We Found Love (28 page)

Riley couldn’t believe how normal this felt. He kept waiting to open his eyes and be transported back to a room in the forbidden wing. He expected this whole scene to be nothing more than fantasy. But this was different.

“C’mon.” Hunter nodded toward a red Jeep parked by the first bay. The top was off, exposing the roll bar. “This is my neck of the woods. I’ll drive. Just give me a second to put the top back on.”

“No, leave it off.”

Hunter frowned. “It’s like sixty out tonight.”

“So?” Riley shrugged. “We can keep each other warm.”

“Okay, then.” Hunter smirked as he climbed into the driver’s seat.

Riley hopped in beside him and belted himself in. The light hanging off the edge of the garage caught Hunter just right again, like it had when he’d opened the door, but at this angle, Riley saw the faint freckles sprinkled over Hunter’s cheek. Those hadn’t been there when Hunter was in the hospital. His blue eyes didn’t glint quite the same way, either.

Riley reached down between their seats, and he laid his hand on Hunter’s thigh. The most harmless of touches, and yet it sparked to life that same old chemical reaction in Riley’s body. That thing that made eyes hood and lips curl. Happiness. True happiness.

J
UST
BREATHE
.
Hunter’s mantra for the night. Though he’d planned everything out, he wished he’d been more meticulous. He’d called Gia for a pep talk, Mel to ask what the fuck to wear, and Travis…. Er, he didn’t know why he’d done that. Maybe to get some perspective. Nothing like being told to get your panties out of a wad by your brother to remind you to stop being a teenage girl.

He’d sweated every detail for the last couple of days, wanting what he assumed was Riley’s first date—their first date—to be perfect. It was a tall order, but he wanted to show Riley just how happy he was to have him back.

But he’d forgotten reservations. He couldn’t remember if the restaurant even needed them. Most nice restaurants did, didn’t they? This was the classiest Italian joint for miles. He’d had to put away money just to afford one night to spoil his date. His date, Riley Connors.

He had to turn to look at Riley just to assure himself he wasn’t dreaming. That would’ve been the cruelest punishment the universe could’ve bestowed on him: waking up in the morning to realize the last few days were a weird trip down the rabbit hole.

Riley’s hand rested on Hunter’s thigh, warmth from the skin sinking through his jeans. Hunter covered Riley’s hand with his, lacing their fingers together, and put his attention back on the road ahead.

Just breathe.
Everything would be fine, great even. He had this. Didn’t he? When the exit finally appeared, he had to release Riley’s hand to downshift. Never had he been more annoyed to have a manual transmission. He stopped at a light and took the time to look once more at Riley, who smiled indulgently at him.

“I hope you like this place,” Hunter said.

“I’m sure it’ll be great.”

Hunter shifted gears once the light turned green and moved forward with the trickling weekend-night traffic, other couples on their way to do similar date things. It felt strange to be doing something as mundanely normal as sitting in a vehicle, going to share dinner with the man he loved. The moment may be simple to most, but the import of it to them was not lost on Hunter.

Finally, they arrived at their destination, and Hunter pulled his Jeep into the parking lot. He noticed right off that the place he’d been so excited to take Riley, the place he’d dreamed of bringing Riley for months, was now a Korean Laundromat that was tucked between a payday advance place and a fast-tax service.

“What the hell?” he asked. How long had it been since he’d been here? Two years?

“Um, are we washing clothes?”

Hunter turned, frowning at Riley. “It used to be my mom’s favorite restaurant….”

Riley swiveled his body in his seat, looking around the parking lot. “Are you sure you’re at the right place?” Riley had a teasing glint in his eyes, but Hunter wasn’t pleased.

“I’m sure,” he said, miserable.
This is why you should have
called
, dumbass.
“Dammit!” Hunter said, smacking the steering wheel. “I’m sorry.”

Riley’s hand on his shoulder had an instant calming effect on Hunter. He turned, hangdog, to Riley. “This sucks.”

“No, it doesn’t. We’ll just… go somewhere else. It’s cool.”

