Page 38 of Wrapped Up In You
“Yeah, Hay. It was damn good.”
“Thank fuck.”
The grin he shot my way could have lit up half the county, and I’d never been happier.
21
JONATHAN
December 27
Morning brought with it a sense of impending doom. As if sensing our mood, thick clouds had rolled in, hanging heavy and blocking out the sun. A part of me hoped for another snowstorm, an excuse to hide away just a little longer, but I knew we needed to get back to reality eventuality. Better to know now if this thing between us could withstand the stresses of the real world.
But damn, I wanted to put it off just a little longer.
We took a leisurely shower, soaping each other up and jacking each other off until we were painting each other’s bellies with our cum while the water ran cold. Packing didn’t take long, so before we knew it, we were standing outside his car, and I was trying to figure out what to say. How did I tell Hayden that he’d fundamentally changed the course of my life in just a few days? That was crazy, right?
But I knew it was the truth. Even if things didn’t work out between us in the long-term, I knew the trajectory of my life would be forever changed. Hayden had shown me that people weren’t always who they appeared to be on the surface. That snap judgments said more about the observer than the person being judged. And the fact that I’d almost missed out on the opportunity to truly get to know him, simply because I’d been so sure my worldview was the only one that was acceptable, made me wonder what else—who else—I’d been closed off to.
He’d taught me to laugh.
And I thought, maybe, he’d shown me what it felt like to fall in love.
I pressed my forehead to his, eyes closed, breathing him in as if I could somehow grab his essence and wrap myself in it, even after he was gone.
Good God, he’d turned me into a sap.
“I’m gonna miss you.” His voice was almost a whisper.
I smiled. Maybe I wasn’t the only sap here.
“It’s not goodbye forever. I’ll be back in the city later tonight. I just have to clean up the cabin and lock everything up.” I nuzzled his nose. “You want to come to my place after your shift?”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll be at work pretty late and you have to be up early.” I could hear the pout in his voice, even with my eyes closed. A part of me was disappointed, but his reasoning made sense. It was sensible. “With you working during the day and most of my shifts being at night, it already feels like we’re never going to see each other.”
I tipped his chin up, forcing him to look at me. He’d shaved this morning, his boss preferring the clean-shaven look for his servers, and I missed the feel of stubble against my fingers. “We’ll work it out. I’ll come sit in your section, and you can take me out to lunch, and we’ll find other moments in between. And maybe it doesn’t work tonight, but there will be other nights…nights I can have my way with you.” I waggled my eyebrows comically, something I didn’t think I’d ever done in my life, but I wanted to make him smile. I was rewarded with a small chuckle. “I’m in this with you. I mean it, Hay. I’m willing to work for it. You’re worth it.”
He launched himself at me, wrapping his arms around me in a bear hug. I didn’t think anyone had ever squeezed me so tight. “I’m so glad your wife divorced you, and you ended up here drinking away your holiday.”
I barked out a laugh. God, he was ridiculous. “I’m glad you got in a fight with your dad and ran away to the cabin and got snowed in with me.”
We held each other for a long moment before he finally pulled away. “I better get going. If I don’t rip off the Band-Aid, I’m never going to leave.”
I pressed a quick kiss to his lips but pulled away before it could get out of hand. He opened the car door and slipped into the driver’s seat, shutting the door behind him. Hayden looked like he was trying to decide whether to reopen the door and say something, but he must have decided against it because he gave me a small wave and then backed out of the driveway. Before I knew it, his car was fading away in the distance.
* * *
The cabin felt cold and empty without him as if he’d taken all of his warmth with him. I wandered aimlessly, trying to decide what to do with myself. I walked back to the bedroom and stripped the bed, throwing a load of linens and towels into the washing machine. Next, I moved into the kitchen, going through cabinets and packing the food that could be taken back and tossing the stuff that wasn’t worth keeping.
By late afternoon, I stood in the empty cabin, taking final inventory in preparation for loading my car. I’d finished the laundry, cleaned out the fridge, and the entire place smelled like lemon and bleach. I walked back into the bedroom, tucked my phone charger into my duffel, and took one last look around.
Hayden had given life to this cabin, filling it with laughter, music, and his own brand of relentless energy, in a way it hadn’t seen since Grandpa Sam had been alive. God, Grandpa would have loved Hayden. The two of them would have been thick as thieves.
Shaking my head at the way I was mooning over my boyfriend like a lovesick teenager, I hefted my duffel onto my shoulder and moved into the living room, turning off the light behind me. It was as I was putting on my coat that I spotted it. Hayden’s guitar was resting against the wall right by the door. It had been partially hidden by my coat so I hadn’t noticed it.
It felt like a sign. With our conflicting schedules, we’d decided we’d go to our separate houses in the city tonight, but that felt a little bit like cutting off my nose to spite my face. I wanted to see him, didn’t I? I was a grown-ass adult and if I wanted to stay up late to see my boyfriend, who was going to stop me?
I picked up the guitar and my duffel and headed out to my car, making sure to secure the cabin behind me. I’d just take the guitar over to Hayden’s and wait for him to get off work. Worst case, he’d take the guitar, and I’d head home. Best case, he’d let me stay.
