Page 46 of Frog

“Only you, Web,” he whispered. “You’re the only one who gets this. Ever.”

Ever.

The man was mine.

Heart, body, soul. All mine.

I was such an idiot.

“Stop thinking,” he yelled at me, holding up his arms. “Kiss me. I wanna feel your heart beating.”

I eased his legs down gently and started to lean back, to slide free.

“Don’t. I need… closer.”

And I knew what he wanted, to be inside my skin, but I didn’t say anything, just rolled forward and wrapped him in my arms, skin to skin, lips locked together as I kissed him, taking his breath, his moan, everything.

I had never been held so tight.

Chapter Five

ITWASreally very simple. If I stayed and got a job working as a manual laborer or cashiering at Home Depot or learned a skill like being a barista, I would no longer be the man that Dr. Cyrus Benning found so alluring. I was a bull rider and, barring that, a cowboy. It was not romantic in real life, but to some people it was. Cy fell into that category. If I stuck around, I would lose my luster, and he would tire of me.

If he left his life to follow me, he would hate me for what I let him give up. His reputation, his network of colleagues and friends, the amenities his life afforded him, and most of all, his family. It was not a choice he could make.

As I drove toward the hospital the following Monday morning, I told myself for the millionth time that I would leave when it was time, and hopefully, once I was settled, Cyrus Benning would come and see me if he had not, in the meantime, replaced me. The thing was though, a man like that—the pick of the litter—expecting him to remain unclaimed was just plain stupid.

After we parked in the garage, I led the three little boys to the information desk and asked where surgery was. We rode the elevator up five floors, found the nurses’ station, and I asked one of the women there to page Dr. Benning.

“Do you have a family member that’s a patient here?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Are you being admitted?”

“Oh no.” I smiled at her. “Dr. Benning just left his laptop at home and asked me to run it on over here right quick.”

She was a very attractive woman, and the sudden smile she gave me made her dimples pop as she flashed me rows of perfect, white, even teeth. “I see.”

I waited.

She studied me.

“Ma’am?”

“And the boys belong to who?”

“His sister.”

“He has a sister.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She nodded. “Could you have a seat right there in those chairs, and I will page him right away.”

“Thank you.” I smiled at her, herding the kids with me.

Micah and Tristan each had a Nintendo apiece, and Pip had something that looked similar but was chunkier and had a camera built into it. He already had lots of pictures of rocks, tires, clouds, and a blurry one of my ass.