What You Do to Me (A Breathe Epilogue) (2 page)

“Nah. It’s beautiful. Reminds me you’re still here.” He met Jay’s stare with those focused, dark eyes. “A lot of people don’t get second chances.”

Good to know they were on the same page about that.

Even after Jay’s confession that he couldn’t bear to lose Lincoln, after packing up his stuff and moving in with him, Jay had worried Lincoln would always have lingering doubts about their pasts—about them. That he would always feel guilty about being too happy.

Jay leaned in, and they kissed again, each caressing and loving with every touch. They had come too close to losing this.

“So…” Jay walked Lincoln backward toward the kitchen table. “We’ve christened every room in the house but this one.” He cleared his books off the table, lowered his jeans and underwear. Lincoln watched him undress and then followed suit with his briefs. Jay lay back across the table’s surface, pulling Lincoln with him, and Lincoln slowly lowered his body over Jay’s.

They kissed and rubbed and stroked each other in all the right places until they were both begging for more without words.

Lincoln stood, laughing as he unwrapped Jay’s limbs from around him. “Gotta get the lube.”

Jay pointed over his head to the top box on the pile in the corner. “That box has the shit from my nightstand.”

Lincoln went for the box. He returned to the table with the lube. “I vote we either never unpack or we always keep a stash of lube in here.”

“It’s the kitchen. Where would we put lube?”

“We’ll make room in the silverware drawer.”

Jay laughed at that. Then he sobered as he watched Lincoln readying himself, slicking the length of his hard shaft.

Staring down at Jay, Lincoln breathed deep and shook his head.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just…” He leaned over Jay and pressed into him as he spoke his next words. “God, what you do to me.”

Jay was utterly lost to a reply or thoughts or anything but the intensity passing between them that had very little to do with sex.

Lincoln rocked slowly, angling Jay just right. A few more sweet slides of their bodies coming together and Lincoln pulled out. He gripped Jay by the back of the neck and encouraged him up.

“Ride me.” He turned them, taking Jay’s place on the table.

Jay nodded and knelt on the surface, straddling him. Lincoln gripped his hips as Jay lowered himself onto Lincoln’s cock.

The table creaked and rocked with their combined weight. It sounded like it was about to collapse. They both stilled. Then laughed.

“Shit,” Jay said. “We’re gonna fall.”

Lincoln shook his head. “It’ll hold.”

“We can’t…” Jay lifted up and sank down on Lincoln’s cock again, picking up speed each time his body swallowed the thick shaft. “We can’t break the table. We’ll have nowhere to eat.”

“We’ll eat in bed.” Lincoln surged up into Jay, grunting with each slam of their bodies. The table teetered and squeaked beneath them again. The metal tips of the legs scraped along the linoleum floor.

“Sex on the table and”—Jay kept moving, his thighs flexing as he rode Lincoln—“food in bed? Isn’t that a little opposite of how it should be?”

Lincoln’s next words were punctuated by low grunts. “Everything…about us…is opposite of how it should be.”

No.

Jay stopped. He reached down and laid a hand over Lincoln’s chest, over his heart, loving the power and strength of the firm body beneath him. “Don’t.”

“It’s okay.” Lincoln gripped Jay’s hand and held it in place. “I won’t forget, but I don’t want to live in the past anymore.”

Jay surged forward and kissed him. Letting his body and heart take over, he started moving again, and Lincoln thrust up to meet him. It wasn’t long before Lincoln jerked his hips faster and faster. He arched off the table, and a long groan escaped his lips as he came.

They stilled, and the table settled underneath them. Until Lincoln tugged Jay down to him with an urgency that would’ve had anyone believing he hadn’t come yet. He held him close and whispered, “Love you,” against the skin of Jay’s neck as he stroked his cock.

A shudder worked its way through Jay. A few more strokes mixed in with a repeat of those whispered words, and he came over Lincoln’s hand. His release landed on his chest, then Lincoln’s. He collapsed forward, and they lay pressed together, the table swaying underneath them with each deep breath.

Lincoln shifted Jay around until he lay beside him, Jay’s head on Lincoln’s chest, Lincoln petting the wolf tattoo again.

“I’m proud of you, Jay.”

“For what? My finely honed acrobatic skills that kept us on this table?”

