A Restored Man (36 page)

Yeah, he was Cole's, and he was damn happy about it.

Ty reached over and was greeted by an empty, cooling pillow. He turned in the bed, pulling the sheets up to his face, hoping to steal a few more seconds of sleep. He inhaled the always-welcome scent that accompanied the warmth of the sheets and sighed. 
Cole
.

Resigned, he pulled the sheet back down moments later and raised his nose in the air, inhaling the smell of breakfast wafting from the kitchen. He sighed longingly. He loved all the things Cole did to take care of him. He sat up in bed and reached for his sleep pants. He stretched, and for the first time in a long time, his muscles didn't ache. He could easily attribute it to the best physical therapy he'd ever thought was possible during recovery. Cole took his time with every millimeter of Ty's body, during sex and every massage and rub that followed. He clasped both hands and raised them above his head, holding the pose for ten seconds then releasing. No discomfort, no pain, no tightness. He stood and bent to touch his toes, again holding the pose for ten seconds to stretch, then release. He straightened with a smile. That actually felt good. He repeated a few more stretches then finally grabbed a T-shirt and walked into the kitchen. A view of Cole shaking his bare ass and humming as he cooked greeted him. Ty bit his lip and held back a smile, trying to make out the tune Cole bobbed his head to.

Cole turned and gave Ty a million-watt smile. "Good morning, sunshine."

Ty couldn't control the burst of laughter. "What the hell are you wearing?"

Cole looked down at his white apron and raised his hands, palms up. "What? My brother gave it to me."

Ty shook his head and chuckled. He didn't know what was funnier, seeing Cole bare-assed, cooking, or the apron that read "Kiss the Cook" with the second "o" crossed out with a "c" printed above it.

"I have to protect my sexy bits. I can't risk having anything singe me." Cole lowered his brow and crossed his arms. "What are
you
wearing?"

Ty straightened. "What do you mean?" He looked down and stared at his sleep pants and T-shirt. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Cole stalked over to Ty and pulled the shirt over and off his head. "There, now you're better."

Ty's hands immediately went to cover his torso.

Cole grabbed his hands to stop him. "I've told you a million times already, I don't care about the scars. I don't want you wearing a shirt on weekends when it's just us here."

Ty looked away. He hated being self-conscious about his appearance.

Cole grabbed his chin and turned his face, forcing eye contact.

"What if I'm cold?" Lame excuse, but at this point, he was reaching for anything that would justify him covering up without having to deal with the Renzo wrath.

"Then I'll keep you warm. Stop trying to come up with bullshit excuses." Cole reached up and delivered a kiss before releasing Ty's chin. He turned and walked back to the stove to resume his cooking. He looked over his shoulder with a scowl. "Cold? Seriously? You're more creative than that."

Ty shrugged. He wrapped his arms around his midsection and turned away but quickly turned around again when he remembered that would just give Cole a better view of the scar running along his spine. Cole occasionally glanced over his shoulder as he cooked but didn't say another word. Ty finally caved and sat on one of the barstools at the kitchen island. He crossed his arms on the counter and lowered his head onto his arms. He was pouting but he didn't care. He tried to focus on the perfectly shaped bare ass that moved back and forth in front of him with a teasing sway.

Cole turned off the burners and emptied the pans full of food onto two plates. He then walked around the kitchen counter to sit next to Ty.

Ty closed his eyes when strong arms wrapped around his waist. "I want you to be comfortable around me."

"I'd be more comfortable if I had a shirt on," Ty grumbled with a hint of a whine.

Cole rested his chin on Ty's shoulder. "No. That's you hiding in your shirt. I don't expect you to run shirtless outdoors or run to the beach the first chance you get, but here…in your house, with me, I want you to feel comfortable in your own skin. I want you to feel good enough about being with me to
not
wear that damn shirt when we're here alone."

"I do feel good around you." Ty turned his head and placed a kiss on Cole's lips.

"Then don't hide from me." Cole grabbed Ty's T-shirt and placed it on the barstool before planting his bare ass on the shirt to sit on the seat next to him.

A hint of a smile tugged at Ty's lips, clearly receiving the message of how Cole felt about the T-shirt. He grabbed the fork and broke off a piece of the omelet, enjoying the burst of flavors that danced across his taste buds. "This is really good," he said.

"It's my brother's recipe. He just makes his dishes look prettier than mine."

Ty scooped some of the cheese oozing out of the omelet onto his next bite. "You know, if you want to invite your family over for dinner, I'm fine with that."

Cole looked up from his dish. "Really?"

Ty nodded. "Now that you're here on weekends, I know you're not spending as much time at your mom's or visiting with them. We don't have to have a party or anything like that, just see who can come over for dinner or we can visit one of them. Just to stay in touch."

"I'd love to have Carmen and Gus over. And I can probably convince Gus to cook," Cole said, waggling his eyebrows.

"On one condition," Ty said, finishing his breakfast.

Cole looked up from his plate as he chewed his last bite.

Ty stood and walked over to rinse his dish in the sink. He turned and crossed his arms low, then uncrossed them when he realized he was trying to hide his torso. "I get to wear my shirt," he mumbled.

A wicked grin spread across Cole's face. "You can have your shirt on when my family is here or when anyone else is here. But I'd be happy with you swinging your dick and shaking your bare ass all day long if it's just the two of us. Saves me the time of having to strip you."

Ty chuckled. "Speaking of bare asses," he said, circling his finger in the air toward Cole. "That apron of yours, I kinda like it."

Cole snorted a laugh. "Oh yeah? You want to come over here and 'kiss the cock'?"

Ty walked around to Cole, suddenly feeling more confident. He leaned over Cole's seat, placing a hand on each side. "I want to do more than just kiss."

