Chapter 43

Joey

“I pictured this,” I confess as Anthony holds me tighter against his chest.

“Dancing?” he asks as our feet shuffle too slowly compared to the fast-paced song blaring in the club.

“Us being out in public, not giving a damn who sees us.”

“I’m not ashamed of you.” Nudging my shoulder, Anthony urges my head away from his chest. “And I’m sorry if my hang up on what’s happened in the past made you feel that way.”

Sincerity fills his eyes. “I was worried you’d want to keep everything a secret, like you would never want to tell people you were involved with a guy.”

“I don’t have an issue with my sexuality, Joey, but I can’t lie and say that I don’t care about how others respond to it.” I frown, but he holds me tighter. “The eight stitches, a four-inch scar on the back of my head, and hospital bills I’m still paying are a reminder that not everyone is accepting of who I choose to love.”

“Love?” I whisper.

“Yeah, baby, love.”

I smile, but his confession is enough to make me look around to see if anyone is glaring at us and preparing to attack. My parents had been supportive of me when I finally told them I was gay.

Hell, my mother is the one who sat me down and told me I didn’t have to hide who I was for fear they wouldn’t love me. She made me eat a piece of cake and told me gay or not, my muscles weren’t going to waste. Next, I was shoved out of the door with instructions to get a half dozen rose bushes in the ground before the roots dried out.

My dad never really spoke openly about it, but he showed his support in paying for the limo for Seth and me for our senior prom. Announcing that my date to prom was a guy, is also the day I was no longer allowed to have friends stay the night.

That memory, and the fact that this gorgeous man just confessed his love forces a wide smile on my face.

The smile grows even wider when I look in the direction of the banquette in the corner. Cooper, with a smile of his own, lifts his glass tumbler at the sight of Anthony and me holding each other on the dance floor.

I can almost forget about the shit storm that began today. I know it’s not going to end anytime soon, but if Jon can’t be happy because I’m happy, that’s on him.

“Is that okay?” Anthony asks pulling me from my thoughts.

“Are you asking permission to love me?”

His head shakes, the smile I’ve been obsessed with since the first night I laid eyes on him spreads his face enough to make his eyes crinkle in the corners. “There’s no stopping that train.”

“Good thing,” I tell him gripping the back of his shirt and pulling him closer.

“How good?” he teases, leaning closer but not pressing his lips to mine like I’m dying for.

“So good that I don’t have any issue telling you that I love you, too.”

“Yeah,” he pants, the increase in his heart rate evident in his neck. “That’s pretty fucking good.”

Now, without a second to spare, his mouth finds mine. It’s perfect, full of passion, and not an ounce of worry, but when he grips me even harder, the pain of my sunburn can’t be ignored

“Fuck,” I hiss and try to shoulder away from him.

“Baby?” he asks, face dropping like he’s afraid I’m going to tell him I was lying or joking with him.

Trying not to grimace from the fire on my back, I cup his cheek. “I’m burned to a crisp.”

“Is that it?”

Chuckling, I shake my head. “Isn’t that enough? It hurts pretty fucking bad.”

“But you still love me?”

“Yes.” His smile reappears. “But, only if you’re a good boyfriend and make me feel better.”

Stepping closer, I notice that he positions his hands on my hips rather than around my injured back. “You mean mutual blowjobs.”

His eyebrows wiggle up and down suggestively.

“Nice try, but I was thinking more along the lines of aloe vera and soft cuddling.”

“It’ll have to be in your room. Dave has probably puked all over my sheets by now.”

Squishing my nose up, I show my displeasure at the imagery he’s creating.

“My room is fine.”

He stops me before I can turn around and lead the way out of the busy club.

“I’m not jumping up and running out of your room at the crack of dawn.”

“And I’m not hiding us anymore.”

“Really?” Shock marks his tone, and I know he’s both elated and wary.

“Do you love me?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“Tell me the words,” I urge.

“Joseph Snow, I love you.”

The tingle that is always present in his company grows exponentially, landing so low in my gut I have to reconsider his mutual blowjob offer.

“People in love don’t hide in the shadows.”

“They don’t,” he agrees as his head tilts and settles heavier in my palm.

“I want to spend every waking moment with you, and that seriously scares the shit out of me, but hiding is no longer an option.”

“If you want to spend every waking moment with me, you’re going to have to reconsider your hatred for baseball.”

“That’s asking too much.” Playfully, I take a step back with a violent shake of my head. “I take it all back.”

“We’ll compromise,” he offers, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.

“How do you feel about Flip or Flop?” I ask as he guides us out of the club in the direction of my room.

His laugh is a balm to my soul as we make small talk down the long corridor to my room. He holds my hand, not judging me when I press my ear to Andi’s door.

“Anything?” he asks with genuine concern in his voice.

“Nothing,” I mumble when I pull my head away.

“Come on,” he urges with a tug on my arm. “Let’s get you naked and greased up.”

Skin tight with sunburn, it takes longer than it should to shrug out of my shirt. Anthony, always a gentleman, helps me get my jeans off with only one longing glance at my semi-hard cock in my boxers.

“God, I didn’t realize how bad it was.” I wince when he presses a soft kiss to my reddened shoulder.

“You’re going to blister. Do you have anything for the pain?”

“Tylenol,” I mutter after sitting on the coffee table to make it easier for him to reach all of my back and shoulders.

“That’s not going to be strong enough,” he says as the first glob of soothing aloe hits my skin.

“It has to be.” I moan in delight when he spreads the cool gel all over my back.

“I hope you don’t have a problem sleeping on your stomach,” he whispers close enough to my ear that I can feel his breath on my jaw.

“Sleep on my back and hurt from the sunburn or sleep on my stomach with a raging hard-on.” I chuckle. “Decisions, decisions.”

“I know you shot down the mutual blowjob idea, but I can make an exception.”

Shaking my head at his ridiculousness, I slouch forward even more when he begins to run the aloe on my lower back.

“What?” I ask. “Are you offering to go without?”

“You can just owe me one.”

Laughter is in his voice, but his hands remain steady and soft on my injured skin.

“I mean,” he continues. “I’m still going to jack off.”

“Of course you will.” I try to laugh, but I’m so fucking tired, the action comes out as more of a sputter from lips.

“Up you go,” he urges when my entire back is covered.

“You’ll stay with me even though you can’t hold me?”

“Nothing could force me away from you right now,” he confides. “Get comfortable, and we can hold hands.”

“I’ve got a better idea. Climb on the bed, and I’ll see if I can manage to lie on your chest.”

He looks from me to the bed and back to me again.

“You sure?”

“Won’t know until we try.”

He strips out of his clothes, and I don’t know if he’s purposely trying to turn me on, but with every piece he tosses to the floor my cock thickens. Even with eyes tired and scratchy from being in the sun so long, I’m turned on, questioning if that blowjob he offered is a viable idea. Exhaustion wins out, and after he settles on the bed and I position myself half on his chest and half on the bed, I’m asleep before I can even whisper goodnight, so I’m not one hundred percent sure if he whispered I love you out loud or if it was a part of my dream.