“Water access?” Max asked.
At that, Jeff smiled, because this was the best part. “Private lake.” The only boat launch was on private property. Even if the general public figured out his address, they couldn’t just get in a boat and swing by his dock to spy on him.
“Nice,” Joe approved as they turned down the winding lane that would eventually lead to the cottage.
“Do you have a boat?”
“Maybe after the next tour,” Jeff said dryly. Then he didn’t say anything for a while; the road to the cottage was pretty twisty.
The construction crew was still at work when they arrived. Jeff introduced everyone and let Trix, Max, and Joe pick their rooms while he had a word with the foreman.
“Electrician’s coming by in a half an hour or so,” he said. “Should take an hour or two.”
“Fantastic.” In that case, Jeff had business to attend to. He left George in the soon-to-be studio room and went upstairs to poke his head in on Trix. “Hey. You good here?”
“I am never leaving,” she said, lying flat on her back in the middle of the king-size bed. The balcony doors were wide open, letting in the breeze off the lake. “I live here now.”
“You might change your mind when you find out how much rent is,” Jeff said dryly. “I’m going to go say hi to Carter. His doctor’s appointment was today.”
“Say hi to his dick from me.”
“Fuck off, I will.” He rolled his eyes. “Fridge should be stocked. I had a service swing by. Call me if you need me.” At some point in the next few days, he’d need to figure out how to either tell Carter his friends were in town and needed to borrow his truck or figure out where to rent them a car. In the meantime he had a boyfriend to make up with. Properly this time. “See you later.”
“I doubt it,” she shouted after him as he hightailed it down the steps.
He texted Carter before he got in the car, but the only reply he got was “thumbs-up emoji,” read through the truck’s Android Auto feature in its hilarious toneless inflection. Good enough for him. GPS said he’d be there in twenty minutes.
He made it in fifteen, feeling vaguely guilty for the excessive speed.
Then Carter came out of the house, no boot in sight, and Jeff somehow teleported from inside the truck into his arms.
“Hi,” Carter said into the side of his neck when the kiss had tapered off into a tight hug. Jeff could feel his smile. “Someone’s in a good mood.”
“You got freed from the boot?” Jeff verified, pulling back a little.
“Doc says it healed beautifully.” Carter made a face. “Although despite the exercise, it turns out returning to a regular stride takes practice.”
Jeff watched him as they went into the house, and yeah, it was lopsided. “Did they send you for physio?”
“No.” Carter shot him a dry look. “They told me to try not to favor it and just walk it off, basically. Except the ligaments don’t want to bend enough for that. It doesn’t feel natural. So I’ve been doing a one-man Ministry of Funny Walks since the thing came off at ten this morning, trying to get everything stretched back out.”
“I want to see them all,” Jeff proclaimed. “But, like, later.” He sat on the couch and held out his hands to indicate Carter should sit with him. Carter did, more heavily than Jeff expected, and Jeff finally noted the bags under his eyes. “Long day?”
With a sigh, Carter turned his face against Jeff’s shoulder. “I feel like a wuss, but apparently walking around with no cast on is exhausting now.”
“Poor baby.” Jeff maneuvered them until he was sitting in the corner, Carter lying with his head in his lap. A more carnal reunion could wait. “You want to have a nap?”
“I want to havesex,” Carter grumbled against Jeff’s stomach as Jeff carded fingers through his hair, “but I’m too tired.”
Wonders never cease. “It’s fine,” Jeff said. “Being like this is nice too.”
“Mm-hmm,” Carter said. His eyes closed, then opened again, and he rolled onto his back so he could look into Jeff’s eyes. “Sorry I let you leave when things were still awkward. I trust you to tell me whatever’s going on on your own terms.”
One day Jeff was going to be worthy of this man. Meanwhile—“Sorry I couldn’t just tell you everything. Or stay and fix things. I—”
His phone rang.
Carter’s lips twitched the way they always did when he was fighting a smile.
