Jeff made a face at him. “Wait, you bought tickets? I would’ve gotten you a comp. VIP access.” He didn’t have the energy to waggle his eyebrows, so he just implied it with his voice.
Carter shook his head against the pillow. “I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it.” Right—campfire night. “I didn’t want to disappoint you. I knew you were already having a bad day. I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“It’s a good surprise,” Jeff assured him. He frowned, his foggy, orgasm-addled mind struggling to put together… something. “Wait,” he said again, “you went to a concert with abroken foot?”
“The venue is accessible. I called and made sure. I had a seat and everything.”
“Which you sat in the whole time, I’m sure,” Jeff grumbled. Yeah, right.
Carter didn’t bother to confirm or deny, but he did reach out to the bed between them. Instinctively, Jeff reached back and joined their hands. “Mostly.” That soft expression, the one that made Jeff feel like he was swaddled in warm cotton candy, had returned to his face. “I did have to stand up close to the end, though. I wanted the full experience for the new song.”
The new song Jeff had written for him—the one he’d poured his heart into, the one he’d been so upset he wouldn’t get to play for Carter first.
It was kind of a blessing, really. This way he’d never have to wonder how Carter would feel about it. After all, he’d skipped campfire night.
Still, his throat was a bit thick when he asked, “Did you like it?”
Carter laced their fingers together. “I loved it.”
Chapter Twelve
JEFF WOKEup feeling… normal.
Given the events of the night before, he half expected to feel like crusted-over crap and half like he was walking on a cloud, so the equilibrium was weird.
But Carter wasn’t in bed, which was unacceptable. Jeff felt robbed of a snuggly morning after. Though cuddling with a walking boot on did present a challenge.
In any case, now that he was awake, he wasn’t going to stay in a bed that didn’t have his boyfriend in it. He made a quick detour to the bathroom and then went in search.
Carter was on the floor in the living room, doing crunches in his boot and boxers, because he was a deeply flawed man who did not know how to relax. But Jeff wasn’t going to interrupt him to complain. He watched for a few seconds—he had his own flaws—and then made a strategic retreat to the kitchen for coffee.
When he returned with two mugs a few minutes later, Carter was sitting on the couch like a normal person, looking at his phone. “Oh. Hey,” he said. “I didn’t hear you get up. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“I sleep fine on a moving tour bus,” Jeff said wryly. He handed over one of the mugs. An idea was taking root in his head, and he wondered if he could pull it off. “You, however, don’t seem to sleep enough no matter where you are.”
Carter shrugged at the accusation but didn’t deny it. “It’s hard to get comfortable with this thing on. I thought about taking it off at night, but uh….” He took a suspiciously quick sip of his coffee.
“But you did it once and it was a bad idea?”
Apparently realizing Jeff wasn’t going to let him off the hook, he admitted, “I rolled over in the middle of the night and woke up in agony.”
Yikes. Jeff hoped he hadn’t injured himself worse. “Well, anyway, I—” He frowned. “Did you bring a bag?” Come to think of it—“How did you even get here? You can’t drive.”
“You’re not the only one who can book a flight. It’s May Two-Four.” Right—the long weekend on which rich Torontonians typically traveled to their cottages to open for the season. Plenty of air traffic out of Toronto, plenty of empty seats to fill on the return.
“But no luggage?” Jeff was confused.
“I didn’t want to presume.”
Ridiculous. “What was I going to do, put you in an Uber?” He shook his head. “Never mind. You’re here now. Can you stay a few days? I don’t know what your work-from-couch schedule looks like.”
“Ha ha.” He considered. “If I had my laptop, yeah, I could stay a few days. I sort of thought you’d want to go back to the Sound, though.”
He did. But if he kept Carter away, he might have to actually slow down and relax. Besides, it could be fun hanging out with him in the city… and Jeff knew just where to take him first. “What are the chances of someone being able to bring said laptop?”
“Uh, I actually think Mom was planning to come into the city for dinner and a movie with a friend.”
“Perfect.” Jeff set down his coffee mug and picked up his phone. He winced at the number of unread text messages and set it to Do Not Disturb. “See if she’s willing to bring it for you and then I’ll take you to breakfast.”
