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They continued like this for a long time, the outside world disappearing, only the two of them. Hands, tongues, whimpers, and muffled words.Baby. Sorry. Love you. Mine.In the end, Avery broke free from his kiss, eyes love-drunk, lips bruised, his sweaty hair plastered to his forehead and temples. Resting his head against Ethan’s, he mumbled against his equally bruised lips,
“I love you so much, Ethan. So, so much.” He suddenly shook his head, laughing. “I feel so close to Mattie when I’m with you… I can’t explain it. It’s just… It’s as if she no longer only lives in the shadows or inside my heart. It’s as if she becomes alive again when I’m with you. I know it’s silly but… It’s how it feels…”
Ethan reached out and held his hands against Avery’s heated cheeks, framing his beautiful face with his large, calloused hands.
“Look at you,” he breathed. “You’re so fucking beautiful, baby. It looks good on you, Avery.”
“What?” Avery laughed.
“Being mine. Belonging to me. It looks so fucking good on you, baby.” He dug his fingers into Avery’s soft skin as it vibrated beneath him.
“I’m gonna let it slide, just this once, hon,” his mom’s reprimanding voice interrupted their world of two. “But no more cursing, Ethan.” She raised an eyebrow at her son, while Avery buried his scarlet face against Ethan’s chest. “And I see, I’m gonna have to do the corn by myself.”
“Sorry, ma’am,” Ethan mumbled as he fought to hold back a laugh.
“You’re forgiven now that I see that you’ve finally pulled your head outta your stubborn butt and come to your senses,” she winked, while nodding at Avery who was still in hiding against Ethan’s broad chest. Digging into the front pocket of her sky-blue apron, she pulled out a small booklet and threw it on the table next to Ethan. “And you’re welcome, hon. Now go get your stuff together before we eat.”
Avery looked up from Ethan’s chest and stared at the dark-blue passport next to him. Ethan hadn’t seen it in years, even forgot that he had it in the first place. He’d gotten it for a school trip to Mexico in the tenth grade. He’d been busting his ass off at Peterson’s for months to be able to afford the three-day trip. Avery swallowed before his surprised eyes found Ethan’s who looked just as baffled.
“What—? You’re coming with me?” he blurted.
“He’s comin’ with ya,” his mom replied in what Ethan recognized as herno-point-in-arguing-with-mevoice.
“But…” Ethan frowned, a million questions building.
“I said, you’re goin’ with Avery, and that’s final. Your father has already gone to Peterson’s. The twins can help him after school instead. They need to start gettin’ off their lazy behinds, anyway, earning their keep. It’s long overdue, but I only have myself to blame for that, nursing them around the clock. But that ends now.”
“You’re coming with me,” a stunned Avery repeated.
Ethan looked at his mom in disbelief, who in return raised a challenging eyebrow at her son. Doubt momentarily coursed through him. And fear. But then the words came like a giant wave, washing away everything, until there was only the truth left.Then go be happy, Eth. No one deserves it more than you.Yes, he was gonna go do exactly that. He owed it to Matty, who’d fought so hard for his own happiness. He owed it to his parents, who’d always fought for him. Fuck, he owed it to Avery, who was fighting for them right now. But most of all, he owed it to himself.
Looking into Avery’s blue eyes, which held nothing but love and the promise of more, justmore, Ethan shrugged.
“I guess, I’m comin’ with you, then.”
EPILOGUE
Ethan – One year later
“I CAN’T BELIEVEyou did that,” Avery chuckled as he hid his face against Ethan’s naked chest. “You’re such a dork.” Ethan wrapped his tanned arms tighter around his boyfriend as he peppered kisses against Avery’s right shoulder.
“If I’m a dork, you’re a fucking dork too, baby.” Yeah, they were both ridiculous, but Ethan didn’t give a shit—he was in love, and it was still the best fucking feeling in the world. He kept expecting it to wear off—at least, just a little bit—but most days he only just managed to close the door behind him to the bungalow, before a horny and half-naked Avery jumped him, whining “I need you so bad, Eth,”against his lips. Yeah, it wasn’t wearing off. They were both crazy in love. It was as if there was this unspoken agreement between them that when Avery was home, they would make up for when he was away and go at it like bunnies on speed.
Home was a small bungalow thirty minutes outside of Boston. They’d bought it three months ago—Avery had spent the rest of his inheritance from his grandfather for the down payment—they’d taken out a loan for the rest. Once Avery had quit the job at Boston University, he never looked back. They’d ended up staying in Bolivia for four months and Avery sold a series of articles about what, in fact, turned out to be an ancient Inca village, to a large magazine in Boston. They’d already commissioned him for his next trip to Chile in October. Ethan was starting school in September at a community college in Boston, studying to be a teacher. He’d been working at a coffee shop ever since they’d returned from Bolivia since he didn’t feel good about letting Avery support him.
“True,” Avery murmured as he continued to suck on Ethan’s Adam’s apple. “It was sweet, though. I love that you did that,” Avery chuckled as he unfused himself from Ethan’s neck and looked down at him. “Who knew my boyfriend was such a romantic…” His eyes were beaming brightly in his sun-kissed face, his blond hair gathered in a messy bun on top of his head. In one swift movement, Ethan flipped them, so it was now Avery who was lying on the sandy-white beach.
“Hey, I’m plenty romantic!” Ethan protested, stabbing at Avery’s ribs, making him squirm deliciously which set off a chain reaction, stirring Ethan’s dick to life behind the confinement of his board shorts. He groaned against Avery’s chest, biting at his nipple, which was perhaps not the smartest move, come to think of it. Because Avery was a slut for nipple action, and now he was pretty much grinding his hard cock against Ethan’s thigh.
“Here we go again…” a deep voice sounded from further down the beach. “We can’t leave the two of you alone for more than five damn minutes and you’re goin’ at it again.” Ethan looked up and spotted Austin carrying a cooler and a six-pack, a knowing grin on his face. A couple of yards behind him, Matty appeared from behind a sand dune, quickly buttoning his cutoffs, cheeks flushed a dark pink.
“You’re one to fucking talk, man,” Ethan yelled back, nodding at his best friend. Austin looked over his left shoulder, eyeing his boyfriend, then shrugged as if he could care less that they’d been caught too. He probably could, seeing as he was planning to make a decent man out of Matty very soon. Matty, of course, didn’t know that. Austin had pulled Ethan aside yesterday on the beach while Matty and Avery were tossing a frisbee with Cassie.
“You think it’s too soon?” Austin had whispered, shifting nervously on his feet.
“Hell, no,” Ethan had grinned. “He’s gonna say yes for sure, man.” He’d become great friends with Austin too, often spending a long weekend in Grant’s Harbor when he and Avery could both get away.
“It’s all Ethan’s fault,” Avery mumbled, eyes shining, lips pouty. “He decided to suddenly be romantic,” he continued, gesturing at the sand closer to the water.
