“You okay, J?” Candy asks for me, thank God, and I brace for his reply.
He laughs. It’s a soft sound, and it rumbles a little through his chest. He’s fucking laughing, and I have no clue whether it’s a good or a very bad sign.
Then he says, “I’m better than okay.” His arm around me tightens as he leans in to kiss Candy, then turns toward me. “I’m not gonna freak out, Jet.”
Fuck, he’s turned into a mind-reader. “You’re not?”
“No. It was fucking good, it was what I wanted. What I needed.”
I can’t help but grin at that. “Fucking good, huh?”
“Fucker, it was awesome.” He finally dips his head enough to brush his lips over mine, and my eyes fall shut as relief swamps me.
“So you’re not leaving?” I blurt out, the words escaping me before I can catch them.
So sue me. I’m worn out, blissed out, still high on pleasure.
Still mired in fear.
“Leaving? Why the fuck would I leave?” He sits up a little, and I blink to find him looking down at us, frowning. “I’m right where I wanna be.”
“Good,” I whisper, not caring if my voice cracks, and I bury my face against this warm skin. “That’s… good. Because I don’t want you to go.”
“What is he talking about, girl?” He sounds baffled.
“We were worried,” she says quietly. “That you might change your mind again after talking to your parents.”
“Dammit.” He huffs, then snorts. “I’d kick both your asses, but I can’t move a single muscle right now. When will you believe me when I say I love you guys? For real?”
I guess it will take some time. But he hasn’t run, despite what happened today, and that has to count for something.
It’s up to me to start believing.
Chapter Nineteen
Candy
“Mexico is great,” I say, straightening my sombrero. “But I can’t wait to go back home.”
“Me too,” J-One says.
“To start work on the baby-making,” J-Two adds.
The thought makes me happy. But above all I’m happy at the thought of having a home with my boys. They are the best thing that ever happened to me, and I hope we love each other forever and ever.
And more.
(Candy’s Note: Nothing against Mexico, though! I’d totally go there someday.)
From Candy Ever After (Unpublished epilogue to the serial Candy Boys)
Joel looks okay—well, apart from the nasty shiner, but at least the swelling is going down. He has moments when he’s staring into space, sadness in his eyes, and I know his parents’ rejection has hit him hard.
I can’t even imagine what I’d do if mine cast me out with a fist in my face and calling me names for being who I am. For being happy as I am.
Jet… still worries me. He hasn’t slept through a single night since the hospital, and he looks frayed at the edges. But the haunted look in his eyes whenever he glanced in Joel’s way this past week, while waiting for Joel to meet with his parents and make his choice, is fainter now.
As is my own fear about Joel leaving.