Page 60 of Beautiful Trauma
“I love you too, Henry. Call or text me tomorrow to let me know you’re okay.”
I chuckled. “Ezra isn’t dangerous.”
“Tell that to your heart,” Geoff said soberly.
I swallowed hard because he might not be wrong. “Everything will be okay,” I said, unsure if I was trying to assure him or myself. “I’ll text you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Henry.”
“Goodnight, Geoff.”
I disconnected the call, slipped my phone in my pocket, then turned to walk back to Ezra’s condo. I stopped in my tracks because the man I loved had decided not to wait and came looking for me. My heart raced as I walked toward him. Ezra opened his arms when I reached him, and I flung myself against his chest.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” Ezra said, rocking me side to side. “Alcohol and I aren’t a good mix, which is why I never drink. I’m too fucking old for peer pressure, so I have no excuse for my behavior. Please forgive me, Henry.”
“I’m sorry too for overreacting,” I said. “I don’t want to be the guy who gets jealous when you do something with colleagues and friends.”
“You mean like I do?” Ezra teased.
I pulled back and looked into his eyes. “You’re not so bad.”
Ezra leaned in to kiss me, but I flinched away, not wanting to taste the alcohol on his tongue. Smiling, Ezra said, “I brushed my teeth and gargled with mouthwash.”
I pressed my lips to his without hesitation, loving the taste of fresh mint and Ezra. “Much better,” I whispered after a long, lazy kiss.
“Let’s go home,” Ezra said, wrapping his arm around my waist and guiding me toward his condo. “You can take a nice shower while I make you an omelet. We’ll get a good night’s sleep, then I can tell you about the surprise I planned for us.”
“Sounds perfect. Thank you.”
“Thank you for coming back.”
“There’s no place I’d rather be.”
FEATHER-LIGHT KISSES ON THE BACKof my neck teased me toward consciousness. At first, the butterfly-wing touches made me moan for more, but the moans turned to whimpers when I was alert enough to feel the street work going on inside my skull. Jackhammers dug into my brain, the vibrations sending misery through every part of my body. My limbs felt tight with tension like a rubber band about to snap, and my stomach pitched and rolled like I was at sea.
“Feeling rough?” Henry’s voice was whispery-soft, but in my current state, he might as well have yelled in my ear.
“I’m dying,” I whined. “This horrible morning-after feeling is the reason I don’t drink.”
“Are you sure it’s not because you turn into a complete dickhead?”
“Yeah, there’s that too. Henry, please tell me I got down on my knees and begged you for forgiveness last night.”
“Groveling from your knees wasn’t needed or wanted. You said you were sorry, and you meant it, which was all I needed.”
“Ryder would say the situation called for a grand gesture,” I said, carefully shifting closer into the big spoon Henry had formed behind me. The warmth of his bare skin was starting to make me feel so much better.
“Grand gesture?”
“It’s the part in a romance novel where the dumbass hero has to step up his game and prove that he’s both in love with his guyandworthy of his guy’s love in return. According to Ryder, it follows an epic display of dumbass fuckery.”
“You think last night qualifies as an epic display of dumbass fuckery?” Henry asked with a smile in his voice.
“Well, it’s my biggest display so far, and you were nearly in tears when you left after I treated you horribly. It feels like an epic fuckery to me. I think there needs to be a grand gesture.” I wiggled my ass against Henry’s erection a little too enthusiastically then moaned when the jostling triggered another jackhammer session in my skull.
Henry chuckled softly then placed more kisses along the side of my neck while gliding his hand over my chest and abdomen, slowly inching to where I needed to feel him the most. “I don’t think you’re in any condition forgrand gesturesthis morning.”
“Maybe if enough blood floods south to fill my cock, it would relieve the pressure and misery in my brain. I think it’s worth experimenting for the sake of science. Fuck me, Henry.”