“I just….” He sighed. “I wanted to do something special.”

“Hey.” Riley leaned over the console, looking Hunter in the eyes, smiling. “It’s the thought that counts, right? I’m just glad to be here. With you.” He wrapped a hand around Hunter’s forearm and placed a brief, gentle kiss on Hunter’s lips, then sat back in his seat. “Come on,” Riley said, opening his door and hopping out of the Jeep.

“Wh-what?” Hunter looked around the parking lot, thinking this wasn’t exactly the safest neighborhood anymore. Riley had already walked several paces away.

“Come on, Hunter!” he called. Hunter fumbled with his door, then jogged to catch up.

“What exactly are we doing?” Hunter kept looking around to see if the boogeyman might pop out of the shadows.

“Look, at the end of the shopping center.”

Hunter noticed a sign for one of those deli-style sandwich chains. “Really?”

Riley laughed. “Too good for fast food, Hunter?”

“No… but….”

Riley stopped and turned, grabbed Hunter’s hand and squeezed. “It’s cool. It was really nice of you to think of a nice date, but it’s not like I’d know what to do in a place like that.” Fuck. Hunter hadn’t even thought of that. When Riley dropped Hunter’s hand and kept walking, Hunter followed.

They made quick work of ordering cheap sandwiches that didn’t look all that impressive, not that Hunter’s nerves would let him eat anything anyway. He followed Riley back to where they’d parked and made for the driver’s-side door.

“What are you doing?” Riley asked. Hunter furrowed his brow. “Ugh, stop that, you look like your brother.”

“Hey!” Hunter rubbed his forehead. “I’m not that ugly.”

Riley’s laugh was much less rusty now, more melodic. It was a glorious thing. Butterflies burst in Hunter’s stomach. He wanted to pull Riley in for a kiss. “So
what
are we doing?”

Riley popped the Jeep’s tailgate, dropping it. “We’re gonna have us a picnic.”

“Really?” Hunter’s gaze darted around… again. “Here?”

Riley jumped onto the tailgate and sat with his legs dangling over the side, kicking like a little kid as he took a large bite of his roast beef sandwich. He patted the space beside him. Hunter shook his head, sighing. This was not how this date was supposed to go.

“Sit, Hunter,” Riley ordered.

“Yes, sir,” Hunter said, a little more petulant than necessary. But he sat anyway.

Chapter 27

A
T
LAST
check, Riley still had a few more hours left before he had to get back to the halfway house. Forty-five minutes—one hour tops—and he could be back in time to make curfew, leaving two hours with the man he loved. And Riley wanted to make the most of it.

“I was mad at you,” Hunter said.

Riley choked on a mouthful of Mountain Dew. It burned going down the wrong way.

“When you told me you’d been out for two months,” Hunter continued. “But I understand why you didn’t call me.”

Thank God. The idea of Hunter being mad at him for any reason didn’t set well with Riley. This was supposed to be a happy time, a
thank fuck you’re alive and out
time.

“I didn’t want to mess anything up,” Riley said. “I told you that.”

“Yeah, I know what you said, but….”

“Please don’t psychobabble me. I know you’ve been doing therapy and AA and shit, and I respect you for it, but no offense, I get therapy once a week already. I don’t want it from you.”

For a split second, Hunter looked away, like he had to bite his tongue and didn’t want Riley to see it. Riley hadn’t meant to sound so irritated. He wasn’t. Truth be told, he was anything but irritated, except for maybe being ill about being an adult with a curfew. That kinda blew.

“Look,” Riley said. He turned on the Jeep’s tailgate, leg tucked between them, facing Hunter completely now. He reached for Hunter’s hand. “They told me I needed to stay away from you for a little while, said you had shit to work out and I had shit to work out, and we didn’t need to complicate things. I was ready to tell them all to go to hell, but I remembered you telling me to stop being stubborn and start trying. Then Jerry told me I needed to make sure I was working on me and not try to be something to anyone else right now. I wanted to be here. I really did.”

