Second Chances in New Port Stephen - Chapter 64

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Second Chances in New Port Stephen - Chapter 64

Not to mention, what would it look like in the morning? Were they really going to explain to a
four-year-old why Daddy’s friend had a sleepover? What would Eli tell his parents when they

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asked where he’d been all night? What about the neighbors behind the curtains? Surely they’d
see Eli leaving in the clothes he’d arrived wearing. Eli didn’t want to make Nick’s life any more
complicated than he already had.
And if he was being honest with himself, he didn’t want to make his own life any more
complicated either. Falling back in love with his first boyfriend was one thing. Staying over?
Acting like it had even a chance of going anywhere? That was a terrible idea.
Nick’s arm lowered, puddling the bedclothes in the middle of the mattress. “You’re leaving?
Right now?”
Action. Move. Go. Eli started picking up his discarded bits of clothing from the floor. He found
his phone in his jeans pocket and ordered an Uber with a
few taps. “Well, not to make myself sound ancient, but I’m not primed to go multiple rounds in
one night.”
“That’s not—I meant you can sleep here. If you want.” Nick gestured to one of the pillows in
invitation. “You’d just need to, uh, get going kind of early.”
“Better to leave now,” Eli said. “I don’t want to make your Christmas morning awkward.”
Nick made an apologetic nose scrunch. “I could set an alarm. You could be out of here hours
before Zoe wakes up.”
Eli tried to picture a pre-sunrise escape from Nick’s house, tiptoeing in the dark away from the
scene of the crime. The neighbors would have a field day.
“I’m calling an Uber. No big deal. But, like, seriously—” He paused in fishing his underwear from
under the bed long enough to give Nick a peck on his motionless lips. “This was great. Amazing.
Five stars. Welcome to not-straight land. Great to have you.”
“Great to… be had,” Nick said slowly.
He couldn’t resist a bad pun. “Eh, that comes later, don’t you think? This was just your intro.” Eli
winked, then slipped his briefs back on. Clammy and uncomfortable, but he didn’t have another
option.
Nick crossed the room and reached for a robe that hung beside the door. Eli took a good,
lingering look at the picture he made because he was A) weak and B) a bad person. “Well,
maybe we can pick it up there next time,” Nick said.

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