But once I walked inside the house, I found Reed curled up on the couch crying.
“Reed?” Alarmed, I rushed over and dropped down in front of him. “What’s wrong?”
He blew his nose on a tissue and wiped at his eyes. “My heart’s been torn from my chest, that’s what’s wrong.”
“What?” Fuck, did I do something to upset him? “Baby, talk to me.”
Reed looked at me, surprise washing across his face. “You’re calling me baby now? You sap.” He threw his arms around my neck and laid his head on my shoulder. Tears wet my shirt. “He left for war, Daniel. I think he’s going to die.”
What the fuck?
“Who?” I asked, petting his hair. He started to cry again.
“The character in my book,” he said through small sobs.
That’s when my gaze landed on the Kindle beside him. A sharp laugh left me as everything clicked in my head. He was reading one of his gay romances.
“Stop laughing at me,” Reed whined, half-heartedly pushing at my chest. “It’s not funny. I think I’m dying. This is why I avoid sad books. I don’t like to cry.”
“It’s not real.” I smoothed a hand up and down his spine to comfort him.
“It is to me,” he said, leaning his head against mine. “They might be fictional, but I feel them so deeply. I’m happy when they’re happy, and I cry when they cry. My heart hurts so bad, but I have to keep reading. I need to know what happens.”
I stood up and started going down the hall.
“Daniel?” Reed asked, turning to look at me over the back of the couch, his tearstained cheeks rosy and his eyes glistening with fresh tears.
“Give me a second,” I said, then continued toward my study.
A large oak desk sat in front of the panel of windows, a recliner sat in the corner, and there were built-in bookshelves along one wall. I went over and grabbed the book I’d started reading a few weeks ago that I hadn’t had time to finish yet. Then I went back into the living room, sitting beside him.
“You’re going to read with me?” he asked.
I slipped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him against me before opening my book to the marked page. He smiled before picking up his Kindle. When he started sniffling again several minutes later, I kissed the side of his head. He softly whimpered and snuggled in closer to me. I glanced over at his screen, and before too long, I realized I hadn’t looked away. I’d been reading along with him.
I sharply inhaled when Michael, the soldier, dodged a grenade.
“Wait, are you reading over my shoulder?” Reed asked.
I cleared my throat and went back to my book, flipping the page.
“I don’t mind if you read along,” he said, lightly bumping my chest “Feel my pain and suffer along with me.”
I chuckled and put my book aside. We read for another hour, and after so much angst and heartache, the characters ended up happy and together. Michael returned home safely, and the two men got married under the oak tree where they’d carved their names when they were teenagers.
“Thank god,” Reed said, turning off his Kindle and setting it on the coffee table. “If that book ended with Michael dying, I was gonna riot. What did you think?” He bit down on his bottom lip and smiled. “Did I convert you to the romance world?”
“Definitely not,” I said before standing from the couch.
“I think you’re a big fat liar.” Reed hopped up and threw his arms around me from behind. “I saw that tear in your eye when they got married. You’re a sap just like me. Admit it.”
“I’ll do no such thing.” I turned in his arms and stared down into his hazel eyes. An overwhelming urge to kiss him struck me square in the chest, and I captured his mouth in a hard kiss.
Reed moaned and looped his arms around my neck as I picked him up and tossed him back on the couch. I pulled the string on his robe and palmed the sensitive skin of his belly, needing to touch him in every way possible.
That damn book had struck a chord in my heart. I wanted to make love to him. I needed to feel that closeness.
I guess I was a sap after all.
Later that night, we lay in bed, my arm around him and his across my stomach. He kissed my chest, and I pressed my face into his soft hair. His phone kept lighting up with notifications. Each time the screen lit up in the dark room, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was some other guy texting him.
What’s wrong with me?
I wasn’t usually such a paranoid person. However, after being cheated on right before my wedding, it was difficult not to let my mind go there with Reed. Was it cheating, though, if we hadn’t made anything official?
“What are you thinking about?” Reed asked, resting his chin on my chest. He traced circles over my heart with his fingertip.
It was too soon to say the things on my mind. Yet, I’d go crazy if I didn’t.
“Are you seeing anyone else?” I stared at the ceiling as I asked the question, too nervous to look at him.
“Hooking up, you mean?”
I nodded.
“No.” Reed grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. “It’s only you, Daniel. I promise.” Then his grip loosened, and even in the dark room, I saw the way his eyes dimmed a little. “Are you hooking up with anyone else?”
“Absolutely not.” I pushed him to his back and hovered over him. “You’re all I want.”
“You’re all I want too,” he whispered, reaching up to run a finger along my jaw. “I know we have to keep things secret between us… but this, with you, is important to me. I wouldn’t have almost quit my job to be with you if all I wanted was your dick.”
“So we’re exclusive?” I asked.
“We better be.” Reed wrapped his hand around my throat and leaned up to graze his teeth across my earlobe. “I’m not good at sharing.”
Chills formed on my skin, and I tilted my head back. He nipped at my ear before kissing down my neck.
“Fuck me, Daniel,” Reed said, shoving a hand between our bodies and gripping my dick.
I shifted over and settled between his legs, our lips meeting softly. Even though we’d had sex hours ago, my body couldn’t get enough of him. My heart couldn’t either.
With a condom in place and lube added to make the glide easier, I pushed into him. He sighed and grazed his nails down my back, a soft smile on his beautifully curved lips.
Harder questions would need to be asked later when things got even more serious between us. And even harder decisions would have to be made. But for now?
I let myself get lost in him.
Chapter Fifteen
Reed
“It’s bullshit that I have to share my birthday with a stupid groundhog,” I said, standing in front of the bedroom TV with a towel around my hips and watching the news where they were talking about whether the groundhog would see its shadow that day or not. “Six more weeks of winter or an early spring? Let this fuzzy little creature tell you.”
Daniel was straightening his tie in the mirror and chuckled. “I’m sure the groundhog is honored to share the day with you.” He walked over and slid his hands along my shoulders before leaning in and kissing my cheek. “Happy Birthday.”