Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
His lips touch mine again and we kiss lazily. He rolls over so I’m on top of him and we make out some more, just skin to skin. We take a short nap, then shower, and I call to check on Doc.
We make our way back to the hospital together, and Doc teases us, which makes me feel even more secure that he’s going to be okay.
Hayden’s mom gets teary-eyed when she realizes that we’re going to make this work and that Hayden’s trying to decide how to handle Chicago. He might have to go back for a little while. It wouldn’t be cool to leave Tiny hanging like that, but we all know that soon, he wants to be back here.
And as much as I love Atlanta, if he changes his mind and feels like he needs to stay in Chicago, I’ll go there. That’s what you do when you love someone. You make sacrifices for them and take care of them and they do the same things for you. You don’t just walk away—you stick around.
I’d never had anyone in my life stick around until Doc came into the picture. I always thought I was okay with that. It was what it was, but now as we’re back home in bed and I think about my life—Travis and Gary, and Derek…the dorky man lying in bed beside me who loves math and jumped on a plane to come home the second I needed him—I realize that some things are worth fighting for.
Hayden is one of them.
“I love you.” He presses a kiss to my chest, then lets his tongue lash out and circle my piercing.
“I love you too.”
EPILOGUE
Hayden
Three Months Later
“Good fucking God, that hurts,” Gary says. He sits in Cody’s chair at Doc’s, in a tank top that shows off the impressive biceps he’s developed since he started hitting the gym hard with his man. Cody sits beside him, pressing the needle against his skin, working his magic while Travis and I flank Gary on either side, both of us on chairs from Doc’s office.
“Oh, come on. I know you can take more pain than this with Travis’s fat dick in you,” Cody says playfully. I can tell he’s just trying to diffuse Gary’s tension, and judging by the way Gary and Travis gaze at each other, it works.
Reminds me of what a natural people person he is.
But soon, Gary’s back to cringing, and Cody smirks. He probably wants to laugh at what a baby Gary’s being about it.
“You keep making my man cringe like that,” Travis says, “and I’ll give you something to cringe about.”
“Anytime…any place,” Cody says.
“Ooh, Gawd!” Derek calls from the other workstation. He fans himself with a magazine he’s been reading. “This is a lot of man tension for one itty-bitty boy. I say we get this show on the road.”
“What?” I ask.
“Come on. Four versatile boys in a tattoo shop…with one needy bottom. Whatever will we do?”
Travis laughs out loud. Usually, he just rolls his eyes at Derek, so it’s clear Derek’s earned this victory.
“Why didn’t you talk me out of this?” Gary asks Travis, angling his head like he’s trying to avoid watching Cody while he inks his arm.
Travis throws his hands up before him. “Don’t look at me. I did everything short of chaining you down this morning to keep you from coming.”
“I think you should be chaining him down to make him come,” Derek says. “But who am I to tell you how to run your relationship?”
Cody keeps working on Gary’s tattoo. Taking his time on the shading.
He always gives it his all when he’s creating his art, but I can tell he’s putting even more attention into this one—crafting it with his acute attention. Cody teases Gary a bit, keeping him at ease as he finishes up.
“There. All done!” Cody finally announces.
Gary gets up from the chair and heads over to the floor-length mirror, checking himself out, assessing the tattoo as he flexes his bicep.
It’s not much. Just the text, Carpe Diem. Doc had talked to him about it initially, and after weeks of debating, Gary finally decided to go for it.
Travis steps up behind him, his arms sliding around Gary’s body.
“It’s hot,” Travis says.
Gary’s eyes light up as he grins. “You don’t think it’s cheesy?”
“Not at all.”
“Not as cheesy as this little love banter,” Derek gripes.
“Shut up, you,” Travis says, and I can hear the playfulness in his tone.
Gary studies the tattoo. “I love it!”
Cody walks up behind them, that cocky smirk on his face, obviously proud of his handiwork.
“Okay, so now I don’t have to kill you,” Travis says, and everyone laughs. “Now, come on. First round of drinks is on me.”
“You guys go ahead,” I say. “I’ve got a few things I need to finish up for Tiny. I was just going to check them over in Doc’s office. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”