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“Let me fly you. I’ll buy you the ticket tonight and order a car for you tomorrow. I can text you the information if you can check it. Does Aleksandra have the address where you are?”

“Sean, that’s expensive. I can’t just let you pay for that.”

“Yes, you can. You can let me. I know it’s a lot, but I want to. I can afford it, and I want to do it. Please just let me get you home.” Sean knew he was close to begging, but if Jaime was ready to leave, he didn’t want to wait more days to see him.

“I can’t ask you to do that for me.”

“I’m not, okay?” Sean could only hope the same logic he used on Travis and Alana would work on Jaime. “I’m doing it for me. I miss you, and I want you home. I want to hold you and fall asleep with you and wake up in bed with you. And if you want to come home, I want to do all those things tomorrow instead of five days from now. So I’m asking you to do it for me.”

“Babe, that’s bullshit,” Jaime said, but Sean could hear the smile in his tone.

“Fine. If you want to believe I’m selfless, when both Travis and Alana will tell you I’m a spoiled brat with no patience who is used to getting what he wants, we can go with that, but I still want to do it.” Sean waited a few seconds before adding, “And Aleksandra agrees you should let me buy the plane ticket. She’s been worried. She said something about throwing all your stuff out the window, so you might want to come back.”

“Okay,” Jaime said, “Yeah, okay. I guess if you want to do it.”

“I do. I really do. I’ll book everything right now.” Sean looked at Aleksandra and shared a relieved smile.

“Sorry. I have to go. I had to charge my phone some before I called you, and I should look like I actually showered, but okay. Lexi has all my information and you can text me when to be ready tomorrow.”

“Thanks. I’m not lying about the selfish thing. It just happens to work out for you, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” Jaime whispered before he mumbled a good night.

“Sorry,” Sean said to Aleksandra after he hung up. “I meant to let you talk to him, but he didn’t have a lot of time.”

“It’s okay. I can yell at him tomorrow.” Aleksandra smiled and hugged him.

“What are you going to do when he realizes you really are a spoiled brat?” Travis said from behind him.

Chapter 20

JFK
WAS
so packed with people flying into New York for the holiday that Sean didn’t even have room to pace the floor near security. The plane wasn’t late, but he’d dragged Aleksandra to the airport two hours early because, even in the morning, the city was getting impossible to travel around. So of course that meant Jaime’s plane was delayed an hour. Aleksandra was just as restless as he was, and every time he sat down and tried to be patient, she just took a turn getting up and trying to pace around. Maybe he should have taken Travis up on his casual offer to come with them, but he didn’t think Jaime would want extra people if he was still upset. He’d only sent a few texts in the morning, and they only confirmed he was on the plane. There was nothing about how it had gone when he’d left the house.

Sean’s phone vibrated, and he stood as he took it out of his pocket. It was nothing more than a simple
I’m here
. Aleksandra didn’t bother to ask what it said. It was enough that Sean stood and focused on the doors letting people out of the secure area.

It was only a few minutes, but they seemed to drag even more than the three hours he’d already waited. When he finally saw Jaime walking toward him, Sean couldn’t help weaving through the people between them to meet him halfway. Jaime smiled when their eyes met, but it was weak, and Sean could see the pain and exhaustion under it. Sean had always thought airport reunions were romantic. He’d never had one, but he’d always pictured starting one with an intense kiss while he was oblivious to everyone but the guy in front of him. Instead, he ended up pulling Jaime into a hug, and holding on seemed more important than pulling back far enough for a kiss. He ended up with one arm around Jaime’s waist and one around his shoulders so he could cradle the back of Jaime’s head where Jaime pressed his face into Sean’s neck. Sean blinked back the tears because he was supposed to be the one giving comfort. Jaime was taking deep breaths, but it felt more like he was trying to breathe Sean in than like he was holding back sobs. Jaime left a soft kiss on his neck, but he made no move to pull back for more.

