goodbye.
Brett,
I didn’t want to ruin our last day together by telling you I have to go home. My job won’t hold my position for long if I keep missing days. Even though I have to leave, I can still help you out online with your workload. You don’t need to jump back into working with both feet. After all, you still only have one good one. I don’t want to log in to your accounts without your permission, but if you’d like my help, please say so. Who am I kidding, right? You won’t ask for help. Damn. I miss you already. For the record, I also didn’t want to ruin our last night together by making love to you, even though I really wanted to. The last thing I want is for you to think all this has been some elaborate scheme to get in your pants. Plus, you really wouldn’t want me if you knew me at all. I like you a lot, though. There’s nothing I want more than to stay, but real life calls. I have to stop dreaming and get back to it. While I don’t have a lot of bills, they still have to be paid. I really hope you still want to talk. My life has been pretty quiet since Mason married Falcon. Meeting you has been a definite highlight in my life. I don’t want this to be goodbye, so I won’t say that. Instead, let’s say until next time.
Roman
P.S. You still owe me one kiss at any time of my choosing, so don’t be trying to wiggle out of our deal.
Brett wanted to smile and cry. He had never been more torn in his life. It wasn’t like he hadn’t known Roman had a life in Aspen. Between Brett’s wreck, hospital stay, and the few days he had been home, Brett had kept Roman over a week. That was asking a lot of someone who had a job they were expected to be at every day. Yet Roman hadn’t complained. He had simply been as amazing as humanly possible every step of the way. Roman had given Brett way more than he deserved. It didn’t seem fair to lament the man leaving now.
While feeling ridiculous, Brett swiped at his cheeks. The pain meds were making him weepy. He snagged his phone and checked the time, his messages, emails, and social media accounts. Nothing held his attention. He looked at things without actually seeing anything until a pattern emerged, distracting him from his misery. Brett lost himself, looking through his stats and past messages. His stats and payouts hadn’t plunged since the accident—like he had been expecting. Instead, his interactions had soared. View counts were up and therefore payouts were higher. Brett scrolled back to the day after the accident to when Roman had introduced himself on all Brett’s media accounts. He had given updates, responded to messages that Brett would have ignored, and chatted with people on every outlet. Roman had skated the line, keeping Brett’s privacy while letting everyone know Brett would be fine and back better than ever in no time. He had directed viewers to old videos they might have missed and promised more would be on the way. While Brett had been oblivious, Roman had been fucking amazing. Brett was more than blown away. He felt blindsided, but not in a bad way. Except he thought he might have just let the greatest person he had ever met slip away in the middle of the night. That was a horrible revelation.
Honestly, Brett had never been more confused by anyone. How had someone so seemingly feckless flown beneath his radar? The man had so much talent. If he could run Brett’s accounts this competently, he could take over the world. Brett didn’t understand why he hadn’t. For the first time, Brett felt truly resentful of his fucked-up foot and ankle. He couldn’t chase after Roman the way he wanted.
Instead, Brett settled back down to rest. He would never get better if he didn’t try. Plus, he needed some time to think. Just because Roman hadn’t turned out to be the guy Brett had always thought him to be, that didn’t mean they could be together. Roman lived in Aspen. That wasn’t even an option for Brett. Long-distance relationships didn’t work. It was possible this last week was all they would ever have. That didn’t mean he planned to give up without exploring this further. Roman wouldn’t get away