Page 109 of Devil's Kiss
He stopped at the foot of the bed and shoved his hands into his pockets as he looked down at the figure attached to several IVs and who had a nasal cannula valiantly trying to help him breathe—yeah, good luck there—and all he saw was a sad figure of a man who’d terrorized him his entire life.
Thinking that coming here had been a terrible mistake, Derek was about to turn around and leave without bothering to speak, but before he got the opportunity, his father opened his eyes, and Derek immediately found his feet frozen in place.
“I was wonderin’ if you’d show.”
“You were smart to wonder. It’s not like you deserve anyone standing here, especially me.”
His father pulled the tubes out of his nose and coughed. “Yet ’ere you are.”
Derek walked around the bed, trying to work that out himself. Why had he felt compelled to see him one last time? He had nothing to feel guilty over if he let him rot away all on his own. So why had it seemed imperative that he be there?
As he got closer, his father’s eyes followed him.
“I heard you asked for me,” Derek said when he was by the side of the bed. “Well, here I am.”
His father’s eyes tracked over him, and then his dry lips stretched into a smile ripe with malicious intent. “I just wanted to prove to myself that I was right.”
Derek narrowed his eyes as his dad started to laugh and then sputter. “And I was. Showin’ up to watch your dear old father die. Hoping that maybe he’ll reach out a hand and tell you that he loved you all along. Sorry to disappoint, but I just wanted to prove I was right. You’re still a fucking pussy.”
Derek stared down at the man looking up at him with such hatred, and knew right thenexactlythe reason he was there.
It wasn’t to say goodbye. And it wasn’t to assuage some misguided sense of guilt he would harbor. No, it was for neither of those two reasons.
“I’m not here hoping you’ll tell me that you love me,” Derek said. “It would be more traumatizing to know that someone like youdidlove me. I’m here to tell you that you lost. For years you’ve tried to break me. To hurt me, and you did, physically. But you know what? I wasn’t lying when I told you that you no longer have the power. Because when I walk out that door today, I will no longer waste my time thinking about you.”
Derek leaned down and braced a hand on the rail of the bed so it looked as though he was hugging his father, but instead he said in his ear, “I’m happy. I’m in love with a wonderful man, and I hope you rot in hell for every evil fucking thing you did to me. Have a nice life, Dad. However long you have left of it. I’m going to go and enjoy mine knowing that what I just told you will eat away at you until you take your final breath.”
Then, without sparing his father a final glance, Derek straightened and walked out the door to deliver on his final promise to a dying man.
Epilogue
“It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good.”
~ Feeling Good, Michael Bublé
One Year Later
JORDAN POURED TWO glasses of chilled Chardonnay and was about to put the bottle back in the fridge, but instead re-corked it and tucked it under his arm. Dressed in a fluffy white robe and slippers to match, he scooped up the two wine glasses and headed for the back sliding door.
As he stepped out onto the wooden slats of the deck, a grin split his lips and he used his elbow to flick the switch on the wall panel that illuminated the space. With dancing lights woven around the posts of the trellis and the smooth sound of Michael Bublé crooning in the background, Jordan’s eyes found the back of Derek’s head and,oh yeah, he was feelin’ good.
Earlier that morning they had decided they would spend the weekend down at Devil’s Bend, and the second he’d been able to get away he was in his car and heading over. It appeared, though, as eager as he had been, that Derek had beaten him there.
Around a month after Derek’s father had passed, he’d dived into restoring the little beach hut guns blazing. Jordan could see how beating the shit out of something with a hammer could help a person deal with their confusion over grieving for someone they detested. And out of it all, months later, the little shack that had once sat in shambles had been transformed into one of Jordan’s favorite places in the entire world.
Serene, secluded, and sensual. Derek had taken something that had been falling apart and made it a little slice of paradise. He’d also decreed that whenever they set foot inside the intimate space that clothes were to be removed—immediately. Jordan glanced at the robe he’d since changed into with a smirk.Mhmm… Derek had given him free rein to be the nudist he truly believed that he was.
As he walked across the small wooden deck, he took in the deep porcelain bathtub that was filled to the brim where it sat outside, overlooking the rolling waves of the ocean. Derek was submerged in the wide oval tub, with his muscular arms resting casually on the edge, and Jordan licked his lips as he came to a stop behind him.
Derek tipped his head back, and as he gazed up, Jordan took in the pleasure warming those blue eyes, and bent at the waist to press his lips to Derek’s in a gentle kiss.