He was keeping Ethan away from here until his mate and partner had time to regroup. Whether that took a year or twenty, he was going to make sure Ethan’s heart stayed intact.
That was, after all, his job.
As they headed to Timothy’s for dinner, Ethan was silent in the passenger seat. At first, Gene didn’t say anything, simply because he wasn’t sure if he should‘intrude’.Knowing Ethan like he knew him, the man tended to like his privacy.
Already being back here, he could see the difference in Ethan, and Gene wasn’t sure he liked it. His man had come a long way in the last year with figuring out who he was meant to be, but the matter of Gabe taking his badge, and returning here had rattled that cage.
Big-time.
And Gene didn’t like it.
Yeah, there was work to do, and he was going to stick close to his man. That was why they were taking the same vehicle to Timothy’s.
He’d had the rental company come pick up the spare car, since Gene wasn’t letting his runner out of sight.
Just in case.
There was no way he was playing‘chase the man’again today.
Not.
Happening.
Finally, he had no choice but to go there. They were almost at his grandfather’s cabin, and if Ethan couldn’t handle this, he’d make a beeline for the airport.
They could catch late flights out back to Philly, putting distance between them and here.
“Are you okay?” he asked, not sure if this was a good idea or not since his lover’s mood was drastically going south.
Ethan nodded.
“Yeah, I’m just thinking.”
Well, that was never good.
EVER.
“About?” Gene asked.
Ethan was honest, and it wasn’t what Gene expected. In fact, it wasn’t even close to what he was assuming had his lover silent.
“About my mom.”
Oh, well.
Gene knew that Ethan would bring her up on occasion, but mostly when he was waxing poetically. So, this was a safe topic to talk about.
“What about?” he inquired.
Ethan reached for Gene’s hand, and he shared what was going on in his head.
“Basically, about how much she would like you. She was a good judge of character. When she was really sick, she told me to find someone who would love me enough for her, and for the first time in my life, I think I did.”
Gene’s heart skipped.
Well, holy shit.
Yeah, this was definitely not what he’d thought was going to come from Ethan’s mouth.
