29. Bjorn
Bjorn
The trip back to the Pennsylvania cabin, once they’d assured themselves that Gran would be ok, felt quicker than the drive to South Dakota had been.
They did the same things, for the most part, with Bjorn DJing and putting himself in charge of car snacks, but with Bjorn able to share in the driving, they were able to stay on the road longer.
As a result, they made it back to the cabin before noon on the second day, a bit tired and grumpy – ok, well Dennis was grumpy, at least – but not as exhausted. Dennis pulled his truck up next to Bjorn’s sedan and shifted in his seat uneasily. “So, uh.”
Bjorn was in no rush to get into his own car and drive away from his mate, so he focused on Dennis. “So.”
“Uh,” Dennis said again, and licked his lips. “We didn’t really talk enough about…plans. And stuff. You coming to live me. If that’s still what you want to do.”
He was right, they hadn’t really discussed it. Their conversation during the drive had stayed light, as if they were both wary of bringing up the more serious topic and having it go wrong while in a confined space. Or at least, that was what had held Bjorn back.
“Do you…still want me to come live with you?” Bjorn ventured tentatively, afraid Dennis would have changed his mind.
Dennis, to his relief, immediately nodded. “Yes. Definitely. I mean, as long as you’re ok with moving. If you don’t want to move, we…I’m not sure, we’d need to figure something out. Maybe I could sell the bar and -”
“No!” Bjorn yelped, grabbing Dennis’s thigh to stop him. “No, don’t sell the bar. I want to come to you. I have nothing holding me in West Virginia; it’s just kinda where I ended up when I left the den. So I want to come to you. See the pub. Meet your friends?”
Bjorn suspected Dennis wasn’t aware how much his relief at that was written all over his face. “Ok. Ok, good. Yeah.”
Why was this so awkward? Bjorn cleared his throat. “I’ll need to pack up my apartment and stuff. Close out my safe deposit box. Rent a U-Haul. And then the drive is maybe six hours, I think? So let’s say that’s a full day on its own. How…how soon do you think you could make room for me?”
Dennis looked at him in surprise. “Room?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, I’m gonna have boxes and shit. Those will have to go someplace.”
Dennis waved that away, looking supremely unconcerned.
“Oh, we’ll just use one of the storerooms in the pub.
I…” He paused, looking contemplative. “I actually live in an apartment on top of the bar. I don’t know if we ever discussed that.
I mean, we could get a house or something if you don’t want to live there.
It can get loud on weekends, and it’s only a two-bedroom... ”
Bjorn shook his head. “No, there’s no need to worry about that, at least yet. I just…I just want to be with you. Wherever.”
Dennis’s natural scowl softened. “Then just get to me as soon as you can, huh?”
Oh. Oh, that felt nice to hear. Bjorn nodded eagerly. “Then, I think maybe a week? I don’t own that much stuff, but I’ll need to track down my landlord and cancel my lease, which might take a few days.”
Dennis turned in his seat, regarding Bjorn with furrowed brows. “I’m actually gonna miss you. A lot. You dick.” He punched Bjorn lightly in the biceps.
Bjorn couldn’t hold back his laugh at how very Dennis that was. “I’m going to miss you too, mate. I’ll get there as fast as I can, I promise.”
“You’d better.” Dennis harrumphed. “Can’t fucking believe you made me fall in love with you.” He said the words almost in passing, as if they wouldn’t be shocking.
They were. Bjorn could only stare at him. “I…what?” Had Dennis said what he thought he’d said? Surely not.
Dennis looked back at him with an eyebrow cocked.
“Well seriously, I have no idea how we got here. I wasn’t going to do squat with you, and then suddenly you were, like, in my head and I liked you, and then next thing I knew it wasn’t a matter of if we mated but when, and then five seconds later I couldn’t imagine living my life without you, and then boom, bond bite. I mean, what the fuck, man?”
Was Dennis telling him he loved him, or yelling at him for spoiling his life? Bjorn honestly wasn’t sure at this point. Maybe both? “I…love you too?” he ventured cautiously. “Like, if it makes you feel any better, I can’t imagine my life without you, either. So uh, at least we’re in this together?”
“Fuckin’ hell,” Dennis said on a put-upon breath, then hauled Bjorn in by his shirtfront and planted a kiss on his lips. “This is insane,” he muttered into Bjorn’s mouth.
Bjorn managed a nod mid-kiss, and then it was silent except for their pants for a few minutes. When they parted to catch their breath, Bjorn was grinning. “But like…insane in a good way, right?” he asked, relatively sure now of the answer.
Dennis palmed Bjorn’s cheek and shook his head. “Yeah, it’s fucking good. Jesus Christ. What the absolute fuck am I gonna do with you?”
“Love me?” Bjorn offered. “And I’ll love you back, and we’ll be happy for the rest of our lives.”
“Sappy asshole.” But Dennis kissed him again then, and Bjorn felt a warm promise in his lips. “Get the fuck out of here.”
The words went in one ear and out the other, Bjorn distracted by the kiss and the lingering thought that holy fuck, Dennis had said he loved him!
Dennis shoved him away. “Dude. Seriously. Get the fuck out of here, so you can get home, get your shit, and get back to me.”
Bjorn blinked. “What?”
Dennis gestured at Bjorn’s car. “Bjorn. Go.”
Bjorn nodded vaguely, but didn’t move. He didn’t want to leave his mate. He really didn’t want to leave his mate. This would be the longest week of his life. He sighed. “I -”
Before he could get any more words out, Dennis was yanking him forward by the front of his shirt and kissing him again, desperately this time.
The kiss was incendiary from the moment their lips touched, and within seconds, Dennis was unsnapping his seatbelt and scrambling across the bench seat into Bjorn’s lap.
“Fuck,” he muttered into Bjorn’s mouth. “This sucks.”
Bjorn kissed him again, then pulled back. “Kissing sucks?”
“No.” Another kiss, Dennis’s arms circling him and squeezing him hard. “Leaving you sucks. I feel like I’ve known you my whole life rather than less than two weeks.” He gave a tiny, reluctant laugh. “Maybe I should come with you.”
Bjorn sighed and kissed Dennis’s cheek. “You have to get back to the pub, love. You’ve told me about how your staff is likely to go off the rails if you leave them much longer.”
“Not off the rails, exactly,” Dennis protested, tightening his arms. “It’s just that Beau and Marisol are a hot mess, and Seb can only keep them in line for so long before he goes insane.
And I promised him it would be only two weeks.
But surely…” He sighed. “Yeah, no. I need to get back. Fuck.” He rested his head on Bjorn’s shoulder.
“Like I said, this sucks. Fuck you for doing this to me.”
Bjorn couldn’t disagree. It did suck. A lot. And perhaps it was his fault that they’d fallen in love? “I’ll come as fast as I can, I promise.”
“One more kiss, and then you should go.”
He nodded. “One more.”
Half an hour later, sporting a massive hard-on he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to get rid of, Bjorn climbed into the driver’s seat of his car and glanced over his shoulder at his mate, sitting alone in the truck. God, this was hard.
He started the car, gritted his teeth, waved to Dennis, and pulled down the driveway.