say that
he was exhausted and needed to sleep.
I’m a gentleman , he decided.
“Just the check,
please,” Ethan said quickly, a frown creasing his brow.
Was he pissed that
the waitress was being flirty? Or angry because Adam was asking questions about
the ranch?
“One last top-up
on the coffee,” Adam said firmly.
She looked a
little hurt at Ethan’s tone, and for some reason that made Adam feel defensive
of the poor woman. So he gave her what he imagined was his best smile, and she
winked at him. She topped up the coffee and walked back to the register.
“We need to go,”
Ethan said.
“Just one more
coffee.”
Ethan sat back in
his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, staring at Adam, enough that
Adam dropped his gaze. Something about the way Ethan was looking at him, as if
he was about to ask a million questions, made Adam want to get up and leave.
His coffee was topped
up.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,
sugar. You take care now,” the waitress said and dropped the check on the
table.
“So,” he began
carefully, “why was my home life interesting?”
Ethan sighed and
stood at the same time. “Finish your coffee. We’ll talk in the car.”
By the time they
made it back to the room, Adam was yawning again. Fucking meds might take the
edge off the raw pain but left him feeling as if he couldn’t achieve a damn
thing.
I’m not used to
this sitting around doing a fuck lot of nothing , he thought. I know somehow that the job I have,
the thing I do, is physical.
“Are you okay?”
Ethan’s voice
jerked him from his internal commentary. He’d stopped dead in the middle of the
foyer, right in front of the reception desk.
“Adam?” Ethan
asked again. He cupped Adam’s elbow and tugged him away from the desk where
Moira, as her badge confirmed, was staring at them.
“Can I help you,
sir?” she asked.
Ethan ignored the
woman, and Adam didn’t have the energy to even answer. He allowed Ethan to help
him through the door marked “Rooms,” and sagged a little into his hold as soon
as they were out of sight of anyone.
“What happened?”
Ethan asked.
“I don’t know.”
Adam yanked his elbow free, the momentum making him wobble dangerously. He
reached out to the wall of the corridor and leaned there.
“Was it a memory?”
Ethan pushed for an answer.
“Another f-f-feeling.”
Adam was shaky, his chest tight, his breath catching there. “Like… I knew where
I was.”
“What do you mean?”
Ethan stepped in close, one hand on Adam’s bicep, the other cradling his face.
“Talk to me, Adam.”
Adam stared at the
man who knew him better than he knew himself, the one with the memories of Adam
as a kid, as a teenager. The man who was demanding that Adam string a sentence
together, and all Adam could do was stand there and stare into his eyes.
They were darker
in the hallway light, the gray of them stormy, and Adam recognized fear in
them.
“Wherever I work,
it’s physical,” Adam said. He tilted his head a little, pressing his face into
Ethan’s hand, and closed his eyes. He could stay like this all day, with Ethan holding
him, embracing him, helping him. “I don’t remember anything else.”
“Okay,” Ethan
murmured. “Let’s get packed up and on the road. Yeah?”
Adam nodded,
finally opening his eyes and catching a glimpse of compassion in Ethan’s
expression. Unbidden, the need to explain his fears and thank Ethan rose up in
a wave of words. “Thank you, for knowing who I am, and for getting me out of
the hospital, and for driving so far to get me to a safe place where I can try to
remember.”
Ethan quirked a
tiny smile. “You’re welcome.”
“Can I ask you one
thing?”
“Go on.”
“If people come to
me and tell me they knew me in the time after I went missing, can you stay with
me when they want to see me? Will you promise you’ll be there for me?”
Ethan’s jaw
tightened, and then in a smooth move, he pressed a quick kiss to
he was exhausted and needed to sleep.
I’m a gentleman , he decided.
“Just the check,
please,” Ethan said quickly, a frown creasing his brow.
Was he pissed that
the waitress was being flirty? Or angry because Adam was asking questions about
the ranch?
“One last top-up
on the coffee,” Adam said firmly.
She looked a
little hurt at Ethan’s tone, and for some reason that made Adam feel defensive
of the poor woman. So he gave her what he imagined was his best smile, and she
winked at him. She topped up the coffee and walked back to the register.
“We need to go,”
Ethan said.
“Just one more
coffee.”
Ethan sat back in
his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, staring at Adam, enough that
Adam dropped his gaze. Something about the way Ethan was looking at him, as if
he was about to ask a million questions, made Adam want to get up and leave.
His coffee was topped
up.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,
sugar. You take care now,” the waitress said and dropped the check on the
table.
“So,” he began
carefully, “why was my home life interesting?”
Ethan sighed and
stood at the same time. “Finish your coffee. We’ll talk in the car.”
By the time they
made it back to the room, Adam was yawning again. Fucking meds might take the
edge off the raw pain but left him feeling as if he couldn’t achieve a damn
thing.
I’m not used to
this sitting around doing a fuck lot of nothing , he thought. I know somehow that the job I have,
the thing I do, is physical.
“Are you okay?”
Ethan’s voice
jerked him from his internal commentary. He’d stopped dead in the middle of the
foyer, right in front of the reception desk.
“Adam?” Ethan
asked again. He cupped Adam’s elbow and tugged him away from the desk where
Moira, as her badge confirmed, was staring at them.
“Can I help you,
sir?” she asked.
Ethan ignored the
woman, and Adam didn’t have the energy to even answer. He allowed Ethan to help
him through the door marked “Rooms,” and sagged a little into his hold as soon
as they were out of sight of anyone.
“What happened?”
Ethan asked.
“I don’t know.”
Adam yanked his elbow free, the momentum making him wobble dangerously. He
reached out to the wall of the corridor and leaned there.
“Was it a memory?”
Ethan pushed for an answer.
“Another f-f-feeling.”
Adam was shaky, his chest tight, his breath catching there. “Like… I knew where
I was.”
“What do you mean?”
Ethan stepped in close, one hand on Adam’s bicep, the other cradling his face.
“Talk to me, Adam.”
Adam stared at the
man who knew him better than he knew himself, the one with the memories of Adam
as a kid, as a teenager. The man who was demanding that Adam string a sentence
together, and all Adam could do was stand there and stare into his eyes.
They were darker
in the hallway light, the gray of them stormy, and Adam recognized fear in
them.
“Wherever I work,
it’s physical,” Adam said. He tilted his head a little, pressing his face into
Ethan’s hand, and closed his eyes. He could stay like this all day, with Ethan holding
him, embracing him, helping him. “I don’t remember anything else.”
“Okay,” Ethan
murmured. “Let’s get packed up and on the road. Yeah?”
Adam nodded,
finally opening his eyes and catching a glimpse of compassion in Ethan’s
expression. Unbidden, the need to explain his fears and thank Ethan rose up in
a wave of words. “Thank you, for knowing who I am, and for getting me out of
the hospital, and for driving so far to get me to a safe place where I can try to
remember.”
Ethan quirked a
tiny smile. “You’re welcome.”
“Can I ask you one
thing?”
“Go on.”
“If people come to
me and tell me they knew me in the time after I went missing, can you stay with
me when they want to see me? Will you promise you’ll be there for me?”
Ethan’s jaw
tightened, and then in a smooth move, he pressed a quick kiss to
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