Chapter Thirty-Nine

Tommy

Five Years Ago

I stepped into the hospital room, my heart thumping loudly in my chest. Monica turned her head at the sound of my footsteps, and for a second, fear flickered over her face. Then she relaxed, a smile pulling at her lips. Her color had returned since the last time I’d seen her. There was a little pink in her cheeks, and her hair looked clean and fresh, but that didn’t mean I trusted her. Monica was going to go home, go back to drinking, and drag Blake down into the deep end of the pool all over again. I couldn’t let that happen.

“Tom, what a nice surprise.” She patted the chair next to the bed to invite me to sit down. “How’s our Blake?”

I gritted my teeth. “He’s perfect,” I assured her, the beeping of her heart-rate monitoring filling the room.

“He is, isn’t he? Blake’s a good boy. Loves us a lot.” Monica gave me another smile, but it didn’t meet her eyes.

I wanted to scream at her that he was mine. That she didn’t deserve someone as amazing as Blake, full of his goodness and life. She should be ashamed of herself for treating him the way she did, but I didn’t. I needed this to go my way. For Monica to agree to everything I was about to drop in her lap. Instead, I eased myself down into the chair.

“I have a proposition for you.” I rubbed my sweaty palms over my jean clad thighs.

Monica’s brows dipped. “I already told Blake I wasn’t going to drink anymore.” Her eyes darted away from me as she lied to my face.

“I know, and this is part of that,” I told her. “I found a place that can help you. A swanky rehab facility that will take care of you. Get you back on your feet, help you stop drinking for good, and work with you toward staying sober. Help you get a job.”

Monica’s eyes narrowed. “I won’t leave Blake.”

That’s why I’m about to make sure he’s going to leave you. “If you stay sober, if you complete the program, there’s fifty thousand dollars waiting for you.” Her eyes lit up. “And each month you don’t drink, there will be another five thousand deposited into your bank account for a year.” Courtesy of my big brother.

“Where is this place?” Monica worried her lip between her teeth, but I knew she could see the dollar signs.

Bingo . “Florida.”

“There’s nothing closer? Nothing around Canfield?” Monica sounded desperate.

The money was what would make her agree, but I knew getting her away from her habits, the friends who enabled her, was what she was worried about. Not Blake. I didn’t doubt that she loved her son, but she loved drinking more.

I shook my head. “No, it’s Florida or nothing at all.”

“Can I think about it? Go home and see how it works for me there?”

“Nope, this is non-negotiable.” I grunted. “You decide now, or you get nothing.”

Monica twisted her hands together. “But—”

“Now or nothing,” I repeated.

She took a shaky breath. “I’ll do it.”

I stood up. “I’ll be in touch.”

Jackson was working with his lawyer to draw up a legal contract that she would have to sign before she even got five dollars. It said that if she touched a drop of alcohol, she’d get nothing more, but could keep the money she was given.

Now I had to hope that Blake would forgive me when he found out.

***

I dragged a hand through Blake’s soft hair, our legs intertwined together as we cuddled on the bed. He had seemed off when he’d gotten home from practice, again, and so I gave him a blowjob to try to calm him down. It had worked, but now it seemed like whatever was bothering him was sneaking back into his brain.

“Talk to me, Bug, tell me what’s bothering you,” I murmured.

He sighed and flopped over onto his back. “I have to make a decision about the band before the end of the week. Maverick and Killian have decided it’s time to leave to head to California.” He covered his face with his arm.

My heart shot into my throat. “Already?”

It was too soon. I needed more time. Blake was my world, and if he left, what else would I have? What if he realized that there was someone better for him? Someone who could give him things I couldn’t.

“Yeah, I know.” Blake sighed.

I tried to swallow around the tightness in my throat. “You have to do it,” I reminded him, even though my mind was screaming at him to stay. Stay with me, come with me, and be with me. Forever.

“I’m scared, Gretzky.”

“Of course you are, Blake. You’re going to leave everything you know behind to follow your dreams.”

He grunted softly. “That’s not what I’m worried about.”

I yanked his arm down. “Then what is it? Your mom?”

“I’m scared of leaving you, Tommy.” Blake’s chin quivered. “I love you. What if we drift apart? What if you find someone else? What if—”

“You’re my star in the dark night, Bug,” I assured him. “I’m yours, always yours, and we will never drift apart.”

A sob escaped his mouth, and Blake threw himself at me, his tears dampening my skin. I soothed his back as I told him that I loved him, and that we were in this together, until he calmed down, his tears stopped, and he peeked his head up to look at me.

