Secret

Dylan didn’t know how to respond. He’d turned back around so Tristan couldn’t see his face. Tristan’s words had taken him off guard and made his heart rate speed up. He’d had those very same thoughts lying in bed.

Maybe this was just some after-sex babble and he should take it as such. His precious plans for his future were actually nonexistent at this point. In a few months, all his children would be off to college, starting their lives and Teri would be living hers and he would be alone—that was the reality that he hadn’t said aloud. He’d spent so much time focusing on his family and hiding behind them, he hadn’t thought about himself, hadn’t made plans for the rest of his life. Somehow, Tristan had managed to bring all that to the forefront.

Would there be moments like this over and over as he met different men? He knew that answer. Nothing would ever be this good again. He might be inexperienced, but he wasn’t dumb. The way he clicked with Tristan, the consideration he gave, didn’t just happen.

“Hey, you,” Tristan nudged him. “You got quiet all of a sudden. I hope I haven’t said anything to upset you.” Tristan scooped the warm water over his chest.

“You didn’t. I’m just tired’s all.” He looked down at the hand against his chest, then at the bath rug, then around the bathroom. Special for him, a day in the life for Tristan. He was way in over his head and needed to keep perspective.

“Thank you for tonight, Dylan.” Tristan ran the rag over his shoulders then kissed the back of his neck. “Since the water’s getting cold, you’re tired, and it’s late, let’s get out. I want to snuggle you in bed,” Tristan said and tugged him up, so he could get out.

What couldn’t have been more than a few hours later, Dylan’s alarm went off, rousing him from a sound sleep. He reached to silence the phone; whatever made him set his alarm couldn’t have been more important than his need for sleep. Unable to locate the object making the offending noise, he forced open his tired eyes and was met by Tristan’s confused stare.

“Why the alarm today?” Tristan asked and pulled Dylan closer to him, snuggling back down to sleep.

Dylan lay there several seconds, right on the edge of sleep, loving the feeling of a hard warm body pressed against him. Three minutes later, as he had scheduled, the alarm went off again. “Why does that damn thing keep going off every time we’re together? Power it off.”

“I planned to go running this morning,” Dylan grumbled, pulling away from Tristan. It was now or never since he was leaving California today.

“What time is it?” Tristan asked as he looked at his alarm clock on his side of the bed. “It’s five o’clock in the morning.”

Dylan rolled to the side of the bed. He sat there a minute, assessing his body parts.

“Where are you going jogging?” Tristan asked as the lamp came on flooding the dark room with light. That had him blinking like crazy, forgetting any aches in his body.

“Man, that light’s bright.” He ground his fist into his eyes and rubbed. “I’ve always wanted to run Crystal Cove. I wanted to be there by six.” He forced himself up off the bed and stretched out his body.

“You should have told me that. I wouldn’t have kept you up so late. Are you sore?” Tristan asked, propping himself up against the headboard. He had bedhead to the extreme. Dylan guessed he probably did too. They’d gone to bed right after the bath.

“I told you about the trail at Crystal Cove when I got in the car yesterday, and I’m not too sore. I can feel my ass, I know it’s there, but it’s not enough to stop me from running this morning,” he said, looking over his shoulder. The covers were all messed up around Tristan’s hips, but just on one side of the bed. They’d slept close together last night, apparently all night. “My stuff’s in your car. Is your housekeeper here today?” he asked, walking to the bathroom.

“No, not yet. I have an extra toothbrush in the drawer to the right,” Tristan called out. Dylan went for a towel. His slacks were somewhere in the house, and he was going to need them. He came back out, his hair brushed down, teeth clean, and a towel draped around his waist. Tristan was gone from the room. Dylan headed to the living room for his slacks when a nude Tristan came jogging across the kitchen floor, Dylan’s bag in his hand.

“I would have gotten them.” Dylan smiled and took the offering.

“So jogging like running?” Tristan asked, following along behind as Dylan walked toward the bathroom.

“Yes, like running. I need to call a ride.” Dylan spun back around to the nightstand to retrieve his phone.

“I’ll drive you. Maybe I can run with you. Are the other guys going?” That completely threw Dylan off as he pulled up the Uber app on his phone.

“Do you run? I mean, you clearly work out, but I didn’t think you were a runner. I thought you were more into weight training,” Dylan surmised, looking at Tristan’s body. Hell, he’d take any opportunity to look at that hot body. Tristan came toward him.

“I run all the time. If the guys are going, I can just drop you off, but if not, I can go,” Tristan offered, wrapping Dylan in his arms and pressing his lips against his neck.

“Okay. If you want, I’d like the company. I’ve wanted to run this trail for a while. I saw it on the Discovery Channel.” Dylan reached up, threading his fingers in Tristan’s hair. Tristan kissed him before he pulled away. They needed to dress quickly and get moving if they were going to make it there by six. They could run the trail and still give him a couple of hours to get back to the hotel and change before the flight home.