Page 25 of Breakfast Included

ChapterSeven

Tuesday, December 27

Monday was a blur.All Reno could remember about the previous day was that the power had officially come back on, and they no longer needed to rely on the generators. Aside from that, he and Tate hadn’t left the cabin. They hadn’t even gotten dressed until they were hungry enough to leave the bed—and even then, “dressed” simply meant pulling on a pair of briefs while they made breakfast. Eggs and toast also became lunch and dinner because anything else would have meant getting fully dressed and leaving their little love nest. Reno wasn’t having that.

He felt like they were making up for lost time, but he also felt like time was running out. If he could somehow slow time down, pause it for a while, he would, but it felt like snow melting in his palms. Soon, this magical interlude in the Colorado mountains would disappear, only to fade into memory. His need to spend every second with Tate, to explore every single part of his body, grew more desperate with each passing hour.

“I don’t want to do this,” Tate complained, his voice echoing from the bathroom.

Reno laid on the bed, spread-eagle, drenched in sweat, waiting for his breathing and pulse to settle down. This morning’s wake-up sex had been particularly . . . energetic. He’d been smiling, but it slipped at Tate’s reminder that they had to get dressed—for realdressed—and go to the hotel for breakfast today. They’d eaten all the food Tate had brought, and honestly, Reno could do without eggs and toast for the foreseeable future.

“Me neither,” he replied, but his stomach, of course, disagreed.

“I heard that,” Tate teased as he came out of the bathroom with a wet cloth in his hands. He was grinning as he kneeled on the bed and slid the cloth over Reno’s heated body. Reno sighed, his gaze on Tate. How had he gotten so lucky?

“I think I—”love you. Reno’s breath caught. It was true. He couldn’t deny it to himself. He’d been half in love with Tate his whole life. Even through all the years they’d been apart. He’d even written music about his feelings of unrequited love for his brother’s best friend. But now, with Tate right there beside him, it was no longer fantasy. He was in love with Tate, and he couldn’t say the words. Not yet. Not here.

“You think what?” Tate asked. He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

“I think you’ve ruined me,” Reno replied with a grin and a buck of his hips.

Tate laughed, smacked him playfully with the cloth, and stood up. He held his hand out. Reno took it and let Tate pull him up and onto his feet. He let the momentum carry him into Tate so their chests bumped just like they had when they’d gotten caught up in the snowball fight, but this time, he followed through with a kiss. Tate had brushed his teeth because his mouth tasted minty fresh. Which reminded Reno he hadn’t yet.

“You must really like me to let me kiss you with morning breath,” Reno teased.

“My freshness must be canceling out your nasty.” Tate snorted and ducked back, as though anticipating Reno might retaliate.

Reno shook his head and rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky you’re so sexy.”

“I am, right.” Tate winked and then swooped in with a quick kiss on his lips. “Come on. Let’s get that beast in your stomach fed.”

Reno groaned but went through the motions of getting himself presentable for public. He didn’t want to, but he was hungry. And besides, the faster they got the eating done, the faster they could get back in bed.

Except when they entered the hotel lobby a short while later, it was packed. People were in a flurry of motion, and suitcases and bags filled what looked to be every available luggage cart the hotel owned. Foreboding snaked into him. He turned his gaze to Tate, whose eyes were pinched at the edges with concern.

“Hey, Reno,” Sam called out and crossed the lobby toward them, hand in hand with his speed date, who Reno still hadn’t learned the name of. “Great news, isn’t it.”

“Hey, Sam,” Reno greeted, but the apprehension that had been circling his mind notched up a level to dread. “What news? What’s going on?”

“You missed the announcement? The roads are open.”

“Oh.”

“Hey, here’s my number.” Sam reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a card. “Give me a call. Let’s all go for drinks sometime.”

Reno took the card on autopilot and nodded. “I’d like that,” he managed to say through a tight throat.

He watched Sam and his new beau walk away and then turned to meet Tate’s gaze. The light in his eyes didn’t seem as bright as usual, and his expression was solemn. Reno was looking forward to getting back into his studio, but he didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay here with Tate in this little snow globe of perfection for the rest of his life. But he knew wasn’t how life worked. Reality always intruded at some point, and today, it seemed, was that point.

Tate took both his hands in his and laced their fingers. “This doesn’t mean the end, Reno. It’s not like we live on opposite coasts, right?”

Reno nodded, but he had to force a smile he knew Tate wouldn’t believe. They may as well have been thousands of miles apart for all the times they’d run into each other in Boulder.

Exactly zero.

“Let’s have breakfast, and then we can deal with this,” Tate said with annoying reason.

Breakfast was a silent affair though. Tate tried to make small talk a few times, but Reno only replied with one-word answers and monosyllables. Even though Tate assured him they’d figure out a life together beyond The Retreat, trepidation roiled in Reno’s stomach. He knew he was breathing, but it felt as though he was holding his breath at the same time, waiting for a shoe to drop.

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