Cole reached out and grabbed Ty by the waist, pulling him closer. He leaned up and placed a trail of kisses along Ty's neck. "Anything you want."

Ty pulled Cole by the hand and led them into the bedroom, thankful he actually
did
save some time by not having his shirt on.

* * * * *

Cole looked around the furniture store and didn't know where to begin. He saw a mix of rooms set up in various areas with random pieces inserted in between displays. For some reason, Ty felt the need to decorate rather than stay back at his place in bed. He looked over to Ty, sitting in a horrific, throne-like chair in one of the staged living rooms. "Tell me why we're here instead of in bed?"

Ty looked over to him. "When you called your brother and sister, they jumped at the chance to come over next weekend, so I want to make sure we've got some place for them to sit. I'm not going to have them sitting on barstools all night and our bedroom is out of the question."

A smile tugged at the corner of Cole's mouth.
Our
bedroom. He could definitely get used to that.

"What do you think of this one?" Ty asked, stretching his arms over the chair's armrests.

Cole scowled. The obvious flower pattern in bright colors accented by the thick copper-toned trimmings was hideous. "It looks like a bad fairy tale spin on my grandmother's old furniture."

Ty looked to his sides at the staged room. He looked back up at Cole with a hint of a smile in his eyes. "I can totally see plastic seat coverings on this thing."

A visible shiver traveled Cole's body. "Oh,
hell
no." He reached out and pulled Ty off the chair.

Ty stood and held on to Cole's hands a few seconds longer than needed before releasing his hold. They walked alongside each other, passing each staged room and immediately discarding them. Cole wanted to reach out and grab Ty's hand but decided not to. Sure, they were outside the shop and away from the techs, but they were still in public and he wasn't quite sure how Ty would feel about that.

"I kinda suck at this," Ty finally said. "I can customize a car but I don't have a clue how to decorate a room."

Cole crossed his arms, trying to busy himself. "I don't either."

As if sent by the decorator gods, a blonde, young salesperson walked over to them with a big smile, extending her hand in greeting. "Hi there. Can I help you find something?"

They each reached out and shook her hand, thankful to finally have some help. "We need something for a living room but don't know what we want," Ty finally said.

"Describe the room to me," she said. She patiently heard Ty describe the loft's lack of decor, the industrial lighting, high ceilings, the polished concrete floors, and openness of the space. She asked questions, which Ty answered. And all the time Cole listened, all he cared about was holding Ty's hand. He had, at some point, become a certified romantic or the saleswoman's eyes on Ty were starting to really bother him. He'd never been the jealous type, but he couldn't deny the slight irritation creeping in and twisting his gut. She was captivated by what Ty was saying as if he were reciting some life-altering speech. Cole looked away from their exchange and noticed some of the other sales reps watching them from a distance. As soon as they spotted Cole watching, they quickly turned away.
Fuckers
. He hadn't realized he had taken a step closer to Ty until their shoulders bumped.

"Sorry," Cole said, chewing his lip.

Ty glanced over to him, his eyes questioning. Within seconds, he reached out and slid his hand in Cole's.

Cole squeezed his hand as Ty continued to talk decor with the salesperson, thankful for the contact. His head was spinning and the words they spoke sounded foreign.

"How about we take a look at sectionals? That way, they can help define the space a bit," she said, leading them to the other end of the store.

They crossed over into a larger showroom space with even more random pieces of furniture and more staged rooms. Cole glanced from side to side and everything looked like the same cream tone or industrial black and silver. Everything blurred together, the colors, the shapes, the sounds. He screwed his eyes shut and tightened the hold on Ty's hand. How people enjoyed shopping was beyond him. He finally opened his eyes and off to the corner, something caught his attention. A saddle-colored long "L" sectional awkwardly placed between neighboring staged areas. "That one," he said, pointing to the piece of furniture that stuck out like a sore thumb.

Ty followed his line of sight and steered the salesperson to that area of the store. It was perfect. The size could easily sit a group of people comfortably and it would fit the open living room area nicely. The color would add something different and give the room some warmth. Cole sat on the couch and bounced up and down in place. It hugged him, begging to be sat on. "Try it," he coaxed.

The salesperson was called away for a moment but promised to return.

Ty sat and smiled. "It does feel good."

Cole repositioned himself, resting his head on the cushion, stretching out in his sleeping pose.

"What are you doing?"

Cole glanced at Ty. "We're not just going to sit on this couch."

Ty's cheeks heated and he pulled on Cole's arm. "What if she comes back? C'mon, get up."

Cole didn't move. "I'm tired of the evil eyes from the other reps. I want a break from this shopping shit."

Ty scowled and looked around the store. He came over to where Cole lay on the couch and nudged him to move. He stretched his body alongside Cole's, pressing his back to Cole's chest.

Cole chuckled and slung his arm over Ty's waist. "What are
you
doing?"

"If these assholes are going to stare at us, then we might as well give them something to look at. Besides, if we're getting this couch, then it needs to fit the both of us lying down on it." Ty threaded his hand with Cole's. "You like this one?" he asked, looking over his shoulder.

Cole nodded and pressed a gentle kiss on the back of Ty's neck. "I like it. It's comfortable and it fits the both of us and still fits a bunch of people on the other side. That way, people can put their asses on that side and leave our side as the ass-less zone." He nuzzled Ty and whispered, "Except for ours, of course."

"I like that," Ty said with a subtle push back into Cole.

"You know what else?" Cole said, whispering into Ty's ear.

"What's that?"

"I want you to fuck me on this couch," Cole said, tugging on Ty's earlobe with a bite.

"Sold," Ty said with a strangled chuckle. "Let's get up before we get in trouble." He stood and Cole followed. "Leather or no?"