Page 47 of Finley

As Brantley’s fingers dug into Daniel’s chest, his eyes glistened and his cheek bunched, as if he were trying to hold his emotions back—and Daniel felt like an asshole. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Brantley shook his head. “I know,” he said, and raised his hand. It shook as he ran his fingers down Daniel’s cheek. “I’m such a fucking idiot.”

Unable to bear Brantley talking about himself that way, Daniel nipped at his fingers and whispered, “It’s done now.”

“Right. But?—”

“Shhh. You want a truce, then let’s call a truce and see where we go from here. I don’t want to be angry with you, and no matter how unwise it may be, I want to spend every minute I have with you enjoying them. Okay?”

BRANTLEY TRIEDTO think of any words that could possibly express the emotions vying for supremacy, but nothing came. So when Daniel whispered, “Roll over,” he naturally went.

As Daniel’s heavy arm came down around his waist and he molded his body along the line of his, Brantley tried to enjoy the moment. But he wasn’t convinced that if Daniel’s arm wasn’t there, he wouldn’t shatter into a million pieces.

Not only was he reeling from the hard-hitting truth thathehad been the one to cause this hostile undercurrent between them, but he was also the one who’d inadvertently placed a permanent distance between the two of them.

Daniel was talking as if this time, these two weeks, was all they would ever have, and Brantley wasn’t sure he was ready to accept that. Not when he’d been holding on to the misguided hope and belief that they would reunite, fall madly in love again, and move heaven and earth—or at least their personal belongings—to be with one another. It seemed now that the likelihood of that happening was slim to none, and it was coming to grips withthatthat was the hardest of all.

If this really was it for them, then he would do what Daniel asked. He would take each day he could and would enjoy every inch of the man until he walked back out of his life—for good.

THE NEXT TIME Daniel woke,the sun was streaming in through the windows, and the body against his front made him think the decision to stay with Brantley had been a pretty fucking good one.

He curled his arm around Brantley’s waist, and when he scooted back and pressed his naked ass against his morning erection, Daniel decided that this was a much better way to spend his time with this man than arguing.

Kissing him beneath his ear, Daniel ran a hand along the line of Brantley’s hip and murmured, “Good morning.”

Brantley turned his head on the pillow. When their eyes met and his lips parted to reply, Daniel couldn’t resist swooping down to take a kiss. He pressed his lips to Brantley’s, and he immediately slipped his tongue into his mouth, causing a groan to rumble in the back of Daniel’s throat.

God, he wanted him. Wanted to roll him to his stomach and slide inside him. But he didn’t want to rush that. He wanted them to both be in the right headspace, and after last night, he didn’t think that would be now.

So, for the moment, he would settle for kissing,mhmm, oh yeah,Brantley Hayes until he was—“Jesus, Finn”—panting his name.

He released him so Brantley could roll to his back, and when he did, Daniel didn’t waste any time shifting over the top of him. There was no other place on the planet he would have rather been right then.

As Brantley ran his hands over his shoulders and then up into his hair, he grinned at him in a way that made Daniel want to forget waiting and just bury his cock inside the man.

“Let me guess. You think my hair is weird?”

“Actually,” Brantley said as he fingered it, “I was just thinking how sexy it is.”

“Sure you were. I cut it literally the day before I flew down here.”

Brantley’s fingers twisted into the short strands on the back of Daniel’s head. “You did?”

“Mhmm. So it’s weird even to me.”

Brantley chuckled. “Stop saying that. It’s not weird at all. It shows off your pretty face.”

Daniel’s mouth fell open. “Pretty? No one has called me pretty in…years.”

“Why? Are the men in Chicago blind?”

“No. But I’m not real close to people up there, I guess. They don’t know me like you do.”

Something sad flashed in Brantley’s eyes, but it vanished before Daniel could put a name to it, and a smile curved his lips.

“In other words, they don’t know that you used to parade around in shorts so short and tight they should’ve been illegal. Hell, they probably would’ve been if you’d worn them outside.”

“No,” Daniel said before nipping at Brantley’s grinning lips. “They don’t know that. They wouldn’t evenbelievethat.”

Brantley stroked his fingers down the back of his neck, and frowned in deep contemplation. “And they don’t know you used to glitter up this hard body of yours and shake your ass through all hours of the night?”