Page 27 of Gin & Sin (Last Call #2)
TWENTY-SEVEN
STEWART
It’s been two days of constant fucking, luxurious baths and steamy showers, watching movies, and drinking cocoa with Kit’s friends, and now as the heavy sound of snowplows making their way down the street interrupts the morning silence, I know it’s all coming to an end.
This glorious, perfect fantasy where Kit is mine and I’m his, where I don’t have to think about what happens next or how I’ll have to start all over again with a new person when this thing between us comes to an end doesn’t exist. It’s been perfect and everything I wanted when I realized my true nature.
Kit will have to go back to work, and I’ll have to grade assignments and finish my semester planning. I’ll sleep alone in my big bed, in my empty house. My melancholy thoughts pull me down until I push them away and rub my nose against Kit’s hairy chest. He stirs, dragging his fingers up my back and bumping his hard cock into mine.
“Morning,” he whispers, his voice thick with the remnants of sleep.
“Hi.”
As he wraps his arms around me and pulls me in closer, he buries his face in the crook of my neck. “It’s so good waking up with you.”
Dammit, Kit. Stop saying shit like that. I can’t be stupid about this. I don’t want to ruin how perfect everything is between us or bring it to an end too soon because I got clingy.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“Nothing.”
“You’re lying. I felt you tense up.” He pushes back enough to see my face.
My breath catches from the sight of him. Rumpled hair, messy beard, and visible bruises on his neck from the many times I sucked marks onto him while he fucked me. Just the memory of it makes my cock twitch and my stomach flutter. He reaches forward, brushing my hair back from my face.
“Tell me the truth.”
“That was the truth. Maybe I’m a little disappointed that the snowplows are out. Real life beckons.”
He frowns, scrunching his nose. “I guess it does.” He scratches the growing beard on my cheeks. “But not today. We can still have today, can’t we?”
“Don’t you guys need to check out the bar?”
He shrugs. “Nah. No one will be out yet today.” Kit lifts my hand to his lips and presses a sweet kiss to the back of it. “I have an idea.”
“I’m listening.”
“We’ll stay in bed, cozy and warm. Or we’ll cuddle on my sofa and watch movies. We’ll just hang out and push back the world for one more day.”
I nod. “That sounds nice.”
“Good. Because as much as I love taking you apart over and over, my dick is sore.”
I laugh, throwing my head back. “My dick, my ass, even my jaw.”
Kit grins. “We’ve put our bodies through it the last few days. Worth it though.”
“Absolutely worth it.”
“How about a shower and then I’ll make coffee?”
“Sounds perfect.”
“That was so cheesy,” I complain, scooping a half-melted marshmallow out of my mug with my finger. “Who thinks up these holiday movies?”
Kit shakes his head. “Who knows? I guess I’m happy to see some queer rom-coms showing up though. Jerryn told us it’s important we watch them all, even if we just play them in the background while we do other things. That’s how they’ll decide whether they should make more.”
“Good point. In that case, it was amazing.”
Kit chuckles, bumping his feet into mine under the blanket. “Okay, so if we were the stars in a holiday rom-com, what would be our meet cute? It can’t be a bar.”
“Hmm.” I tap my chin. “Maybe a bookstore. Or…” I pause to laugh at my own idea. “You’re at the university to meet up with your brother and you bump into me in the hallway and knock my lesson plans onto the floor.”
“Oh yes, and of course, I’m a nice guy so I help you pick them up.”
“Yep. I’m oblivious to the idea that a guy like you would look at a guy like me, so I just go about my day even though I can’t stop thinking about your incredible smile.”
“And then I surprise you by auditing one of your classes so I have a chance to talk to you again,” Kit says, playing with my fingers. “And you’re so adorably in your own world, you don’t even realize I’m hitting on you until I blatantly ask you out.”
“But I have to decline because I have a loser boyfriend who lives in Chicago and put his career before me.”
“So I tell you we can be friends and that I won’t make a move.”
“But you keep doing the cutest shit, like taking me to the tree farm to pick out the perfect Christmas tree for my big, lonely house.” I chuckle.
“And that time I took you ice skating and we drank hot chocolate and fell on top of each other.”
“And laughed until we wanted to kiss but we didn’t.”
“Because I’m respectful.”
“Remember the day we made snow angels? It was so wholesome, and I knew my big-city guy would never enjoy the nostalgia of it.”
“He was so mad that time he showed up when we were making sugar cookies in your kitchen,” Kit says.
“He was, but by then, I think I knew. I knew it was you and I would have to end things with him, but he dug in his heels to keep me.”
“And I gave you space even though it tore me up.”
“Even though I was spending time with my guy, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Then I started to notice the cracks in my relationship. The distance. The way he left the room to take a phone call, or didn’t pay attention when I was talking.”
“Then you overheard him one day talking to his coworker about how he had to spend time with you a few times a year to keep you quiet. It broke your heart a little.”
“It stung, but it was the wake up call I needed. I told him to go back to Chicago and live his big city life, and then I ran down Main Street to our favorite coffee shop but you weren’t there.”
“The barista told you I was leaving town. Taking a job transfer all the way to Boston.”
“I grabbed a taxi and raced to the airport to stop you.”
“And even though it was snowing and traffic was bad, you made it, but my flight was boarded already, and you wished you could still run through the airport to stop my plane.”
I chuckle and nod. “So I sat on a bench believing I’d lost my chance at true love.”
Kit sweetly rubs my cheek. “But I didn’t get on the plane. I couldn’t. Not without one last goodbye.”
“When I saw you, I ran into your arms and you swung me around. Then you kissed me in front of everyone and you told me… you told me?—”
“I told you I was in love with you and if there was any chance you could love me too, I’d stay. I’d have other job opportunities, but there was only one you.”
“The end?”
Kit gently pinches my chin. “Or the beginning.”
“What would our movie be called?”
“Winter Break.”
“I’d watch it.”
Kit nods, searching my eyes. “We’re not so bad at rom-com creation, are we?”
“Hidden talent.”
Kit wraps his arms around me and hauls me into his lap like I weigh nothing. “You deserve all of that, you know? The snow angels and ice skating and tree shopping. You deserve a guy who would choose you over a job.”
I nod, biting my bottom lip. I want to tell him I deserve him . I want this just as it is. I don’t need all the over-the-top romance. I need steamy nights and slow mornings with a man who lets me be who I am without limits.
“Thank you. You deserve…” I pause, gathering the courage to say what I mean. Kit tilts his head, patiently waiting for me to finish. “I think you deserve the world since you opened up mine.”
“It’s been a pleasure, Stewart. You’re inspirational.”
“An old dog can learn new tricks?”
He chuckles. “You’re not old. You’re hitting your prime. Watching you embrace who you are is incredible.”
“I’m really glad our paths crossed.”
“Me too. For the record, I’m not in any hurry for them to uncross.”
That comment makes my throat tighten with emotion. “Me neither.”