“I love waking up next to you,” I tell him. “Even if it is on a freezing rooftop.”
“Same.”
He kisses me again, and I pull him in even closer, my leg wrapping around his waist in an effort to keep him as tight against me as possible. Not that he seems to be in any kind of rush to leave me right now.
“We need to talk,” he murmurs as we finally break apart.
“We already did talk,” I point out. “We need to do some other things…” I give a suggestive waggle of my brows.
He offers a sexy grin. “Really? Last night wasn’t enough for you? Your ass must be pretty tender right now…”
Well, that’s definitely true. Between the stinging in my cheeks and the throbbing in my hole, my ass feels kind of on fire from last night’s activities…but in the best possible way. I offer Will an arched brow. “Okay, first of all, I will never get enough of you. And secondly, you should know by now that pain is definitely not a deterrent for me.”
“Well, as hot as that statement is, it doesn’t change the fact that we need to talk…”
I let out a resigned sigh. He’s right. We do. We might have decided we don’t want to be without each other last night, but there’s still a lot of logistical shit that hasn’t gone away over the past week. “Okay. First talking, then more sex.”
He grins at me. “Deal.” The smile slips from his face after a moment, though, as he stares into my eyes with a kind of sad, regretful expression. He lifts a hand to rub over my cheek before leaning forward to press a feather-light kiss to my lips. “I’m sorry,” he whispers.
My brows knit together in confusion. “What do you have to be sorry for? I’m the one who screwed up.”
“For the way you were outed. It wasn’t my doing but I’m still sorry about it—you didn’t deserve that, Spence. For the past week, as mad and hurt as I was, I still couldn’t stop worrying about you and hoping you were okay and wanting to strangle the person who did it…” The last statement is said with an uncharacteristically bitter twist to his lips.
Jesus. As if I didn’t already love him enough, he just goes and makes my heart explode with words like this.
I touch my forehead to his and just take a moment to breathe him in. “I’m fine,” I assure him. “You don’t have to worry, I’m okay.”
“How did it go…with everyone? Your family?”
I let out a soft sigh. “I think Emily was a little hurt and confused about me not telling her sooner, but she was more concerned about how I was doing to really make anything of it. And she really doesn’t hold onto things for long so I’m lucky there.”
“And what about your dad?”
A bitter laugh bubbles out of me as I think about the conversation I had with my father during the week. “He wasn’t as angry as I thought he’d be, but honestly what he said wasn’t much of an improvement…”
“What did he say?”
“Well, first of all, he has absolutely no concept of the fact that being bi is not the same as being gay. But that’s not really the issue. He told me if I could just keep my baser proclivities under wraps from now on and be a nice, wholesome gay it would be good for the company’s image. He actually used the word woke—and he obviously has no idea what that means.”
I’m surprised when Will starts shaking with laughter, his mouth spread into a wild grin. At my raised brows, he covers the smile with his hand and manages to get himself under control. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh at that. It’s just so ridiculous! I mean, what is he expecting you to do? Start posing for the cover of leather magazines? Film some hardcore porn? It’s not like it was your choice for those details to come out.”
I let out a wry chuckle. “That’s exactly what I said.”
He wraps his hand around my neck and leans in to press his lips to mine, before pulling back and eyeing me again, this time with a glint of apprehension in his sparkling blue eyes. “Okay, so you’re officially out? What does that mean for us going forward?”
I offer a gentle smile and rub my hand over his back. “I hope it means we can start dating properly, like a regular couple…if that’s what you want?”
“It is…but what about work?”
I draw in a steadying breath. “I actually spoke to HR about the situation last Monday. Before…everything. I didn’t mention you by name because I wasn’t sure how you felt about disclosing it. They said they’d need to speak to you to make sure everything is ‘above board’.”
He nods. “Okay, I can do that.”
“I also think it would be better—just as far as outside perception goes—if you didn’t work directly under me.”
“That makes sense,” he agrees. “So, I should stay with Emily?”
“Either that, or you could take a part-time role somewhere else in the company? It’d give you more time to work on your software.” I know he’s put his true passion on the back burner for the last several months, and for good reason, but I’m determined to make sure he doesn’t let it linger for too much longer.
Will grins. “Let’s keep that option in the back pocket for now.”
“So, is the talking over?” I ask, returning his smile.
“Yeah, I think the talking’s over.”
“Good, ‘cause I know a way we can stay nice and warm.” I roll over so I’m straddling him and crash my lips down against his.
* * *
The sun is well and truly up by the time we’re dressed and climbing back down the fire escape. We creep through the apartment so as not to wake Claire, but when we reach the kitchen we realize we needn’t have bothered.
“Good morning, boys!” She says brightly from behind the counter, where she’s using her good arm to whisk what I think might be some eggs. Her coordination with that arm is getting so much better every time I see her.
“Mom, hey, what are you doing up? It’s still early…” Will says a little haltingly as he walks slowly toward the kitchen.
“Well, I was awake and I decided to get started on my day,” Claire says simply. “And I’m glad to see you two have made up.”
Will stops in his tracks, his brows shooting up. “You knew?”
Claire merely shrugs. “Of course I knew, honey, I’m your mother. Also, you were quite obvious.”
Will turns his head to catch my eye, his expression full of alarm. All I can do is laugh, though. Oh well, one less person to tell…
When I wake on Sunday morning, I’m disappointed to find the space in the bed next to me is empty. I can hear the shower in my ensuite running so I know Will hasn’t gone far, but even so, I’d have liked the opportunity to cuddle for a while before starting the day.
Deciding not to waste an opportunity, I slide out of bed and pad across the room toward the bathroom. I step into the shower behind Will, wrapping my arms around him and pressing a kiss to the side of his neck. “Morning.”
He sinks back against my chest, letting out a soft hum. “Morning.”