Page 37 of Regret Me Not
Oh hells. Oh God, oh hells, oh damn.
Hal, a week and a half isn’t going to be enough.
THE NEXTmorning, Hal really did double down on the workout to make up for their laziness the night before. Pierce went along with it—well, he grumbled about slave drivers and torturers and fucking sadists until the older couple who had been thinking about coming to the pool toward the end of the workout looked at each other in alarm and retreated—but by God, he did it.
He still had the idea that maybe he’d be up to using the condoms and the lubricant by the time he left for Sasha’s.
Artificial deadline, you fuckwad.
Yeah, his inner voice was bitter, but it was hard to talk it off the ledge when he was pushing so hard he could barely breathe.
“Okay, slow that down a little,” Hal said. “We’re doing the open-gaited run—not so fast, but active stretching. Make sure you stretch alot, because—” He paused in his torture and grinned lasciviously. “—well, just because.”
Pierce wanted to roll his eyes, but he also wanted to do more of what they’d been doing at night, so he refrained.
The overbrighttingof Hal’s phone cutting through the music it played made them both pause. “Don’t stop!” Hal snapped, and Piercedidmanage not to roll his eyes—but he didn’t stop.
“Hello. Hal Lombard.” Suddenly Hal went very still. Pierce paused to look at him in concern, and Hal didn’t stop him. “Yes? Yes. Negative?”
The slow smile across his face told Pierce the negative was exactly what they’d been hoping for. He caught Hal’s eyes and smiled.
“Thank you. Yes—happy holidays to you too.”
He hit End Call and the music resumed, but Pierce didn’t head toward the other side of the pool. “Negative?” he asked softly.
Hal bit his lip and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Good.”
Hal frowned. “Youneed to get moving again or you’re going to cramp like a guy kidnapped in the trunk of a car. Now go!”
“Sadist.”
“Whatever. Do you want a rubdown in the hot tub?”
Yes. I want a rubdown in the hot tub, and in the bed, and all over my body.
“Maybe.”
“Then move your ass, Pierce—thataboy!”
Pierce finished his workout with a minimum of fuss. He’d seen the soft smile, the pleased relief. He’d been a part of that.
He’d be a part of the celebration too.
THAT NIGHTPierce wrapped presents while Hal finished the Lego Christmas tree.
“Do you want me to wrap your bear?” Pierce asked, just to make sure.
“It’s the only thing I’m going to have to open,” Hal told him without self-pity. “Of course.”
“Okay, then. Just remember the Legos are yours too.”
Hal grinned at him with the glee of a five-year-old. “Yeah?”
“Of course they are!” Pierce grinned back. He would have to give Hal Legos for Christmas every year.
Shit. Crap. Whatever.