“I know.” Hunter nodded, tightening his fingers. “I told you I understood.”

“Well, just don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not.”

“Good. I don’t like the idea of you being mad at me.”

“It worked out, right?”

“Thanks to Travis,” Riley muttered. The whole scene with his car and Travis jerking him out of it was funny now. Not funny at all when it’d happened.

Hunter gave Riley’s hand a little tug, pulling him back to the here and now. Sometimes Riley still disappeared into his head. Those times seemed to be coming less frequently. He stopped dwelling on the past so much and tried putting one foot into the future.

“Where’d you go?” Hunter asked.

“Nowhere. I’m right here.”

“How much longer do I have you for?”

Riley reached into his pocket and jerked out the shitty flip phone he’d bought right after going to the halfway house. “’Bout an hour,” he said. Total letdown, that, and the disappointment dripped from his voice.

“Then I should probably do this now,” Hunter said.

“Do what?”

When Riley lifted his head, two hands gripped his face and two lips crushed against his mouth, stealing the breath he’d gasped out. His eyes closed, allowing him to fall so deeply into Hunter’s kiss, the reality was he might never climb back out.

He pushed against Hunter, guiding him farther back in the Jeep, as far as he could go. Not for sex, but to have their hearts as close as possible, to feel their chests rise and fall as they fought to breathe through locked lips.

Fucking rules. If he didn’t have them, if he didn’t have a curfew, he would’ve gone home with Hunter and relived their last night in Hartfield together, the way Hunter had made love to him. This time, he wouldn’t have left. They could’ve lain wrapped in each other’s arms, sleeping away the bliss of release. Wouldn’t be happening tonight.

Fucking rules.

The kiss broke sooner than Riley would’ve liked, and it was of his doing. He’d pulled away first. Disappointed and dreading the moment he’d have to leave again.

He sat back on his ass, on
his
side of the Jeep’s tail end, and wiped the remnants of that bittersweet kiss from his mouth.

“We both have shit to work on,” Hunter said, as if he’d been reading Riley’s thoughts. It epically sucked hearing Hunter say it, though. Thinking about it seemed so much easier.

“At least you’re free to do what you want,” Riley said. “You can come and go as you want. You’re not being treated like a kid.”

“Ry—”

“Don’t.” Riley stood from the back of the Jeep. He raised his head to Hunter but didn’t look directly at him. Instead, he focused on the flickering of an old sign in the distance over Hunter’s shoulder. “We don’t need to talk about my situation, okay? It’s not permanent. I just have to be on my best behavior for a little while longer.”

Hunter didn’t speak. Not that he needed to say anything. They both knew Riley was right. They both knew they couldn’t plan for a future, because nothing was guaranteed for an alcoholic and a manic depressive. When the doctors and therapists and counselors said take it one day at a time, they weren’t kidding. Anything else had the potential to turn into a huge letdown.

“We should go,” he said, voice as somber as ever. He silently cursed the fact they couldn’t stay together, cursed the doctors who wouldn’t sign off on his sanity, and cursed the system that kept him from something so wonderful.

Take care of you first.

Hunter didn’t say anything. He climbed back into the Jeep, and again, Riley followed. He kept his stare focused on the world outside the vehicle instead of enjoying a long, hard, memorizing view of the man he’d finally admitted to loving. He didn’t want watery eyes to betray his emotions and damn sure didn’t want to make Hunter feel worse about their situation.

They arrived back at the shop much sooner than Riley would’ve liked. He didn’t waste any time climbing out of the vehicle, and Hunter didn’t waste any sitting there sulking.

“Hey,” Hunter said, catching Riley’s attention as he rounded the back of the Jeep. “Come here for a minute.”

“What’s up?” Riley asked, jerking his chin.

“You can’t leave yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because I need a good-night kiss.” Hunter’s lashes fluttered as he closed the space between them. It took no more than the span of a few fragile heartbeats for their lips to meet again, for their arms to completely encircle each other, and for Riley to fall right back into everything Hunter.