m your man.”
The offer was such a broad one and Terry’s heart was in charge. “Anything I want?” Brian’s lips closed around his lobe. Each breath he released blew across Terry’s ear. His body responded as if it was happening to his dick. It was getting harder to speak, but he needed Brian to clarify his offer. “No matter what it is?”
“Mm,” Brian hummed against his throat as he moved further down. Terry took it as a yes.
“I want to marry you.” Every single muscle in Brian’s body tensed. Terry was fairly certain he’d stopped breathing. He wouldn’t take it back. Next to having a long life, this was the one thing he wanted more than anything. Brian slowly lifted his head, meeting his gaze. He looked stunned. “We’re only an hour away from the California state line, three hours from San Bernardino. We could be there and back long before the twenty-four-hour mark,” Terry added when Brian didn’t respond. Brian moved back to sitting on his heels. His gaze never left Terry’s face. Underneath the weight of his silence, Terry cracked. “I’m sorry. We’ve never really talked about it and I had no right to spring it on you like that.”
Brian’s eyes flared, showing his temper. “Do you love me?”
Terry floundered at the ridiculous question. “You know I do.”
“Then you have every right,” Brian snapped. “You caught me off guard, but fuck yeah. I want to marry you. You’re the other half of me.”
Chapter Ten
It was amazing how much a person could accomplish in a few hours given the proper motivation. With Brian’s agreement, Terry was highly motivated. In a matter of nine hours, they managed to hop a quick flight, buy rings, exchange vows and fly back home. On the way to California, they’d decided Brian would take Terry’s last name. After placing a quick call to Asher, he confirmed their decision. Terry wanted to ensure Brian would be treated with the respect due a husband when he reentered the hospital. It was the only decision he’d made while speaking with his lawyer that Brian agreed with. To be on the safe side, Asher was drawing up papers to make sure Brian would have power of attorney. In a not-so-agreed-upon move, Terry asked Asher to change his will. Brian was pissed with him over it but trying hard not to show it. Terry had tried explaining his reasoning, but Brian was still silently seething. As his husband, if Terry didn’t make it, Brian would be left with all his financial obligations. Even if someone was opposed to a same-sex marriage, they had no qualms about sending the spouse a bill. There was no way Terry would let a little way-of-the-world technicality get in the way of his wedding night. A smile stretched his lips at the thought. Brian really was his now.
Since they’d left Brian’s car for Kip, they’d taken Terry’s truck. With Brian behind the wheel, Terry was free to watch the man’s every move.
“You’re staring at me,” Brian said without looking.
Terry’s smile hitched up a notch. As dark as it was, he didn’t know how Brian could tell. “I’m waiting on you to figure out I’m right and stop being angry.”
“I’m not mad.” It was a blatant lie, but Brian glanced his way as if it would lend truth to the words. Terry let it stand.
“That’s too bad. I was looking forward to coaxing you into a better mood.” Instead of the laughter Terry had been expecting, Brian snapped.
“Well. Really, Terry, what the fuck?” He punctuated this litany by smacking his palm against the steering wheel. “I feel like everyone will think I want your money.”
In a move that could only be described as dumbass, Terry snorted. He tried to cut the sound off, but the attempt only ended up making it sound louder in the otherwise silent truck. A muscle in Brian’s jaw flexed. “I’m sorry. I’m not mocking your concerns, but they are ridiculous. You do realize we’re married now, right? That means, what’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine. What difference does it make if I’m alive or dead?”
Brian didn’t respond. Instead, he kept his gaze locked on the road. Terry comforted himself that Brian’s jaw wasn’t jumping and his nostrils had stopped flaring. Out of pure devilment, Terry refused to stop staring at him. They were close to the house. Brian wouldn’t stand this much longer. It would be worth it when the man finally snapped. He kept too much passion bottled inside him and Terry did enjoy being on the receiving end of his storm. It was like he couldn’t stop stirring the pot. “To be fair, I inherited a majority of my money. If you’re that uncomfortable with it then you’d better get busy snagging that title. With the right sponsorship, you could easily clear a million every time you entered the cage.” The tic was back. Brian probably wouldn’t have any enamel left on his teeth if he held his tongue much longer. Terry smirked. He couldn’t help it. Brian might be irritated, but he wasn’t arguing. It was only a matter of time before he came around to Terry’s way of thinking.
The door to the garage slid open as they turned into the driveway. Brian’s car was gone. “Kip must’ve gotten bored.” Brian held steady in his silence. With a heavy sigh, Terry climbed out the truck. The garage door’s motor, as it worked toward closing it behind them, was the only sound inside the building as Terry headed for the side door. He knew Brian was right behind him every step of the way because he could feel the man’s angry stare boring into the back of his neck.
As always, the exhaustion hit unexpectedly. The trip had taken a lot more energy than he had to spare but it had been worth it. Even if it killed him, he wouldn’t let it ruin their night. Unfortunately, as the garage went quiet, the sound of his heart beating pulsed loudly inside his ears. His steps slowed. By the time he made it inside the house, he was sure he was moving at a crawl.
Brian’s arms encircled his waist from behind. Terry surrendered more of his weight than he intended against Brian’s chest. Brian steered them toward the couch.
“Do you know one of things I missed the most while I was gone?” Brian asked.
Terry was thankful Brian didn’t wait for an answer. He was having a hard time catching his breath.
“This couch,” Brian finished. Shifting positions, he dropped down into his usual spot, pulling Terry along with him and tucking him against his side. Releasing the footstool, he continued as if nothing out of ordinary was happening. “I mean it’s ridiculous to miss a piece of furniture, but this one is special, you know.” He toed off his shoes and Terry did the same, allowing them to simply fall off the side onto the floor. With his weight on his hip, Terry relaxed against Brian’s chest enjoying the sound of his heart beating against his ear.
“I’m sorry,” Terry said as soon as he caught his breath.
“You should be,” Brian said sounding calm and taking Terry by surprise. “It was a total dick move using the title shit against me.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Sure it is,” Brian shot back, before adding, “Seeing as how you have nothing else to be sorry about and that’s how it works. You act like an ass over my career. It pisses me off. You apologize and everything’s better. See?”
In spite of the situation, Terry chuckled. His good humor only lasted long enough for reality to set back in. “I wanted this night to be different.”
At his admission, Brian lifted Terry’s hand from where it rested on his stomach, bringing it to his lips. Keeping their fingers linked, he spoke against Terry’s skin. “This is fucking perfect.” After placing a light kiss on the back of his hand, he held it to his chest, keeping Terry’s trapped. “I have you in my arms and in my spot. Fucking perfect,” he repeated, sounding as if he meant every word.
* * * * *
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