“Well,allof ours,” he said.“Of course, beloved.”His voice sank lower, but they could still hear the last part.“I bet Danny is amazing with children.”
“He’s the very best,” Julia said, her voice breaking again.“Oh, Leon, you should see them play.”
The Hardest Part
JOSH WASfalling asleep by the time Liam pulled the Porsche (oh Lordy, what a sweet ride!) up to the building where Danny kept his pied á terre.Originally he’d purchased the apartment so he could have a place to stay when he snuck into Glencoe to visit Josh, but after the reunion last year, he’d kept it because the mansion had filled up with hackers, thieves, grifters, and muscle, and it was always nice to have a place for Felix’s business contacts to stay.It was like offering them hospitality without taking the risk that they’d recognize anybody from their extracurricular activities.
The building was sleek and modern—which was not what Liam associated with the Salingers at all, given everybody’s penchant for classic art—but inside, the place had been refurbished, claimed,loved.
A flowered Persian rug sat in the living room, surrounded by comfortable furniture such as stuffed couches with tapestry upholstery and a cherrywood coffee table that would have felt at home in a mansion much like Leon di Rossi’s, which Liam’d had the privilege of visiting.
The kitchen had once been black wood and white marble, but it had been redone too, with bright backsplashes behind the sink and stove and new cream countertops with flecks of matching colors in them.There were two bedrooms with solid furniture and entertainment systems, and a small dining room, as well as stools surrounding the kitchen itself, which stood as an island in the apartment space.
The layout was ugly—Liam couldn’t argue—but every effort had been made to create something warm and welcoming, including the glorious art on the walls.
“New piece,” Josh mumbled, nodding at a spectacular series of tropical fish, each segment placed on a different wall around the living space.
“One of Tienne’s?”Liam asked.That poor fragile child he’d discovered in an alleyway had fulfilled every promise to become an amazing artist.He was still quiet and shy, but he and Stirling had formed a relationship of introverts that Liam thought of as a hidden glass ball full of wonders.Only those who loved the two young men knew where to look for them, but knowing them was so worth the effort.
“From the trip to Barbados,” Josh confirmed, yawning.With an effort, he stood up straight and looked to Liam for direction.“Are we talking now?”
Liam, who had been poking into the two bedrooms, turned and laughed.“No.Which room do you stay in when you’re here?”
“The one on the corner,” Josh said.“I’ve got clothes in the drawers, stuff in the bathroom, whatever.”
“Good,” Liam said.“That’s where I’ve parked my bag.”His voice dropped.“Nothing dire tonight.I just….”Carefully, he moved into that stoic, wounded space and framed Josh’s slim waist with his hands.“I just really want to hold you.Is that so bad?”
Josh’s smile was like sunshine through clouds.“No,” he said, raising his face shyly for a kiss.
Liam answered, and for a moment, a blessedly quiet,privatemoment, it was the two of them, the feel of Josh in his arms, his taste, even hissmell.Nothing overt—a subdued hint of aftershave, something airy, not earthbound, and sweat.
It was the latter that pulled Liam back, not because it was unpleasant but because they both smelled of it, and he wanted them to be comfortable.
“Have you had your pain med yet?”he asked.
Josh grimaced.“No, and that ibuprofen you had Hunter sneak me is wearing off.”
Liam chuckled.“The ibuprofen was Hunter’s idea.Something tells me that bloke knows a great deal about pain management.”
“Well, he is sleeping with Grace,” Josh said grimly, and Liam chuckled again.Grace’s mercurial temper was a good match for Hunter’s solid dependability, but it was a match nobody had seen coming and few had thought would last.Josh had, though.
Grace is like Peter Pan,Josh had told him when they’d been stuck in that cabin.Hunter doesn’t need him to grow up, Hunter just needs him to exist.As long as Hunter treats him like spun glass, I’m okay with them, you know?
But don’t you want your friend to be stronger?Liam remembered saying.
Oh he is.Liam could see him so clearly, lying on his side, fathomless brown eyes earnest with a love for his friend that Liam could only remember feeling for Danny.Not a lover, but someone to be made family from sheer act of will.Someday you will love Grace just like I do, if for no other reason than he kept me alive.
Liam hadn’t said then that it was done.For more moments like that one—Josh staring into his eyes, the light like spun gold through their porthole weaving magic between them—Liam would protect the spun-up, toe-shoed disaster like his own brother from that moment on.
He had that same feeling now, Josh in his arms, raising his face for another kiss, and Liam had to step back.
“Another painkiller,” he said, no-nonsense.“And a shower.And then bed.I’ll even let you bring snacks.”
Josh gave one of those smiles again, devastating because Josh was never shy, not with anybody else.He was brilliant and confident and determined and damned intense, but never shy.Not with Danny Lightfingers, Felix the Fox, and Lady Julia as his parents he wasn’t.
But he was with Liam.
“Perfect,” Josh said.Then with a coy little tilt of his head, “And more kissing?”