“You love me?” Blake touched my face with the tips of fingers.

I nodded. “Yeah, Bug, I fucking love you.”

“You’ll wait for me. You won’t get bored or lonely or try to find someone else?” His voice trembled. “Because you’re it for me, Tommy. I don’t want another person to ever touch me the way you have.”

I sat up and hauled him into my lap. “I’ll wait forever for you. The only action my dick will see when you’re not with me will be my hand. We’ll have so much phone sex it might be illegal.”

“Phone sex?” Blake giggled, and his cheeks burned pink. His cock twitched between us, and I knew he liked the idea.

I hummed happily. “So much phone sex that we’ll end up uncomfortably chaffed.” I reached down to grip his length. “Because the only dick I want is the one I’m holding.”

“Oh, Tommy, yes, please.” Blake sighed as he leaned into me, his plump lips finding mine.

He whimpered as our tongues slicked together, both of them filling his wet mouth. I dragged my finger over his head and gathered the wetness, then twisted and jerked him. Blake buried his face against my neck as he moaned, his body trembling.

I eased him down onto his back, then splayed my body over his.

“Mine.” I kissed his mouth. “Mine.” I kissed his neck and shoulders. “Mine.” I kissed both nipples and all the way down to his bellybutton. “Mine.” I dipped my tongue inside, causing him to cant his hips. “Mine,” I growled as I rolled my tongue down to his groin. “All fucking mine.” I sucked the tip of his cock into my mouth, and Blake gasped, his hands finding their way into my hair.

“I want you inside of me, Tommy,” he whined.

I spread his thighs and shoved my tongue inside his tight, pink hole.

Sex before Blake had been good, but nothing compared to sex with my best friend. The sounds he made, how compliant and needy he was for me. I was only existing in this world until the day I kissed Blake. I was only drifting through life until that moment, and I wanted to keep him. Forever.

“Tommy, please,” he begged. He yanked on my hair so hard I thought he might pull it out.

I smirked as I pulled back, shoving my hand under the mattress for the lube I had stashed there. I uncapped the bottle and slid one finger inside him, then added another. Blake grabbed his legs and lifted them, giving me better access. He watched me with blown-out pupils, soft whimpers escaping his lips.

“Get on your hands and knees for me,” I instructed. I watched with an ache between my legs as he did as I told him. “Good boy.

Blake’s skin broke out in goosebumps, and when he glanced at me over his shoulder, he already looked wrecked. I slicked up my cock, nudged the tip against his hole and started to ease myself inside. Blake dropped his head back down and arched his back as he tried to urge me further.

He whined when I slapped his ass and gripped his hips. “Eager for me, Bug?”

“Uh-huh, yes. Give it to me.”

Blake pushed back, and this time, I let him. We both groaned as I sank farther inside until I was pressed up right against his backside. He clenched around me, his fingers gripping the sheets beneath him, and I had to take a couple of deep breaths before I blew my load.

“I love you,” I whispered as I slowly began to move. “I love you.”

I repeated it over and over again. I needed Blake to know that I meant it, that I wanted him and no one else for the rest of my life. So that when he found out what I had done, he would forgive me and would continue to love me in the same way.

“Tell me you love me, too.”

“I love you, Tommy.”

I groaned. “Again, Bug.” I pulled out of him, only to plunge back in. The sound he made was sexy and feral, causing my balls to draw up.

“I love you, Tommy.” Blake reached his arm back, and I grabbed his hand to lace our fingers together. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

Heat streaked up my spine and over my body. “You and me.”

“Me and you,” Blake promised.

He let out cry of pleasure as he came, his release spraying over the bed beneath him, and that pushed me over the edge. I joined him, yanking him up onto his knees and wrapping my arm around his waist.

“Mine, all fucking mine, and no one else will ever touch you again,” I growled as I emptied myself inside of him.

Blake sighed softly, his hand gripping my arm. I felt his body relax as I placed him back onto the bed, away from the mess he had made. I yanked on my boxers and rushed to the bathroom, wet a cloth to clean him up, and hurried back, only to find Blake snoring softly. I couldn’t help but smile at how content he looked.

I cleaned up him, lifted him from the bed and placed him on the floor before I changed the sheets. I then put boxers on Blake, put him back in the bed, and climbed in with him, pulling him against my chest.

“You and me, Bug,” I murmured as I started to drift off.

Me and you.