Page 73 of Healing the Twin
He kissed my hands again, and Jesus, my knees went all weak. What was this man doing to me? I was almost literally melting.
“I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for me. I want to spend time with you and your sons, if you’ll let me, and with Tiago and Cas, with my friends here in town… Maybe make some new ones. I’ve got enough money to retire comfortably, so why would I want to continue working? It’s been enough. I’m done.”
I leaned my forehead against his. “That’s a lot of changes you’re making. You sure about all this?”
“Never been more sure of anything in my life.” He kissed me gently. “But what do you want, meu amor? I mean, with me, us. Our relationship.”
Relationship. Wow, that would take some getting used to. “I want it all out in the open. No hiding, and that includes my sons and my family. Nothing stays secret for long here anyway, and keeping it secret implies it’s something I’m ashamed of, and I’m not.”
“So you’d be okay with introducing me to your kids as your boyfriend?”
“I’d be proud to, baby.” When he didn’t respond, I frowned. “What?”
“You called me baby.”
Ah. I smiled. “Yeah, I did. You like it? Unlike you, I don’t speak some sexy second language, so the very cliché and unoriginal ‘baby’ will have to suffice.”
“It’s damn sexy when you say it,” Tomás said, and of course I had to kiss him. Which led to more kissing, and then I found myself getting a blow job in the middle of the kitchen. Who said men our age had a long refractory time?
Or maybe that was just because of Tomás.
24
TOMÁS
Three days later, I still hadn’t spent a single night in my new home. I hadn’t been around anyone other than Tiago this much, but I loved it. On some level, I had expected Fir and me to run out of topics for conversation, but we never did. Talking to him was effortless, and the silences that did fall on occasion were comfortable.
And when we didn’t talk, we had sex. Lots and lots of sex. Fir couldn’t get enough of me, and I had to admit that was incredibly arousing…and good for my self-confidence. Still, if it had been only that, I would’ve been worried, but it wasn’t.
On the fourth day, I was going a little stir-crazy. We hadn’t left the house, living off whatever Fir had in his fridge and freezer. I needed some fresh air, see the sky. When I suggested it to Fir, he immediately agreed.
“We need some groceries, so why don’t we walk into town and stop by Collins? We can get the rest tomorrow, but it would at least tide us over. We’re out of milk and eggs.”
“And yogurt for your breakfast.”
I’d tried to make him a different kind of breakfast, but he’d insisted on his yogurt and granola, explaining he was a simple man with simple tastes and routines. Since I rarely ate anything else but fruit in the morning, I could hardly fault him for that.
“And on the way back, we can pick up your car. ‘Cause that’s still parked at my practice.”
It was a perfect summer day with a balmy eighty-one degrees and bright blue skies. Dressed in shorts and T-shirts, we set out for Main Street.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Fir asked.
“Walking through town together? What’s so dangerous about that?”
“People will talk.”
“I told you I don’t want our relationship to be a secret.”
“I know, but this is akin to announcing it to the whole town. You know how the gossip mill works here.”
“They already saw my car here, and they watched us dance at the Summer Festival.”
“Yeah, but this would be making it official. We walk hand in hand through Main Street, and tomorrow people will be planning our wedding.”
“Our wedding?” I fanned myself, grinning. “You’d better wait until I ask you, meu amor.”
He snorted. “Who says I’m not gonna ask you?”