22. Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tony left a sleeping Bronx nestled in bed while he got up and dressed to do his usual early morning work-out.
He did a five mile run on the treadmill first then hit a few of the weight machines before he walked to the kitchen to get something to eat for breakfast. He was sipping coffee while scrolling on his phone when Rex entered the kitchen from the back deck.
It was the first time they’d seen each other since the day Tony left for the road trip with Bronx.
“Well, well,” Rex said with his hands on his hips. “Look who’s back on duty.”
“Nope, still suspended,” Tony corrected.
Rex leaned against the counter and chuckled softly. “So tell me, was the animosity completely fake?”
“It was as real as the taser holstered on your hip,” Tony answered.
“But . . . you’re together now, like together-together?” Rex questioned while he scratched his head.
“Very much so.”
“For how long?” Rex asked. “I mean, it wasn’t that long ago you were at each others throats.”
“We talked it out on the road trip,” Tony explained and shrugged. “Somewhere in the middle of those long conversations we realized we actually liked each other. The rest, as they say, is history.”
“Holy shit, so you’re banging bones with the boss,” Rex said and laughed at the absurdity of this news.
“Yep, I guess so,” Tony replied and grinned. “But this is serious, man—not a joke, or a fling, or a one-off. We’re both all in and making real plans for the future.” He finished his coffee and set the empty mug in the sink.
“Does that mean you’ll be walking around with cartoon hearts swirling above your head?” Rex teased.
“Fuck off,” Tony remarked with a half-grin. “I’m going to go shower off the sweat from my work-out. I’ll see you later.”
“Let me know when I need to have my wedding tuxedo dry cleaned for your ‘big day’,” Rex shouted at his backside.
Tony flipped him the bird as he left the kitchen but the smile didn’t leave his face the entire time he walked back to Bronx’s bedroom.
It was far too soon to think about tuxedos and wedding vows but maybe at some point much further down the road—if they were lucky.
He shook his head at the thought of marrying Bronx.
Last year even having a civil conversation with the obnoxious man seemed an impossible feat.
But now, everything was different. He was overflowing with feelings for Bronx and ideas of sharing his life with him no longer scared or disgusted him.
It was something he very much wanted and looked forward to and knowing Bronx was feeling it too made it seem entirely possible.
Time would tell but for the first time in years, he felt . . . settled and at peace with his life.
After two weeks of doing his physical therapy at home, the dizzy spells Bronx was experiencing were few and far between.
He wouldn’t say they were gone completely but they were infrequent and much less severe.
His motor skills had greatly improved, too.
He was doing so well his physical therapists decided to move the exercise room down to the basement where his main home gym was located.
He had a second smaller gym above the garage next to his recording studio.
The thought behind the location change was to force Bronx to navigate stairways and become more confident with the placement of his feet.
It worked.
Some days he didn’t so much as hesitate at the top of the stairs.
He simply stepped down and continued his descent to the first floor without a lot of thought invested in his movements.
Not only was it a confidence boost for him, it was making him stronger in the process.
The best part, though, was his hearing was pretty much fully restored.
He still had trouble hearing high-pitched sounds but the other registers were okay.
“I tried playing my bass today and I’m relieved to say my fingers still work,” Bronx said to Tony as they sat outside by the pool in a shady spot under a canopy on a double-wide chaise lounge.
“I’m not as fast as I was before I hit my head but the speed should come back with practice.
Playing like a snail is frustrating but it gives me a new goal to work toward. ”
Tony latched onto Bronx’s chin and slowly eased his head to turn his way.
When their eyes locked he began to speak.
“Listen to me,” Tony stated firmly. “Your recovery is way ahead of where the doctors said you’d be at this point.
Don’t dismiss that. You’re going to make a huge comeback with your band brothers far sooner than you think and no matter what happens, I will always have your back because you own my heart. ”
Bronx rubbed at the growing emotion in his eyes. The intimate words falling from Tony’s mouth were overwhelming. It was everything he’d hoped to hear from him one day but hearing it today was so surreal it felt almost dreamlike.
“Your expression looks as though you don’t believe me,” Tony said. “But I meant every word and I’ve never once lied or misled you—not even when I was arresting you.” Tony chuckled and soon Bronx seemed to relax.
