Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 199(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 199(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
“Thank you,” Ehren said with only a tiny hint of a smile.
“I’m sorry. So sorry.”
Ehren lifted his fingers, holding them just an inch from Stephen’s lips, halting his apologies. “Stop it, Stephen. You don’t have to apologize anymore. You’re forgiven.”
“Can I please kiss you, then?” The question had crawled fractured and wounded from his heart before he could catch it, but it was worth it when Ehren lifted glistening eyes to him.
“God, yes, please.”
Stephen pulled him in, their chests crashing together. The first touch of Ehren’s lips had him nearly weeping with relief. The smell, taste, and tantalizing sweep of his tongue was like coming home. No one had ever felt so good in his arms. No one had kissed him with such passion and abandon. Ehren made him feel powerful and so very needed.
The kiss on a public sidewalk might have gone on a touch too long, but Stephen was only drawn from his almost drugged stupor by some asshole slinging a homophobic slur in their direction. But as Stephen broke off the kiss to look up, a woman’s angry voice was shouting back, questioning the man’s intelligence and parentage in colorful terms.
Ehren’s shoulders shook and when he lifted his head, he flashed Stephen the most beautiful smile. “There are times I really like this city.”
Yeah, Denver was pretty nice, and people were making positive steps forward slowly but surely.
“Shall we go in?”
“Yes,” Ehren moaned. “For the first time all week, I’m starving.”
He could definitely agree with that. After a short wait in the lobby, they were shown to a nice booth. Stephen sort of wished they could comfortably sit next to each other so he could continue touching Ehren, but the smart man across from him solved that problem by taking his hand while they perused the menu.
When the server had taken their orders, Stephen relaxed a little, taking a moment to actually inspect Ehren’s face. He appeared tired, worn to the bone.
“I have a confession,” Ehren began suddenly before Stephen could even ask about his well-being. “I kind of cyberstalked you.”
Stephen opened his mouth and then closed it again. That couldn’t have been the easiest of tasks since his Facebook account was locked down and limited to a group of only twenty friends. He almost never posted there. It was simply a place to keep up with his friends’ lives.
“After everything blew up, I started wondering…if maybe you were linked to the robbery and stalking me,” Ehren admitted, wincing. “Or maybe trying to get close to me so you could find whatever the robber was searching for.”
“What?” Stephen gasped. For a second he couldn’t even breathe. Ehren had thought him linked to that nightmare?
“Try to see it from my point of view,” Ehren pressed on quickly. “You sweep in when my ex stands me up, this shining white knight I know nothing about but instantly has my best interests in mind. If you know where I am, your partner can safely search my house.”
Stephen sat back, his mouth hanging open and eyes wide as he replayed everything that had happened last weekend. It did make sense in an evil, twisted sort of way. Stephen’s actions had given him the perfect opportunity to be close to Ehren and win his trust. It was horrible, but in a scary logic, it fit.
“That’s terrifying,” Stephen said on an exhale and then stared at Ehren, his hand tightening around Ehren’s. “But you’re here. I’m assuming you don’t think that of me.”
A shaky laugh escape Ehren and he shook his head. “No. Definitely not. I tried searching for you on social media, but you have that shit locked up tight.” His smile turned a little mischievous. “But some of your friends don’t. Google Image Search is pretty fabulous, and I might have sort of accidentally run into one of your friends.”
“Who?”
“Chris Pettit.”
“Oh Lord,” Stephen muttered and scrubbed his free hand over his face. Ehren had chosen well. Chris was a fucking chatty Cathy. He loved to talk and would have handed Ehren the keys to the kingdom after a beer or two.
“He spoke highly of you. I told him that we met recently, and that I was thinking of asking you out to dinner.” Ehren’s grin turned into a smirk. “You owe him. He spent thirty minutes singing your praises.”
Yes, Chris was now getting expensive whiskey for Christmas. Or maybe season tickets to the Avalanche’s next hockey season.
“So, Chris convinced you?”
“He convinced me to ask the sweetest, most caring and compassionate man out to dinner.” Ehren looked at the table and shrugged. “But since I invaded your privacy, I thought I should come clean too. It’s only fair. I’m sorry—”
“Don’t. You were entirely justified—and very creative. You’ve been through a lot recently, and I haven’t given you a lot of reasons to trust me. But I’m hoping we can fix that.”