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“I appreciate it. I’m sure this is weird for you. It probably sucks. So, thank you. For meeting me and for hearing me out.” Robby didn’t offer his hand again. Instead, he ducked his head and turned toward the door.
Matt rested a hand gently on his back and followed him out to the car. “You said you love me.”
“You said it first.” He leaned against the car, with a smile part flirt and part tease.
“I did, huh?” Matt put both hands flat against the roof, caging Robby’s body between them. “Remind me when this happened.”
“At the restaurant. You said this was the first time you’ve ever been in love with someone. Did you think I missed it?” To the contrary, it had rattled around in his head in a near-constant loop ever since.
Matt sucked on his bottom lip. “It’s not like you said anything, and Iwasacting pretty needy, so…”
Advancing a fraction of an inch, he poked a finger at Matt’s chest. “Stop right there. One.” He held up a finger. “You were not acting needy. You had questions, and they deserved answers.”
A second finger joined the first. “Two. I didn’t say anything because—” He sighed. “I didn’t trust myself to handle it the right way. No one has ever said they loved me before, and it’s like I just froze up for a minute. Then, I didn’t say it back because what if you thought I was just saying it to say it?”
Stupid as the words sounded to his own ears, he could only imagine how dumb they seemed to Matt. Inadequate.
“And even after all my overthinking, I still didn’t do it justice.” He cupped the other man’s face in his hands, feathering his thumbs over the clean-shaven skin. “I love you, Matt York. Not just the best parts of you. Not just the idea of you. You.”
Matt dropped his hands from the car to grip Robby’s hips at the first brush of their mouths.
The intimacy threatened to drown him. Still, he pressed for more, his tongue licking at Matt’s lips, a plea for entry. When the kiss finally deepened, he felt it all the way down to his toes.
Matt pulled away first. “I love you too. God help me, I don’t know what it is you see in me or how I got so lucky, but I’m not going to question it. I’m holding on, you hear me? I’m holding on and I won’t let go.”
Every dream Robby had ever had was coming true. A family. Friends. A calling.
And love.
“Matty.” The light from inside the shop framed Patty as she stood in the doorway. “We need to talk.”
“Coming.” Matt stole one last chaste kiss, then stepped back. “I’ll meet you back at your place in a bit?”
Robby rubbed at the warmth in his chest. “I can’t think of a better way to spend the night.”
In fact, this might just be the best night of his life.
***
Matt
It took every drop of his self-control to walk away from Robby when all Matt really wanted to do was get to the apartment and get skin to skin with the man he loved.
Love.
A little shimmy crept into his walk as he replayed Robby’s confession outside of the car. It seemed inconceivable for him to be the first person to ever tell Robby he loved him. The guy couldn’t have been closer to perfect. Not only was he gorgeous, he was kind and smart and…good.
Maybe all of his paranoia about Robby’s mysterious past was just that—paranoia. Robby dedicated himself to other people and carried his faith close to his heart. Not to mention the amazing things he could do with his body.
Matt’s pulse picked up. Who knew what amazing things Robby would show him tonight? Maybe he’d finally get a glimpse of the rock-hard body his lover kept hidden under all of those clothes.
Oh yeah, he needed to wrap things up with Patty as quickly as possible. Maybe pick up another bouquet of flowers on the way to Robby’s place. He didn’t know whatever happened to the first cluster of daisies, but they’d meant something to Robby, and nothing else mattered.
When he got back inside the shop, Patty stood with Steve and a slender blond man he didn’t recognize. Something about the guy made the hair stand up on the back of his neck.
“Are you sure he’s the same person?” Patty wore the intense, pinched expression she usually saved for a visit from her ultra-conservative Aunt Karen.
“I’m sure,” the blond guy responded. “I’ve known Robby for years. Could describe every nook and cranny of him, if you need me to.”
