Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 101335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Another huge revelation from last night, sober sex was great sex! Okay, well perhaps it had nothing to do with sobriety and everything to do with Jace. Sex with Jace always amazed, but last night just topped every fantasy he’d ever had. Definitely the best sex of his life. Colt never wanted to leave Jace’s side again. He would prove himself, show Jace he meant every word he said. He’d work hard to be a man fit to walk beside Jace. Someone Jace would be proud to have next to him. Colt wanted to be a proper partner in every sense of the word. Forever and always, and those thoughts had Colt grinning ear to ear.
Jace hadn’t made him beg. Exactly a Jace thing to do.
Colt drove the fifteen minutes home and pulled to the front of the house. Funny how he hadn’t noticed how run-down the place looked last night or this morning. The porch appeared new. There were stacks of lumber and shingles on the side of the house. Large buckets of paint sat right beside the steps leading up to the front door. Colt had missed most of those last night. He wondered if Jace hired the work out or planned on doing it himself.
After parking his car, he grabbed the groceries from the back and juggled them all in his hands. Colt hated unloading groceries, always had. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t manage the cases of protein drinks and decided he’d have to make a second trip after all. Colt banged through the front door and turned to the kitchen right as Jace came through the other side door. His hair was a mess. He wore his swim trunks from last night, pulled down low, and he looked hungover. To Colt, Jace was about the best looking man he’d ever laid eyes on, and he couldn’t contain the grin he felt plastered back on his face.
“Oh, I wanted to have breakfast ready—” Colt started to say as Jace stopped in midstride, looking Colt over.
“You’re really here,” Jace said, in the same moment, and Colt chuckled.
“You don’t normally drink very much do you?” Jace stood there as Colt managed to get the groceries to a random counter before dropping them on top. He kept his eyes on Jace, anxious now. Would Jace still want him this morning? How had the thought never occurred to him in all the planning he had just done?
“No, not at all. I won’t be doing it again either.” Jace bypassed Colt and went straight for a can of guava juice in the refrigerator. Colt spotted the bottle of white willow bark in Jace’s hand and lifted a brow.
“Headache,” Jace mumbled, popping open the cap. Colt got it. He knew all too well exactly how Jace’s body felt right now. He turned, resting his weight against the counter, pushed his sunglasses up on his head, and crossed his arms over his chest.
“You can change your mind about me being here,” Colt finally said. He tried to keep his face from giving away his true feelings, terrified of what Jace might say now that he’d sobered up. As he waited, his heart pounded so hard in his chest he wasn’t sure he would be able to hear the response.
“My ass is a little sore.” Jace gave him a grin and leaned back against the counter, popping the pills in his mouth. He swallowed them down in one gulp. Colt barked out a laugh. The words calmed him in the way Jace always seemed to do.
“I wanted to make you breakfast in bed. I know it’s kind of lame, but it’s what I wanted to do. I’m sorry I didn’t get back here quick enough to surprise you.” Colt pushed himself off the counter, and stepped forward, moving closer to Jace. He stopped as he got within a foot of him.
“We’re gonna need to hit the high points again. Why you’re here, what happened, how long you’re going to stay. I think I got it down, but I’m not a hundred percent sure.”
“All right, whatever you need.” Colt stood there in front of Jace, concentrating on not reaching out to touch him. Jace needed to make their next move on his own.
“Okay, I’m going back to bed. My head’s killing me.” Jace left the kitchen without touching him, but he also hadn’t kicked him out either. That had to be a good sign, right?
“A Bloody Mary would help that hangover.” That earned him a loud groan and Colt laughed.
“You don’t have to make me breakfast.”
“It’ll help. And I want to,” Colt yelled back. He still stood rooted in the same spot in the kitchen. Jace didn’t say anything more, but he heard the mattress strain as Jace lay down. Okay, he wasn’t kicked out. Things were still good. After Colt put the groceries away, he started preparing their breakfast. Solid game plan—break! Colt clapped his hands and started to work.
Chapter 22
Jace laid there, watching the ceiling fan rotate, waiting for the white willow bark to work. He didn’t move a muscle. His body hurt, his head was killing him, and he still had cotton mouth even though he’d drunk two big glasses of water and downed the full can of guava juice. Please God, let the pills kick in soon.
He found if he didn’t move, his head wouldn’t throb, and he could think. So he was sprawled across the bed, not moving a muscle, listening to Colt banging pots and pans around in his kitchen. The kitchen of the house he’d just bought. The one he and Colt had vacationed in ten years ago. What the fuck?
The smell of bacon frying hit Jace and his stomach rolled. Colt didn’t know he was a vegetarian. Of course he didn’t know. How would he know something like that? And why was that the first question Jace thought of lying here in this bed? Better questions were like, what happened to make Colt leave his wedding? Why had he thought to come here? Did Colt come here to be with him or was it an accident? Nostalgia of old times and Jace just happened to be here.