Chapter 75
Andy laughed a little, and tucked his face against Scooter’s chest. “Oh, God, Kat is going to killme.”
Scooter pulled him close, snuffling at Andy’s hair. “Only a little bit. She…You scared the shit out of us, sweetheart.”
Andy winced. “Sorry.”
“No, I mean…We were afraid we’d done something wrong. Mostly me, but I think her, too, a little. Even if it was that she had pushed us together too fast.”
“I should probably still go down and apologize.” He really didn’t want to get out of bed at all, but he probably owed her that.
“She’ll wait. Until you’re ready. I…Good God, Andy. After all that, don’t you think you deserve a little time just to…to be?” Scooter’s eyes were stricken, anguished. On Andy’sbehalf, which was strange and wonderful.
Andy couldn’t resist running his thumb across Scooter’s lips. “I’ve got time now. And no one else I’d rather be with.”
“Okay. Okay. Gimme a minute. We can go—Jesus, did they close up the restaurant? I don’t even know.” He laughed, a little weak and broken in the middle, but it was a laugh. “You’ve got me all upside down and backward.” Scooter kissed Andy’s neck, opened his mouth, hesitated, and closed it again.
Andy wanted to ask, but he didn’t. He settled for waiting a few seconds, in case Scooter changed his mind again, before saying, “Guess that means it’s my job to get you straightened out again.”
“Only if you want me to be of some use to you.” Scooter stretched, all those muscles on display as he arched up, fully unselfconscious in his nudity. “Right. Getting up. I can do that, that’s…a thing I can do.” He padded over to the dresser and grabbed clean underwear, yanked his jeans up and grabbed a button down shirt that he left open. “I’m totally showing this off. Kat’s going to want to see her handiwork. That woman is freaky.”
Uh-huh, right. Showing off Kat’s bruises (admittedly freakishly precise) was the reason Scooter was going to walk around with his chest on display. No other reason at all. Andy grinned and watched him for a moment longer before leaning over the edge of the bed to snare crumpled clothes.
He felt awake for the first time in days. Alivefor maybe the first time in months. He was going to apologize to Kat and then, he thought, he was going to enjoy his damn evening. Eat something good. Maybe go out for ice cream. Walk on the beach, hold his boyfriend’s hand. Take said boyfriend back home and pick up where they’d left off.
“I don’t suppose you speak the gift language,” Scooter said, peering into his tiny freezer. “All I’ve got in here is a very sad-looking bag of frozen broccoli.”
Andy grimaced, an endless parade of gifts marching behind his eyes. He knew gifts for you were late and I threw your laptop across the roomand I didn’t mean to humiliate you in front of a room full of peopleand I didn’t want to hurt you but you just make me so damn mad. He even knew a few for I need you to be grateful and fawning. He wasn’t sure how to say I’m sorry I didn’t trust you
On the other hand, Kat had always been very clear about how best to suck up to her. “How do you not have any chocolate or wine up here?” Andy wondered. “I’d think you’d just keep a stash ready at all times.”
Scooter flushed. “I might have used it up recently. You think we should stop by the store? I…really don’t want to get stabbed again,” he said. Then stopped, studying Andy’s face. “So, that really is a thing, isn’t it? I could see it while you were thinking. I should know better by now than to doubt Kat.”
“What’s a thing? You doubted Kat? Shame. Don’t you know she knows everything?” Andy wriggled his feet into his sneakers. “I don’t think you’re the one up for stabbing this time.”
“The gifts,” Scooter said. “Heused to…wound you, and then try to make up for it with money. Buying your affection, your attention. But nothing ever changed. He wasn’t sorry that he hurt you, he just didn’t want to deal with your feelings. Anything you felt that wasn’t about how perfect he was didn’t matter.”
Andy stared at him, throat suddenly tight. He had to swallow several times before he could breathe again. “Kat had that figured, did she?” he managed. Another breath, slow and careful so he couldn’t choke on it. “Yeah. That…Yeah.”
“Okay,” Scooter said, soft. He held out a hand to Andy. “So, we’re not going to do that, okay? Ma always said the best way to be sorry was to accept that you fucked up, and not do it again. Well, she didn’t say ‘fuck.’ Very proper southern lady, my Ma. Kat’ll forgive you for scaring her. She loves you.”
Andy took Scooter’s hand, let himself be pulled into a hug. Christ, this man was addictive. “Okay,” he said, when the taste of the air no longer made him sick, like he was going to throw up. “We’re not going to do that.” And then, because if he thought about it much longer, his bones were going to vibrate themselves to pieces, he put on a cheeky grin and said, “Just to be clear, birthday and Christmas presents are very much okay.”
“According to Kat, there are apparently gifts that say ‘I’d like to fuck you through the mattress,’ too. I don’t know what they are, but maybe she’ll tell me. Eventually,” Scooter said, and slung an arm around Andy’s shoulders. “Let’s go, baby. I got your back. And I promise to get between you and any oncoming spoons.” 29
Andy wasn’t really a morning person, but there were a few ways to wake up that he didn’t mind. Scooter bringing him a mug of fresh coffee. Scooter nibbling at the back of his neck, hand sliding lazily over his skin. Scooter singing ridiculous 80s pop under his breath as he pulled on jeans to go out on the deck for his morning smoke.