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“You were too wasted to get back home, so he brought you here.”
“Fuck, Melissa must be worried sick.”
“I called her and said we drank too much and you’re staying over. She said that boys will be boys.”
Hearing that sparked another wave of relief. He could finally breathe normally again, although his head still pounded.
Ethan ran his fingertips across Chris’s arm. “How’s your stomach?”
“My stomach?”
“You threw up a lot.”
He could faintly remember the burning sensation of vomit gushing out of his mouth. “On your floor?”
“It was mostly on me.”
“Shit.”
“It was just your puke, not your shit.”
Chris laughed, then growled when his head punished him for it. “Don’t make me laugh. Wait, what time is it? I need to get to work.”
“It’s nine o’clock on a beautiful Saturday morning.”
“Saturday? Right, because yesterday was Friday.”
Ethan rocked him like a baby. “Who’s the smartest boy in the world? You are, yes you are.”
“No laughing!”
Chris appreciated the peaceful silence that followed. His head moved slowly with the rhythm of Ethan’s breath. He had no business feeling as safe as he did in the arms of this man, but Ethan had always been his safe harbor. Even during the shitshow at the cabin, it had been Ethan who’d steered them back from the brink of chaos.
Ethan cleared his throat. “I hope you don’t mind, but I also told Melissa you’d stay here this morning for a picnic.”
“A picnic?”
“I planned it with Ant, but I told him you might join. I think he’s also inviting Jay, but I doubt he’ll come.”
“I don’t want to crash your date.”
“I see Anthony plenty. Come with us.”
“Okay.”
Ethan kept stroking gently across Chris’s arm and back. “I was a bit surprised you went out with Jay. Last time we all met, I sensed some tension between you two. Honestly, I’ve been sensing that ever since we got back from the cabin.”
Chris sighed quietly. He wasn’t getting into that now, and hopefully never. “He was in my area and gave me a call. It wasn’t planned.” He hated lying to Ethan, but he had to protect him from knowing how sick things really were.
Ethan moved his fingers to Chris’s cheek, slowly stroking beneath his eye. It felt so nice. “You’ll let me know if something’s wrong with you, right?”
Chris didn’t like where this was going. “What brought this up?”
Ethan quietly said, “You never drink so much, and I’m feeling you’re hiding something. I’m not accusing you of anything, just making sure you know I’m here.”
Fearing that his voice might break, Chris settled for a quick nod.
“Oh, I wanted to show you something. Don’t get angry, but I snooped around a bit.”
