Page 37 of Back to You

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Brandon let himself into the apartment, ready for bed. He was surprised to see Ethan passed out on the couch with the TV running. Godzilla vs. Mega Godzilla. Must have been a rough day.

“Ethan, baby, time for bed.”

Ethan slowly blinked awake, big hazel eyes turning to Brandon. A sleepy smile crossed his face. “Hi. How are you? How was your day?”

“Not bad,” Brandon said, “Lake got hit on again.”

“By who?”

“I dunno, some poor bastard. Oh hey, I fixed a vacuum cleaner!”

“How manly! Today it’s vacuum cleaners, tomorrow it’ll be lawnmowers and Corvettes.”

“Yeah, I don’t see that being a concern. I fixed it by smacking it around a while.”

“Well, I’ve done plenty of things because you spanked my ass, so I can understand that.”

Brandon grinned and pulled Ethan up off the couch, bundling his sleepy boyfriend into the bedroom and pointing him at the bathroom. “Go brush your teeth, it’s bedtime for all good little lawyers.”

Ethan flipped him off with a yawn on his way into the bathroom. Brandon went ahead and stripped down, happy to be going to bed at the same time as Ethan for once.

The two swapped places so Brandon could quickly brush his teeth. He slipped into bed next to a drowsy Ethan, who draped one arm across Brandon’s chest and kissed him gently.

They chatted quietly about their days until sleep pulled Ethan back under. Brandon studied his boyfriend in the light of the moon coming through the window. He traced one finger lightly over Ethan’s nose, then his lips and up his cheek. Yeah, I can be patient a while longer, thought Brandon. And then he followed Ethan into dreamland.

CHAPTER 9

TWO MONTHS LATER

“To Ethan!”

The whole table cheered and lifted their glasses in a toast.

“After months of busting his ass, he’s finally a senior associate!”

“Finally!” yelled Michelle, who was already a few drinks into the evening.

“Speech!” Marcus called out.

The chant went up around the table, calling for a speech from the man of the hour.

“Okay, okay, bunch of drunkards,” Ethan said, laughing. “I just want to thank you all for being here, and for being so wonderful to me and to Brandon through the last few months — I know it wasn’t easy for you either. And to Brandon, thank you. Thank you for being so patient and for putting up with the long hours and almost never seeing each other. It was painful for me too, but it was worth it. You’re the most wonderful person, and I can’t tell you how much you mean to me. Thank you, baby.”

“Here’s to Brandon!” Lake called, and the whole table gave him a toast.

Ethan took Brandon’s hand in his and bent down to give it a kiss. “I love you,” he whispered as conversations started back up around the table.

“I love you too,” Brandon said. “And now I have you back, right?”

“You have me back.”

The private room they’d reserved in their favorite restaurant was filled with people who loved them and were happy to celebrate Ethan’s achievement. The only ones missing were Brandon’s parents, who’d volunteered to stay home and watch Michelle’s kids, and Steven, who was still deployed. Ethan looked around at his friends and family and felt their love wash over him.

“I missed this,” he admitted to Brandon.

“We were here the whole time, you were the one slogging it out at work,” Brandon teased.

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