Free 3-Ties That Bind by SE Jakes Page B

his old self. Better than, maybe. His ass was sore and he rubbed it as he got out of bed.
    He heard Derek on the phone with the airlines.
    “I’ll take anything. Doesn’t matter if it’s connecting.” He paused. “Yeah, no, it’s Christmas Eve. I get it.”
    He hung up, ran his hands through his hair, elbows on the table. His back was so tense, Glen stepped forward and began to massage his shoulders. Derek let out an appreciative groan as Glen’s fingers dug in. “No flight?”
    “Nothing.”
    “You didn’t book ahead of time?”
    “I did,” he said quietly and Glen realized that Derek had given up his airline seat to stay with him and nurse him back to health.
    “I’m going to drive. If I leave now, I’ll make it by morning,” he said, like it was completely reasonable. And maybe it would’ve been, if a storm hadn’t been ravaging the Eastern Seaboard and promised to continue doing so for at least twenty-four more hours.
    “Where is home?”
    “Vermont.”
    “Jesus, Derek…”
    “I’ll be fine,” he said. “But the offer to come home with me still stands. It’s beautiful there. Quiet. Simple.”
    “But your parents—”
    “My mom and sister. They already know about you.”
    “What do they know?”
    “That I’m more than halfway to loving you.”
    Derek said it so easily, but there was a guardedness in his eyes that Glen recognized. The man didn’t trust him, not fully, not to break his heart.
    It was the last thing Glen wanted to do. “I’m sorry—it’s just not my thing.”
    “So you’d rather be alone on Christmas?”
    “It’s been that way for long enough that I stopped noticing.”
    “Maybe I want you to notice.”
    Glen paused and then asked, “What did your mother and sister say, when you told them that about me?”
    “That they hadn’t heard me sound that happy in a long time.”
    He didn’t look happy now. Glen hated to think he was responsible for that. Not when this man had brought him back from the dead in the space of mere months when no one had been able to do it in years. Or maybe ever. “Not going to be an easy drive.”
    “I’ll be fine. I like being at home. My mom’s been fighting breast cancer for years. I don’t get to see her enough as it is. She doesn’t complain, but having me home for Christmas…” He trailed off. “It’s all right, Glen. I’m not upset. We’ll talk as soon as I get back, all right?”
    “Call when you get there.”
    “I can do that.” He packed up his stuff and gave Glen a fierce kiss. “I get it—you’ve had too much parenting for a lifetime. Don’t worry—I’ll be fine.”
    Glen watched as Derek cleared snow off his truck—he’d refused to let Glen out to help him. “Not letting you get sick when you’ve just recovered,” he’d said. And finally, the truck was free and clear and Derek backed out of the driveway. Glen remained staring at the empty space where it had remained for days.
    Was he really ready to let things end like this? Derek said he’d call when he returned—Glen didn’t doubt that, didn’t think this was some kind of test…but if he couldn’t do this small thing for Derek, what else couldn’t he do?
    Maybe he wouldn’t return the call after Christmas. Give Derek the easy way out.
    Easy way out for you too. And you’ll be alone again.
    That wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t know that Derek was so right for him. More than anyone, more than John, even, and the fact that he could admit it—mean it—hit him hard enough to make him sink to the floor for a few minutes. He had to force himself to breathe at the enormity of what he’d just realized.
    He wrapped his arms around his knees as he curled into a ball. Smelled Derek all over him.
    All Derek wanted was, well, something most people could do without a problem. A family visit. But family…
    He could fly death-defying things, but the thought of moving forward paralyzed him. And how the hell long could he allow fear to fuck with