Chapter 16
16
Z eke texted Wesley at four in the morning.
Zeke
Heading to bed. Have a demo to run when I wake up. I’ll text after so you can call? Have a great day. Z.
Then he crawled into bed and slept until ten, crawled out of bed and into the tub, phone in hand, ordering a glass of grapefruit juice.
That was real food.
He rocked.
There was a return text from Wesley that read,
Wesley
Good luck with the demo. Thank you for last night. Hope I didn’t say too much.
Zeke
You were fine. Having a great day?
He hoped so. He wasn’t having a bad one yet, and he didn’t intend to start now.
It took a minute to get a response.
Wesley
Lazy day. I’m making grilled cheese for lunch and then I’m going to watch a stupid funny movie.
Zeke
I am in the tub soaking. What movie?
What did Wesley find funny?
Wesley
I don’t know yet. Suggest something.
Oh.
Oh, dude.
Zeke
Have you seen Dodgeball?
It was old, but it made him cackle.
Wesley
Nope. I will now. I just want to turn my brain off today, you know? And not care if I doze off. Do you always soak before a demo?
Zeke
No. Just needed to today. My voice/fingers is a little raw.
His fingers were bloody from being ill-used.
Wesley
You’ve been working hard. Maybe rest after
Zeke
I might.
He was unhappy, grumpy. Tired. Bitchy.
Wesley
I can make it an order if you need me too
That was followed by a toothy grin emoji.
Because he could just rest on command. He sent back a goofy face emoji in return.
Zeke
Send me a selfie
He got one of Wesley in a kitchen holding up a spatula.
Wesley
Spanky
He laughed and sank down in the water, the bubbles popping on his chin. He snapped the picture.
Zeke
Super bubble man!
Wesley
Love it. You know, my apartment in NYC has a nice big tub…
Zeke
Does it?
He sort of assumed everything in New York City was tiny. His cabin wasn’t huge, but it was nice and homey.
Wesley
You would look good in it
The little purple devil emoji grinned at him.
Zeke
Do you have bubbles?
He loved bubbles.
Wesley
I don’t but for you I would get LOTS
Zeke
Can I call
He just wanted to talk. He was missing Wesley, and he was lonely.
Wesley
Always
He refilled the hot water and dialed his lover. “Good morning, you.”
“Well, hello there.” Wesley’s voice was warm. “You know you can call any time, you never have to ask. If I can’t talk for some reason, I’ll tell you. It’s not a problem.”
“I just never want to bother you, Sir.” He smiled, though, because it felt so good to hear.
“You have nothing to worry about because you’re never a bother.” He could hear the smile in Wesley’s voice. “Are you enjoying your bath?”
“It’s hot, and I have sandalwood bubbles. It’s lovely.”
“Mmm. Sandalwood. Hey. Are you okay?” That wasn’t a small-talk question. He could hear the weight of it in the way that Wesley spoke.
“I don’t know. I think so? I’m just not used to missing someone.” He was used to being glad that someone was gone, was leaving him alone.
“I know exactly how you feel. And I don’t know what the answer is. I mean, am I supposed to just live with it? Because I don’t really want to. I want to fix it.”
He winced, because he knew this was all his fault. He was the one that needed to just suck it up and leave here.
He hated his brain.
“I have this friend…” Wesley sighed. “So, I’m sorry, I kind of blabbed our business to her a little bit last night. She’s my business partner and a good friend—I don’t want to pressure you or anything but she had an idea.”
“Okay…” He wasn’t sure where this was going, but he was pleased to death that Wesley wasn’t hiding him.
That was amazing.
“She said something about splitting our time. I was a little drunk as you know.” Wesley chuckled, and he could just picture the way Wesley shook his head. “So… you can help me out here, but I think she meant splitting it up so we spend time there and here.”
“Yeah?” Oh, that sounded way less like ‘give up your comfort zone’. “Do you think… I mean, I don’t know if I can keep my cabin. Would you help me if I… I mean… is that a thing?”
“Everything is a thing. I mean, I think we should talk about everything. We should decide how to make this work for us both, right?”
“Yes.” Suddenly he started to cry, so he put his phone on mute and let himself keen a second, the mixture of exhaustion and stress and worry and relief overwhelming.
“So… I should come back. Right? I’ll come back and we’ll talk.”
“I’d love that.” He tried so hard to sound okay.
“Yeah, me too. I’ll see what flight I can book. You have any big plans I shouldn’t interrupt?” Wesley chuckled again.
“No. No, I haven’t.” He sniffled, rubbing his eyes. “I haven’t got any.”
“Boy. Zeke, are you okay?” Wesley must have heard that damn sniffle.
“I—” He didn’t want to lie to his Sir. “I’ll be okay. Promise.”
“You will. I’ll be there as soon as I can, and we’ll lie on your roof under the stars and figure this out. Okay? I promise. I don’t like being apart.”
“Me either. I miss you. I mean, I miss you —you make me feel alive.”
“I’m nodding. You can’t see it, but I’m nodding. I love this city, and it’s been dull and uninspiring all week. I miss you too. And if I’m being very honest, I miss our dynamic. It energizes me.”
“I—Are you really coming back to see me? Honest? I’ll buy your ticket.” He so would.
“I don’t need you to buy my ticket. I do need you to believe me, and to get some rest and eat a real meal before I get there.” Wesley sounded better than he had when Zeke first called. Brighter. Louder.
“I’ll believe you.” The rest was up for grabs, but he’d so believe in Wesley.
“After all. I don’t get on a plane for just anyone, you know. Hm. I need to call and make a reservation. Or get a meal plan or… I don’t know what they’ll do with me, but I’ll ask.”
“I’ll deal with Carson. I have an in.” He smiled, relaxing into the bubbles.
“Okay. I do flights, you figure out a deal with the owners. I will see you very soon. Be good. Remember the rules.”
“I will.” There were rules?
“Good boy. Kick ass today. We’ll talk again tonight.”
“Yes, Sir. I love you. Bye.” He hung up quick, so that Wesley didn’t have to say it back.
It was only right.
He sighed. He needed to let housekeeping in…