Chapter Nineteen #3
Dean laughed. “Adrian did check to make sure you were eighteen or older.”
“And that explains why the guy checking our tickets gave me a funny look.” Robin sighed. “Why do I have to look so young?”
“Give it a couple of decades and you’ll be complaining about lines and wrinkles.”
“I don’t see why,” Robin remarked. “Look at you, for instance.”
“What about me?”
“Well, you’re in your thirties, and you’re still smoking hot.” When Dean came to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk, Robin gave him a quizzical glance. “What?”
Dean smiled. “You are very good for my ego, do you know that?” He pointed down the street. “That’s it.”
“Do I look okay?” Robin asked.
Dean thought he looked downright edible. Under his coat, Robin wore his usual tight black jeans, with a button-down black shirt and black tie. “If I told you what I want to do to you because of the way you look, I might get arrested,” Dean whispered.
Robin grinned. “That good, huh?”
Dean kissed his cheek. “You look great.” He peered at the paper Adrian had thrust into his hands backstage. “The party’s in a room on the second floor. It’s going to be packed. And probably very loud.” He squeezed Robin’s hand. “When you’ve had enough, tell me, and we’ll leave, okay?”
Robin gave him a grateful glance. “Is it okay to admit I’m a bit nervous?”
Dean stilled. “Why?” Robin seemed so far from the confident, demanding young man of the previous night. And now that Dean thought about it, the change had occurred soon after they’d left the theater.
“It was the way Adrian looked at me backstage. As if he couldn’t understand what you were doing with someone like me.”
Aw fuck.
Dean put his arms around Robin. “Do you want to know what he said to me?”
“I don’t know. Do I?”
Dean kissed him, taking his time, loving how Robin melted a little the longer the kiss progressed.
When they parted, Dean lifted Robin’s chin with his fingertips.
“You’ve got this all wrong. Adrian couldn’t believe we’ve only known each other such a relatively short time.
He said he was amazed we were such a good fit.
” He chuckled. “He said something else too. He recommended I get a lot of sleep, vitamins, and energy drinks, because I was going to need them.”
Robin preened, and the sight made Dean’s heart sing. “Well, if you’re gonna keep up…”
Dean tugged Robin into his arms in the middle of the sidewalk. “I think we’re pretty well-matched in that department, don’t you?” He kissed Robin on the lips, fervently wishing they didn’t have a party to attend, because Dean knew where he’d rather have been right that second.
They resumed their stroll, only this time he took Robin’s hand in his. Damn, that felt good.
“Do you think that? We’re a good fit, I mean.”
Dean cursed himself for not seizing the opportunity the previous night. “When we get back to the hotel, you and I are going to have a talk. And before you start worrying, it’s going to be a very good talk, I promise.”
Robin’s eyes gleamed. “How long do we have to stay at the party?”
Dean chuckled. He loved it when they were on the same page. “Don’t you want to dance with me? We haven’t done that yet, and by the sound of it, there’s music.” He could hear it from across the street.
Robin pressed up against him. “I prefer dancing between the sheets,” he said in a low voice.
“In case I haven’t mentioned this yet?” Dean kissed him, moving his hands slowly beneath Robin’s open coat. “You saying what you want is a real turn-on.”
“In that case…” Robin glanced up toward the source of the music. “Would Adrian be upset if we didn’t show? I mean, there’s gonna be a whole lotta people up there. Do you think he’d miss us?”
One look at Robin’s earnest expression decided him.
Dean peered into the street and yelled, “Taxi!”
By the time Dean was opening the door to their hotel room, Robin’s heart was pounding, and there was a fluttery feeling in his belly that wouldn’t quit. On the ride back to the hotel, his mind was focused on the conversation to come.
There were things Robin wanted to know too.
Dean closed the door behind them. “Are you hungry? I can order us something.”
“Yes, but I can wait.” Robin sat on the sofa, his gaze locked on Dean. “You said we were going to talk.”
Dean removed his jacket, and laid it over the arm of the sofa. He sat beside Robin, then patted his lap. “Come sit here.”
Robin shifted across to straddle him. “This doesn’t feel like talking,” he said with a chuckle.
Dean cupped Robin’s nape. “I wanted to talk last night, but we got a little… distracted.”
Robin’s face and ears felt hot. “My bad.”
“Oh, I’m not complaining,” Dean assured him. “I enjoyed every second of it. But… I need to ask you something important.”
He stilled instantly. “Then ask.” He swallowed.
“I guess I need to know how you feel… about me.”
Robin caught his breath. “I was gonna ask you the same thing.” His heart went into overdrive.
Dean’s breathing synchronized with his. “I know we haven’t known each other all that long, but—”
Robin stopped his words with a fervent kiss, his hands cupping the back of Dean’s head. He poured every ounce of love he possessed into it, his heart beating like a drum, his pulse rapid. When he broke the kiss, Robin looked Dean in the eye. “I love you.”
Fuck. He’d gotten the words out at last.
Dean sagged against the seat cushion with a sigh, and fear trickled through him. Please, tell me you feel the same. Robin had trusted his instincts and laid his heart bare. Please, don’t break it.
Dean took Robin’s hands in his. “I love you too.” He brought them to his lips and kissed Robin’s fingers. “So much.”
Robin’s heartbeat hadn’t climbed down yet. “Is there a but on its way?” Because it sure felt like it.
Dean gazed at their joined hands. “I didn’t see this coming. But now that we’re here, I have to say I’ve never been happier.” Then he raised his chin. “But—”
Robin silenced him with a finger. “It’s my parents, isn’t?”
Dean nodded. “I think we both know they won’t like this, no matter how open-minded they seem.”
“Then we don’t tell them yet,” Robin said, his heart hammering. “We keep going as before.” Except he knew the subterfuge would have to end someday. They would only be prolonging the inevitable fallout.
Right then, he didn’t want to spoil the weekend with such thoughts.
“Tell me again,” he demanded.
Dean smiled and tugged Robin into his arms. “What—that I love you?” Robin nodded, his heart aching to hear the words once more, to assure himself this was no dream.
Then Dean’s gentle hand was on his neck as Dean kissed him, slow and sweet.
“I love you,” he said when he broke the kiss.
“And I will tell you that as many times as you like.”
“Tell me in bed, when you’re inside me,” Robin whispered.
Dean’s eyes sparkled, and he held onto Robin as he got to his feet and made his way to the bed. “As you wish.”