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“She’s infuriating like that. It’s difficult to be angry with her because she’s so charming. It gets me every time.”
Gene was curious.
“What’s it like to be loved like that and trusted?” he asked.
“It’s the biggest gift in the world. I’ve had it a few times in my life, and I’ve been lucky.”
Yeah, so had he.
When he’d been with Ethan.
As they began walking, Ethan had his arm through Gene’s, as they strolled the ten-minute walk to the hotel. It was a nice day, and he wasn’t in the mood to be cooped up in the car. Besides, security was following.
At the corner, Ethan stopped him and stared into his ex’s eyes.
“Remember what you told me when you decided that you couldn’t be a Fed anymore?” he asked Gene.
“That when one door opens, you step through, but you can always come home. Home is where the heart is.”
Yes, that was the conversation.
“And what did I say?” Ethan asked.
“That you’d be shelter for me if I ever needed it. That you’d help me find my way through it. That you’d love me when I felt unloved.”
“Come home, Gene,” he said.
That was all he had to hear.
Gene rested his forehead against his, and then because he needed that contact, he kissed him on the mouth.
It was gentle and soft.
It wasn’t sexual, but just calming and centering. It was the foundation of what they’d built years ago.
“Please give me a place to hide. I’m not strong enough,” he whispered. “I need a family. I have never felt this alone in the world. I won’t make it.”
And he knew that was the god’s honest truth.
Ethan took that moment to wrap his arms around him and hug him. He simply held him, not caring what the world said about him.
This was about being shelter.
And he would do exactly that.
Because he would always love Gene. He’d saved him when he needed to be saved, and he’d been the one who sheltered him for those seven years.
Ethan would do the same thing.
No matter what.
* * * H U N T E R S * * *
At That Same Moment
On The Street
Not Far Away
