Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 8

Hinata had only spoken two lines, Peter had recorded them. He couldn't actually count how many times he'd played that recording over and over. His breath hitched in his chest.
    "Rufus, go tell them to let her in here. That's my Butterfly." Rufus strode to the door, and then Peter could hear his deep tones in the hall. The drugs the nurse gave him started to hit. A warm, golden haze settled over everything just as the girl Peter had nearly given up on ever seeing again stepped into the room. The silky white shirt she wore set off her pale yellow-gold skin and black eyes to perfection. Her diminutive frame looked every bit as pleasing to his eyes as it had the last time he'd seen her.
    "Butterfly. I thought I'd never see you again." Peter smacked his lips together. The hell had the nurse given him? He looked over at Tater. "Keep her close, Tater. I reckon I'm about to—" Peter paused, shaking his head hard. "Ev-thing's awful bright." He squinted at the figure by the door.
    "Damn if'n you don't look purty as a patch of fox-gloves and tiger-lilies. Purtier." Peter opened his mouth again, but before he could ask how she'd found him, a curtain of black fell on top of him. He was still trying to fight his way out of the thick velvet folds when he finally succumbed to the siren song of the strong narcotics the nurse had given him.
    CHAPTER 8
    Hinata stared at Peter Jenkins. He opened and closed his mouth several times before he managed to get sounds to come out. "I... Did he just call me a girl?"
    The smaller of the two conscious giants in the room chuckled from the corner of the room. "I reckon he did at that." The brown-eyed man swung his gaze over to the slightly taller one who'd ushered Hinata into the room after assuring the irate charge nurse in the hallway that Hinata's name had merely been mistakenly left off the list of approved visitors because his cousin only referred to the small Japanese man as his Butterfly. The words the big green eyed man had used still echoed in Hinata's mind. He had said they didn't rightly know what to call Peter's lover since the only name their cousin had ever given was surely not the name of any actual person, because no parent in their right mind would be cruel enough to call their child Butterfly.
    The big man standing by the bed grunted. The smaller one laughed harder, gasping out words between guffaws. "This is just like Peter. He's been mooning over his Butterfly for over two years now and still thought this poor fella was a girl." He glanced at Hinata, did a double take, and then turned back to the green eyed giant. "Though I have to admit, he's damn pretty for a guy. I'd almost be tempted by this one." His hot brown gaze swung back to Hinata. "How the hell did you find him? He told us he'd lost track of you after you graduated last spring."
    Hinata swallowed, taking a half step back. The seated man's gaze gentled. "You don't have to be scared, little butterfly. I wouldn't hurt you none, even if'n Peter warn't half crazy about you already. Don't be scared."
    A tide of heat rose in Hinata's cheeks. "I— I wanted to see if I could help him. After he gets better, his leg will be very stiff. I have a dance studio and I know he's used dance to help him with his sport before."
    Hinata dropped his gaze to the floor, unable to continue holding the other man's eyes. He licked his lips quickly. "I... I wanted him to know I wouldn't charge anything for the lessons. I want to learn to help injured athletes, so he would be helping me. If he decides to come to my studio that is…" His voice trailed away, and Hinata bit his bottom lip. He closed his eyes for a split second as he wondered if it were possible to die of mortification.
    The brush of callused fingers against his jaw startled Hinata. His eyes flew open as he leapt back with a tiny shriek. The smaller of the two men stood before him, his hand still outstretched. "I'm Tater. I'm Peter's cousin, and this is his other cousin, Rufus." He waved at the mountain of a man next to Peter's bed. "Did you come here by yourself?"
    Hinata stared at the giant for a long stunned moment. "I— no, my man Andre is waiting with the car."
    "Your man?" The smaller man, Tater, growled the words out.
    Hinata glanced at him, and then back over his shoulder where the other man's gaze was trained. Andre stood in the doorway, a forbidding expression on his normally genial face. Hinata's brow puckered as he tried to work out the reason for the man's suddenly