Crash: M/M Straight to Gay First Time Romance (15 page)

              “But I
am
entitled!” It is the first crack in his otherwise calm exterior. “I am my father’s only son. I am his heir and successor. And yet, all he could see was you. Look at Liam trying hard to learn to talk like a human being. Why can’t you be more like Liam? He doesn’t wreck his sports car. He doesn’t get into fights at nightclubs. He doesn’t live out of his family’s pockets. Not Liam!” His mocking tone covers up a deeper hurt that I can see plainly on his face. My first instinct is to try to comfort him, but even this moment of vulnerability is dangerous. Ruairi is treacherous even under the best of circumstances.

              “So that is what this was all about?”

              “Of course not. This was about teaching you a lesson. You think I don’t know you look down on me. You think you are so much better than us. All of us.”

              “You mean you and your group of spoiled brats? Don’t get me started on that. You either wouldn’t or couldn’t do your job. That is not my fault. If you wanted my help, you just should have said so,” I say reclining on the sofa opposite. He is still grinning like a Cheshire cat, pleased with his victory over me.

              “No matter what I did I couldn’t get you to pay any attention to this company. Vast wealth and power lay at your feet, and you just shoved it back in our faces. And I tried it all little cousin. Not that you noticed. Gifts, bribes, even women…before I realized that you weren’t into that sort of thing. But you want to know what your weakness is? Your damned sense of superiority! You would never let me get away with harming your pet, would you?”

              “I think I am superior?” I laugh at that. He is so out of touch I can’t help it.

              “You do. It took me a while to figure it out. You live like a fucking church mouse, but all of that decency and humility is just a charade, isn’t it? You didn’t give a rat’s ass who I hurt as long as it didn’t hurt you. You are just like me. But you screwed up and fell in love, just like your mother.”

              The smile dies on my lips, and I feel the heat seeping into my face as I wrestle with the urge to kick him in the teeth. “Do you want to know why you have no friends, Ruairi? It's not because you are rich or a snob or cruel, or even because you are an egregious prick. All of those things are forgivable. You have no friends, nobody who loves you, because that is all you are. You are a man who has had everything there is to life handed to him on a platter, but you lack the one thing that nobody can give you.”

              “Oh yeah? What’s that?” Ruairi leans forward in his chair as if he expects me to give him the secret formula to eternal life.

              “Redeeming qualities.”

              Ruairi jumps a little as if I have just slapped him hard. His smile fades and then springs back onto his face. He takes another sip from his cup. I have decided it must be apple juice. This fucker is drinking the last of my apple juice!

              “And yet, here you are,” he says.

              “Yes, here I am. And do you know why I am here? I am here because it was the only way I could see to keep you from corrupting the person I love. You sent your lackey to stir trouble between us and distract me so that I wouldn’t see what you were up to until it was too late. You played a good game. I can admit that. But in the end, I win and you lose. Because even without the GM position you are still unloved, unlovable, and alone. And he still loves me. Now, get out of my house and leave your gold card here. That’s a company card,” I say, pushing my words between gritted teeth.

              He gets up, flinging the company card on the floor, and saunters to the door.  I don’t bother to lock the door behind him. As long as he is a McClehllan, getting in here is just a matter of a phone call. Nobody will ask questions. Besides, I have nothing to hide. All the things I am worried about losing are far, far away from me now. Safe. Happy.

My phone rings and I am shocked to see the area code I know so well flash across my screen. I stare at it for a moment, wondering if it is possible that my longing has conjured a miracle.

“Hello, Mr. Cummings?”

“Speaking.”

“I am calling from Hazelton General Hospital. There has been an accident…”

Reid.

Reid

              I remember the fall, hitting the ice and the snow hard. I was sure that my femur broke on impact. It was hard to distinguish what else was broken, there was so much pain. Then there was the hard crack to the back of my head that flung me into oblivion.

              I woke up feeling surprisingly light. There was still stiffness, aches and twinges of pain when I tried to move, but I was alive and safe in a hospital bed.

              “You’re awake,” says a voice from behind me. I crane my head around slowly to see who it is.

              “You took a pretty nasty tumble. What on earth made you think skiing the back end was a good idea?” I am met with the bluest eyes I have ever seen. Even if a hundred years pass, I won’t forget them.

              “Liam,” I say. My face erupts in pain.

              “Hey,” he says, looking sheepish. The last year has been kind to him. He has put that personal trainer to work, and I can see the difference.

              “You look good.”

              “Yeah, well you look like shit,” he says, smiling slightly.

              “True. How-“

              “We are still married, technically. When they brought you in, they called me.”

              “Ah,” I nod, understanding. “We should fix that.”

              “Really?” He looks hurt by the suggestion.

I don’t know how to comfort him, and so I divert my eyes. I can’t look at Liam in pain. Even after nearly a year with no word from him, I still fall apart in front of him. “Looks like I am going to be laid up for a while. I don’t feel too bad though.”

              “I made them give you the good stuff,” he says.

              “Oh.”

              “I took a leave of absence. Paul Henney is taking my place for a while so that I can get you sorted out,” he says. I move to sit up fully and am recoiled back into the pillows by sharp pain.

              “Don’t move around too much. You got banged up pretty bad,” he says, sitting on the edge of my bed and pressing back on my shoulders gently. I look at him more closely. He looks older, the lines in his forehead are deeper, and his face is more serious than before. The muscles in his chest, arms and shoulders are heavier, stronger.

              “You been working out?”

              “Yeah, nothing else to do late at night when I can’t sleep,” he says. “So, I am going to get everything set up at the house for you. Don’t worry about anything. I will take care of-“

              “I read your stuff,” I interrupt him.

              “Which one?”

              “All of them. Late at night when I was missing you. I read them all.”

              He blinks several times before returning to his original thought. He goes on about ramps and sick leave forms until I can’t stand it anymore.

              “Would you please just kiss me?”

              He stops talking and looks at me with disbelief.

              “Please.”

              He obeys, pressing his lips against mine and dragging my broken body into his embrace.

              “I guess it’s my turn to take care of you,” he says, against my mouth.

              “And then what?”

              “And then no more falling from mountains for either one of us.” We laugh, and he leans against the side of the bed, stroking my hair and pressing his smooth cheek against mine.

              “I bought something for us,” he says after several minutes. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small purple velvet drawstring pouch.

              “My hands,” I say, holding up my battered digits. He nods and opens the small gift for me. Two platinum wedding bands roll out onto his palm.

              “Does this mean you want to whisk me away to your castle?”

              “Never. I only went there so that you can stay here. I want you to be happy and-“

              “I’m not very happy without you, it turns out,” I interrupt him.

              “I figured that much, so I am opening an office here in town if you’ll have me. I will still have to travel back east pretty regularly, but I think Henney can handle most of the heavy lifting in my absence. If he manages not to cock it up too bad while I am gone, I should have no trouble convincing the board to make him assistant general manager. I can also get back to writing. Sy is dying to see my next project,” he says with a smile. “So, how about it?”

              I look at the rings in his hand, and my vision gets blurry with tears. I don’t have any voice left, so I just nod. We both laugh. I am not sure that means we get to stay together forever or not. I just know that he is here now, and that is amazing.