Finding Forgiveness(59)

Hunter couldn’t help the twinge of loss he felt when Roman finally pulled free of his body so he could dispose of the condom. But Roman quickly made up for it by kissing him as he pulled their sated bodies together and stood under the soothing water. It could have been minutes or hours that passed before Roman turned off the shower and pulled him out onto the bathmat and began drying him off with a soft towel.

“Go get dressed,” Roman murmured against his lips as he wrapped the towel around Hunter’s hips. “We have reservations.”

Hunter nodded and then took one last look at Roman’s tight ass as he left the bathroom. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask Roman if they could just order room service when he heard Roman’s phone ringing where it sat on the nightstand. He glanced at it and called out to Roman, “Roman, it’s Gray.”

“Can you get it?” Roman called back.

Hunter picked up the phone and answered. “Gray, hi, this is Hunter.”

“Hey, Hunter,” Gray said, his voice quiet and uneven. A twinge of concern went through Hunter at how off Gray sounded and he automatically began walking towards the bathroom. “Can I talk to Roman?” Gray asked.

“Yeah, here he is,” Hunter said as he handed the phone to Roman.

Roman must have seen something in his eyes because he shot him a questioning look as he answered the phone. After that, Roman didn’t speak or even move as he listened to Gray. Finally, he said, “Yeah, okay,” and then hung up the phone.

“What?” Hunter asked. “What is it?”

Roman put the phone down on the counter and continued drying himself off, his movements automatic and efficient.

“Um, Walt – my father – is in the hospital.”

“What happened?” Hunter asked gently as he took the towel from Roman and took over the job of drying him off.

“His heart…Gray said they don’t think he has much time left. Hours maybe. Gray and Luke are on their way to the airport.”

“Roman, I’m sorry,” Hunter whispered as he wrapped his arms around Roman’s neck. Roman’s arms came around him.

“He’s asking for me.”



***

Roman clutched Hunter’s hand in his as they waited for their stop on the right floor. The elevator was crowded and had to make several stops as doctors and other hospital staff got on and off and he eventually lost track of what was going on around him as he mulled over the unexpected turn of events. It had been nearly four years since he’d seen his father and the idea of seeing him now in his final hours both scared the hell out of him and pissed him off.

“Baby, this is us,” Hunter said gently as he tugged at Roman’s hand. Roman let Hunter lead him off the elevator and down several hallways but with every step that drew them closer to his father’s room, Roman just wanted to turn around and go back to his place and crawl into his comfortable bed and wrap himself around Hunter. This was supposed to be their weekend. Every moment of it had been perfect up to this point but somehow fate had deemed that his past should step in like it always did and fuck everything up. He was on the verge of telling Hunter that they were going back to the hotel when he looked up and saw a familiar face staring at him with naked contempt.

Victoria looked exactly as she always did. Perfect. Whatever plastic surgeon she had on retainer made her sixty-three years look like forty-five and her slim figure was perfectly packaged in a silky pants suit that matched her stiletto pumps. Her dark blonde hair was done up in some kind of twist and nearly every piece of exposed skin had some kind of glittering jewelry adorning it. When her frosty eyes lit on Roman, her lips drew into a sneer and she turned her bitter eyes on the young nurse behind the nurse’s station. “I specifically told you not to call him,” she snapped and Roman couldn’t help but wonder how the nurse was supposed to know what she was talking about since she wouldn’t have a clue who Roman was.

“Mrs. Hawthorne-”

“What are you doing here?” Victoria snarled as she stepped in their path.

“Mrs. Hawthorne, I’m Hunter, Roman’s-”

“I know who you are,” Victoria bit out as she glared at Roman. “You’re one of his little playthings,” she said as she glanced briefly at Hunter. Her eyes went back to Roman. “You and your perversions,” she said with a shake of her head.

Her open hatred actually helped Roman snap out of his funk and he tightened his hold on Hunter’s hand as he moved in front of him and pushed past Victoria without a word. She let out an outraged gasp and he could hear her venting her anger on the poor nurse as he walked into the room just behind the nurse’s station.