Page 40 of Snow Storm

Claude ran his hands up and down Harley’s back. “Harley?”

“Mm. I like the way you say my name.”

Claude smiled down at him. “Harley,” he said again, slower this time, more deliberate. “If you would like it, I want you to stay here with me.”

“All my stuff is in my room,” Harley said, his voice muffled by Claude’s jacket.

“Then I’ll go with you, and we can get what you need. It’s Christmastime, yes?”

Harley shrugged. “I don’t know what difference that makes.”

Claude’s eyes shone in the morning light filtering through the window. “No one deserves to be alone right now. Let’s be a little selfish. I have a feeling you rarely are, so maybe it’s time.”

Harley let out a softhaand shrugged. “Well, according to my ex, I’m always selfish.”

“And if I asked someone who hasn’t attempted to hurt you? What would they say?” Claude pressed.

Harley closed his eyes. “If you’d have asked my dad, he would have said I never am.”

“Who do you trust more?”

He knew what Claude was getting at. He was just afraid. If he stayed, he’d fall for this man. There was no question about it. And leaving him would be like tearing his own heart out, and he wasn’t sure he had the strength for that.

But he knew Claude would never ask him to stay for good, and he knew himself well enough to know that he’d never be brave enough to ask for what he really wanted when it was all over.

So a moment? A few nights?

He wasn’t sure if that was worth the pain.

“I don’t mean to push,” Claude said after a long beat of silence. “This never happens to me, and I just?—”

“I don’t want you to come with me,” Harley said, and Claude flinched back like he’d been hit. Fuck. He was doing this all wrong. “It’s cold out, and you obviously need to rest your legs. If you don’t need to be at the main hotel, then you should stay here while I take care of everything.”

Claude’s shoulders sagged. “I do this every year. I’m very capable of going from one place to the other.”

“Yes, but how often do you get the chance to rest your body just because?” Harley countered. If Claude was going to push Harley to be selfish, then he was going to do the same thing.

Claude’s lips twitched like he was holding back a smile. “If I let you go, will you promise to come back?”

“If you’re sure you want me.”

Claude let go of Harley’s waist and cradled his face. “I’m sure.” He leaned in and took him in a kiss. It couldn’t have tasted nice. Harley hadn’t brushed his teeth, and he was all worked up and breathing heavily. But Claude didn’t seem tocare. He nipped at his lips and licked at his tongue, then pulled away with a satisfied hum. “I want you.”

Harley went warm all over. “Then trust me to be back. I just need a few things.”

“Okay,” Claude whispered. He stole a last kiss, then slowly let Harley go and backed up toward the chair he’d been sitting in. “I’m going to wait right here. Don’t be too long.”

Harley nodded but refused to make the promise aloud. He wanted to trust himself that he wouldn’t run. That he wouldn’t panic and lock himself in his room until it was all over. But he didn’t. His ex was right about him in some respects: he was a coward when the going got tough.

He didn’t want to be that way though. And it was as he looked into Claude’s eyes that he realized maybe, for the first time, he had a reason to be brave.

Harley made it to the hotel quicker than he expected, considering the wind chill had him freezing into a block of ice the moment he stepped outside. Getting out of the cold was a nice motivator to keep his legs going, and he almost slipped and cracked his head open as he bolted across the tiled lobby floor.

Catching himself on the counter, he flushed when he realized he had an audience. Aminah was leaning over the desk, staring at him with a quirked brow.

“Uh. Hi.”

She rested her chin on her curled fist. “I didn’t see you leave this morning.”

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