Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
I shifted around to face him, as much as I could with the seat belt on, and said, “I want you to know I’m going to take such good care of you Miller, now and forever.”
He grinned and asked, “What brought that on?”
“I was just thinking about how much you’ve done for me, and I wanted to tell you it’s a two-way street. I’m here for you, just like you’ve always been there for me.”
He reached over and squeezed my knee. “I know you are.”
After a pause, I asked, “Why did you do all of that for me when we first met? It was so much, but we barely knew each other.”
“It’s because you needed me, Collie, and I needed you just as much. Imagine a plant living in darkness that finally saw the sun. Every part of me reached for you, and craved you, and needed you desperately. I’d been trying to convince myself I was done with relationships, because I was afraid of getting hurt again. But right from the start, I knew I couldn’t live without you.”
I teased, “A plant, huh?”
Miller grinned embarrassedly. “It’s a good analogy!”
“It is, and I appreciate the fact you’re willing to say such sappy things to me.” We were on the outskirts of town by now, and I said, “Hey, pull over for a second.”
He did as I asked, and I took a pen and a pad of sticky notes out of my pocket. I wrote a number, peeled the note off the stack, and jumped out of the van. Then I darted across the empty country road and stuck the little hot pink square on the bottom right corner of the “Welcome to Hickson” sign.
I returned to the van and fastened my seatbelt as I explained, “I fixed the number that shows the town’s population. I know that sticker will blow away eventually, but for today I wanted it to show that I left, and I’m not coming back.”
“Well done.”
“Thank you.”
Miller leaned over and kissed me, and then he tucked my hair behind my ear and asked, “Are you ready to go home?”
“Absolutely.”
We decided to drive straight through in one day, with only a couple of quick stops for meals and gas. Both of us were totally ready to be home.
It was close to midnight when we finally reached our destination. Miller hopped out and opened the garage door before pulling the van in behind his little convertible. I warned, “You’re getting too close to your car’s bumper.”
“It’s fine. I need to make sure the garage door will close behind us, but I’m not going to hit it.”
A moment later, he bumped the convertible, and the front of the van lurched up a few inches before dropping down again. I grabbed the cat, and the three of us climbed out of the van and stared at the bumpers. “They’re hooked together again,” I said.
“Yup.” He kissed my forehead and scratched the top of the cat’s head before saying, “You know, it’s actually kind of cool when you think about it. They couldn’t be more different, but somehow my car and your van fit together perfectly, like they were made to do exactly that.”
“Is this another analogy, like that plant thing earlier? Do they symbolize you and me, and the way we’re a perfect fit, despite being so different?”
He took my hand, grinning as he told me, “You said it. Not me.”
After he closed the garage and unlocked the door to the kitchen, he scooped me into his arms. I asked, “Are you carrying me across the threshold?”
“It would have made more sense if we were coming in through the front door, but yes.”
“You’re a little late. We got married a few weeks ago.”
“Right, but it was a marriage on paper then. Now it’s not.”
As he stepped inside, I said, “You’re carrying me across the threshold, and I’m carrying the cat across the threshold.”
“And now you’ve made it weird.”
“I’m good at that.”
At the top of the stairs, he put me down, and I put the cat down. Then Miller kissed me and said, “Welcome home, Collie.”
I wrapped my arms around him and murmured, “There’s no place in the world I’d rather be.”
19
Collie
Three weeks later
On a Friday afternoon, nine very long weeks after my surgery, my doctor finally cleared me to drive, lift more than ten pounds—oh yeah, and have sex. She’d erred on the side of caution and made me wait even longer than usual, but now she was finally convinced I was fully healed.
As soon as I left her office, I snapped a photo of the paper in my hand and texted it to Miller. He called a moment later, sounding amused when he asked, “Did your doctor really sign that?”
“Yup. Here, let me read it to you, in case the photo was blurry. It says: I hereby release Collin Souza from any and all physical restrictions related to his surgery. That means he and his husband can now have sex, AKA: hump, smash, bone, screw, boink, fuck, play hide the salami, and/or do the nasty. This also includes any and all sex-related activities that may come to mind.”