Resilience Read online

  Nevvie made a mental note to corner her daughter later in the day and talk to her, alone. “Did you actually see what happened between her and Cole?”

  “No, but there were like thirty people there. Me and Willow were in the living room a lot of the time. Willow knew several of the girls there and was talking to them. I know Zoey went outside at one point, because there were a lot of kids on the deck, and downstairs in the basement because it opens onto the back yard, too, where the lower section of the deck is.

  “Sorry, Mom, but I was talking to my friends. I mean, Greg’s mom and dad were there, and his older brother. There wasn’t any drinking or anything like that that I saw. I didn’t babysit the twins because there really wasn’t any reason to.”

  “No, I didn’t mean that. Never mind, I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

  “Can I ask you a stupid question?”

  She smiled. “Sure.”

  “Do you think Steven knows his grandfather’s gay?”

  “That I don’t know. That’s why I don’t want you talking about Colin to anyone outside this family yet. I don’t want to cause him trouble.”

  “Gotcha.” Mikey got himself a bowl and a box of cereal. “It’d be cool if Colin and Grandpa Andy are dating. I think Grandpa’s really lonely.”

  Yes, they’d raised their kids right. Not just living in a non-traditional family arrangement, but talking to them and making them understand that they should always default to being kind and non-judgmental when it came to others.

  “I think that’d be pretty cool, too.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  When Tyler finally emerged from the bedroom, he headed straight for the couch where Tom lay stretched out, watching a foreign movie with English subtitles.

  Technically, since Tyler assumed it was in Dutch, it wasn’t a foreign movie since they were the foreigners.

  Moving carefully, so as not to jostle Tom’s bad leg, Tyler stretched out next to him, his back to the TV and his face pressed against Tom’s chest. As Tom’s arms encircled him, Tyler felt peace return to his soul.

  This man was his home.

  He always had been, always would be.

  “Hey, buddy. How’d you sleep?”

  “Not as well as in our own bed. Maybe I should look into booking us flights for tomorrow.”

  Tom stroked his back. “Is that what you really want to do, or what you think Nevvie and I want?”

  “I don’t know. Does it matter?”

  “It does to us.” He tipped Tyler’s face up so he could meet his gaze. “No rush. Seriously. We’re fine.”

  Tyler’s mind and heart felt mixed up, confused in a way he simultaneously wasn’t familiar with and despised with a passion. “I could pull a couple of all-nighters when we get home to finish these edits.”

  “I’d rather you finish them now than do that to yourself. You’ve had one heart attack. We don’t need you having another one. Don’t stress yourself out.”

  “That’s not exactly how it works, love. You know that.”

  “You’re wrong. Stress can do it to you.” He kissed Tyler in that slow, sweet, sexy way he always had, the way that totally melted him and made him want to turn himself inside out to do any- and everything he could for Tom.

  Predictably, Tyler’s cock hardened against Tom’s body. No way the other man couldn’t have felt it, either.

  Tom did, a sultry smile filling his features. “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about, sugar.” Tom kissed him again, deeper this time, one hand sliding up and tangling in Tyler’s hair, holding him in place as Tom took his time. Tom swept his tongue along Tyler’s lips, which parted for him like curtains in a breeze.

  Anything this man wanted—everything—he’d give or do.

  They’d been perfection even before Nevvie joined them. She completed them both in a way neither had known they’d needed before they met her.

  Tom’s other hand settled on Tyler’s ass, fingers digging in even through his pajama bottoms and squeezing hard. It sent a thrill through Tyler, letting go and giving himself to Tom.

  It’d always felt right with Tom, even from their first night together. In the man’s sweet brown eyes he could still see the college student he’d spotted walking into the bookstore before his author talk had started, the young man he’d asked to have coffee with after, the man he’d taken to the hockey game the next night.

  The man he’d instantly fallen hard for, even before he knew his name.

  When Tom nibbled and sucked on Tyler’s lower lip, it made Tyler’s cock throb even harder, fully awake and aware and screaming for relief. He rocked his body against Tom’s, not wanting to hurt him but needing him now more than ever. Escaping into Tom’s love was a sure-fire way to settle his racing mind and give him at least a few moments of mental and emotional respite.

