Page 38 of Love at First Rep

“Not a day went by that I didn’t think of you, that I didn’t turn to share a laugh or a secret with you only to realize you weren’t there, like I was being haunted by you too. I can’t sleep more than a couple hours a night, but I came here and slept for, like, sixteen hours straight. It was like my soul could finally rest because I’m with you. If I don’t do everything I can to be with you, then I’ve already lost you. And that would be the biggest regret of my life.”

Rafe stepped forward and placed a trembling hand on Garrett’s cheek. A sharp inhale escaped from Garrett’s lips.

“There’s nothing I can say to fix the past. All I can do is swear to you my life doesn’t matter without you in it. Coming here, I knew it would take a long time to earn your friendship and trust back, to make you want more. But even if I died tomorrow, I’d have no regrets because I'd have spent the rest of my time with you.”

It was everything Garrett wanted to hear, but he couldn’t be sure if he could trust fate to let him have this. He wasn’t sure they could make it work. But he knew one thing—Rafe meant it. He meant every word. It was clear in his calloused hand caressing Garrett’s stubbled cheek and in those eyes that looked at Garrett like he was a treasure Rafe had been hunting for for years.

Who was he to turn those eyes away?

Garrett wordlessly took a step forward and kept moving closer until he erased the space between them.

When their lips were a breath away from each other, Garrett whispered two words, “challenge accepted,” and pressed his mouth to Rafe’s.

14

RAFE’S BODY FELT TORN in two as Garrett pressed their lips together.

His brain yelled at him to tread lightly. They’d done this once, and Garrett had immediately regretted it. Rafe didn’t want him to regret this too.

But his heart shouted shut the fuck up, Garrett is kissing me!

Despite his brain keeping him alive the last twenty years, Rafe decided to follow his heart for once. Instead of treading lightly he made it clear with his lips how much he’d missed Garrett all these years.

Rafe slid his tongue along the seam of Garrett’s mouth, and Garrett welcomed him in, parting his own lips and deepening their kiss.

Their tongues tangled and their lips fell into a rhythm that made Rafe’s cock hard, but before he could lean into his arousal, a hot wetness hit his cheek. A sob broke them apart, and their foreheads met. Rafe cradled Garrett’s head like he was precious, his fingers lost in Garrett’s soft golden locks.

Tears flowed down Garrett’s cheeks, and Rafe brushed them away with his thumbs. “Promise me you won’t leave me again. Promise you won’t be taken from me again,” Garrett choked, his voice breaking.

Rafe’s heart clenched. “I can’t promise you that, mi dulzura, but I can promise you I will fight with every cell in my body to get back to you. Always. If anyone tries to separate us again, they’ll have me to answer to.”

Garrett released a choked sob and threw his arms around Rafe, hugging him tightly against his trembling body. Rafe held him close, running his hands along Garrett’s back, soothing him. Garrett’s tremble turned into more of a vibration as he pulled the collar of Rafe’s shirt aside and kissed along his collar bone, along his neck, across his jaw bone, until their lips met again. Their kisses were desperate and urgent, as if Rafe would be safe and by Garrett’s side forever if only he kissed him well enough.

If Rafe was the one judging, Garrett nailed it.

Every inch of Rafe’s body ignited as Garrett plundered his mouth and ran his hands around his body, trying to touch as much of him as he could.

Their first time together was heated but rushed, the two of them barely touching each other and keeping all their clothes on.

As urgently as Garrett moved, he didn’t appear to be rushing to get to an orgasm. This time they would savor every moment.

Garrett pulled back and yanked Rafe’s shirt over his head. Once Rafe’s arms were free, his hands reached for the buttons on Garrett’s shirt, undoing them quickly, until he noticed Garrett had stopped.

Rafe’s eyes snapped to Garrett’s to see him staring in awe at Rafe’s body. Garrett reached out and ran his fingertips down his neck, along his collar bone and between his pecs. Garrett released a shuddering breath, and Rafe slowed his movements, letting Garrett get his fill.

Rafe’s body had changed over the years. He’d kept in shape and was bulkier than he was at twenty, but now his tattoos and the scars of his past stole Garrett’s attention.

The only ones Garrett was familiar with were the anchor and swallow they’d gotten together after their first year in the Navy. Garrett grazed his fingers over where they’d both placed the anchor, on their hearts, and slid over his skin, leaving goosebumps in his wake, until he reached a long, thin scar along Rafe’s ribs.

Now was not the time to tell the story behind each new mark on his body, but Rafe would take the time if Garrett needed it.

When Rafe reached the last button of Garrett’s shirt, Garrett still hadn’t said anything, so Rafe slid the shirt off his shoulders.

Fuck me.

How could someone be hotter at forty than they were at twenty? Somehow, Garrett had managed it. Maybe it was all the running he did, but the man had aged like a damn Hollywood heartthrob.

Garrett practically had an eight-pack, an Adonis belt peeking over the waistband of his pants, his chest chiseled and dusted with blond hair, his anchor tattoo still on display across his heart, his swallow tattoo on his ribs. Unlike Rafe’s, Garrett’s swallow carried a banner emblazoned with Rafe’s name.