Lincoln laughed. His breath blew through Jay’s hair. “Yeah, that. And everything else. Going to school, going to therapy with your parents, forgiving your brother. All of it.” He wrapped his arms tighter around Jay. “There’s not many men in the world like you.”

Jay scoffed.
Him?
He sat up and searched Lincoln’s face. Didn’t he get it?

“Right back at you.”

* * * *

Lincoln pressed the Up button for the garage door, and the sun’s rays poured into the dark garage. Two Harleys sat side by side, one in great shape with flames and an eagle painted across the tank.

The other was the bike they’d just bought for Jay. Older than Lincoln’s and in need of some serious bodywork, but at least it ran decently. They’d get it into shape. Like they’d done with the first one.

Lincoln removed the tarp that covered the stacks of boxes along the far side of the garage. He could at least get some of this stuff unpacked before Jay finished in the shower.

Jay needed to spend his free time studying, not lugging shit out of boxes, especially if he was going to stay up half the night reading his schoolbooks. Lincoln’s thoughts turned to the night before—and the kitchen-table-christening sex. He couldn’t seem to care that every leg on the crappy kitchen table was now loose. He’d tighten them tonight when they got home. And just maybe he’d see if Jay wanted to test out the table again and make sure he had the legs secured well enough.

He laughed to himself and set to work unpacking Jay’s tools from the boxes. He almost missed the hand on his ass. He didn’t miss the words whispered in his ear, though.

“You gotta stop coming out here if you expect us to get anywhere on time.”

Lincoln glanced over his shoulder at Jay. His hair was still damp from the shower. Who knew the scent of cheap-ass soap and aftershave lotion from the local discount store could smell so damn good? Or maybe it was the way those scents mixed with the man underneath that was so tempting.

Lincoln asked, “You got a thing for garages?”

“I got a thing for sex with you on a bike, and we haven’t broken mine in yet.”

Forget the table. They’d christen the garage and Jay’s bike next. Lincoln moved in to kiss him.

Jay took a step back. “Don’t you dare start something. We’ve gotta get going or we’ll be late.”

“Me? You really going to put an idea like that in a guy’s head and not follow through?”

Jay smirked, a playfulness in his expression unlike any he’d worn yet. Then the look grew into something more. Lincoln wasn’t sure what. More serious, maybe. Determined. Confident. “I’ll follow through. As soon as we get home.”

They’d both learned a lot about living in the moment. Lincoln gave a nod of understanding. Some things they got without having to offer more. From day one they’d understood each other’s pain and need in a way few others had.

Contentment lingered on Jay’s face as he grabbed his helmet from the workbench, got on his bike, and took off through the open garage door into the sunlight. Lincoln started his bike and followed. He loved this—Jay looking free, at peace as they rode through the streets of Edgefield.

A few blocks later they pulled up to a two-story house. There was a realty sign marked with a SOLD banner out front and a car in the driveway that Lincoln didn’t recognize. The car was parked behind the moving truck he and Jay had loaded up the day before. Nancy and the kids hadn’t accumulated much since the fire—the apartment they’d been renting had been furnished—but they did have a few boxes with new clothes and toys and kitchen crap.

“Jay!” Jessica ran at Jay and threw her arms around his legs as soon as he got off the bike.

“Hey.” Lincoln swung off his bike. “Did you forget about me already?”

She ran to him and jumped into his arms. “Uncle Lincoln, you’re funny. You don’t forget family.”

“Good point.”

Adam exited the cab of the truck, lugging a cat carrier through the open door. Davy crawled out after him. He had Sparky on a leash, and they all headed to where Jay and Lincoln had parked their bikes off to the side at the end of the driveway. The furniture delivery truck would be there in an hour with the new sofa and dining room set Nancy had picked out the week before.

A man stepped out of the house with Nancy. He handed over the keys, hesitated, then shook her hand, holding on a little longer than necessary. Together they crossed the lawn to gather up the realty sign, and then he and Nancy continued slowly side by side, chatting as they made their way toward his car. He loaded the sign into the trunk. Then he paused again and spoke more to Nancy, both of them smiling and nodding, the guy’s gaze lingering on Nancy’s face.

He was definitely interested in more than helping her get settled in her new home. Lincoln exchanged a look with Jay. He was thinking the same thing.

