Page 92 of Bend Him, Break Him
Colton kept his expression blank, playing hard to get. The temptation danced across his green eyes, but he remained cool and collected, which only further enticed Isaac. Unwilling to surrender, Isaac closed the distance and slid his arms down Colton’s torso. When he reached his waist, Isaac wrapped his arms around and guided his fingers ever so under Colton’s shirt. There were a couple of ticklish spots Isaac knew of and how to provoke the perfect smile.
“Okay, okay, okay.” Colton wriggled loose. “You can join me.”
“Good. I need to get all squeaky clean after my exhausting day of managerial duties.”
“Are you this insufferable at work, Mr. Assistant Manager?”
“No, I’m ten times worse.”
“Oh, but what I have planned for you and that mouthy mouth of yours is quite filthy.”
Isaac growled, snarling in the back of Colton’s ear. “Do tell.”
“Gah, you’re ridiculous. I love…” Colton’s eyes darted away from Isaac, and he admired the room for a moment, a small, nervous smile dancing on his face. “This apartment. Christ on a crouton crutch, I love this apartment.”
Isaac had seen Colton tiptoeing around the words, almost dropping it here and there but skirting around the L bomb as quickly as he fumbled the grenade. Isaac’s expression turnedsour. There was probably something very unhealthy about comparing love to an explosive, but he didn’t have the time to delve into that level of emotional baggage.
“You okay?” Colton quirked a brow, likely trying to suss out Isaac’s expression.
“I love you, too,” he said, then furrowed his brow, realizing the error, the flop, the incredible screw-up of three utterly simple words.
Words Isaac swore to himself he’d never say to anyone. Words Isaac practiced in his head a hundred times the night Colton spent in the hospital, a thousand times in the days that followed, and hoped to say properly a million more times over.
Much to Isaac’s surprise or disappointment, Colton had an obnoxious, minxy grin plastered on his face. He loved this, the smug bastard.
“I love too…the apartment,” Isaac blurted as if that somehow made more sense. Even if it did, his frazzled face definitely gave away his embarrassment.
“Yeah?” Colton puckered his lips. “You wanna kiss the apartment? Wanna spend your days cuddling up to the walls? Maybe dry hump the floor while whispering sweet nothings?”
“Oh, shut the fuck up, you ass,” Isaac huffed. “This is why I can’t stand you.”
“And love your apartment,” Colton added, a teasing cockiness in his voice. “It is quite a lovely apartment for sure.”
With that, he stripped off his shirt and walked with a cocky swagger toward the bathroom. Isaac dragged himself behind Colton, practically kicking himself for picking the worst time to say the worst words only for Colton to play it off like it meant nothing. Which was the worst thing ever. Isaac didn’t know what to make of it.
He certainly wasn’t feeling a shared shower anymore or a sexy shower or anything that didn’t involve him not crawling in a hole somewhere and dying.
Colton must’ve noticed the anxiety festering in Isaac as he spun around once they reached the bathroom door and slid back toward him.
“I love you, too,” Colton whispered into Isaac’s ear, wrapping his arms around his waist much like he did at the GSA party. There was something so comforting in Colton’s embrace. Isaac believed he could truly sink into it forever. “In fact, I love you more.”
“Not possible.”
“Are you challenging me to a love off?” Colton bit Isaac’s earlobe, avoiding the piercings.
“No,” Isaac said plainly, having finally settled the nervousness that consumed him earlier. “It’d be unfair of someone of my expertise to challenge a novice.”
“And you’re suddenly an expert at love?”
“Yep. Learned all I needed falling for you.”
Colton’s cheeks blushed. “You’re the worst.”
“Youloveit.” Isaac tested his hand under the water, finding the temperature a little tepid for him but just right for Colton’s liking.
They undressed, and Isaac took in all of Colton, adoring every square inch of this beautiful man that he loved. A man who loved him. Isaac couldn’t fathom how he’d gotten so lucky, how the horrors between them had washed away, the past etched in hatred and cruelty had fizzled away. Neither held resentment or rage or regret.
“I really do love you, you know.” Isaac wrapped his cast in a plastic bag and stepped into the shower, letting the spray obscure the glossiness of his eyes.
