“I want it,” Edison whispered.
“I know.”
“I wanna feel more.”
“You will. Soon,” Bishop groaned, inching his hand away.
“No,” Edison almost whined.
Bishop flicked his tongue out and licked Edison’s disappointment away until his fingers were stroking over Bishop’s heart and he was smiling into the kiss. It was amazing that he could feel so satisfied just with Edison in his arms, they didn’t have to be physical to connect. For him, it went well beyond sex. Bishop ran his thumb over the bottom of Edison’s swollen lip. “After I work on the yard a few hours will you come with me to the garden center to order the rest of the supplies? Then of course you have to pay for it.”
Edison laughed. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Bishop repeated, while they continued to stare at each other. This was crazy. “I’m gonna get to work.”
“You wanna have dinner tonight?” Edison asked when Bishop was almost to the back door. “We can start on the Meridian book.”
Bishop’s grin was wide. It drove him insane when Edison wanted to read to him, and it tore him up that he’d have to miss another golden opportunity. “I can’t tonight. I have a doctor’s appointment. Then me and my dad have plans on Sunday.”
Edison frowned. “A doctor’s appointment… are you okay?”
“Yeah… I um.” Bishop looked down at his rough hands, choosing not to dodge the question. “It’s just the health clinic. I’m going to… I wanna get tested for you. I had blood work done when I first went into prison and I was negative… and I haven’t slept with anyone, but I want to still show you the results. You deserve that.”
Edison’s bright eyes warmed. He slowly walked to him and pecked a tender, unbelievably sweet kiss on the underside of his jaw. “Thank you. Thank you for doing that, Bishop.”
He was doing it because he knew it was the right thing to do.
~
Bishop was still thinking about the make out session he and Edison had had just before he’d left his house. They’d had a nice time at the huge garden center, where he’d taken Edison’s hand and led him through a world that he knew, that he could shine in. Edison admired Bishop’s knowledge, the same way Bishop had praised Eddie’s work this morning.
Edison was becoming more confident in the way he touched Bishop. He no longer clenched when Bishop would grip the bulk around his midsection, in fact, Edison relished the way Bishop stroked the supple flesh between his thighs with his tongue. But his favorite by far was squeezing Edison’s plump ass while he ravaged his mouth.
“So, you and Edison are like the real deal, boyfriends, partners, or whatever,” Trent said, when Bishop pulled his truck into the city’s free health clinic parking lot. It was always packed and no matter if he had an appointment or not, he knew he’d be there at least a couple of hours.
“Yeah. He said he wants that. So, we’re together. He’s not seeing anyone else and me either. We’ll be… what’s that word…” Bishop glanced at Trent. “When it’s just us only?”
“Exclusive,” Trent answered.
“Exactly.” Bishop nodded, cutting the engine. “And even though I know he’d take my word for it, I still wanna show him the paper that I’m clean.”
“Fine,” Trent said, about to get out of the truck until Bishop grabbed his elbow.
“Hey.” Bishop frowned, eyeing his friend. “You good?”
Trent gripped the back of his neck, grimacing as if he had stress there. “I’m just going through some shit with Sil.”
“All right.” Bishop shoved Trent’s shoulder. “You wanna talk or some shit? We’ll go back to my place after this. Order some pizza or something while I kick your ass in Mortal Kombat.”
“You’re not staying at Edison’s tonight?” Trent asked.
“Nope. I’m going home. Tomorrow you can go bowling with me and Mike. The more people for me to beat the better.”
Trent looked as if he was thinking about it, but Bishop could read right through his attitude. His best friend would never be disappointed that Bishop had found someone to make him happy, but it was clearly bothering him that Bishop hadn’t been around as much as he used to. But that was because he thought Trent was happy and was spending all his time with his girlfriend, like Bishop had been spending all his free time with his guy.
“I might need your couch soon, man.” Trent shook his head.
“You know you got it.” Bishop didn’t even need to ask Mike first. Trent was family. “But if I were you, I’d make sure to put a sheet down before you sleep on it.”
“Oh no. Is Mike still lounging in the buff?”
Bishop chuckled. “Yep. Unfortunately.”
Once inside the clinic, Bishop went and stood in the line that was roped off and wound through the center of the room. It was loud, chaotic, the sound of couples fussing, drug addicts complaining, and babies crying were all an assault on his senses, but he was there for a bigger reason. It didn’t matter what he had to go through to get the results, as long as he got them. Trent stood next to Bishop, assessing the room as if he was scouting for danger. Bishop chalked it up to his friend feeling like shit about his lady, and ignored his strange behavior.