Embracing the Unexpected (14 page)

Around noon, Parker was about to call it a day. He couldn’t
focus and he certainly wasn’t being very productive. He needed to figure out a
way to fix things with Jace. He'd hoped it wasn’t too late. Just as he was
about to shut it down for the day Donna buzzed him.

“Parker,” she said. “Your father is on line one. He says
it’s important.”

“Thanks.” He pressed the speaker. “Hey, Dad.”

“Parker,” he said in a quick but firm voice. “I didn’t want
to do this over the phone but I’m prepping for surgery.”

“What is it?”

“Jace was in a car accident. They brought him in a little
while ago.”

“What? When? Is he okay?” Parker was frantic as hundreds of
thoughts ran through his mind. None of them good.

“I’m on the surgical team. They’re prepping him now, but
he’s asking for you. Can you get here now?”

“Yes, of course,” Parker said in a shaky voice.

“Have your driver bring you. I don’t want you behind the
wheel.”

“Fine.” Parker had a driver employed at his firm. “Just tell
Jace I’m on my way.” He hung up the phone and placed his head in his hands.
This couldn’t be happening.

The ride to the hospital took longer than Parker would’ve
liked. Why hadn’t he asked his father how serious it was? They were taking Jace
into surgery, so it must have been bad.

Why did Parker have to be so stubborn? He should’ve gone to
Jace’s house when he didn’t return his phone calls. He should’ve apologized in
person. He should’ve made sure Jace understood he trusted him. And now, it
could be too late. He let his stupid jealously get in the way of the best thing
that had ever happened to him.

“Parker,” Marc called as soon as he walked into the
hospital. “Come with me.”

“Dad, how is he? What happened?” Parker asked as they walked
down a long hallway.

“A kid ran a stop sign and slammed into Jace’s car. He took
the steering wheel to his spleen, and now we have to remove it. He’s pretty
banged up from the airbag, but he’ll be fine. He refuses to go into surgery
until he sees you. He’s heavily medicated, but his parents agreed to wait for
you.”

“Where is he?” Parker had a sick feeling, but he was trying
not to throw up.

“In here.” His dad pointed to a double set of doors. “Try to
be brief. The faster we get into surgery, the better off he’ll be.”

Parker nodded as he walked through the doors. Jace was
hooked up to an IV and lying on a stretcher, waiting to be wheeled into the OR.
Parker had to steady himself before approaching him. He looked like he was in
so much pain. His eyes were bruised and swollen. His bottom lip was split
opened, and he had scrapes on his cheeks and forehead. His hands were cut up as
well as his arms.

Parker gently ran his hand through Jace’s hair. He had to
fight back the tears that were threatening to spill.

Jace barely opened his eyes when he spoke. “You came,” he
whispered. “I knew you would.”

“Hey.” Parker tried to smile, but he hated seeing him like
this. He was so broken and battered.

“I wanted to say I was sorry.” Jace struggled to take a
breath, and Parker could see the effort that little action took.

“No,” Parker said. “I’m the one who is sorry, but we can
talk about it later. Right now you need to let them help you.”

“You were right,” Jace whispered. “Tyler wanted to get back
together. I should’ve listened to you.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Parker said. “I just want you to be
okay. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Promise?” Jace closed his eyes.

Parker took his hand and leaned down, close to Jace’s ear.
“I promise.”

Jace nodded.

“I love you.” Parker kissed his forehead. “Always.”

“I love you too.”

A few seconds later, Jace was asleep and they were wheeling
him to the operating room. Parker went to wait with Jace’s parents in a small
lounge that was reserved for hospital personnel. His dad called his mother just
before they went into surgery. Parker was relieved because he needed her. She
came to join them, offering comfort to not only Parker but Jace’s parents as
well. Parker called Ava and told her it wasn’t necessary to come to the
hospital, but she refused to listen. She showed up twenty minutes later. He
needed her too.

The surgery wasn’t expected to take long, but it might as
well have been twenty hours to Parker. Time stood still, and all he could think
about was holding Jace and making sure he was safe. He couldn’t stop beating
himself up over what had happened between the two of them on Friday night.

