a tiny bit of guilt in his voice that gave him away. Because if he had these fears and doubts inside him, that had to mean he wasn’t a hundred percent certain. Or was it just an echo from the past? Alex didn’t know anymore.
Noah kissed Alex’s shoulder. “Easy there, tiger,” he muttered. “I get it. This week has felt like a dream. It’s just been the two of us, and I love you, and it has been the best week of my life, but now we’re going to let real life back in, and I get it. It is scary. I’m scared, too.
“But, Alex, I’m also excited. Because as far as reality goes, I want one with you. I don’t want our relationship to remain behind closed doors because as great as this dream state right here is, I also want everyday stuff with you.
“I want to go to the grocery store and argue about dinner. I want to walk down the street, holding your hand. I want you to stop by the clinic and take me to lunch, and I want everybody to know that you’re my boyfriend. I want to go out with our friends on a Saturday night and come home and fall asleep in your arms. I want to find a home with you, a place that we choose for us together and where we paint the living room walls the color we like and choose furniture and pictures on the walls.”
Alex closed his eyes. He could see it all so clearly in his mind. Everything that Noah had just described. A life. With Noah. And he craved it so badly. More than he’d ever wanted anything else in his life.
“That sounds perfect,” he whispered.
He felt Noah smile against his skin. “I will never leave you again, Alex. I love you. But I also get that those are just words, so I’m going to show you that I’ll stay and show you that I love you, every day for the rest of our lives. You don’t have to trust me a hundred percent right now, but one day you will.”
Alex’s lips were all tingly as Noah pressed another kiss on his mouth.
“If you keep this up, you’ll be late,” Alex said as Noah kissed the corner of his mouth.
“I’m already late,” Noah replied as he kept planting kisses on the side of Alex’s neck. Noah’s palm moved lower, down Alex’s abdomen, until it came into contact with Alex’s very prominent erection that Alex’s sweatpants didn’t even try to hide.
“You’ll be so late that people will wonder why you even bothered to show up,” Alex groaned as Noah continued his ministrations.
“I’m the boss. I’ll fire all of them.”
Alex laughed. It took all his willpower to take a step back from Noah, especially since his boyfriend looked so damn good in a pair of black slacks and a light gray button-down.
“Just go before I’ll push you down on the floor and make you miss work altogether.”
Noah groaned. “Thanks for that image. If it was meant to help me get moving, it was super unhelpful. Just saying.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “Go.”
“Fine.” Noah pouted. He grabbed his jacket, but before pulling open the front door, he hesitated and turned around. “I’ll see you tonight?” he asked.
Alex let his eyes wander over his perfectly put-together boyfriend, taking all of it in because that image had to sustain him for the next nine to ten hours. “You most definitely will.”
Noah smiled as he blindly reached for the door handle. “I left the key on the hook.” Noah gestured toward the wall by his right. “I don’t think you should go home at all.”
He left then, and Alex stared at the closed door with a goofy smile for way too long.
20
As far as reality went, Noah’s new one with Alex turned out to be pretty freaking fantastic. The previous weeks had been the best of Noah’s life. He got to wake up with Alex in the morning and go to sleep with him at night. They texted all through the day, jokes, random thoughts, and everyday incidents that happened at the clinic. Alex only went back to the hotel once to pick up all his stuff, and then he was back at Noah’s place. Evenings were spent going out to dinner, movies, or more often than not, they spent their evenings in their bed. Noah didn’t care what they were doing as long as he got to spend time with Alex. Compared