  Always had been.

  Stubble from their cheeks pleasantly rasped against each other as they kissed. It wasn’t until Tyler was whining, wanting and needing more, that Tom lifted his lips from Tyler’s and smiled at him. “What’s wrong, baby?”

  “I need you.”

  “I know I joked about you catching for the immediate future, but you feel like pitching? We both need a shower, and two birds, one stone, and all that.”

  “Turn down an invitation to fuck that handsome arse of yours? I’d have to be daft.”

  “I dunno. You’ve put up with me an awful long time. Maybe you are.”

  Tyler sat up and carefully climbed off him, holding out a hand to help him up. “Yet you are the one who settled for a writer when you could have had anyone you wanted. Perhaps I’m not the only barmy one, mate.”

  Tom smiled and took his hand, only grunting a little as he stood. Tyler loved looking up into his lover’s eyes, loved that Tom stood a few inches taller than him.

  “Oh, sugar, I know I’m a few french fries short of a Happy Meal.” He led Tyler down the hall to the master bath, grabbing the lube on the way through the bedroom. They quickly shed their clothes and climbed inside the shower, where Tom hungrily kissed Tyler again.

  “You know what you do to me, buddy.”

  “The feeling is quite mutual. Always has been.”

  Tom turned and braced his hands against the shower wall, then wiggled his ass at Tyler. “Get busy while the gettin’s good.”

  Tyler stroked his hands down Tom’s back under the hot water, savoring the view. Age had been kind to his lover, other than the pain from his leg. Perhaps neither of them were as firm in the muscles as they had once been, but the young man he’d fallen in love with that afternoon in Haslam’s was still standing there, in Tyler’s eyes. He pressed a kiss to Tom’s back, between his shoulder blades, lingering as his arms slipped around Tom and Tyler found his cock.

  “Mmm, sugar.” Tom’s head dropped and he rocked back against Tyler. “You know what you always do to me, don’t you?”

  “Do I?” Tyler rubbed his cock along the seam of Tom’s ass, savoring this build-up. He slowly stroked Tom’s cock with one hand, playing with his sac with the other.

  “Fuuuck. You’re in a playful mood, huh?”

  “Perhaps, love.” He nipped the spot he’d been kissing, lightly raking his teeth across Tom’s flesh and enjoying the soft hiss of pleasure he received in return. “Have you been a good boy while I’ve been working?”

  “Mmmhmm. We’re goin’ there, huh?” Tom ground his ass against Tyler now.

  “Seems like someone’s still owed a little punishment for climbing a ladder without permission.”

  “I think falling off the ladder was punishment enough.”

  “In a perfect world, perhaps it would be.” He squeezed Tom’s cock. “I think someone owes me more than that, though.”

  A low groan slid from Tom’s throat. “You gonna plow my ass, sugar, or tease me until I turn around and fuck you silly?”

  “That sounds more like a win-win than a threat, love.” He released Tom and grabbed the lube, applying it to his fingers and
slowly working two inside Tom’s tight ass. As he did, he reached around him and stroked Tom’s cock with his free hand.

  “Fuck, yeah.” Tom rested his forehead against his hands on the wall, rocking his hips in time with Tyler’s movements. “Damn, that’s good.”

  Tyler wouldn’t deny it always pleased him to know his was the first and only cock that had ever been inside his gorgeous Georgia boy’s ass. Something sweet and untainted by any bad memories. Tom had never dealt with the heartache the way Tyler had.

  They’d slipped effortlessly into each other’s lives and there they’d stayed.

  Only after three fingers were easily drawing moans from Tom did Tyler slick his cock and step into place behind Tom. He took his time, slowly swiping the head of his cock up and down the seam of Tom’s ass until he nestled his knob against Tom’s pucker. His hands settled on Tom’s hips, gripping him.

  Tyler leaned in, his chin resting on Tom’s left shoulder. “How do you want it, love?”

  “Goddamn,” Tom muttered. “You know how I want it.”

