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“Gonna...”
“Do it.”
Rain’s climax was barreling into him, full steam ahead, but hell if he wasn’t going to try to get Garrick there too. Dipping his head, he sucked hard at the spot where Garrick’s neck and shoulder met while his hands gripped his biceps firmly.
“Oh fuck. Me too. Me too.” Garrick panted and shook as Rain finally lost the battle with holding back his own orgasm, coming all over Garrick’s fist. Triumph mingled with pleasure as his consciousness gently floated back to earth, his head finding its favorite spot on Garrick’s shoulder.
“Did you...”
“Yeah. It’s weird when I don’t spurt like before, but trust me, feels good. Better than good. And getting you off...that’s everything to me.” Garrick kissed the top of Rain’s head.
“Excellent.” Rain gave a happy sigh and snuggled in closer while Garrick wiped off his fist. “I like making you happy. If me coming makes you happy, then count me as totally willing to take one for the team.”
“It does. And you do. You really, really do make me happy.” Garrick’s tone went from sex-drunk to more somber as he held Rain tight. “Thank you for yesterday. You were... That’s a real friend, being there for me like that.”
“Always.” He tried to echo the gravity in Garrick’s voice, heart beating faster, but he wasn’t able to crack a joke here either. He liked Garrick too much to not be honest, even if it was scary. “I... I want to be what you need. I care about you. A lot.”
“Thanks. And you are. I guess...maybe I simply needed to melt down. Grieve, silly as that sounds—”
“It’s not silly at all. It is a form of grief—you’re facing losing something really important to you.”
“Yeah. But this morning, waking up next to you, you still asleep and all cuddled up against me, my first thought was ‘I’m going to be okay.’ And I am. I’ve survived other disappointments before. I’ll survive this one too. And you being here, that helps.”
“Good.” Rain liked hearing that, both that he’d helped and that Garrick recognized that he’d get through this.
“Do you need to help your grandma today? I don’t want to monopolize your time—”
“Monopolize away. She’s at a craft fair in Sisters. I’m never gonna turn down more time with you.” Across the room, Cookie was finally stirring, which meant Rain would have to leave this cozy nest soon enough.
“Same. And I was thinking, there’s this long paved path over at the resort we could try with Cookie. Getting out, getting away from my head, that’s what I need. Then I can come back and worry about what to text Linc and Jacob.”
“Don’t dwell on that.” Rain sat up and gave him a stern look. “The only one you owe an explanation to is yourself. And for what it’s worth, I’m pretty damn impressed with you right now. Not that there’s one right way to cope with this, but you’re plowing ahead. That’s admirable. If your friends can’t see that you’re coping as best as you can, then that’s on them.”
“You’re pretty damn impressive yourself, you know?” Garrick stopped him when he would have left the bed, pulling him close again, tender expression in his eyes.
“Yeah.” But instead of preening, as they kissed, he felt anything but smart. He was losing his heart to this guy, risking a sort of heartache he wasn’t sure he’d ever had before. The thought of one day not having this was terrifying, but he seemed powerless to stop the surge of emotions that happened every time their lips met.
Chapter Fifteen
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” Garrick shook his head as Rain searched for a parking space, circling several blocks near the park in Bend they were aiming for. “Actually, correction. I can’t believe you got my friends on board with this. I never thought the day would come when I’d see Linc at a Pride event.”
“It’s not even a parade. No one’s asking him to march or hold a sign,” Rain said reasonably as he finally found a spot to park his SUV. “It’s a little one-day festival. And we should support it. I’ve had fun at Portland Pride for years now. It’s nice that this area is organizing its own.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“And all I suggested was that when you called to talk to Linc, you mention getting together for this. Jacob’s the one who ran with the idea.”
“It wasn’t a terrible suggestion,” Garrick allowed. And having a purpose to his call other than apologizing for his abrupt exit from Jacob’s birthday party had been nice. He’d gotten the apology out, though, not that Linc had let him really own up to his behavior, trying to excuse it as Garrick being under a lot of stress. And he’d been a bit too hearty on the return call, reporting that Jacob liked the idea of getting together for food at this thing and working out a time to meet.
