Page 95 of Storm Bound
“It sounds scary,” Adam said.
“Well, I just came up with it. And it will be horrifying. I’ll make sure,” Benji said. “Anyway, now that things have gotten back to normal, I’ve got a birthday party to plan. My best friend doesn’t turn thirty every day. Yaya, will you take me to Mel’s? We need to talk balloons.”
“Of course. My work here is done,” Yaya said, dusting her hands.
Had she watched superhero films just so she could act all heroic today? I wouldn’t put it past her.
“What should I do with the appointments outside?” Ava asked when she hung up her cell phone.
Adam looked at me with a big smile, then back at Ava.
“We’ll see the people already here, but can you call all the appointments for the rest of the day and reschedule them?” he asked.
“You got it, doc.”
A few minutes later, the Cedarwood Beach officers arrived to take Justin away in handcuffs, and after a fewmoreminutes, we were finally alone. Just Adam and I.
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen,” I said.
“It’s not your fault. Who would after what I said that night? And what Justin said.”
“I know. But still. I-I thought I’d lost you.”
“Me, too.”
Our hands linked again, both of them, and we faced each other, barely a breath apart.
“I tried to convince myself I didn’t care. But the truth is… I love you. And I’m so glad my yaya brought me here under false pretenses.”
Adam laughed.
“Yes, it seems the matriarchs were at it to bring us back together,” he said.
I nodded.
“And I love you more,” he added.
Just hearing the words leave his mouth made me realize how dark the last couple of days had been. How much it had hurt losing him. And how happy it made me to have him back.
Yes, there were still things we needed to talk about when we were alone and preferably not with a bunch of people waiting in the other room, but we would be okay. I knew we would.
This Justin bullshit was a cloud we needed to brave through to be able to open up to each other fully. And now that the storm had passed us, we would be okay.
“I’m sorry I let him come between us,” he whispered.
“Me, too. But it’s behind us now, right?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “It’s just you and me forever now… Master. If you’ll have me as your boy again. I will serve no one but you. And I will tell you everything you want to know. No… no more secrets,” he said, and I believed him.
“No more secrets,” I said. “Now let’s get through these people so we can go home.”
“Really?” he asked.
“Really,” I said. “Our home. If you still want that, of course.”
He put a hand on the back of my neck and pressed his lips to mine, the passion in his movement only matched by the gentleness of his mouth on mine, steady, slow, and sweet as if he were savoring me the same way I savored him.
Yeah, I’d missed this so much.
