Page 51 of At His Wife's Behest

Connor moved a little closer. “You’renotworthless, Kel.”

“Logically, I know that. I’ve reached out to a therapist for help. I have my first appointment next week and hoped I could wade through all the bullshit and find my way back to you.” He scoffed. “Then I was shown these photos and my father demanded Emma and I pay the blackmailer.” He took a shaky breath. “We could pay it. Emma just offered because she wanted me to have the chance to come out on my own terms, not like this. And to protect you.”

“You’re paying it?”

Kellan shook his head. “No. I won’t, and I won’t let her.”

Connor held his stare.

“Iwon’tpay the blackmail because it’s going to come out eventually and I’m done hiding. I didn’t ask to see you again because ofthat.I asked you because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since we left Italy. Iwantto be with you. I wanted it when you asked, but I didn’t know how to be the man you knew there once we returned.” He winced. “I realize I’ve got a lot of baggage and need to fix a lot before I’m worthy of you… and I don’t expect you to wait for that to happen.”

Connor moved closer.

“Unless… unless you want us to pay. I know this could cause a lot of hardship for you. If it’s too much, we can make it go away.”

“No. Don’t pay it,” Connor murmured. “I’ll be fine. One way or another.”

“If you lose your job, I’ll help out. Make sure you don’t lose everything.”

“I appreciate the offer but hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Silence hung between them.

“I know I don’t deserve to ask this… but once the chaos is over and I’ve gotten some help… if you’re not with someone else, maybe you and I could give this another try?”

Connor didn’t say a word. Face unreadable, he didn’t move a muscle.

“I’m sorry. It wasn’t appropriate to ask considering the situation. Forget I asked.”

Connor closed the gap between them, his expression still indecipherable. When the man reached out and cradled Kellan’s head, he sobbed, closing his eyes.

“Hey, look at me,” Connor whispered.

Kellan gazed up, lost in Connor’s eyes.

“If youneedtime to heal and deal with your shit, I’ll give it to you… but I don’t want to wait to have you in my life.”

“I’m a mess, Connor.”

“Whoisn’ta little fucked up these days?” Connor pressed his lips to Kellan’s, the kiss too gentle. Kellan leaned in, silently begging for more than he merited. “I want to be there for you, Kel. You don’t need to go through this alone.”

Another sob rose in Kellan’s throat. Connor kissed him, absorbing his pain. The gentle embrace quickly turned desperate, both of them hungry for more.

The front door opened, and they broke the kiss. Emma peeked out. “Sorry to interrupt, but Abby and I are going to have asleepover in the big house tonight. We wanted to get on over there and use the movie theater to watch her favorite movie.”

Kellan took another step away from Connor before Emma strode out hand-in-hand with Abigail.

Abigail’s gaze drifted to Connor. “Hi, Mr. Quaid!”

“Hi, Abby. How are you?”

“Good. Why are you here?”

“I was just telling your dad how great of a job you did on that Math test.”

Kellan marched over and lifted Abigail into his arms, drawing her attention away from Connor. “A sleepover sounds fun. Don’t you think?”

“Do you like kissing boys, Daddy?”

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