Colin’s care was much more than he could have wished for or expected. Where Taron had assumed he’d get a tit-for-tat sex arrangement, he’d gotten this strange kind of companionship. He didn’t deserve so much affection after what he’d done to Colin, yet here they were, and Taron wouldn’t let go of it. He was far too selfish, far too greedy for Colin’s company to ever let him go. If someone had arrived at his house today, told Taron he would take Colin, and the police would never find out about what had happened, Taron would’ve told them to go to hell, and then would’ve shot the fucker for good measure.
Colin was his no matter how wrong it was. Even the nagging showed a degree of caring that Taron had learned not to expect from anyone.
Colin disinfected the wound with a spray that must have contained alcohol, since it stung like an eye rubbed with a salty finger, and briefly met Taron’s eyes. “This will hurt. Do you have any anesthetics?”
Taron forced a smile.
Colin licked his lips, stilling with the curved needle. “Where?”
He’d actually love the drink to warm him up as well.
Colin stood up without a word and was gone—gloves, thread, needle, and all. At Taron’s side, Rio rolled to his back, purring softly, completely unaware of his owner’s distress. Maybe it was for the better. Taron sighed and took his time petting his battle-scarred companion.
Colin was back not long after, but when he opened the jar, instead of handing Taron the jar, he took a swig himself.
Taron snorted.
Colin’s lips twisted at the strong taste of the alcohol, but he stared at Taron from behind the jar. “You better watch your mouth, or my hand might stray from where it’s supposed to go with that needle.”
He had one more gulp before handing the container to Taron. It took effort to sit up for drinking, because his body had found comfort and was reluctant to let go, but the harsh flavor of alcohol flooding his insides with sparks was enough to do the trick.
Though he wasn’t looking forward to the pain either.
Colin shook his head, touching the injured skin with one of his latex-covered fingers. His face was contemplative, with lips slightly parted as if there was something he wanted to say but didn’t trust Taron with. But what came out was dismissive and surely not what Colin had been considering. “I’m a doctor. Of course I don’t want you dead,” he said and leaned down, pushing the needle through skin.
Taron tried to distract himself with the conversation, but at least the moonshine warmed his insides.
Colin frowned at him. “Oh, you’re so clever. So I might not be quite there yet, but I know enough to help people. I’ve got the best results in my year, and I’ve been volunteering a lot,” he said in a biting tone, but there was no anger in the way he was stitching up the wound. If anything, he was painfully careful, making the whole process so much more comfortable than Taron’s own effort would have been.
Taron signed, clenching his teeth at another needle stab. He hated that there was no way for them to be together if Colin were to go back to his old life. Mr. I-am-a-doctor wouldn’t stay with Taron in the woods nor introduce him to his parents. What would he have even said? ‘Oh, and by the way, this is my boyfriend who’d abducted me last month’?
Colin blinked but didn’t look up. “Miss what?”
Colin let out a sigh and said nothing until he was done with the stitches. He might have done more than was strictly necessary, but Taron wasn’t about to scold him. The sound of gloves being peeled off his hands was so final Taron was starting to agonize that maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned Colin’s dream career, but Colin spoke once he finished dressing the wound.
“Studying is probably the only thing I’m good at, but there’s just so much pressure and competition to have the best scores, to outdo everyone else in order to get into one of the top medical schools.”
Was he suggesting he wouldn’t miss the stress, or was it just something he claimed for Taron’s benefit? Then again, he’d proven today just how willing to speak his mind he was.
Taron winked.
Colin snorted and pretended to knock on Taron’s forehead. “I never said I liked you.” But he let his hand linger against Taron’s skin, and watched him in silence. His fingers moved back and forth before sliding to the side of Taron’s face. Finally, Colin looked away. “I like the quiet. The scent of the woods. It’s so peaceful. Like a digital detox. I can be out in the sun for the whole day without worrying if I’m not needed somewhere else. Without listening to someone telling me I’ve wasted so much time on stuff that doesn’t matter. I like that when I tend to the garden, I know that everything I do there matters, because we’re going to eat the food we grow.”