“I take it all back,” Winter replied, but it was done with a smirk.
“I’m being serious.” Fox’s tone sharpened and he narrowed his eyes on Winter as he lifted his head. “I mean it for both of us. I feel like there’s a lot we need to talk about. Heavy stuff we’ve been avoiding.”
There was no question in Winter’s mind what Fox was talking about. Or rather who. Julianna Varik. Winter hadn’t so much refused to talk about her, but he did redirect the conversation every time she came up. Apparently he hadn’t been as deft in his maneuvering as he’d hoped.
But then, Winter had a few questions for Fox as well. He’d been avoiding them simply because Fox seemed to be uncomfortable with the topic.
Still holding on to Fox’s hand, he pressed another kiss to it before making his offer. “How about this? You meet me in my bed in ten minutes while I get a shower. We’ll get comfortable so you can tell me about what happened with this witch, Cheryl Watkins…” Winter paused and took a deep breath. “And I’ll tell you about Julianna Varik.”
The first hint of a true smile started to bloom on Fox’s face as he nodded. “I like that plan, but only if you’re ready.”
“I’ve had more than one hundred and seventy-seven years to think about it, and there’s no one I trust more with my heart.”
“Motherfucker,” Fox muttered under his breath as he briefly stood and climbed right into Winter’s lap. The kiss was brief, but it was the nearly bone-crushing hug that brought tears to Winter’s eyes. This man was so quickly becoming his everything. He deserved to be first in Winter’s life in all things, he deserved to always know that he was treasured and important at all times. And Winter was determined to show him every chance he got.
Fox slowly released him and got back to his feet, allowing Winter to rise. They separated reluctantly. Winter crossed to his own bedroom and peeled out of his clothes, breathing a small sigh of relief when he pulled off Fox’s briefs. It might have been sexy and fun, but his man’s shorts were just a shade to tight to be comfortable. As he quickly washed under the hot water, he tried to ignore the flock of butterflies that had started fluttering around his stomach at the thought of talking about his mother. Nothing about it was going to be a pleasant conversation.
There was no worry that Fox would look at him or his family differently. It was that Julianna Varik came with a hell of a lot of baggage.
But it was time he sorted through some of that baggage. If anyone was going to help him with that, he was glad it was Fox. Logic argued that he probably should have said something to his brothers years ago, but it was too difficult and painful. They had their own baggage to deal with when it came to their mother, the topic way too painful.
Winter turned off the water, quickly dried off, and wrapped a towel around his waist before wandering into the bedroom. The lights were turned down low, but he stopped to find Fox sitting up against the pillows on one side. On the nightstand closest to Fox, there was a glass of milk and a small plate with a couple of cookies. On the opposite nightstand, Winter found a glass of blood and a matching plate of cookies.
Winter could only stare at it, a lump forming in his throat. “A midnight snack?” he asked, trying to make light of it when all he wanted to do was crawl into bed and hold Fox until the world ended around them.
“When I was having a bad night, my mom would cuddle with me while we ate milk and cookies. She’d said that even when the world looked its darkest, there was still milk and cookies. Everything would get better from there. And she was always right.”
“I think I love your mom.”
Fox laughed and nodded. “She was pretty great.”
Blinking back stupid tears, Winter turned and grabbed a pair of boxer briefs from the dresser. He tossed the towel into the bathroom and pulled them on before sliding into bed beside Fox.
“Not wearing mine anymore?” Fox teased.
“I think everything down there could use a little breathing room.”
Fox snickered, but his light mood faded quickly. “I went looking for Cheryl Watkins because I missed my mom,” he said suddenly. “It was only a