Page 111 of A Cold Hard Truth

“You’ve finally decided you want to be the main character in your own story.”

“This isn’t a book,” he protested.

“I know. All the more reason.” Remington cradled his face in his big, yet somehow gentle hand, and Sebastian leaned into it with a soft sigh. “I don’t know when it happened or how. But I still know it’s true.”

Sebastian opened his mouth, but none of the words that been rolling around in his head came out. He struggled to piece his thoughts and his feelings into a sentence that would come out coherently.

“You don’t have to say it back,” Remington said, giving him a small smile.

“But I do,” he blurted, covering Remington’s hand on his face with his own. “But I do.”

“Sebastian.”

“I love you, and I want you, and I need you. I really fucking need you, Remington.” As the words left his mouth, a weight left his shoulders. Like the only thing he’d needed to do to come out the other side of his messy life was connect the dots together and see the perfection that stood right in front of him.

“That makes me happier than I have words for,” Remington said.

“You?” Sebastian countered with a quiet laugh. “At a loss for words?”

“’I wish I had the gift of making rhymes, for methinks there is poetry in my head and heart since I have been in love with you.’”

“Did you come up with that just now?” Sebastian blushed.

“It’s Nathaniel Hawthorne,” Remington admitted with a sly smile. “Like him, I also lack the gift of rhyme.”

“You’re perfect how you are,” Sebastian said to shut him up. “I wouldn’t change a single thing about you.”

“Speaking of that.” Remington pulled his hand off Sebastian’s face, leaving him feeling cold and bereft. Sebastian frowned.

“What?”

“I haven’t been entirely forthcoming about myself with you.” Remington scratched the back of his neck and looked away, like what he was about to say was somehow more profound than confessing his love.

“God. You’re not married or anything, are you?” Sebastian didn’t know what secrets Remington held from him, but he hoped they weren’t fatal.

“I’m more like you than I’ve led you to believe. More like your family,” Remington clarified. “Your upbringing.”

“Like….” Sebastian squinted.

“I’m wealthy,” Remington blurted.

“I don’t care.”

“Really wealthy,” Remington continued. “Remington Dockery as in Dockery Pharmaceuticals.”

Sebastian let out a low whistle. “That is a lot of money,” he said, smirking and raising a brow. “But do you have a college named after you?”

Remington chuckled and reached for him, hauling their bodies together and pressing a quick kiss against Sebastian’s mouth.

“The college isn’t named afteryou,” Remington said. “You’re named afterit.”

“Shut up.” Sebastian laughed harder, the taste of Remington’s mouth against his a welcome flavor after a week without. Sebastian grabbed his face and rose onto his toes, crashing their mouths back together and kissing Remington until his cock twitched to life in his pants.

Remington groaned and turned, taking Sebastian with him, not ending the kiss. Sebastian’s back landed against the wall, his breath leaving his lungs with anoomph. Remington’s fingers tightened against his waist and Sebastian arched, aligning their bodies and spearing his tongue deeper into Remington’s mouth.

Suddenly he heard a crash, and the unwanted noise of the bar filled the bathroom. Remington tore their mouths apart, eyes wide and stare never leaving Sebastian’s kiss-swollen lips even as he put space between them.

“Are you quite done?” Rhys’s voice called out from behind them.