“Your dad is the best,” Ava said as she cuddled against
Parker’s shoulder. “So, don’t worry about Jace. He’ll be fine.”

“I know,” Parker said in a hoarse voice. He hadn’t slept all
weekend and now the stress of Jace’s surgery was weighing heavily on him.

“Don’t feel bad about your fight,” Ava said. “He wanted to
see you before his surgery. He’s not mad at you.”

Parker nodded. He didn’t care if he’d been right about
Tyler. He would’ve much rather have spent the weekend with Jace. They wasted
two days and Parker couldn’t help but think this accident could’ve been so much
worse. Jace could’ve been killed. And he would never have been able to say he
was sorry. That thought was sobering.

“I’ll go get you something to eat,” Ava offered.

“I can’t eat. Not now.”

“How about a Coke? It’ll settle your stomach.” She stood up.
“I’ll bring water and stuff for everyone.”

Parker briefly smiled as he closed his eyes and tried to
focus on Jace. He thought back to last weekend, before any of this chaos took
over their lives.

* * * *

“Wear the gray one,” Jace said. “It matches your eyes.”

“Do you think my associates will appreciate that my suit
matches my eyes?” Parker smiled as he took the garment from his closet.

“I don’t care what they think.” Jace pulled Parker down onto
the bed. “I appreciate it.”

“I can’t be late for this meeting.” Parker made a weak
attempt to break out of Jace’s hold.

Jace rolled him onto his back, placing hot, wet,
open-mouthed kisses along his jaw and down his neck. “I can be fast.”

“I don’t want you to be fast. I want to savor every second
we’re together.” Parker guided Jace’s face to his lips. “It’s getting harder to
be away from you.”

The more time Parker spent with Jace the tougher it was to be
apart. He was experiencing all the firsts that came with new love and he was
over the moon. Jace was all he thought about and he couldn’t wait to see what
each new day brought. He’d never experienced such a strong pull to anyone
before. Everything was fresh and invigorating. Now that he was with the person
he was truly meant to be with, the experiences he shared with Jace opened up a
whole new world for him.

Jace ran his tongue along Parker’s lips, begging for
entrance. Parker slowly opened his mouth and allowed Jace to indulge in him. He
was slow and soft as he moved his mouth against Parker’s needy lips.

“I feel so alive when I’m with you,” Parker said against
Jace’s lips as he ran his hands down his back. “I’ve never felt this way
before.”

“Me either.” Jace pushed his very prominent erection against
the thin silk of Parker’s boxers. “I can’t get enough of you.”

Parker trailed his hands to either side of Jace’s hips and
moved him up and down against his now painfully erect cock. There wasn’t
anything urgent about this encounter. They both felt the need to be close to
one another. To touch, feel, and need. Now that they’d admitted their feelings
to each other their physical connection was taken to a whole new level.

Jace continued to leisurely kiss Parker as he reached
between them, running his hand over Parker’s cock and down to his balls. Parker
increased the speed of his gyrating hips, making sure to brush against Jace’s
cock with each pass.

“Just being this close to you gets me crazy.” Jace tugged at
Parker’s boxers, freeing his swollen head and running his finger over the wet
tip. Their bodies had created this perfect rhythm, each knowing exactly what
the other needed.

Dry humping never felt so good.

Parker wrapped his leg around Jace’s hip, thrusting a few
more times before letting go completely.

“Jace…. I—”

“It’s okay.” Jace pressed his lips to Parker’s mouth and a
few minutes later Parker felt the warmth of Jace’s release seeping through his
boxers. Jace collapsed onto Parker’s chest. They were both panting and trying
to settle down.

“You’re going to be late,” Jace said.

“That’s usually a given when I’m with you.”

“Sorry, but I can’t resist your body.”

“Hmm.” Parker rubbed Jace’s back. “You’re forgiven, but I
have to get into the shower.”

“Can I join you?”

“You have to promise to behave.”

“I can try.” Jace laughed.

Parker had a feeling his breakfast meeting was going to be
more like a lunch appointment now.

* * * *

“Parker.” His father’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.
“Jace is awake.”