  Tyler flexed his hips, thrusting, his heart skipping a beat at the way Tom gasped. His ass tightly fisted Tyler’s cock and he rocked back to meet Tyler’s thrust until Tyler’s cock was fully seated inside him.

  He skimmed his hands up Tom’s sides, around his front, finding and playing with his nipples and making Tom’s ass clench around his cock. “Better?”

  “Fuck me, dammit. It’s been weeks!”

  “Patience, pet.” He rolled Tom’s nipples in his fingers while nibbling a trail up Tom’s shoulder and the side of his neck. “As you said, it’s been weeks. I wish to savor this.” He released Tom’s nipples and his hands continued their journey, up Tom’s arms, Tyler’s fingers lacing with Tom’s and squeezing.

  “I fucking missed you,” Tom gasped. “So damn much.”

  “As I missed you both.” Tyler nibbled Tom’s left earlobe. “I’d planned on coming home and fucking you both senseless, once I’d had a little sleep. Maybe letting Nevvie ride that talented mouth of yours to muffle your sounds while I fucked your arse silly.”

  Tom groaned, another tantalizing squeeze around Tyler’s cock. “Goddamn, Ty. You fucking sadist.”

  How many times had Tyler returned from book promotion junkets, before Nevvie was with them, and Tom had to call in the next day because Tyler wouldn’t let him out of their bed?

  Maybe they weren’t quite up to those kinds of marathon fucking sessions now, but today, with a little distance from their arrival in Brussels, Tyler was certainly willing to try.

  “Yes, I can be.” He nibbled down Tom’s shoulder again, biting and sucking hard on the top of his shoulder, enough to leave a mark and where a shirt would easily conceal it.

  Plenty of times in the past Tyler had sent Tom to work covered in love bites, from neck to thigh.

  And plenty of times Ty had lain in bed in the morning after Tom had thoroughly rogered him and left him completely knackered and covered in scratches and teeth marks and savoring every delicious ache.

  He spread his legs, forcing Tom’s feet wider and making him arch his back, sticking his ass out against Tyler. “Show me how much you want it, love. Make me come and then I’ll decide if you’ve earned it yourself.”

  Tom’s forehead came to rest on top of Tyler’s hands, his breath hot and heavy against Tyler’s arm as he started fucking himself onto Tyler’s cock. Long, slow strokes at first, savoring every inch of Tyler’s cock. It wasn’t long before he started adding force with each thrust, short, jabby strokes Ty knew were gliding perfectly across Tom’s prostate and making his own cock drip with need.

  Tyler couldn’t hold back long at that rate. Too much need, too much love—too much heat and raw, undiluted passion had passed between them over the years. He didn’t bother holding back his climax, letting out a groan against Tom’s shoulder as each pulse shot another rope of cum deep inside Tom’s sweet ass.

  His.

  Only his, in that way.

  Ever.

  Tyler barely let the last echoes of his orgasm roll through him before he released Tom, spun him around, and dropped to his knees in front of him, putting Tom’s hands on his head.

  Tom took over from that point, fucking Tyler’s mouth hard and deep, making him take his cock to the root.

  “Yeah,” Tom gasped. “That’s what I needed. Fuck yeah.”

  Tyler held on to the backs of Tom’s thighs, staying with him, taking every inch Tom fed him, even when he started pounding into Tyler’s mouth, the head of his cock hitting the back of his throat.

  He didn’t last long. Tyler moaned as the tangy, familiar taste of Tom’s cum filled his mouth.

  He eagerly swallowed every drop.

  They remained frozen there, the hot water beading on their flesh and rolling down their skin before Tom’s grip on Tyler’s head relaxed. He slid down the wall, pulling Tyler into his arms when he hit the floor, kissing him long and deeply. The sweet brown gaze, the rugged face—the love of his life.

  “Love you,” Tom hoarsely said. “Love you so fuckin’ much.”

  Tyler shifted position so he could sit between Tom’s thighs and wrap his legs around Tom’s hips. He rested his forehead against Tom’s. “I love you, too. I don’t know why you put up with me for all these years, but I’m grateful that you have.”

