“It’s hot. I’m going sparkly where things are growing out.”
Beck liked the length, the heavy blond mess. He slid his fingers through it, giving it a light tug.
“It works for you.” He kissed Sky again but was interrupted by his phone buzzing in his pocket. “That’s my alarm. Time for your meds and maybe a nap, babe.”
“You have me on your phone? Seriously?” Sky’s eyebrow lifted, a goofy-assed grin appearing.
“Well, yeah. I’m trying to remember everything.” He set alarms for all kinds of things he needed to remember. “Is that weird?”
“Possibly. I think it’s cute.”
“Cute?”
Sky nodded. “Sparkly. Adorable.”
“Shut up.” He laughed. Sky had always made fun of how organized he was. Always. He couldn’t help it; he needed that sense of order. He liked it.
Beck stood up, lifting Sky easily and setting him carefully on his feet. “Good?”
“Yeah. You sure I can’t go upstairs with you to nap?”
Oh. Wouldn’t that be—it wasn’t the hip so much anymore; it was the femur. But what if—“Do you think I can…I worry about hurting you. Or dropping you.” He worried about setting Sky back. He worried about everything.
“I won’t tell. I swear. I need to be naked with you.” Sky looked up at him. “No sex. Just you and me bare.”
Yeah, right. Naked had always meant sex with them. Hell, clothed could still mean sex. But he really didn’t know how to say no to his cowboy either. “You think we can pull that off?”
“Once I get you naked, does it matter?” Jesus, nothing—not agony, not broken bones, not losing his career—nothing sank his cowboy.
“Maybe not.” He stepped around Sky and grabbed a brown paper bag with all of Sky’s pharmaceuticals, dumping them out on the counter.
“Christ, it’s like we’re a wee baby drug store. All we need is some Doritos, a bunch of condoms, and some beer salt.”
Texans. He looked at Skyler. “Do we need condoms now?” They’d quit those not too long after they got married. But if Sky had…
Sky shot him a look, shook his head. “I’m married to you, asshole. I made promises. I kept them. Every one. I’m not a cheater.”
He sighed and looked for the stuff Sky was supposed to take midday. He’d always assumed Sky and Parker had a thing. He could easily have acted based on that, but he hadn’t. “I happen to have kept mine as well, but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. If that makes me an asshole, then I guess the shoe fits. I think it’s a fair question considering I haven’t seen you in four years.”
“It was a fair question. Shit, baby, we broke up because you didn’t think I could keep my dick in my pants for a whole weekend, much less for years.” Sky chuckled softly and shook his head. “It was totally fucking fair.”
“Everybody wanted my cowboy.” All of that was water under the bridge now; it wasn’t worth apologizing again, let alone fighting about. He glanced up, grinning. “I wasn’t the only one who thought so. People warned me. And I don’t care what he says, Parker had it bad for you. He figured it out, obviously, and we’re cool, but he’s either lying to himself, or to me. Pick one.”
“Oh baby, I love you, but you can be a little bit of a dipshit.” Sky rolled his eyes, so dramatic that it made him grin. “Parker was always mooning over your ass, not mine.”
“Oh, bullshit.” He filled a glass of water and brought Sky the pills. “You’re making trouble now.”
“Not. Tell me he didn’t hit on you every time he saw you.”
“He—”Wait.He rubbed his hand for a second there; Parker had touched him at the bar. “What a dog! He hit on me at the hotel while you were still in a coma. He touched my hand, and he grabbed my ass when I was drunk and he passed out in my room.” Parker had stripped down to nothing but jeans too.Damn.
“See?” Sky took the handful of pills like a pro. “He hunted your ass every chance he got. Man’s a horndog, and he thinks you’re the hottest thing since sliced bread.”
Oh, he was going to be so evil to Parker the next time they were in the same room. “And this never bothered you?”
“Why would it? He couldn’t give you what I could, and you’re mine.” Sky pinned him with a look, one that he hadn’t seen in years. “I’m a shit, and I got the skills God gave a hamster, but I know how to give you what you need in the bed.”
He swallowed, or tried to, but his mouth had gone dry. “You’re not a shit, you’re not stupid, and you’re not making the case for naked and no sex very well.”