Page 47 of The Weight of Your Wishes

Fucking coward.Even as the thought crosses my mind, I don’t want to believe it. I want it to go away, so the way I think of him isn’t forever tarnished by it. Deep down, I know that he is a good man. He’s still the man I want—the man I need.

The tears won’t stop falling. He’s not coming back. He might bring my stuff back when I’m not here, but that’ll be it. The idea that I might not see him again lances through me, battering my insides.

The door slams open behind me, and I startle. My face goes hot with embarrassment, knowing that my mom is about to see me like this. I’ll have to explain everything on my own.

But then, I hear heavy boots splashing through water. My heart hits my throat as I look over my shoulder and see Grant’s tall form looming over me. His face is agonized as he falls to his knees, squeezing his arms around me. “I didn’t mean it, baby. I didn’t mean it,” he keeps repeating the words over and over again, voice ragged and strained. “I can’t leave you. I could never.”

A choked sob rips from my throat. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

He sniffles and cups my face with both hands. His red-rimmed eyes burn into mine. “I’m sorry. I made a split decision, and it was the wrong one. I knew it as soon as the words left my mouth.” His thumbs swipe away the tears that continue to stream down my skin. “I’m not perfect, Hendrix. There are things about me that need work, but I’ve already come so far because of you. Let me keep trying, baby boy. Please,” he begs.

My mouth falls open on a scoff. He doesn’t need to beg me, not at all. I grab his face, our arms crossed, and slam my lips into his. He groans deeply, threading his fingers through my hair. Rain and Grant make a heady mixture. I lick into his mouth, reaching out for his tongue. Heat swirls between our connected mouths. I don’t want this to ever end, but I need to make something known. I pull back. “Never again. Never leave me like that again, okay? I don’t care about anything else, butthatis something I can’t endure again.”

“I promise,” he says easily, before locking our lips together once more. My sobs begin to subside, no longer rocking through my body now that I’m safe in his arms again.

We stay there like that for a while—kissing and holding one another in the rain, recovering, until I hear my mom’s voice. “You guys are going to catch a cold out there in that rain,” she says hesitantly.

It makes me smile, remembering when Grant said that very same thing to me. “That’s just a myth, Mom.”

Grant squeezes me impossibly harder before getting to his feet and grabbing my hand to pull me to mine. We meet my mom’s bewildered gaze as our hands stay clasped together between us. We enter the house, the frigid air sending a chill down my spine.

“Go get dried off, and then I expect some explanation for what I just saw,” she says. I can’t parse how she’s feeling, but it’s definitely not anger. It’s as good a sign as any.

We both stand there, sort of awkwardly, watching her walk away. “I don’t really know if I have any clothes that you can fit into, big guy.”

He grunts and pulls me into my room. He can’t seem to keep his hands off me as we get dressed, and I can’t keep my eyes off him—especially not the massive cock hanging heavily between his tree trunk thighs.

Now is not the time, though.

I give him a larger pair of sweats and a t-shirt that ends up being very tight on him but still somehow looks good. We kiss one last time before walking into the unknown. My mom’s sitting at the table with a big glass of wine and a plate full of spaghetti. It’s quiet but for the low hum of the A/C as we sit down on either side of the table.

She looks between both of us before taking a long gulp from her glass. “Well, let’s talk about it. What happened?”

Grant clears his throat to speak first, and I can tell how anxious he is. “I don’t know any way to say it other than this, Cynthia. Hendrix and I love each other. We went through a lot of back and forth this summer—mostly because of me—but we’ve decided that we want to do this.”

“We can’t not do this,” I say, feeling proud of him for articulating all of that so well. “I’ve wanted him for years.”

She sets her fork down on her plate, her features heavy with exasperation. “I know that, Hendrix. It’s been obvious for a long time, but I assumed it was just a harmless crush that you’d grow out of.”

A laugh bubbles up in my throat. “In that case, I don’t think you realized just how much I wanted him.”

She pinches the bridge of her nose. “Grant,” she sighs, “he’s twenty-one years old, and you’re forty. He’s just a kid. What can you possibly see in him?”

My mouth falls open, her words landing like daggers in my chest.

“He’s not just a kid anymore,” he says vehemently. “And I’m not going to let you talk down on him like that anymore. It isn’t right, Cynthia. That’s your flesh and blood and you treat him like… You treat him like my parents treated me.”

Blood rushes in my ears, my lower lip trembling. She flinches, clearly taken aback. Her mouth opens to speak, but Grant cuts her off.

“Hendrix is an adult now, and at his young age, he’s shown me more about myself than I’ve managed to learn in all of my years.” He runs his fingers through his wet, wavy hair, pushing it from his face. “If you’re going to continue to treat him this way, we might as well just get up and walk right out of here. But I know you love him, and I know you care about him. So, maybe start acting like it before you lose him completely.”

She gives him a long, hard look, and whatever she sees there makes her features soften. Finally, she lets out a puff of breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it to sound the way it did. This is a lot to get my head around.” She takes another sip of wine. “I just want to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into, and you, too, Hendrix,” she says.

My brows furrow as anger burns like a wildfire within me. “I know what I’m getting myself into, Mom. I fell in love with the most amazing man I’ve ever known, and I would never leave him. Not foranything.He’s beyond enough for me.”

“And what exactly are you trying to say?” she asks, knowing good and well that I’m referring to the way she just up and fucking left him all those years ago.

“I’m saying that there isn’t anything wrong with me, and there isn’t anything wrong with Grant. Surprise, surprise. We’re exactly what the other needs.”

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