I sat up, staring down at him.
“You knew? How’d you…? Forget it. Ricky. He must have heard Beth and Kate talking about it at the nursery. Fuck it.” I ran a hand through my hair. Now I was pissed. “You decided about the Limelight because you knew you could count on my rent?”
He sat up next to me.
“No. I got seed money from my aunt, who never liked Adam and told me she trusted him as far as she could kick him. Afterward I found out what the group had told you. I didn’t know if you’d decided to stay or not.”
I grabbed him and leaned into him, making us fall to the floor, me on top.
“You thought I’d leave?” I groused at him.
He shrugged and rubbed the back of his head. “How should I know? You didn’t say anything. Besides, I didn’t know if you’d be okay living in the house with Ricky as our boarder.” He looked away and sighed. “I can’t abandon him again. He’s finding a life here, and I don’t mind keeping an eye on him.”
Then the humor of the situation hit me. I’d poured my soul out to him. And what had John, the ever stoic John, done? He’d tried to cut to the chase, the lovemaking part of the evening, without making any comment to me? I really was an ass for love.
“What?” he asked as if he’d been following my thoughts. “You want to know how I feel? You have to hear the words? You can’t be satisfied with action?”
I just stared at him, wondering how dense he really was.
“I love you, you dumb fuck. It’d tear my heart out and make me a husk of a man if you left and never came back. You know this. I don’t have to tell you.” He sighed as I bent toward him. “You know this.”
He was right. I did.
“I love you too.” I bent in for the kiss and whispered against his lips, “Now we don’t have to talk any more tonight.”
THE END
ABOUT PAT HENSHAW
Pat Henshaw, born and raised in Nebraska, has lived on the US’s three coasts, in Texas, Virginia, and now California. Before she retired, she held a number of jobs, including theatrical costumer, newspaper features reporter and movie reviewer, librarian, junior college English instructor, and publicist. She also loves to travel and has visited Canada, Mexico, Europe, Egypt, Thailand, and Central America as well as almost all fifty US states.
Now retired, she enjoys reading and writing as well as visiting her older daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren on the East Coast and playing havoc with her younger daughter’s life in NorCal. She thanks you for reading her books and wants you to remember that every day is a good day for romance.
For more information, visit pathenshaw.com.
ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC
JMS Books LLC is a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance, erotic romance, and young adult fiction. Visit jms-books.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!