Eventually the real estate agent got into his car and began backing out. When he neared the end of the driveway where everyone else stood, he stopped the car. “Enjoy the new home, kids.” He waved and pulled out onto the street.

Lincoln smirked at Nancy as she approached. “He was nice.”

She nodded. “He is. And really patient. We must’ve looked at more than thirty houses all across the county.”

Davy groaned. “And then you bought the first one we looked at here in town.”

Adam bopped his brother on the top of the head. “Leave Mom alone about it.” He gave Davy a playful push toward the truck, then said, “He’s a nice guy, Mom. If you want to see him again, I think you should. You know…without the lame excuse of looking at houses.”

“Adam!”

He rolled his eyes and headed for the truck, calling back, “Like it wasn’t obvious.”

Lincoln tried to fend off the laughter. He couldn’t hold back the relief washing over him, though. More than anything, he wanted Nancy to be safe and happy and…loved. She deserved someone who’d treat her and the kids with respect.

He dropped a kiss on Nancy’s forehead, then headed with Jay for the back of the truck to start unloading. Jessica skipped after them. The boys had the back door open, and everyone began sliding boxes to the end of the truck bed.

“Stop!” Nancy called out as she came around the side of the truck. She went to Jay. “I really hope you don’t mind.” Louder to everyone else, she added, “The first thing in the house is the angel.”

“What angel, Mommy?” Jessica asked.

Nancy retrieved a box from the back of the truck and pulled out a large figurine that was over a foot tall. A woman in a green dress with long red hair. She handed it to Jessica. “You can carry it, sweetie, and why don’t you keep her in your room so she can look after you.”

Jessica wrapped both arms around the angel, the figurine nearly too tall for her to carry. “But she’s so pretty. Don’t you want to see her all the time?”

“We don’t need to see her every day to know she’s looking after us.” Nancy looked to Jay. “All of us.”

Jay nodded, a pleased smile on his lips, the expression one of appreciation, not sadness or grief. “It’s perfect.”

Lincoln wound an arm around him and pressed his lips to Jay’s temple. “She’s a part of all of us now.” As much as he wanted Jay to move on, to build a new life, he’d never let him think he couldn’t remember her, love her.

Leaning into him, Jay offered appreciation that Lincoln got without words. Again that understanding that defied logic—and maybe sanity—passed between them.

Or maybe it was the sanest connection either of them could’ve found.

Jessica sped off toward the house, the angel in her arms. The boys followed with Sparky and the cat. Nancy hesitated for a moment. Then in a flurry, as if she had to act before she changed her mind, she lunged for Jay and wrapped her arms around his neck. She whispered her next words, but Lincoln heard her clearly.

“Thank you for everything, but mostly, thank you for helping him find his way.”

Jay held her in return and met Lincoln’s gaze. “He did the same for me.”

She stepped back, wiping tears from her eyes. She looked to one, then the other and sighed. No matter what his little sis had been through in life, she believed in love and happy endings. She watched them for another moment, then grabbed a box from the truck and went inside the house.

“Your sister is pretty great.”

Lincoln stared after her at the open front door of the house. “She is.”

“Runs in the family.” Jay stepped in front of him, blocking Lincoln’s view until Jay was all he could see. “I think…”

“What?” Lincoln searched Jay’s face, for once believing he was exactly what Jay needed in his life. He knew that now with a certainty he hadn’t been sure he could ever feel before this moment. He wouldn’t let him down. “You can always talk about Katie, whenever you need to.”

“Thanks for that, but this isn’t about her.” Jay reached for him, running his thumb along Lincoln’s jaw. “My future is you. And I think I might just be the luckiest guy around. I’ve been loved by two of the most beautiful people. Inside and out.”

Lincoln scoffed. “You talk too much.” He paused, grew serious. “You’re the one who’s beautiful. The best of all of us.” And without a doubt he knew she’d agree with him.

Jay stepped closer. He looked toward the street and then back to Lincoln, gesturing between them. “There’s not many people who’ll understand this.”

“Who cares?” Lincoln let out a long breath. He felt more at ease than he had in months, not wanting to be anywhere else in the world. They’d had this discussion before, but maybe they both needed a reminder from time to time. “I think if I owe her anything—if she’d want anything from me—it’s for me to love you with everything I am. Fuck what people think.”