“But I didn’t mean to get you involved. I’m so sorry. He could have killed y-you—”
Finally, finally, Austin broke into the sobs that I knew he had been holding back since the kidnapping. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close. He fisted my shirt and justlet go.He wept, and the gasps shook his body as he trembled and shivered.
“I could have lost everything—you, the kids, my sister…”
“I was fucking terrified you would too,” I said. I wasn’t going to lie to him. “I was scared out of my wits, but those kids didn’t need that. I did what I could.”
“I’m sorry…”
I tipped his chin up. “Don’t apologize for something you didn’t know could happen. Don’t blame yourself for what he did. We’re back, we’re alive, if we’re all a little worse for wear.”
“It’s not over.”
“No, but we’re good for now. We can all testify against him if it goes that far,” I said. “He’s going to jail. They’re not going to plead him down.”
Austin cried quietly against me for a while, and I just held him while he did. A few tears got out of me as well. I had been scared. I didn’t know I could be that levelheaded when all I wanted to do was scream and cry.
“Austin?” I asked a few minutes later.
He smeared his tears away and looked at me.
“Did you come out for me? For us?”
He shook his head. “I came out because of you. I came out because I can’t hide anymore. I don’t want to.” He stared at me. “I don’t want to, Uriah. I don’t want to be scared of people seeing me holding hands with a man, hugging you, kissing you.” His eyes dropped to the table. “If you’ll even talk to me anymore.”
“I’m talking to you now,” I whispered.
He choked laughed on the sob. “Yeah, you are.”
I tucked my fingers under his chin and lifted it. “Who’s the one who should be freaking out here, Austin?”
“I think both of us is the way to go.” He laughed.
I brushed a thumb across his cheek, and wiped away some of his tears. “Austin…”
“You’ve been nothing but amazing and patient with me,” he whispered. “I’ve been stubborn and ridiculous. I’m totally going to understand if you’re not interested in sticking around. I mean, it’ll suck, but I—mmmph!”
I covered his mouth with mine to shut him up. Well, not just to shut him up. I liked the whole kissing thing, too, and there was nothing quite like kissing Austin.
There were more tears, and I pulled back to look at him. His eyes were shining, but there was a small smile on his face. “Don’t hate me?”
“No, I don’t hate you,” I said. “I don’t hate you even a little bit. I’m proud of you. I really, really hope you didn’t do this just because of me.”
“Not just,” he said. “The idea of being able to be with you without fear was part of it, but there’s so much more. And I know that. I’ve been insanely unrealistic about all of this. I shouldn’t hide. It never would have been easy, but I shouldn’t hide anymore. Even if you aren’t…”
“Aren’t what?”
His eyes darted away for a moment and back. “Aren’t interested in being my boyfriend.”
I leaned in, and this time, I kissed him with an aching slowness. I didn’t let him speak again, but instead invested my time in exploring his mouth the way we did before. Tangling my tongue with his, I remembered his flavors, and committed them to memory again.
This man came to get me and the kids. He didn’t know how to use a gun or a weapon of any sort, but he put on that vest and followed the plan to get us all back safely. He stopped a bullet—a bullet that was not guaranteed to hit that vest.
“I’m very interested,” I said. “Just swear you didn’t do this so you could get in my pants.”
He laughed. “I did it so I could get in someone’s pants at some point in my life.” Grabbing my other hand, he held it tight. “And the chance to take someone to dinner.”
“Yes, God yes,” I said against his lips. “I’ve been dying to show you off.”
