Page 52 of Bend Him, Break Him
“Ugh , you’re gonna break my back if you keep this up.” Colton groaned.
“Oh, you’re fine,” Isaac said, ignoring Colton’s wince. “We’re almost done.”
“Okay, you can’t put that there—I won’t be able to see,” Colton said, struggling with his grip as Isaac saddled him with another box. “Ah, fuck. That’s heavy.”
“You got this, you big, strong man.” Isaac batted his eyes, pretending to be delicate with his arm cast when they both knew he was the furthest thing.
Colton snorted, nearly making Isaac snicker as he grumbled. But when Colton’s annoyance made him lose his balance, Isaac did break out into a giggle as Colton stumbled backward and widened his stance to straddle the concrete.
“Come on! At this rate, we’ll only need a few more trips to get everything inside.”
“It’d be even less trips if you actually carried stuff!” Colton bypassed Isaac, bumping him with his hip as he swaggered up to the second floor of the apartment complex.
“I’m carrying the team,” Isaac professed. “They call me Captain Morale.”
“More like Captain Moron,” Mina countered, brushing by Isaac as she carried a trove of boxes, too.
Isaac hadn’t accumulated too much in the time he spent with Mina, but since he needed to actually get furnishing for his new place, that meant he required lots of help with the manual labor. Who better than the gays?
Much like Isaac, Jazz took on a support role, directing the GSA members she could wrangle into helping and leading them up the stairs with the couch, recliner, and tables.
“Hey, watch it!” Isaac glowered when one of them chipped the corner of the coffee table on the railing.
“You get what you pay for,” Carlos teased, carrying nearly as many boxes as Isaac had saddled Colton with a moment ago.
“Someone’s gonna pay if my furniture is fucked up.”
“Be nice, or I won’t assemble this nightstand.”
“You wouldn’t punish Colton like that,” Isaac said. “Imagine leaving my poor sweet boyfriend alone with a feral me as I scream profanities at the directions.”
Carlos rolled his eyes and made his way into the apartment.
Thanks to everyone’s help, they managed to get the entire apartment set up and organized pretty quickly.
Isaac hid the box of glassware in his bedroom as he watched everyone plop onto the furniture to rest after their hard work of moving things and assembling stuff.
They all appeared far too homey for Isaac’s liking, and Colton’s incessant need to fill silence with polite conversation would likely delude the GSA members into believing they had an extended welcome.
Isaac cleared his throat, loudly increasing the gravelly cough until the idle chitchat ceased. Locking eye contact with a few he didn’t know, Isaac let his glowering expression rest on them to drive the point home before speaking.
“Thank you all for your assistance. I owe you a cake or parade or drink in the future,” Isaac said quite plainly. “Now, get out of my place before I hurt you.”
A few people laughed until Isaac’s unwavering stare startled them into silence.
Mina rolled her eyes and slapped Isaac on the shoulder. “You owe me big time, bitch.”
With that, she took her leave, directing a few of the GSA members with her. Carlos suggested a bar for everyone to unwind with drinks, and Jazz mentioned a restaurant with cheap specials.
Colton spread out on the couch. “I can’t believe you kicked everyone out like that.”
“Did you really wanna host for the next hour or three?” Isaac huffed. “Seriously, they’d have prattled on until the wee hours.”
“Yeah, I’m too tired for that.” Colton sighed, dragging himself off the couch. Isaac could see Colton’s desire to sink into the cushions and pass out. “I’m gonna take a shower.”
“Want company?” Isaac smirked.
“Company? I know what you want.” Colton tsked. “And after how you used me for manual labor all day?”
“Maybe I can use you for something sweeter.” Isaac squeezed Colton’s shoulders.
When Colton paused, Isaac took full advantage, massaging the tension out of his stiff muscles.
“Or you can use me.”
Colton kept his expression blank, playing hard to get.
The temptation danced across his green eyes, but he remained cool and collected, which only further enticed Isaac.
Unwilling to surrender, Isaac closed the distance and slid his arms down Colton’s torso.
When he reached his waist, Isaac wrapped his arms around and guided his fingers ever so under Colton’s shirt.
There were a couple of ticklish spots Isaac knew of and how to provoke the perfect smile.
“Okay, okay, okay.” Colton wriggled loose. “You can join me.”
“Good. I need to get all squeaky clean after my exhausting day of managerial duties.”
“Are you this insufferable at work, Mr. Assistant Manager?”
“No, I’m ten times worse.”
“Oh, but what I have planned for you and that mouthy mouth of yours is quite filthy.”
Isaac growled, snarling in the back of Colton’s ear. “Do tell.”
