Page 46 of Protecting his Heart

A smile crept across his face, and Evan returned the gesture. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“More than,” he croaked.

Evan’s smile grew. “I’ll get you a drink. Stay there.”

He climbed off him, and though Owen wanted him to stay, he also needed to get clean. He couldn’t make his body move. He’d planned to be at least upright by the time Evan returned, but he’d barely moved his pinkie finger. Evan placed a straw at hislips, and sweet, tart orange juice flooded his mouth. He drank as if he’d been in a desert for the past two weeks. The effort that took wiped him out again, and his head thumped back to the pillow. Evan wiped a cloth over his body, and it felt divine. He rolled his head to the side when the bed dipped and Evan stretched out beside him. Evan threaded their fingers together, and Owen smiled again.

“How are you feeling?” Evan asked.

“Like I won’t be able to move for a few days.”

“Well,” Evan said, “sorry to burst your bubble, but you have to work tomorrow.”

Owen gasped, over-exaggerating. “It’s my birthday! Stop being so unkind!”

Evan chuckled. “I apologise. You don’t have to go to work tomorrow. I was lying.”

Owen laughed and finally gathered the energy to roll to his side, snuggling up against Evan. “Thank you,” he murmured.

“For what?”

Owen shifted his head so he could look at him. “For knowing what I need and want without having to ask and for giving it to me.”

Evan brushed their lips together. “I’ll always give you what you need.”

“I know. And that’s just one reason I love you.”

Evan grinned. “And what are the others?”

“Ah, you’ll have to wait and find out.”

“Find out when?”

Owen smirked. “As we work our way through our years together.” He studied every inch of Evan’s face, finally acknowledging that there were more lines on his face. A reminder they were getting older. But never too old for love.

“I’ll gladly wait for that.”

Owen snuggled into Evan’s embrace, closing his eyes. He was wrung out, but he didn’t want to fall asleep yet. He’d already wasted too many hours by sleeping late that morning.

“What do you want to do for dinner?” Evan said, proving he was a mind reader.

“Hmm. I don’t know what I fancy.”

Evan swung his legs over the bed, leaving Owen colder than he was. “We’ll order in. Curry? Pizza? Chinese?”

“Ooh, Chinese sounds good.”

“Done. I’ll order it now. Come on out whenever you’re ready.”

Evan disappeared, clad in only his boxers, and Owen rolled to his back, staring at the ceiling, unable to stop his stupid grin.

While he lay there, he heard music and singing, enough that he wanted to know what Evan was listening to, so he reluctantly dressed in joggers and a T-shirt and headed to the living room. Evan sat on the sofa, looking at his phone.

“What’s that?” Owen asked.

Evan turned a bright smile to him and patted the seat next to him. Instead, Owen climbed into his lap. Evan chuckled and pressed play. It took Owen a minute to realise it was him on stage at the karaoke bar the previous night.

“Oh, my god. I can’t believe you recorded that, you ass!” He backhanded his chest. “Delete it. Right now!”

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