Page 88 of Wanted
He’d be the best fucking boyfriend. And maybe it was weird to be that for another man, and he needed to adjust things in his mind, but that was what he wanted. To make Knox smile, to take care of him, and make him cum five times a day. He’d never felt this way. Like a dog desperate to please. Not just for a treat but to make his master happy.
Even thinking of Knox’s pretty blue eyes and the soft, submissive way he melted into a kiss made Liv’s heart all gooey, like that time he’d gotten Mrs. Marshall a heart-shaped cupcake for Valentine’s Day.
She was his teacher.
It was inappropriate.
But his heart and dick hadn’t been willing to acknowledge it.
Liv wanted what he wanted. And he wanted Knox. He wanted him sweetly and he wanted him moaning filthy words. He wanted both the pancakesandthe cum.
Maybe not together.
Maybetogether!
The soft thud of shoes on tiles made him look up just in time to spot a nurse heading their way.
“Mr. Macy has woken up now. He’s asking for… Mr. Liver?”
“That’s me. Me. Where? Where do I go?” Liv asked, jumping to his feet.
Chapter 29
Knox
The hostile walls loomedaround him like a gang of thugs about to attack the moment Knox let his guard down, but he had no will to fight left in him. Drained. Pumped out. Even the sterile smell of the hospital was exhausting. And yet, he still breathed despite feeling so dead inside. The heart monitor was there to remind him that his heart hadn’t in fact stopped as a result of being broken, but he still felt as if it was only hanging on by a thread.
At least Liv was safe.
They’d have to talk sooner or later, that much was obvious. In a moment of such vulnerability, when he ached, when his mouth was parched, and he felt so fragile in a hospital bed, he wanted Liv close. Liv was his safety net, and it didn’t matter that he could never feel about Knox the way Knox felt about him. Back at the junkyard, and then on the way here, Liv had been his rock and had held him throughout.
Some days it seemed that it was his presence that somehow still kept Knox tethered to the world of the living, so maybe he should be grateful rather than resentful. He wasn’t ignorant to the fact that most people didn’t even have that. Who was he to demand more than care, respect, and friendship?
He held his breath when the door opened and Liv stepped in, because before the shooting, they hadn’t ended things on a good note. The reality about to crash into him was more dreadful than another bullet.
His mind was still a bit hazy after going under, but everything came to focus around Liv’s face. His concerned expression, the flush on his cheeks, the bags under his eyes, all made Knox guilty over needing as much treatment and care as he did.
His… friend stalled by the door, his face tense as different emotions passed over it in a rapid sequence. In the end, the usual, easy smile won, and he approached a cupboard topped by a pitcher of water.
“You gotta work on your tan. Looking way too pale tonight,” Liv said, pouring some water into a glass.
Knox snorted, reaching out with his healthy arm. “I was thinking about taking up surfing when I get out. That would help. Just no ocean around here.”
“That’s no problem. You can just trash-surf at the junkyard.” Liv handed him the water and pulled a wooden stool close to the bed. The smile remained in place, but Knox knew him too well to miss the discomfort hiding underneath.
“That would be kinda cool actually. The piles are much taller farther on the north side of the junkyard. You think they’ll have snow here this winter and we could ski down them?” He gulped down some of the water. This was good. Clean talk. No need to mention heartbreak or disappointment. He just wanted to have Liv by his side for now, and the future would… happen eventually.
Maybe what happened tonight was the push he needed to understand that he had to lower his expectations?
Liv sat with his legs comfortably spread and spun on the stool. “I’ll set everything up for you, and we’ll see about skiing when you’re better.”
“Recovery’s gonna be a bitch, but at least I’ll be able to leave in a few hours,” Knox groaned when putting away the glass made him pull on the injured shoulder. He’d have to get used to it, since the nurse had warned him to take it easy for a month.
Liv stilled, and Knox was about to break the uncomfortable silence when he finally spoke, “Maybe you should stay a bit longer? You know, because of your heart?”
Knox fell back to the pillow with a long sigh. “It’s fine, nothing new happened. It’s the shoulder that hurts like a motherfucker.”
“Nothing new,” Liv muttered and kneaded his thigh as his gaze wandered off Knox’s face. “I guess. But you have to take better care of yourself. Maybe I should just work more while you heal.”
