ahead of Grey and Lucien, holding the door open for them. He then hurried down the patio and grabbed the door that led to the apartment over the garage. The entire way, Grey grumbled under his breath about wanting fresh waffles, not that premade, frozen shit. If it meant the Soul Weaver getting his sight back, Baer would gladly make waffles for him every morning for the rest of their goddamn lives.
When Baer returned to the main house, he headed upstairs. Wiley was already waiting for him in their room.
“I was about to take a shower. Join me?” Wiley asked.
“That sounds like the best thing ever.” Baer tugged his T-shirt over his head and dropped it to the floor. It was ruined and destined for the trash. His jeans weren’t much better. He slipped them off and left them with the shirt. Clad in only his boxers, he followed Wiley into the bathroom and watched as Wiley stripped down.
Tonight had scared him, having Wiley out there in the fray, but the man had really held up well. He’d been unbelievable, in fact.
Baer wrapped his arms around his lover. “I’m so thankful to have you,” he whispered.
“We have each other.” Wiley snuggled into him for a moment before he leaned in to turn on the water. While it was heating, he turned to stare at Baer. “Everything okay? You and Clay looked serious when you came out of his room.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Wiley everything, but he swallowed the words. Clay was right. There was no reason to worry everyone until they had more information. He didn’t want Wiley to doubt Grey unless there was a good reason.
Instead, he cupped the sides of Wiley’s gorgeous face and smiled at him. “Just trying to figure a few things out. We beat that witch and kept the pestilents from taking another step forward in their plans. We’re an unbeatable team, and I feel so damn lucky to have you on my side.”
“I’ll always be on your side, and from what I’m starting to understand, I’ll be on your side a long time. Something about my life-span changing with the bonding ceremony?”
Baer grinned, heartened by that very pleasant thought. “Your life will be extended along with mine. Once we beat the pestilents for good, we’ll have a long, happy life together. You can even go to college. I know the powers will come in handy, but I didn’t realize you had an interest in it.”
Wiley shrugged. “Because of the OCD, I lost most of my interest in school at an early age. It was always so stressful and triggering for me. Drawing seemed to come easy and helped me relax, so I didn’t have to think about going into that for a career. But I always felt like something was missing. I wanted to do more and Queenie—for all her bitchiness—is good at helping me. I wanted to give something back to them.”
“You don’t worry about school now?”
Wiley smiled up at him and shook his head. “Nope. My therapist and the meds have helped me a lot over the years. And then there’s you.”
“Me?”
“Baer, you’ve helped me so much. I feel calmer and more centered around you. I don’t think it’s just the soul mate bond. I think it’s you simply being you. When I’m with you, I feel like I can do anything.” He gave a little laugh. “After the pestilents, vet school is going to be cake.”
“You are going to be an amazing vet,” Baer purred.
“I’ll still draw my comics—I love them too much to stop—but this power I have can be used for good. But I’m going to wait until the pestilents are taken care of once and for all.”
“Yeah, going to college now would be too dangerous.” Baer paused as steam began to fill the room around them. “Unless you started online.”
“I’m too tired to even think about it right now. Let’s just get our shower, and then we can worry about saving the world.”
They stepped into the shower and Baer picked up the soap. He lathered his hands and began to run them over Wiley’s shoulders and back, loving the way Wiley stared up at him. Those big, brown eyes were full of love and affection, and Baer’s heart melted. “I love you,” he said as he ran his hands down Wiley’s chest.
“Love you, too. So much.” Wiley took the soap and started washing Baer.