over the next couple weeks. And anyway, he wasn’t in the mood to carjack innocent virtual citizens.
Silver jogged down the stairs where the first thing he was met with was the dismantled Morgan. He groaned as he moved past the mess to get to his mini fridge. What he should’ve been doing was working on that nightmare. But when Nico and Erika had stopped by, he’d used his buddies as an excuse to take one more day off before he faced reality again.
The buzzer to the side door rang and Silver stopped in mid-stride. Dammit. He hoped to God Carl wasn’t showing up to either talk him into staying or telling him to get the fuck out. The vato was wildly unpredictable, even on his best days.
The buzzer rang again with more insistence, whoever was on the other side of the door smashing the button over and over.
“Jesus! All right, I’m coming.”
Silver rolled his eyes as he hurried to answer. He flung the door wide and choked on his own spit. Before he had the chance to take in a breath, Donovan launched himself into Silver’s arms and clung to him as if his life were at stake.
“I love you. I fucking love you so much, Silver.”
Donovan buried his nose in the crook of Silver’s neck and clutched him tighter. Silver tried to wrap his brain around what the hell was happening.
“Hey, baby.” Silver rubbed Donovan’s back, kneading his muscles, trying to soothe his boy.
My boy who loves me.
He smiled against Donovan’s head. The day had suddenly gotten much brighter.
“Come on, mijo. Let’s sit down. Then you can tell me what’s going on.”
Silver gently extricated himself from Donovan, but kept hold of his hand. Donovan allowed himself to be led to the rolling chair, and as Donovan took a seat, Silver was startled at the tears trailing down Donovan’s cheeks.
Silver perched on his haunches in front of Donovan and gazed up at him, cupping his cheek.
“What’s wrong, mijo? Let Papi take care of you.”
“I have so much to say, Silver.” He sniffed. “Could we go upstairs? I’d like to sit in your lap.” A loud chorus of yells echoed throughout the open space from the apartment. Donovan dropped his head in his hands. “Oh, man.” He regarded Silver. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking. You have company. I’ll come back later when—”
“Like hell you will.” Silver grasped Donovan’s chin and locked gazes with him. “You’re going to listen to Papi and not argue, got it?”
Donovan sniffed again, but a slow smile spread across his face. “I’ll be a good boy.”
Silver grinned back. “See? Papi makes everything better.”
He cupped Donovan’s nape then pulled him down for a deep, claiming kiss. Donovan clasped Silver’s arms and they explored each other’s mouths until a loud throat-clearing interrupted the moment. Silver broke away then stood, but kept his arm protectively around Donovan’s shoulders.
Nico stood at the top of the stairs, scratching his head. “Sorry, bro. Didn’t realize you were…uh…” He shoved his hands into his jean pockets. “Busy.”
“You’re fine.” Silver squeezed Donovan’s shoulder. “I’d like you to meet my boy, Donovan.” He glanced down to catch Donovan’s reaction and was pleased that he seemed accepting of the title. “This is my buddy, Nico. You might remember him from the diner.”
Nico started to make his way down the stairs. “Yeah, I’m the one who was jealous of your ‘Vette. You’ve got some seriously sweet rides, from what Silver says.”
Donovan chuckled as he swiped the back of his hand across his eyes. “Well, for now at least.”
Uh-oh. There was a story there that Silver needed to hear immediately.
Donovan rose then extended his hand to Nico. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Where the hell did you guys go? It’s no fun beating people up alone.” Erika ground to a stop as she leaned over the railing. “What’d I miss?”
Nico yelled up, “Silver’s boy stopped by! This is Donovan.”
“Right on. Let me shut off the console then I’ll be down.”
“It’s okay, Erika.” Silver wrapped an arm around Donovan’s waist. “I’ll take care of it in a sec. Come down and meet Donovan on your way out.”
Donovan’s jaw dropped and he regarded Silver with wide eyes. “I didn’t mean for you to kick everyone out. I can hang out with your friends.”
Silver whispered in his ear, “I know you can, mijo. Another time. Right now, we need to talk, and it’s all good with Nico and Erika. They understand.”
“Oh, okay.”
Donovan laced his fingers with Silver’s, which already told him a