“Me too.” German sounded sad.
Blaze hated that. Too much of their relationship had been heavy responsibility and not enough simply loving each other. “We never opened our gifts.”
He heard the smile in German’s voice when he responded. “I know. I guess it’s a good thing I brought them upstairs so we could enjoy that in private.”
Blaze took another drag from the cigar before offering it to German. German took a hit and passed it back. Together, they enjoyed the silence and the stress relief. Tension left the arms around him. He felt German relaxing for what was likely the first time in weeks.
“For Ben’s sake. We can never do this again.”
German kissed his shoulder. “At least until after he’s grown. Then we’re doing all the things. We’re traveling and walking around the house nude. I’m fucking you on every piece of furniture in this place.”
Blaze closed his eyes and basked in the picture German painted for a minute. When he opened his eyes, he put out the cigar. “Come on, sexy. I want to see you open your presents.”
German let Blaze drag him inside.
Together, they climbed into bed and sat on opposite sides of the pile of gifts between them. None of the presents were huge, but Blaze was excited to see German’s every reaction.
Blaze grabbed a small box wrapped in gold paper and set it aside. “You can open this one last.”
German wore a huge grin. “Which one do you want me to open first?”
Blaze shrugged. “The rest are fair game.”
German picked up a sealed card. “I was told to always read the cards first.”
Blaze couldn’t stop smiling. That was a good place to start.
After cracking the seal, German pulled out the contents and looked them over. It was a three-person itinerary of a few different theme parks around the country.
Blaze didn’t give German time to say anything. “There’s no reason we can’t travel right now. Ben isn’t in school yet. I talked it over with the guys, and they agreed we should take a break from touring for a while. We still have several new albums to record, but we’re all weary of back-to-back performances. I want to focus on us.”
German looked beyond moved. “Are you serious? You actually told them you wanted to focus on us?”
Blaze didn’t understand why German sounded so surprised. “Of course. We’re getting married soon. We basically had a surprise adoption land on us. It’s our time right now.”
German’s smile was everything. “That sounds great. You choose a gift.”
Blaze grabbed a box, and German bit his bottom lip like he was nervous. Suddenly, Blaze couldn’t wait to see what was inside. He didn’t need anything, but this was from German. He tore open the paper and pulled off the lid. “Holy shit. No way.” Blaze pulled out the signed Canucks jersey. It was his favorite player. “How did you get this?”
“I’ve guarded a lot of athletes over the years.”
Blaze couldn’t stop smiling. Before he could tell German to pick another box, German handed him another. “Open this one.”
“It’s supposed to be your turn,” Blaze halfheartedly argued as he opened the gift. He was low key into the spirit now. Blaze wanted to rip into all his gifts. His breath froze in his lungs as he lifted the lid on the tiny box. It was a ring—like a wedding ring, except cool as fuck. It was a skull with rubies for eyes. He had never seen anything like it.
“I hope it’s okay. If you don’t think it’s appropriate or anything, we can exchange it. I used a private jeweler. He said if you wanted something different, he’d be glad to let you choose something from his collection.”
“I love it.” In fact, it hit Blaze how fucking perfect German was for him. He got Blaze like no one else ever had. Blaze took the ring from the box and slipped it onto his finger. It fit perfectly.
“I took a ring from your dresser for size comparison, but I didn’t know if it was old or—”
Blaze blindly handed German the gold box he had set aside, cutting off his rambling.
“I thought you wanted me to open this one last?” Even as he questioned Blaze’s actions, German opened his gift. “Goddamn.”
Blaze tore his eyes away from the ring he wore to watch German’s reaction to his ring. It was a black band with deep-set rubies. He swore sometimes they shared one brain.
Their gazes met. German looked moved. “I love this. Seriously. It’s like you let me design it.”