“
Te amo
.” It was whispered below his ear, but Sean caught it and gasped before he could stop himself and pretend he didn’t understand. Jaime let out a short chuckle at his reaction.

“Those would be the two words you know besides
loco
,” Jaime said.

“I might have looked it up on purpose,” Sean said, and he pulled back just enough that he could see Jaime’s reaction as he answered. “I love you too.”

Jaime leaned down for a kiss, and Sean opened to him, letting Jaime’s lips move over his until Aleksandra spoke a while later.

“This is all very romantic and adorable, but I missed you too.”

Sean had to force himself to let go when Jaime pulled away from him to hug her, but they broke apart soon enough, and Jaime reached for him and threaded their fingers together right away.

“Do you want to get on the train to our place, or go back to Sean’s because it’s closer?” Aleksandra asked.

“Our place. I just want to crash in my own space, even if it takes forever to get there.” Jaime squeezed Sean’s hand and looked over at him. “Is that okay?”

“Whatever you want is okay,” Sean answered.

“I’m asking because I’m assuming you’re coming with me,” Jaime said.

“Do you honestly think I’m going to say I need to go home because I have better things to do after I admitted that I love you, and I haven’t seen you in three weeks?” Sean tugged his hand to move them toward the train, and when Jaime laughed, it sounded a bit less hollow than the last one.

The train grew less crowded as they left the city, but it still seemed too public to try to talk about anything. Jaime sat next to him, and he didn’t resist when Sean took his hand. Instead, he slouched in his seat so he could lean his head on Sean’s shoulder. In a few minutes, his grip on Sean’s hand relaxed, and he was breathing evenly. Aleksandra gave them a smile before pulling out her headphones. Sean couldn’t sleep, and he hadn’t thought to bring any kind of entertainment, so he had an excuse for staying still and watching Jaime sleep. He closed his eyes after a while, but found himself listening to the sound of Jaime’s breathing instead of drifting off.

He opened his eyes as they neared White Plains. It was awkward to reach around and stroke Jaime’s cheek without jolting him, but it was worth the strain on his shoulder when Jaime’s eyes fluttered open after a few soft words, and he leaned into Sean’s touch.

“Hey. We’re here,” Sean whispered.

Jaime rubbed his eyes as he sat up, and he still seemed groggy as Sean led him out of the train and pulled him into a cab. He only seemed to wake up after Aleksandra opened the door and led them into the apartment.

“I thought it would be more like home if I left it a mess. Also, you didn’t contact me for three days, so you can live with the dishes,” Aleksandra said. “I had to go to Sean’s and get Travis to feed me.”

“I don’t even care right now. I can do them later,” Jaime said, and pulled Sean after him as he walked past her to his room.

“Are you really going to go have sex without telling me what happened?” Aleksandra called after them.

“No. Just let me change, and you can come in. I just want to lie down.”

Jaime slipped out of his jeans and boots before digging through a drawer to pull out pajama pants Sean had never seen. He looked toward the open door before walking toward Sean and pulling him close again. He held on like Sean was the only thing holding him together, so Sean squeezed him just as tight and didn’t let go until Jaime’s arms relaxed. He stepped back only a few inches and left his head down on Sean’s shoulder as he took several deep breaths.

“It’s okay. I’m here. I’m probably not leaving until you kick me out,” Sean said as he let his hands stroke down Jaime’s back.

“I’m not kicking you out.”

“Well, then it’s until Aleksandra kicks me out or Travis decides to drag me out. It could go either way.”

Jaime chuckled and lifted his head off Sean’s shoulder to give him a quick kiss before calling out to Aleksandra that she could come in. He pulled back his sheets, and Sean didn’t hesitate in slipping off his shoes and climbing in after him or moving under Jaime’s arm so he could rest his head on Jaime’s chest. Aleksandra settled on top of the blankets on Jaime’s other side.