“Gah, you’re ridiculous. I love…” Colton’s eyes darted away from Isaac, and he admired the room for a moment, a small, nervous smile dancing on his face. “This apartment. Christ on a crouton crutch, I love this apartment.”
Isaac had seen Colton tiptoeing around the words, almost dropping it here and there but skirting around the L bomb as quickly as he fumbled the grenade.
Isaac’s expression turned sour. There was probably something very unhealthy about comparing love to an explosive, but he didn’t have the time to delve into that level of emotional baggage.
“You okay?” Colton quirked a brow, likely trying to suss out Isaac’s expression.
“I love you, too,” he said, then furrowed his brow, realizing the error, the flop, the incredible screw-up of three utterly simple words.
Words Isaac swore to himself he’d never say to anyone. Words Isaac practiced in his head a hundred times the night Colton spent in the hospital, a thousand times in the days that followed, and hoped to say properly a million more times over.
Much to Isaac’s surprise or disappointment, Colton had an obnoxious, minxy grin plastered on his face. He loved this, the smug bastard.
“I love too…the apartment,” Isaac blurted as if that somehow made more sense. Even if it did, his frazzled face definitely gave away his embarrassment.
“Yeah?” Colton puckered his lips. “You wanna kiss the apartment? Wanna spend your days cuddling up to the walls? Maybe dry hump the floor while whispering sweet nothings?”
“Oh, shut the fuck up, you ass,” Isaac huffed. “This is why I can’t stand you.”
“And love your apartment,” Colton added, a teasing cockiness in his voice. “It is quite a lovely apartment for sure.”
With that, he stripped off his shirt and walked with a cocky swagger toward the bathroom.
Isaac dragged himself behind Colton, practically kicking himself for picking the worst time to say the worst words only for Colton to play it off like it meant nothing.
Which was the worst thing ever. Isaac didn’t know what to make of it.
He certainly wasn’t feeling a shared shower anymore or a sexy shower or anything that didn’t involve him not crawling in a hole somewhere and dying.
Colton must’ve noticed the anxiety festering in Isaac as he spun around once they reached the bathroom door and slid back toward him.
“I love you, too,” Colton whispered into Isaac’s ear, wrapping his arms around his waist much like he did at the GSA party. There was something so comforting in Colton’s embrace. Isaac believed he could truly sink into it forever. “In fact, I love you more.”
“Not possible.”
“Are you challenging me to a love off?” Colton bit Isaac’s earlobe, avoiding the piercings.
“No,” Isaac said plainly, having finally settled the nervousness that consumed him earlier. “It’d be unfair of someone of my expertise to challenge a novice.”
“And you’re suddenly an expert at love?”
“Yep. Learned all I needed falling for you.”
Colton’s cheeks blushed. “You’re the worst.”
“You love it.” Isaac tested his hand under the water, finding the temperature a little tepid for him but just right for Colton’s liking.
They undressed, and Isaac took in all of Colton, adoring every square inch of this beautiful man that he loved.
A man who loved him. Isaac couldn’t fathom how he’d gotten so lucky, how the horrors between them had washed away, the past etched in hatred and cruelty had fizzled away.
Neither held resentment or rage or regret.
“I really do love you, you know.” Isaac wrapped his cast in a plastic bag and stepped into the shower, letting the spray obscure the glossiness of his eyes.
“I know.” Colton grinned, goofy and giddy. “But not as much as I love you.”
“Insufferable.”
Colton stepped into the shower behind Isaac. “Now, why don’t you stop telling me how you feel and show me how you feel with that pretty mouth of yours.”
Isaac snorted. “Oh, yeah?”
“Don’t make fun of me. I’m being all assertive and stuff.”
“I’m not teasing.” Isaac lightly pecked Colton’s lips. “I think it’s sexy.”
“Damn right you do.” Colton smacked Isaac’s ass, which created a much louder slap than expected, thanks to the running water.
“But you do realize me telling you how I feel is using my mouth, right?”
Colton scrunched his face. “Don’t bring logic into this.”
Isaac gently kissed Colton’s neck, savoring the taste, the wetness of his skin, the ease of his muscles as Isaac worked his way down.
Next, he kissed Colton’s chest, licking a nipple while playing with the other.
The slight shudder Colton made encouraged Isaac more.
Once he’d had his fill of teasing Colton, he kissed his stomach and eased his way to his knees.
Isaac stared up at Colton, taking in all of him as he took in all of him. He gurgled and choked, partially from the full length hitting the back of his throat too quickly and partially from the running water pooling around his face as it ran down Colton’s body.