Page 162 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

“Yeah,” Ben whispered. He buried his face against Gavin’s neck and then bit down gently over his pulse. “Here is good,” he added softly. “I could spend a year right here.” Ben slipped his hand between them, grabbed both of their cocks and pressed them together in a tight grip, precome slicking his way.

“Only a year?”

Before Ben could answer the tease, Gavin’s phone started singing from the nightstand. “Shit.”

“Don’t answer it,” Ben whispered—begged—before catching Gavin’s earlobe between his teeth.

Gavin was tempted. He tried to ignore it, but after a few seconds, he said, “You sure? That’s your mom’s ringtone…”

Mentioning Ben’s mom had the desired effect, and Ben rolled off him, panting for breath and cursing.

Gavin snatched the phone and answered quickly, trying to control his stilted breath. “Hey, Nora.”

“Hey, yourself,” she said, but Gavin picked up a distinct edge to her tone. “Sorry to interrupt whatever I’m interrupting, but it’s time,” she said. Gavin could hear sounds in the background, voices, Tina panting and grunting.

“You sure it’s not another false alarm? Her doctor said—”

“Her doctor said she wasn’t in labor earlier, but she was ready and it could start for real any day.” Nora added, “Some poor kid at the movie theater had to clean up the puddle where her water broke. This is definitely not a false alarm.”

Ben was already dressed again. How’d that happen?

“We’ll be there in a few. Don’t let her have the baby until we get there.” He knew that wasn’t really an option, but the words came out just the same.

“Yeah, I have that kind of power, no problem.”

Gavin was still sitting naked on the bed when Ben snatched the phone from him. “Hey, Ma,” he said as he sat down next to Gavin and pulled his boots back on. “We’ll be there in ten minutes.” He stood up and started to blow the candles out in the room, flipping the light switch on as he walked past. “She doing okay?” After another pause, Ben said, “Okay, good. See you soon.”

Watching Ben, Gavin felt like his brain had frozen. He knew there were things he needed to do, but everything was a jumble in his head. When Ben tossed him a shirt and a pair of pants, Gavin kicked into action too. “We need to get the car seat from the closet,” he said as he started to dress. “And grab Tina’s bag from her room.”

“Did that this morning,” Ben said as he pulled on his jacket. “Installed the car seat in the back of your car, and her bag is in the trunk.”

As Gavin slipped on a pair of shoes, he stopped and looked at Ben. “Hey,” he said softly, getting Ben’s attention. “I love you.” Yeah, they said it often enough, and Gavin had had plenty of reminders lately about why he loved Ben so much, but in that moment, it meant more to him for some reason.

Ben seemed to feel the weight of what Gavin meant. He stopped everything he’d been doing and walked over to Gavin, put a tender hand on his face, and said, “Love you too.” Then he leaned in for a quick kiss and added, “Now let’s get on the road.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Ben

Ben had taken every shortcut he could think of and broke every speed limit to get to the hospital. Gavin didn’t even complain, just clung to Ben for dear life.

Thankfully, Gavin knew exactly where to go once they arrived, so he led the way through the sterile-smelling ER, down the hall to the elevator, and up to the third floor for labor and delivery. “Nora said she’s in room 304.”

They probably should’ve stopped at the nurses’ station, but instead they tromped right past until they found Tina’s room.

Gavin went to her as if he’d forgotten Ben was there, but that was okay. God knew Tina needed him more.

He watched as Gavin settled into his birthing-partner mode, breathing with Tina, wiping her forehead with a cool cloth.

Nora went to Ben and said, “She’s in transition, moving faster than the doctor expected.”

Ben had a vague understanding of transition and what his mother meant. “Is that good or bad? Going fast, I mean.”

“It is what it is,” Nora said with a laugh. “It’s different every time, for every woman.”

Right. He knew that. Anna’s first took over a day and a half, but her second kid practically fell out before she was in the bed at the hospital.

As the nurse swept in to check on Tina, Nora said, “I’ll be in the waiting room. Too many cooks in the kitchen.”

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