“I left while my mom was sleeping,” Jaime said. “The car was early, and I packed after I got off the phone with you. I woke up Victor and told him I was leaving, but I didn’t wake her up. I should have, but I didn’t want her to argue with me. So I just left without saying anything.” Jaime glanced at his phone where he’d left it on the bedside table. “She hasn’t called, and my phone’s already dying again.”

“We can share my charger until you get a new one,” Aleksandra said.

“Thanks.” Jaime looked back up at the ceiling. “She probably won’t call. I need to believe that, anyway. If she does, I can deal with it, but I can’t wait for it. Victor might eventually, but not now. She’ll be paying too much attention, and he can’t risk it. They didn’t even want me talking to him. She actually moved me into the living room because he’s a minor, and she thought I was going to molest him or something. Enrique actually told her he was sorry he couldn’t take me to his house for her, but he had to think of his daughter’s safety. She’s six months old. I can’t even be a bad influence, so it’s obvious what they think will happen.”

“They’re wrong,” Aleksandra said while Sean was still trying to process everything. “You know they’re wrong.”

“I know,” Jaime said. “I’m contacting Lupe tomorrow. I’ll go through Michael because they’ll watch her phone records, but I’m contacting her. If she’s the only member of my family who wants to talk to me, I’m going to do it.”

“And you want to do it tomorrow?” Sean asked.

“I need to know what she wants. She sent one text after they found out, and it wasn’t bad. She just said she was sorry, and she wouldn’t have told Enrique if she thought he’d act like this. If she wants to stay in contact, I want to. If she doesn’t, I’d rather find out and get it all over with.” Jaime paused to look down at Sean. “I know you don’t want me to, but I don’t need Travis to protect me. I can’t even fathom how he’s decided that’s his job.”

“You don’t know him well. He never hated you, and even if he did, it wouldn’t matter. He really did hate me when we first met, and when I needed a place to crash after I broke up with my ex, he let me move in.” Sean was already gearing up for Jaime’s argument over the implication that he was a damsel in distress, but Jaime stayed silent longer than he expected. “He has a hero complex or something. If you don’t want his advice, that’s fine, but if it made him overprotective, whatever she wants to say can’t be good.”

“You can stay if you want. If she really wants to talk to me, she can talk with you there,” Jaime said. “I won’t kick you out for her again. If she can’t be nice to you, I’ll make her leave.”

“Are you sure?” Sean couldn’t help asking. He wasn’t about to ask Jaime to push away the only family he seemed to have left.

“I’m sure.”

“I’m just assuming that I’m staying,” Aleksandra said. “If you try to kick me out, I’m calling Travis and inviting him to this party.”

“I was going to let you stay anyway. You can leave out the threats,” Jaime said. “But I’m kicking you out now. I want to sleep.”

Aleksandra grumbled about how it was only nine o’clock, but she got up and flicked off the light as she left.

“Sorry,” Jaime said after she’d closed the door behind her. “You’re probably not tired, but I slept three hours last night.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t sleep much either.”

Sean moved away so he could peel off the jeans he’d left on before. By the time he’d tossed them out of the bed, Jaime had taken off his shirt and tossed it aside also. Jaime turned on his side facing him, and their eyes met in the dim light as Jaime ran his hand down Sean’s back and let his fingers slip under the hem of Sean’s shirt.

“I thought we were sleeping,” Sean said as Jaime pushed his shirt up to feel skin.

“We are. I just want to feel you with me.”

Sean sat up enough for Jaime to get his shirt off. He barely breathed as fingers skimmed over his chest and down his arms.

“I was afraid I’d never see you again,” Sean whispered as Jaime cupped his cheek.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. You’re here.” Sean’s lips brushed against Jaime’s as he spoke, just before giving in to a soft kiss. Jaime pulled back to look at him, and Sean was just about to lean in to continue the kiss when Jaime turned to face away from him. Before Sean could worry, Jaime reached back and pulled Sean’s arm around him. He backed up until his back was flush with Sean’s chest, and relaxed when Sean kissed the back of his neck.