When Etienne woke, Adam was sitting up in bed, a box of strawberry glazed donuts in his lap, smiling at him, his eyes fixed on Etienne’s face.
Etienne rolled to his feet so fast he nearly fell.
“You brought me donuts,” Adam said.
“Had to think of some way to make sure you came back to me,” Etienne said, matching his smile.
Adam hiccuped and wiped his face, then held out his arms. The donuts got pushed to the side, unheeded, as Etienne crawled into the bed to kiss away the tear tracks on Adam’s cheeks.
“Can you see me, baby?” he whispered.
Adam nodded, arms around Etienne’s neck. “You’re blurry. It’s—I can’t focus. But I can see you. I can—I missed your face so much.” He ducked his head, burying his face in Etienne’s shoulder, and Etienne held him tight.
Epilogue
Adam woke up early and rolled out of bed silently so as not to wake Etienne. He used the bathroom, then tiptoed back to the bed. Etienne stirred when Adam slipped under the covers, one long arm snaking around Adam’s waist.
“Go back to sleep,” Adam whispered.
Etienne opened an eye and looked at him. “Why are you awake?”
A month of his vision returning steadily, details coming more into focus every day, and Adam still wasn’t prepared for the way Etienne took his breath away, sleep-rumpled and languorous as he smiled at him.
He pecked him on the nose. In response, Etienne reached out and pulled Adam on top of him, tugging his head down so their lips could meet, wet and filthy. Adam groaned into it as Etienne’s hands began to roam, slipping under Adam’s soft sleep pants to cup his ass.
“Fuck,” Adam said, breaking away to gasp for air. “It’s been almost a year, why is that still so good?”
Etienne grinned, opened his mouth to answer, and Adam’s phone rang.
Adam moaned, pressing his forehead to Etienne’s chest. “Ignore it.”
“Could be important. It’s pretty early.”
Adam wriggled against Etienne’s hands. “Ignore it.”
Etienne laughed silently and squeezed his ass, then reached out and scooped Adam’s phone off the nightstand.
I hate you, Adam mouthed as Etienne hit Answer.
“Adam Caron’s phone.” He listened and his brows went up. “Yes sir, he’s right here.” He held the phone out to Adam. “It’s Coach Benton.”
“You’re not out of the woods yet, pal,” Adam told him as he put the phone to his ear and rolled off Etienne’s body to sit up. “Coach?”
“Adam, how are you feeling?”
“Good, sir, thank you.”
“How’s your vision?”
“Better every day. The doctor has faith in a 100% recovery.”
“Fantastic news!” Benton said. “I’d like to talk to you today. Can you come in for a meeting?”
Adam sat up straight. “I—yes sir. What time?”
“Make it nine.”
“See you then.” Adam hung up and looked at Etienne, still flat on his back with his hands behind his head.
He raised a brow. “What’d he want?”
“To talk to me. This morning. In—fuck, an hour and a half!” He nearly fell out of bed in his scramble for the bathroom. Halfway there, he spun. “Will you come with me?”
“I can’t be in a confidential meeting between you and the head coach of the Wolverines,” Etienne pointed out, propping himself up on his elbows.
Adam waved that off. “No, I know. But you can wait for me outside. Please?”
Etienne’s face softened. “Yeah, of course I will. Go shower.”
Adam was a bundle of nerves in the car on the way to the stadium. Finally Etienne took his hand.
“Breathe,” he said. “You look nice.”
Adam glanced down at his fawn suit, smoothing his free hand over the lapel. “What do you think he wants to talk to me about?”
“You’re a grown man,” Etienne said. “Use your head and think about it.”
Adam narrowed his eyes at him. “Maybe I want to hear you say it.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t get everything you want,” Etienne countered, and laughed at the scowl on Adam’s face. He pulled him close, tucking him in under his arm. He smelled wonderful, his aftershave piney and sharp, and Adam took a deep breath. “You’re on your way to a full recovery. You’ve been working out with me and getting back in shape all summer. The doctors are all saying that you’ve made incredible strides in healing and your vision will be as good as before—better, even, since the blind spot is gone now. So what do you think he wants to talk to you about?”
Adam groaned. “Okay, don’t say it, I don’t want to jinx it.”
He felt Etienne press a kiss to his hair. “Superstitious idiot.”
“Like you’re any better,” Adam countered, sitting up and poking Etienne in the ribs just to hear him squawk.
He left Etienne in the front office and made his way alone down the halls to the conference rooms. Coach Benton rose and greeted him with a big smile.
“Adam, you look great!”
“Thank you, Coach,” Adam said, shaking his hand. “Grace, you’re here too?”
His agent rose from her seat, smiling at him. “Good to see you looking so well, Adam.”
“Have a seat,” Benton said. “Donut?” He pointed at a box.
Adam groaned. “That’s a very mean question, Coach. I’m trying to get back into skating shape. Donuts aren’t part of that.”
Benton grinned like Adam had passed a test. “Let’s just cut to the chase then, shall we? We want you back, son.”
Adam took a careful breath, relief making his joints weak.
Grace slid a sheaf of papers across the table to him. “Read it over,” she suggested. “It’s a two-year contract and the terms are very generous, in my opinion.”
Adam rifled through the pages. The proposed salary made his eyes widen, but he kept going, reading the fine print and then looking up at Benton, who was waiting patiently.
“You really think I’m worth this?” he asked.
“I think you’re going to be worth a lot more, sooner than you might expect,” Benton said. “But it’s a good starting place. Take some time, think it over. Talk about it with your boyfriend—how’s he doing?”
Adam couldn’t help the smile. “He’s good. I don’t need to—we already talked about it. My options, I mean.” He picked up the pen and signed, his eyes stinging.
“One other thing,” Benton said as Adam put the pen down. “I called a press conference to announce your return, I hope you don’t mind. It’s in fifteen minutes.”
The laugh bubbled up before Adam could stop it. He pressed a hand to his sternum, grinning. “Pretty ballsy of you, Coach.”
Benton inclined his head, eyes gleaming. “I had a hunch.”
An idea occurred to Adam and he hesitated. “Coach, can I—”
Benton made an encouraging noise.