Finding Forgiveness(52)
Hunter grabbed his phone from his backpack and wasn’t surprised to see several messages from Roman waiting for him. He’d gotten several before the appointment reassuring him that he was going to do great and that everything would be okay. The most recent messages were more of the same and when he dialed Roman’s number, Roman picked up on the first ring.
“Hey,” Hunter said softly. God, how did even the prospect of just talking to Roman turn his insides to mush?
“Hey yourself, how was it?”
“Better than I expected,” Hunter admitted. “I’ll tell you all about it when I see you tomorrow.”
“How about you tell me on the plane?”
Hunter stopped walking. “What?”
“I thought we could go away for the weekend. You don’t start your work study till next week, right?”
“Right.”
“Do you have any classes today?”
“No, it’s my free day.”
“So what do you think?”
The husky tone in Roman’s voice had Hunter shivering. “When do I need to be at the airport by?”
“You’ve got time,” Roman said. “I’ve arranged a car for you.”
Hunter began walking again as excitement flared in his belly. “When will it pick me up?”
“Now,” was all Roman said.
Hunter stilled and then turned around. A black Town Car rolled to a stop at the curb and Hunter held his breath as he watched Roman get out, phone to his ear. Hunter lowered his phone and then walked towards Roman. It was surprisingly hard to swallow so when Roman whispered “hi” to him, Hunter couldn’t do anything except nod and then wrap his arms around Roman.
“I let you go to the appointment by yourself because I knew it was important to you but please don’t be mad at me for not being able to stay away like you wanted. I just needed to see for myself that you were okay.”
Hunter shook his head against Roman’s chest. “Not mad,” he muttered. “Definitely not mad.” He felt Roman’s fingers close over the back of his neck and gently massage him.
“What do you say we get out of here?”
“I say yes,” Hunter murmured. “Always yes.”
He felt Roman chuckle against him and he knew it was because he was remembering using the same words to tell Hunter about wanting him to kiss him that day in the woods behind Luke and Gray’s cabin.
“Welcome home, Roman,” Hunter whispered.
Roman’s grip on him tightened just the tiniest bit as he said, “God, I like the way that sounds.”
***
Roman could tell Hunter was nervous as they entered the restaurant but he didn’t reach out to take his hand like he wanted because he suspected that would just make him more tense. It wasn’t something Roman had noticed until after they’d landed at the airport in Monterey and picked up their rental car. Although Hunter had been excited and interested as they’d explored Fisherman’s Wharf, he’d seemed slightly off too but Roman hadn’t been able to put his finger on what it was that wasn’t quite right. At first he’d attributed Hunter’s behavior as a response to what he knew was an extremely nerve-wracking first session with his new therapist. But as the day went on, Roman had finally started to realize what the problem was as Hunter would continuously watch the people around them. And once he figured it out, he had no idea how to deal with it.
“Mr. Blackwell, welcome back.”
“Alphonse,” Roman said with a nod as the well-dressed older man hurried past the hostess stand and greeted him, hand extended.
The restaurant was as busy as it always was but Roman wasn’t surprised when Alphonse said, “Just two in your party tonight, Mr. Blackwell?” and then at Roman’s nod, led them to a quiet booth in the far corner of the dimly lit space. The intimate table was beautifully set with fine white linen table cloths, expensive gold-trimmed dinnerware and gleaming silver cutlery. Roman didn’t miss Hunter’s look of concern as he took in the multitude of stem and silverware.
“I have a splendid wine for you tonight. A 1982 Château Lafite Rothschild Pauillac,” Alphonse offered.
Roman nodded. “Alphonse, this is a colleague of mine, Mr. Greene. Hunter, this is Alphonse Faroche, the owner.”
Alphonse did a little bow and said, “It is a pleasure, Mr. Greene.”
As soon as Alphonse left to get the wine, Hunter shifted nervously. “Why did you tell him I was a colleague?”
Roman didn’t miss the hurt tone in Hunter’s voice and he nearly reached out to cover Hunter’s hand with his but drew back at the last second. Hunter seemed to notice the gesture and actually flinched.