“Thanks for reminding me about my delinquent past,” Bronx said as he rolled his eyes.
“You’re making it sound like your criminal record is a smear on your good name,” Tony mocked. “It just makes you more of a bad boy and we both know everyone loves sexy bad boys.”
“Are you telling me that’s what was appealing to you—that I was a bad boy?”
“Oh, you definitely appealed to my inner caveman instincts on multiple levels,” Tony said with a mischievous grin.
“Some of the best times of my life were when I was handcuffing you. I couldn’t believe I was getting paid to man-handle you over the hood of my cruiser, or up against a brick wall of a building.
Jesus, the sparse few minutes of time I was able to be pressed to your back, grinding away to be sure you were subdued, made me so fucking hard.
It was the sexiest thing I’d done with a man at that point.
Every time I saw you staggering toward your car after leaving a bar I hoped you’d resist my arrest just so I could get my jollies by dry humping your ass.
Even reciting the Miranda Rights beside your ear turned me on.
Good thing this was long before the body cams the officers have to wear nowadays.
Otherwise I would have been fired a lot sooner than I was for engaging in lewd and lascivious behavior with you. ”
“Wow, I had no idea what a perv you were, Tony, or that you were so hot for me,” Bronx said with a devilish grin on his face. “Maybe you should have suggested I suck your dick to get out of an arrest. I definitely would have done it for you,” Bronx said.
“You’re so funny I forgot to laugh,” Tony said and chuckled.
“Let me ask you something. If you were off-duty back then and I had asked if you wanted to hook up, would you have gone for it?” Bronx asked.
“I was absolutely curious and I’ll admit to fantasizing about it, but I would have said no,” Tony answered. “Mainly because of my job, but back then I was also still questioning my sexuality. I knew I had certain . . . attractions to men but I was sleeping with women.”
“Do you still sleep with women?”
“I haven’t had any interest in doing so in many years,” Tony said. “And at the moment, I’m kinda stuck on this one particular rockstar. You might even know him, since you’re in the same business. But he’s the only one I want to be with now.”
Bronx almost seemed to blush. “I know you’re saying it like that to be funny but I also know beneath the humor you’re very serious, so I will be, too,” he said softly. “I don’t want anyone else, either. You’re more than enough for me and I can’t wait to see where this takes us.”
Tony nodded, his eyes glassy with emotion. “I’m with you for the journey, the good and the not so good, but regardless I will be there at your side because that’s the only place I want to be.”
“It’s still so weird for me to hear you say such beautiful things to me without a ‘fuck you’ attached somewhere in the comment,” Bronx said. “I prefer this over the insults we exchanged on a constant basis, but tossing those verbal missiles back and forth was also kind of fun.”
“I can occasionally add in a ‘fuck you’ or call you a dickbag if it makes you happy,” Tony said and winked.
“In the spirit of celebrating what our relationship was in the beginning, I think a few verbal bombs every now and then would be okay,” Bronx grinned.
“Okay, then fuck you, asshole, for making me fall for a dipshit like you,” Tony spouted.
“And fuck you for allowing such a deep connection to grow between us like a festering STD, you asswipe,” Bronx countered.
Tony leaned in for a kiss. “We’re a match made in heaven.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more, cum stain,” Bronx said.
It only took a couple of seconds for Tony to have the lounge chair completely reclined and Bronx flat on his back against the cushion.
It happened so quickly Bronx hadn’t even had time to process what Tony was doing.
“Watch out for my head!” Bronx exclaimed and raised his hands up in a protective fashion.
“I would never intentionally hurt you,” Tony somewhat whispered as he carefully stretched his large, muscled frame on top of Bronx and slowly rested his full weight on him.
“I know,” Bronx said. “I think I’m always going to be protective of my head now.”
“Totally understandable,” Tony agreed. Bronx’s breath hitched when Tony latched onto his wrist and eased his hand away from his head. “I will always protect and keep every inch of you safe. You can trust me on that.”
“I trust you completely,” Bronx whispered. Tony hovered just above Bronx’s face. Their eyes locked and their breaths quickened. “Question is, do you trust me?”
“I trust you with my life, Rory.”