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With a sigh, I gingerly lifted myself off him. I grabbed my boxers and pulled them on, then carefully took off the condom. When I went to pull up his sweatpants, he grumbled, “I’ll get it.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Yes, Chief,” I murmured. “Stay still for a few minutes. I’ll be right back.”
He grunted a response and closed his eyes.
I felt guilty for giving in to him. I should have been stronger. But it was so hard for me to resist any chance to be close to him. I shook my head. I could beat myself up later. I ran upstairs to his bathroom and grabbed a couple of washcloths and a hand towel. I went to my medical bag for painkillers and an ice pack for his ankle before snagging a throw from a chair in the corner of the bedroom and hurrying back downstairs.
Marco had managed to pull up his sweatpants, but his eyes were still closed and the crease between his brows told me he was in pain. I ran one of the washcloths under warm water in the kitchen and returned to clean off the mess I’d made on him. I dried him with the hand towel and placed the throw over him so he wouldn’t be cold.
I went back to the kitchen and ran the second washcloth under cold water. I brought that and a glass of water back to the living room with the painkillers. I set everything down on the coffee table and asked quietly, “Can you sit up?”
“Why?” he asked plaintively.
“I want to give you some painkillers and help you get your T-shirt on.”
“I don’t need any drugs messing with my head,” he complained.
I sighed. “It’s just acetaminophen. You’re not allowed to have the good stuff.”
“Fine,” he grumped. He slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. I handed him the water and the pills. After he took them, I took the glass from him and handed him his T-shirt.
He put on his shirt and was about to lie back down when I stopped him. “Hold up a second.”
“What?” he asked with a frown.
“You are so cranky,” I observed. He just glared at me. “Scoot over just a little,” I said.
“Why?”
I rolled my eyes. “Just do it. Please?”
“Fine.” He moved more toward the center of the sofa.
I picked up the small throw pillow he’d been lying on and sat in the corner of the couch. I leaned forward to get the cold washcloth off the coffee table, put the pillow on my lap, and patted it. “Come lie down.”
Marco hesitated for a second, then said, “Okay.”
Once he was lying with his head on my lap, I draped the washcloth over his forehead. “Close your eyes and just rest.”
He murmured something I didn’t catch. I started gently running my fingers through his thick, short hair. Pretty soon, his breathing evened out and he fell asleep. Watching his peaceful face, I knew I was in trouble with this man. I also knew I wasn’t going to do anything to change it.
24
Marco
Because I was on medical leave since my ankle was still a mess, Tony had me drive Liam, Sean, and their family and friends up to the concert venue where Jeremy would be debuting his piano concerto and then proposing to Sean. The venue was a small church in the Chelsea section of Manhattan and the home of the Queer Urban Orchestra.
I had been looking forward to the evening. I was proud of Jeremy and how far he’d come since the accident. I teared up a little when he announced that he’d named his concertoMoonlight Journeyin honor of how he and Sean met. I almost fell over when he called out his ex for exposing his addiction to the musical community and talked about his suicide attempt. He told them all flat-out that he didn’t care if they believed him because the people that mattered to him did. I puffed up like he was my brother by blood.
But then he locked eyes with Sean and said, “It’s about how I learned that I could love and be loved for who I am, not for what I can do.” He held out his hand to Sean, who rose and hugged the stuffing out of him.
I felt my heart rate speed up because I knew what was coming. Jeremy dropped to one knee and said, “Sean, I’ve run out of fancy words. All I can say is I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. Will you marry me?”
I didn’t hear anything after that. My ears were ringing like I’d been inside an explosion. I had no idea watching Jeremy propose to Sean would hit me so hard. The memory of me proposing to Terry hit me like a Mac truck. For the rest of the night, I felt like I was crawling out of my skin.
Of course, Jeremy had rented out an entire restaurant nearby to celebrate their engagement, and I had to stay for the whole thing. I started out sitting at a table with Tony, Michael, and my sister, Gianna. My three oldest siblings couldn’t make it because they all had kids and it was three days before Christmas. My parents said they would host a family party for Jeremy after the new year.
About an hour in, I got up to stand at the bar. Not that I could drink—I was driving everyone home. I just kept the bartender company. After a while, even that wasn’t working, and I started to feel like I was going to throw up.
