“I think so,” Jace said. All the delicious food Colt cooked for breakfast was forgotten as he rose from his seat and moved to Jace and dropped down to balance on the balls of his feet. He took Jace’s hands and kissed each one.
“I’ve never gotten over you. Ever. Not one day passed that I didn’t think about you. For me, you’re the love of my life. Wherever you are is exactly where I want to be,” Colt said, the sincerity in his eyes filling Jace’s heart with hope for the first time since he woke. All the unanswered questions fell away and nothing else mattered in this moment. Only this beautiful man in front of him who was willing to throw his bacon away if meat offended him. What a sweet gesture.
“So, you aren’t thinking a night, or even a week?” Jace needed to be sure.
“I’ve wasted too much time already. I don’t want to waste another single day without you. I want a future with you,” Colt said, looking perhaps a little insecure.
“I want that, too.” Jace pulled his fingers free of Colt’s hold and palmed his face. Truly, his entire world rested in those pleading eyes staring up at him. Jace drew Colt in enough to reach his lips and placed a small, sweet, lingering kiss there.
“Without your father,” Jace added with a whisper, looking straight in Colt’s eyes.
“Definitely without my father. I swear I’ll never let him hurt us again. I promise.” Colt smiled and kissed Jace again before he stood, picking up his plate and the oatmeal, taking both to the microwave for a warm up.
“Are you doing this repair work yourself or did you hire people?” Colt asked from the kitchen.
“Me mostly,” Jace said, braving the jam on a slice of toast with peanut butter, hoping this didn’t test his stomach’s limits. Did all this make sense in his mind? Not really. Okay, not at all, but his heart desperately wanted it to be true and real.
“And we’re here another week before we head back to life?” Colt called out as the microwave dinged. Jace stayed quiet until Colt pushed the oatmeal in front of him, handing him a spoon. Colt stared at Jace, clearly waiting for an answer.
“Won’t you be missed before then?” Jace finally asked. He warily took a bite of the oatmeal and reached for his toast. Too many complicating factors were competing for his attention. Couple that with the dull ache in his head and it became impossible to think straight. His heart took the win and fluttered each time Colt’s gaze connected with his.
“Nah, I talked to everyone I needed to. I have a couple more calls to make, but they don’t matter,” Colt said as he ate his breakfast in earnest now. “So what’s on the list for today? I saw shingles and paint. What’s first?”
“I’d planned to work on the roof today,” Jace said and took a bite of his toast, chasing it down with a bit of guava juice. The battle going on inside him gave. The bottom line, just like always, he belonged to Colt for however long he was wanted. Did that make him pathetic? Probably.
“The roof it is. Maybe tomorrow or the next night we can go out, go dancing. I talked to a local woman, and she gave me the name of a place she thought we’d like. I need some clothes too; this is about all I brought.” Colt finished off his plate and drained his coffee, rising for another cup. “Do you need anything?”
“No, I’m good. I usually drink a protein shake for breakfast,” Jace said, realizing Colt had just described them going out together in public. Like on a date… his heart liked that a lot, tallying up more points against his head’s reserve.
“I got lots of those, too. I didn’t know. I need to learn these things about you.” Colt’s voice trailed off when he disappeared into the kitchen. Jace nodded in affirmation and finally smiled. He tried so hard to keep the nagging doubt at bay. He reached down, pinched himself, and winced at how hard. Why did he always pinch himself too hard? When would he learn that lesson?
Okay, so he wasn’t dreaming anymore, but did this fall into same song second verse? He would just have to play this out and see what happened.
***
The day passed in a blur of manual labor and an in-town shopping trip. The roof was complete. Together, they worked not much more than a few hours hammering shingles back in place and fixing a few problem areas. Jace perked up pretty quick and got past the hangover that plagued him most of the morning. They decided tomorrow’s big master plan would be to start the painting.
Colt drove them into town and loaded up on beach wear, sandals, and toiletries. They also stopped back by the grocery store, grabbing a couple pounds of shrimp, crab legs, potatoes, and ears of corn for a crab bake. Jace went into fits of ecstasy over the grocery store’s salad options. Colt watched Jace glazing over at the look of all the exotic fruits and vegetables on display. Jace looked so happy Colt took a second glance around the produce department because clearly he must have missed something special.
Jace gave the same reaction again on the salad dressing and seasoning aisle. Colt stood at the end of the aisle and actually got a good solid hard-on watching Jace excitedly explain why there were so many rare treats at this particular grocery store. Colt ended up buying just about everything Jace showed him, because he found Jace gave small kisses of delight each time something special was put inside the cart. This was a new side to Jace, one he hadn’t seen before, and the more Colt saw, the more he wanted a repeat any chance he got.
Colt’s only concern with their outing came at the times they actually ate together. He was amazed by Jace’s very strict and disciplined eating habits. After watching Jace load his hot dog bun down with the cooked vegetables from the street vendor, Colt couldn’t understand how Jace wasn’t starving to death. No way man could live without meat or animal products. Only the fragile new steps of their relationship had Colt backing off, not voicing his concern. He decided he was absolutely going to have to look at this vegan thing more closely. He wanted Jace strong and healthy for his whole life. If that meant he needed to eat meat, Jace was eventually going to have to put some in his mouth. Colt went so far as to even put a note in his phone to contact the team dietitian as soon as they got back home.