Page 15 of Aftermath

"I like you better when you're hyperventilating and can't talk," Austin snapped. "What the hell is wrong with you, anyway?" He swiped a sterile pad with antiseptic cream over Cam's jaw, and it ticked with tension. "Do you have a breathing problem or something? Oh, andwhatisupwith the damn finger tapping?" He shook his head again, annoyed, and tried to refocus on cleaning the cuts. He also made a mental note to apply some antiseptic to their wrists. Might as well enjoy their uncuffed freedom while it lasted.

"None of your fuckin' business," Cam gritted out.

It had become Austin's business soon enough. Cam had told him, and because Austin hated being helpless, he now researched Cam's disorders in his spare time, which he had plenty of.

"It's too late for you to drive home now," Cam said tiredly, not opening his eyes. "You got plans tomorrow?"

Austin stifled a yawn and fished out his phone to set the alarm. If he was home before Jade left for work, there shouldn’t be any problems. "Not really. I have Riley, and when Jade gets home from work, I have an appointment with Angelo." He was their physical therapist and had his own practice near the hospital.

"What does your wife do?"

Austin reached behind him to put his phone and glasses on the coffee table. "She's a medical social worker. She assesses whether or not a patient needs help after leaving the hospital." He rolled over to face Cam again and automatically draped an arm around his middle. "God, I'm exhausted." While he snatched a pillow for them to use, Cam blindly searched for something behind him and found a soft blanket to pull over them. "This is a whole lot better than the floor."

"What do you mean—oh. Right."

Yeah, the last time they'd slept this close together, it hadn't been nearly as comfortable.

"Don’t fucking remind me." Cam scooted closer so their foreheads touched on the pillow. "Night."

Cam fell asleep first, and Austin found himself gazing at the man he was beginning to see in a new light. Or maybe it wasn’t very new at all. The way they often hovered near each other couldn’t possibly be because of simple friendship. Youwantedto be with a friend, but that didn’t explain Austin'sneedfor always taking that extra step to be within reach. One of them always made that little move that brought them closer.

When Austin roused a couple hours later, his alarm hadn't gone off yet. He was drowsy, only half-awake, and he wondered idly why he'd woken.

It wasn’t Bourbon. That little thing was sleeping in a corner on what looked like a couch cushion. But Austin got his answer as soon as he felt Cam in front of him. Having shifted during the night, he was now spooning Cam, and Austin bit back a groan when he felt his morning wood pressing against Cam's ass.

Cam was deeply asleep, but he wasn’t still. Austin guessed he'd been woken up by Cam pushing his body more firmly to his, and now Austin was beyond conflicted. At the same time, he was half-asleep. Not a good mix…depending on how you looked at it.

Asleep enough to remain where he was. Asleep enough to take physical pleasure from the position they were in.

Awake enough to wonder if it was just comfort, or if he really was attracted. Awake enough to know he shouldn’t be here.

Asleep enough to not give a shit.

He let sleep get him again, but an ounce of consciousness lingered. Wading through blurry dreams and the knowledge of having Cam's body against him, he shifted forward just an inch or so as he slid his hand up Cam's chest. There was a slight dusting of dark chest hair, lighter than Austin's. What drew him in the most was the faint scent of detergent and Cam's aftershave. It was warm, but comfortably so, and the last thing he wanted to do was leave.

Cam began to wake up when he sensed Austin. He froze for a split second, ready to pounce, but since he'd already acknowledged it was Austin, someone he trusted with his life, it was easy to relax again.

He wasn’t completely relaxed, though. His cock had noticed how Austin's hard body was pressing against Cam's back, and he cursed under his breath. He wished he could blame this on Austin, but considering how Cam was pressing back just as much, he couldn’t.

Fucking hell. This wasn’t the time for this shit. He was thirty-four years old; did he really need to remind himself not to react like a teenager? Austin was not only married, but he was straight. These days, he was also Cam's closest friend.

"Christ, Austin," Cam bitched in a voice thick with sleep. "If you don’t wake up and join the living, I'm gonna break one of my rules." He never brought a conquest home. His house was a sanctuary, not a place for hookups and reminders of drunken mistakes. "You won't like it, trust me. Back off." He didn’t bottom for just anybody.

"What…" Austin mumbled, not yet awake.

Irritated and turned on, Cam pushed back against Austin's impressive morning wood and grumbled, "That. Get it away from me."

He would've moved away himself if it wasn’t for the fact that he was already crammed up against the waist-high wall that was used as a partition between the seating area and the patio door. Austin Huntley was evidently a bed-hog.

Austin hummed sleepily and gave a slow thrust of his hips, the thin layers of cotton between them betraying just how hard he was against Cam's ass.

"Jesus Christ," Cam murmured, a bit out of breath. Arousal flared up, but he needed to get over that quickly. Which wasn’t easy when he felt warm lips pressing a kiss to his neck. "Wake the fuck up, man."

Thank God Austin's alarm went off a couple seconds later.

Cam knew exactly when Austin woke up fully, 'cause he went completely rigid. Then he moved away and cursed, leaving Cam wondering if Austin had known they were both awake.

"Sorry." Okay, Austin knew.

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