Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Once they got George in a bed, we waited for the doctor on call, and I texted Ellis the play-by-play.
Soon after, the doctor swiped the curtain aside. “We’re going to hook you up to an electrocardiogram and then take it from there.”
“I’ll go to the waiting room to greet your daughter. We’ll see you soon.”
I headed toward the entrance, only to find Ellis coming through the door. “You didn’t have to—what are you doing here?”
“Being a supportive friend?”
Warmth flooded my stomach. “Fuck, thank you.”
We sat down and waited for his daughter, and it wasn’t long before a woman entered through the sliding doors, looking frazzled. She had red hair and seemed to be in her fifties, which fit George’s description of her. “Are you here for George?” I asked.
“Yes, is he okay?”
“They’re hooking him up to a heart monitor. I can take you back there.”
“Thank you.” She and Ellis followed me. “You said you’re his music teacher, but how is it you were with him tonight?”
“We’re in a band, and George came to our show.”
Her eyebrows rose to her hairline. “At a bar?”
I chuckled. “Yeah. Guess he felt like seeing us play.”
She shook her head, frowning. “Well, I’m glad you were there.”
“Me too.”
We stayed back as she greeted her father and spoke to the nurse, and then she came to us, her eyes weary. “They’re going to admit him and run more tests since it’s likely he suffered a heart attack.”
“Fuck,” I mouthed when my gaze met Ellis’s. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Me too. But thank you for getting him to the hospital. That decision might’ve saved him.”
Well, damn. “Of course. You’re welcome.”
“I can take it from here. But I appreciate everything you’ve done.”
“No problem.” We whispered our goodbyes to George, who was drifting in and out of sleep. “See you soon.”
It was late when we got back to my apartment, and I felt numb.
“You okay?” Ellis stood behind me and massaged my shoulders.
“Yeah, I just keep wondering what would’ve happened had I not checked on him.”
“Come on.” He tugged on my arms. “Let me take care of you for a change.”
“You don’t have to,” I protested.
Ellis threw me a pointed look. “After all the stuff you’ve done for me, do you really think I’m gonna take no for an answer?”
I rubbed at the stitch in my chest. “Guess not.”
So I let him lead me to my room and help me get undressed and in bed. Wednesday must’ve sensed something was wrong because she made an appearance and curled near my shoulder.
“Do you think he’ll be okay?” I asked as Ellis wrapped me in his arms.
“I think time was on your side. That’s what they say about heart attacks and strokes. Glad you followed your instincts.”
“Me too.”
We got lost in our own thoughts as I replayed that scene in my head. Was this what Ellis felt like after the robbery? All the what-ifs were killing me.
“Ellis, I want… I need…” My chest ached with a whirlwind of emotions, and I wasn’t even sure what I was asking for.
But somehow, he knew. “Shh, I’ve got you, Nolan.”
He rolled on top of me, and the weight of him, the feel of his warm skin, immediately calmed the storm inside my head. It was exactly the thing I needed to ground me. But Wednesday didn’t approve, stretching lazily, then promptly jumping off the bed.
“Don’t move.” I trailed my fingers down the knobs of his spine as he buried his face in my neck.
“Don’t plan on it.” I could feel him growing hard against me as he shivered.
“I need to feel you just like this.” My voice was desperate and needy, and before I could embarrass myself and beg him to kiss me, he lifted his head and pressed his mouth to mine in a slow, sweet kiss. He stared into my eyes as his tongue snaked out to tease my lips, and I felt it down to my toes.
I thought I could stay that way with him forever, just breathing the same air and looking into his soft, adoring eyes. It was intense and heady. I’d never felt this way with anyone before, this constant need to be near him, touching him, kissing him.
But feeling his nakedness against mine was the cherry on top. A visceral need arose inside me as I wound my legs around him to try to get even closer. To crawl inside his skin and settle in his bones.
When he dug his knees into the mattress to rock against me, I groaned, my shaft plumping up against his, which felt as stiff as mine.
I felt breathless as we watched each other, grinding our hips in a slow dance, our cocks leaking all over my abdomen. Suspended in this bubble of closeness, our hearts in rhythm, the air crackling with awareness around us, was incredible.