1-4
405 Words
AS HAPPY AS ALEX IS to get caught up with everyone, he’s thrilled when the kids have been put to bed, Carly and Liam retreat to their own room, and he finally gets Paul to himself. After long absences it usually takes them weeks to get used to being in each other’s space again, but they don’t have time for that now. Alex is hungry for every moment they have together.
They put Claudia to bed in her travel crib, pushed against the wall under the window in Alex’s room. Vic and Ali are in the bedroom down the hall. Claudia will join them tomorrow night, but for now Alex wants his baby sleeping in the same room as him.
Once Claudia’s asleep, he drags Paul into the bathroom and pulls the door mostly — but not entirely — closed behind them. If the baby wakes up, they need to be able to hear her.
Paul, as exhausted as he looks, is happy to have Alex turn on the tap and steer him under the water. After the chatter with everyone all evening, Alex finds it blissful not to have to say anything.
Paul closes his eyes and tips his head back under the pathetic water pressure. “I hate European showers.”
“I dunno, this one is looking pretty good to me right now.” Alex leans against the shower wall taking in the visual of Paul with his head thrown back, eyes closed, and water running down his skin. Paul doesn’t work out in the obsessive and unhealthy way he did when they first got together, but he’s still fit and gorgeous and so much saner than he used to be.
Alex runs his palm down Paul’s chest, over his abs, and down to his thighs. The touch isn’t much about s*x. Paul is here and real. When Alex is with him, he feels real too. Paul’s always been the center around which he revolves. Six years of marriage and the last two months apart haven’t made that any less true.
Paul wipes water out of his eyes and smiles. “Here, you get in, too.” He moves aside so Alex can take a turn in the spray. He frowns at the patchwork of scrapes and bruises that cover Alex’s body. “What did you do to yourself?”
“Vikings. Stunts. Falling off glaciers.” Alex doesn’t want the realities of his current job to be an issue, but this is the sort of thing Paul has always fixated on.
“Please tell me you didn’t fall off a glacier.”
“Nope,” Alex reaches for the shampoo. “Too much to look forward to.”
- Writer
