Page 69 of The Hang Up

I laughed until his hand snaked between us and palmed my cock. Teasing Joshua had seemed like a good idea at the time, but he wasn’t the only one on edge. “Fuck. Hold on. Wait, Joshua.”

“No more waiting.”

“This isn’t. I wanted—”

“Let me take care of you, sweetheart. Not all the time or even most of the time. But this time.”

His sweet face was right there. I nipped at his jaw, enjoying the feel of stubble. “Okay.” I wasn’t sure I could do this in a kitchen. But then Joshua’s mouth was on mine, coaxing a moan from me, and I no longer cared where we were. As long as he didn’t stop. His hands touched me. Teased me until I was frantic with need. “Joshua.”

“I’ve got you, sweetheart.”

The cold marble of the countertop caught my attention as he stripped off my pants. And then he was touching me again. Stroking my cock with his large hand. And I was lost in him. The feel of his hands. His spicy scent. His sexy growl.

And then I was coming. All over his hand. The countertop. The floor. Not that it mattered. Nothing mattered but him.

He helped me clean up the mess. I grumbled a little, but he laughed. “This is all your fault, you know.”

I give him a mock glare. “My fault?”

“It was your idea to clean up.”

Then Joshua followed through with his promise from before. He carried me into his bedroom and laid me on the bed as if I was something precious. Not breakable. Important. We spent the night exploring each other. It felt new. This time, there was no hiding. No fear of feeling too much because it might vanish. As he sank into my body, he whispered those words again. “I love you, Brock.” And I was overwhelmed with how much I loved him. How lucky I was to get to spend my life with this man.

And getting to say the words that I’d been repeating in my head over and over for years, even when I hadn’t understood what they truly meant. Because now I knew. I understood. “I love you, Joshua.”

Waking up next to Joshua and knowing I’d get to do this every morning made me feel giddy. And then reality reminded me that things weren’t perfect. I still had to go home. And whether Sean was there or not, I had to deal with the fact that my roommate, my best friend, might never forgive me.

Joshua kissed my shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”

I nodded, snuggling into his warmth. I needed to go home sometime. But it could wait a little longer.

When I finally made it to the apartment, Sean wasn’t there. I was relieved and disappointed. There had never been a time when Sean wasn’t in my corner. It was awful, and I hated it.

I made my way to the kitchen—my kitchen—and saw the note on the refrigerator.

Brock, I’m not there yet. But I hope to be soon. This is fucking hard. Also, JSYK, brownies go a long way to ease the pain of betrayal.

He’d added a winky face to his signature.

I laughed until I cried. I slid to the floor and rested my back against the cabinets. Everything was changing. Our friendship would never be the same. But it had already changed when Ben entered the picture, and we’d adapted.

We’d get through this too.

CHAPTER17

Joshua

I tooka step back from the rhino that was snorting and staring me down as if he wanted nothing better than to use my body for charging practice.

“He’s warming up to you.” Sean laughed at my disbelieving look, and some of the tension in my shoulders eased.

It had been a month. An amazing month of being with Brock and not having to hide. I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. But it had also been a month of hell. Hoping my relationship with my son wasn’t destroyed forever. Ben had assured us it would be fine, but I’d been through this before. Sean’s disappointment had felt all too familiar.

When he’d texted and said he wanted to get together and talk, I’d jumped at the chance.

“Why are we at the zoo?” It was a perfect fall day. Cool without being cold. Crisp was how Brock would describe it.

His eyes slid to mine and then back to the rhino. There was a small smile on his face. “I knew you’d ask that. And I had my answer ready. I wanted you to make up for lost time. Reminding you of all those years when you were being a crap father who worked all the time.”

---