“Huh?” Parker was so caught up in thoughts of Jace he didn’t
even realize his dad was standing in front of him. He wondered how long he had
zoned out.

“The surgery is finished.”

“Is he okay?” Parker asked as he stood and smoothed out his
shirt. “Can I see him?”

“We don’t want to bombard him,” his dad said. “I’m sure his
parents would like to see him too.”

“No,” Ellen said as she looked at her husband. “Parker, you
go first. I’m sure he wants to see you.”

“Thanks.” Parker smiled. “I won’t stay long.” He was
relieved he was going to get a chance to see him, even if for only a few
minutes.

Parker quickly kissed his mother’s cheek, wordlessly
thanking her for staying with him through this ordeal and for being so
supportive of his new relationship, and then he hurried down the hall.

Jace was staring up at the ceiling when Parker walked into
the room. He looked exhausted.

“Hey,” Parker said in a soft voice.

Jace looked at him and smiled. “You stayed?”

“I told you I would be here when you woke up,” Parker reminded
him. “How do you feel?”

“Morphine is a God send.” He lightly laughed.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“Don’t ever walk out on me again, no matter what I say. I
didn’t mean it. My temper got the better of me,” Jace said. Parker could see he
was getting upset. “I don’t ever want you to leave.”

“It’s forgotten,” Parker said. “And you can’t get rid of me.
As a matter of fact, I’ll be staying with you while you recover.” Parker knew
Jace would need some assistance when he was released.

“Then I’ll make sure to take extra long to recover.” Jace
closed his eyes and Parker figured he was losing the battle with the pain meds.
His eyes fluttered, but he fought to keep them opened.

“Your parents want to see you,” Parker said. “I’ll have them
come in, but I’ll stop back later.”

Jace nodded before dozing off.

Parker leaned down and gently kissed his lips before heading
out of the room. He stopped and rested against the hallway wall for support,
closing his eyes and letting out a deep breath. He was so thankful Jace was
going to be okay. They had both acted unreasonably, but from now on, Parker
would never let Jace send him away. This man was his missing piece, and after
the past few days he’d just experienced, he knew he could never be without him
again. Life was too short.

While Parker went to the grocery store to pick up
ingredients for his surprise dinner, Jace made his way down to his study. He’d
been home for over a week and Parker barely allowed him to do anything. Not that
he was complaining, because Parker made one hell of a sexy nurse. He especially
enjoyed the sponge baths, but he was feeling stronger and he wanted to spend a
little time going over some patient files. He never took a day off and it was
killing him to be away from his work for this length of time.

About an hour into his work, Parker came into the study.
Jace looked up from the mound of files scattered on his desk and smiled. He
even missed him when he went to the store.

“What are you doing?”

“Umm, working.” Jace looked back at his computer screen.
“I’m really behind schedule.”

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Parker arched a brow,
clearly not happy. “I don’t want you to push yourself.”

“Babe, I’m fine,” he said. “You’ve done a great job helping
me heal, but I have to get back to it.” Jace was never one to sit around and do
nothing. His mind was always spinning over what he could do next. He constantly
thought of how he could help a patient or what his next book topic would be.

Parker walked over to his desk, coming around and sitting on
the edge, directly in front of Jace. He stared down at him with those sultry,
stunning eyes and Jace was done for. He reached up and cupped the back of
Parker’s neck, pulling him closer to his lips.

“It’s been far too long since you’ve properly kissed me,” he
said.

Parker’s warm breath against Jace’s lips sent a shiver down
his spine. The closeness caused his cock to instantly harden. While they had
been sharing a bed all week, Jace hadn’t been up for any physical activity, but
they both clearly missed it. It was evident from the amount of lust swirling
between them. Their breathing picked up and the kissing took on a more urgent
feel.

Jace pressed his mouth against Parker’s and slipped his
tongue inside, slowly running it along his bottom lip. He loved the way Parker
tasted.

“Jace.” Parker sighed as he leaned into his kiss.”Maybe we
shouldn’t.”

He stood up from his chair and tangled his fingers in
Parker’s hair, pulling his body closer. Parker’s chest was rising and falling
at a rapid pace as Jace moved his hand down over the bulge in Parker’s jeans.