Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 9

His eyes widened at Gabe's admission. "Yeah. A little girl ran into the road and you pushed her out of the way." Gabe's voice began to crack. "You're a hero."
    He wanted to comfort Gabe, but the doctor chose that moment to come into his room.
    "Well Mr. Jacques, welcome back to the land of the living," the doctor said with a smile.
    An hour later, after being examined and visiting with some of his friends from the hospital, he was finally alone with Gabe. The man looked dog tired, and he should. From what Connie said, he'd been there the entire two weeks he lay in a coma.
    "Thanks for staying, but you can go home now. You must be exhausted." He still couldn't believe Gabe hadn't left his side. Eric and Connie tried, but he'd refused.
    "I am, but I'm not leaving you for one moment." Gabe dropped a kiss to his knuckles. "I almost lost you."
    "But you didn't. I'm here. You can relax now." He was trying his best to calm the raging storms flooding Gabe's blue eyes. The man looked like he fought a battle and just barely won.
    "Relax? You want me to relax?" Gabe snapped at him. "I was just put through the wringer. The doctors only gave you an eighty percent chance of waking up without any serious head injuries. Do you know what that's like? To look at the person you love and wonder if they're ever going to wake up? Well, I did, and it fucking sucks."
    Lucas sat there and just stared at Gabe. He loves me. A huge grin curled his lips. "What did you say?"
    "I said I love you." Gabe's eyes fell shut.
    "Well, that's good to know, because I love you too."
    Gabe looked up into his eyes. "You do?"
    "I've loved you since the first day I saw you at the hospital. When you walked in looking all moody and bothered, I knew you were the one." Lucas smiled as he remembered seeing Gabe that first time. The man carried himself in such a way that frightened people away, but not him. He saw the caring and loving soul beneath the tough guy persona. The man who needed someone to care about him.
    "I think maybe I did too, I was just too stubborn to admit it," Gabe confessed.
    "Will you kiss me?" Lucas asked. It had been two weeks, but it felt like only hours ago since he'd seen Gabe. He needed to feel Gabe's lips on his.
    "Do you even have to ask?" Gabe chuckled as he bent down, closing the distance between them.
    The kiss was slow and gentle. Everything he needed in that moment. He'd come so close to dying and leaving the man he'd fallen in love with. He almost left Gabe all alone again. That one thought burrowed a hole in his gut. He was different; he wasn't going to hurt Gabe like the rest. He was going to love Gabe until the day he died.
    With one last kiss to his lips, Gabe pulled away. He molded himself the best he could around him. Lucas tried to scoot over but with one broken leg, a broken arm, and loss of muscle tone from being conked out for two weeks, he literally couldn't move a muscle.
    Once Gabe got comfortable, he kissed the side of his head. "Don't scare me like that ever again."
    "I don't plan on it. I've got too much to live for."
    "I'm glad to hear that."
    He closed his eyes as Gabe rubbed circles over the top of his hand. "So Lucas, it's not so easy to jump out of the way of a moving car, is it?"
    Lucas turned to look at Gabe. A smile lit up his face. "Excuse me?"
    "That day I came into the hospital, you gave me shit for not jumping out of the way when I pushed Eric to safety. Remember?"
    He started to laugh. "Oh my gosh. You're going to throw that in my face now?"
    "Just proving a point." Gabe hugged him close. "I love you, Lucas Jacques."
    "I love you too, my good boy." Lucas couldn't contain his happiness.
    As sleep began to claim him, he sent up a quiet thank you to the hands of Fate. Because some things were meant to be and he couldn't have found a better partner than Gabe Edgerton.
    THE END
    Author bio: AJ Jarrett currently lives in the Midwest with her husband and four children. A lover of M/M romances she has started writing her own stories for others to enjoy. She loves her characters to be antagonistic toward one another but ultimately find their happy ever after. She believes love can be found in the craziest of places and a little humor along the way never hurt, plus to her there's nothing sexier than two men finding their soul mate and falling in love. When she isn't chasing around her kids she can be found sitting on the couch with her trusted laptop giving life to the voices in her head.
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