  Tom’s arms encircled him and he leaned back against the wall, bringing Tyler with him. “You put up with a lot more from me. I’m the one thankful you didn’t get sick of me.”

  “Never, love. Ever.”

  He felt Tom’s fingers slowly trail up and down his spine, fingers that had given him countless delicious back rubs in the past. “Are you really okay, buddy?”

  He didn’t need clarification. “I…will be. This has been a thousand times easier with you here, love. Thank you.”

  “Like hell I’d let you come alone.”

  Tyler thought back to that night in his old apartment, sitting on the kitchen floor, Tom holding him as he’d cried and confessed what had happened between himself and Marcus.

  What emotional carnage Marcus had wrought within him.

  Why he was so scared of betrayal.

  The righteous anger in Tom’s voice as he’d promised to punch Marcus if he ever met him.

  A promise he’d kept.

  Other than that brief moment in time following Tom’s accident, when even he referred to himself as a “brain-damaged asshole,” Tom had always kept his promises to Tyler.

  Always.

  Forever and ever.

  “Will Nevvie be cross with me if I can’t give her a return date yet?”

  “She knows you need time. Just don’t expect to get much work done the first day or two after we get home, between her and the kids wanting to spend time with you.”

  “We missed Adam being home this weekend.”

  “I know. He understands. He’s an adult now.”

  * * * *

  Tom worried about Tyler. He didn’t want his guy slipping into that self-denial territory where he started feeling guilty and putting everyone before himself.

  That wasn’t healthy.

  Now that the last trickles of another damn good fucking were wearing off and he realized he was going to need Tyler’s help to get up off the shower floor, he also knew that Tyler wasn’t doing okay.

  Not even close.

  Not yet.

  He was getting by, in typical Tyler fashion, and trying not to let Tom see how badly he was doing.

  Tom decided he needed to distract his guy a little. “How about shaving me, huh? I think I’m getting kind of scruffy.”

  Tyler’s whole face lit up. “Of course, love.”

  Tom leaned against the shower wall as Tyler untangled himself and got up to retrieve his razor and shaving cream. Tom preferred to use an electric razor, but early on after Nevvie joined them she’d accidentally stumbled onto what had become a beloved tradition between the three of them, either her or Tyler shaving him, when they
had time. Special occasions, like this.

  Tom closed his eyes and held still as Tyler smoothed shaving cream onto his face and then drew the razor across his flesh.

  It didn’t escape Tom’s notice that the only two people he trusted this much to do this were Nevvie and Ty. In the hospital, after his accident, Nevvie had created a nighttime ritual of shaving him while he was in a coma, and then after, when Tom didn’t have the strength or muscle coordination to hold his electric razor.

  Tyler was a traditionalist and shaved with a razor and shaving cream.

  “Do you really like my goatee, love?”

  Tom struggled not to smile. “I do.” He opened his eyes and met Ty’s blue gaze. “Feels killer against my balls, especially when I’m pumping my cock down your throat.”

  Tyler finally smiled, a true one that reached his eyes and revealed the sweet, devious center of his soul to Tommy.

  The man he’d fallen in love with so many years ago.

  His guy.

  The man whose finger Tom had put a ring on and asked to spend the rest of their lives together.

  “Then if you and Nevvie love it so much, I suppose I shall keep it.”

  “You’re already thinking of how you can use it to tease me and get me horny, aren’t you?”

  “Moi?”

  “Innocence doesn’t become you, Evil Genius.” But it was damned good to see genuine humor finally return to his guy’s soul.

  “I did notice the crowd at the Friday night reading and Q&A seemed amused by my diabolical use of it.”

  “I know. I watched the feed the next morning.” He stared into Tyler’s eyes. “You know we don’t care what you do as long as you don’t shut us out, right?”

  Tyler’s hands hesitated as his blue gaze fixed on Tom’s. “I promise never to forget that, love.”

  “Good. Because I’m already the designated brain-damaged asshole in the family. We don’t need another one.”

  He loved the sound of Tyler’s laughter echoing in the shower.

  * * * *