Page 61 of Before It's Too Late

Who was he kidding? Having Cael made everything better.

Zach sat on the bench and settled back. It had been a while since he’d hung out while Cael played with the guys. Cael joined them almost every Sunday morning right around ten and usually, they played a slightly more physical version of tag football for about an hour. Zach’s attention bounced between keeping an eye on Taylor, playing games on his phone, and watching Cael. Admittedly, he found himself doing the latter most of the time, but who could blame him.

About thirty minutes into the game, the guys took a break. Cael jogged toward Zach and Taylor, his eyes locked on Zach’s, his smile growing bigger the closer he came. Breathing hard, Cael braced one hand on the back of the bench and leaned over the diaper bag toward Zach.

“Hey,” Cael said, bending further and pecking Zach on the lips.

Zach licked the salty taste from his lips left behind by the light sheen of sweat on Cael’s skin and bit his lip to stifle his smile—the one that formed without his permission any time Cael paid him any affection in public. “Hey.”

Cael reached into the diaper bag and pulled out the orange PowerAde he’d packed. Straightening, he twisted off the cap and guzzled about half the bottle.

“So, I hope you don’t mind, but I told the guys about us.”

“I sort of figured. What’d they say?”

“Pfft. About damn time.”

“It is about damn time,” Josh, one of Cael’s football buddies with whom he also worked at the VA hospital and the one he’d known the longest, interjected as he came up beside Cael and clapped him on the back of his shoulder. “Hey, Zach. Good to see you. It’s been a while, yeah?”

“A few months.” Zach knit his brow. “You knew?”

“Knew what? That he had a thing for you? Shit, it was written all over his face every time he so much as looked at you or talked about you, so yeah. We knew.”

“We?”

“The guys here.” Josh gestured with his thumb, pointing over his shoulder. “Well, we had him figured. Didn’t see it coming from you though. Maybe because we don’t see you as much.”

Zach felt his cheeks heat. “Oh. Maybe.”

“Whatever you two are doing though, keep at it. Dude’s been happy as a pig in shit every time I see him lately,” Josh said, his choice of words reminding Zach of his Australian roots.

Josh had moved here to Colorado from Sydney as a teenager, and while his accent had faded to barely recognizable, Josh’s choice of words on occasion continued to be a dead giveaway.

“Only problem is he’s bloody invincible now. Good thing he’s on my team this week.”

“Is there something wrong with a guy being happy?” Cael asked.

“‘Course not. Just good to see is all.” Josh gulped back half the water in his bottle. “Anyway, so this must be the little munchkin I’ve heard about.”

“Yep,” Cael said.

“She’s a cutie. Taylor, right?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Hey! You guys playin’ or what?” yelled Marcus from where he stood in the middle of their make-shift game field.

“Yeah, yeah,” Josh hollered back. “We’ll be right there.”

“Guess that’s our cue,” Cael said, downing more of his sports drink. Josh jogged back toward the guys as Cael leaned down and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to Zach’s lips. A few catcalls erupted from the guys, and they both smiled as Cael pulled away. “I better get over there.”

“Guess you’d better.” Zach grinned as he watched Cael rejoin the guys. Now that he thought about it, Cael did seem happier.

At least this part of Zach’s life seemed to have taken a turn in the right direction. Cael had been nothing short of amazing prior to their first kiss and subsequent intimate turn in their relationship, and things had only gotten better since. Going from best friends to lovers so far had been easy and, surprisingly, uncomplicated, even with Taylor. The hands-on glimpse of what life would be like to live with Cael and raise a family with him filled Zach with more hope than he’d had in a long time.

“Zach?”

Zach pulled his gaze away from his sexy, athletic boyfriend and looked over his right shoulder in the direction of the familiar voice. Somewhat disappointed with the interruption, he smiled politely.