Page 48 of The Way Home
I chuckled softly. “So what am I?”
“You’re… mine,” he said through a yawn.
“God, I fucking love science.” I bent over him and whispered, “And you know what?”
Riley pushed through his drowsiness and popped his eyes back open. “What?”
I held his cheek and hovered over him. “I fucking love you, too.”
A beautiful smile stretched across his face. “I love you, too, Jem. I never stopped. It’s different now, though. Bigger.”
It was. The love I had for him as a kid wasn’t even a fraction of what I felt for him now. “Mmhm. I love you bigger, Ri.”
He let out a contented sigh and let his eyes close, looking relaxed and happy, and so beautiful. I was in complete awe. I brushed a light kiss on his forehead and laid my head next to his.
Riley
The warmth of the body next to mine disappeared. I felt a soft kiss on my open lips and heard a voice talking to me somewhere in the distance. It was his voice, and the tone had been gentle, nothing that sparked any urgency in me, so I let myself stay, perfectly content and happy, floating in this serene space.
I didn’t have need for any facts or compounds, or anything concrete, my mind quieter than it had been since I could remember. Peace. Peace didn’t come easy to an overactive mind like mine, but right now it enveloped me, and I welcomed it.
The peace I was wrapped in was broken by a clang somewhere outside of my floaty, happy bubble. I blinked my eyes open, trying to adjust to the reality of the environment around me.What I saw made that peace I felt in my sleep return, filling the room and enveloping me all the same.
The corners of my lips tugged up as I watched Jeremy come through the door wearing nothing but an apron. He carried two plates and brought them over, handing one to me.
“What’s this?”
“Dinner in bed. Chicken, salad, and veggies sauteed in…coconut oil.” Jeremy waggled his brows as he produced a fork and a knife from the apron pocket, making me laugh as my cheeks flushed at the visual of him grabbing the jar during our frenzied kitchen sex.
“Since it’syouwe’re celebrating, I probably should have been the one to do the cooking.”
Jeremy set his plate on the side table, put his pillow against the headboard, and sat beside me. The apron on his naked, muscled body—in bed—it was everything I didn’t know I needed.Locking this incredibly sexy and endearing image of him away for a rainy day.
“You looked too beautiful to wake. Besides, I don’t mind, I like cooking.” From his other apron pocket, he produced two beer bottles and handed me one.
“You are magical,” I snorted, twisting the cap off.
“Magic is just science you haven’t figured out yet,” Jeremy replied with a wink.
I grinned wide and rolled my eyes, loving the sound of his laugh that came after. “Well, congratulations, Coach Rodriguez. I am so very proud of you.”
He tapped his bottle to mine. “Thank you. I am, too. It’s just so unreal.”
“When do you start?”
“Two weeks. I told them I would need time to move. I guess I hadn’t really thought it out that far, like all the logistics if I got it. I think a part of me wanted to have a backup plan in case it didn’tpan out. But it did, and now I have to go pack up my apartment and figure out what to do with everything.” He looked around the room, eyes growing watery. “It looks like I’m moving home for good.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“It feels… wonderful. I always loved the cabin. Some of my best memories are here. Old memories and new ones.” Jeremy’s eyes flicked to mine, and he gave me a smile that warmed me to my soul.
“It was difficult to be here after things ended between us. I never felt like I could settle in. It was why I was so anxious to get out and go away to college. I haven’t had a home for a long time. Even as a kid. Things were rough, and our house wasn’t the refuge I needed it to be. When Mom and I moved to Minnesota, we lived in a hotel until she met Javi. I’ve been bouncing from place to place ever since college and have never felt a connection to an apartment or room I rented. Yes, this place is nostalgic, and it’s been nice to visit for holidays, but it wasn’t something that was mine. Now… I feel like I finally found my way home. I look around this cabin, and I see you in it, and it fills me with this sense of belonging and rightness.”
Cautious of the plate I was balancing, Jeremy hugged me tight. “It feels right to have you here, too. I can’t say how grateful I am to have you back. You’ll stay, right? You’ll move in with me?”
Funny, getting asked to move into a home we once shared as brothers, only now he was my lover? Partner? Boyfriend? I didn’t know what to call him, none of the words felt big enough.Hewas my home, not the cabin. Now that we found our path, I couldn’t imagine being without him.
“Yes. Of course. The only thing is… I’m not sure what opportunities there might be for someone with a degree in chemistry. I’d be a terrible house-husband. I’m not very good atcleaning, and grilled cheese is about the extent of my cooking ability.”
