Page 235 of The Protective Gryphen

It might give him some ideas on how to woo Ian even more.

“Let’s sled some more,” Ian said, racing toward the sleds, knowing the next part of his memory making was about to happen. He needed them to flatten this part of the hill so he could end up going further down toward the lake.

“I’m going to get a running start,” Ian said, needing some speed.

Running, he landed on the sled, and it took off. He went flying down the hill.

That’s when Gryphen saw he wasn’t going to stop.

“Ian! The lake!” he shouted, as the man he loved went further than they had gone before, ended up on the trail, and was sliding down over the edge.

“Gryphen!” he shouted, needing him to follow.

He didn’t even take the sled.

Instead, Gryphen began running down the hill, scared shitless that he’d slide onto the lake and the ice would break.

If anything happened to Ian, he’d be devastated.

As he raced down the other slope, he saw the track marks and headed around the curve.

That’s when he saw him.

Gryphen slid to a stop, and he noticed that Ian wasn’t hurt.

Not even close.

Instead, he was standing there with a thermos and skates. It was clear that he’d planned this.

There were lights around the side of the lake, making it look magical. Since it was cloudy out, they twinkled, inviting him in.

“Oh,” he said.

When he stared at Ian, the man he loved smiled.

“Memories.”

That was all he had to say.

He moved at him, and when he reached him, he found his mouth, and kissed him. Tears dripped from his lashes, as he was caught up in his emotions.

This was love.

This was Heaven.

When Ian broke the kiss, he dropped the skates to wipe his cheeks with his mittened hands.

“This is the piss our pants portion of the memory. I can’t skate for shit,” he admitted.

Gryphen had news for him.

“Well, I certainly can’t. I can barely stay upright with this leg on a sled. Imagine skates.”

“If you can’t do it, we don’t have to.”

He stopped him.

“No. We’ll do it, or piss ourselves trying,” he stated. “And thank you, Ian. No one has ever done this for me. I see you had help and I’m going to bet you didn’t want to sleep in this morning. You were scheming.”

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