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Hold up your hands.
Ooh, what do you have in mind?
Nash held up Sidney s gloves. Keeping you out of the emergency room.
Sidney smiled up at Nash as his gloves were fitted into place. What about your poker
party?
You come first. Nash gave Sidney a quick kiss. Always have. Nash wrapped his
arm around Sidney and started down the sidewalk towards the park. Luke told me you re
having a hard time with forty.
Forty s old, Sidney mumbled.
So what does that make me? Nash asked.
A sexy older man. But I m not supposed to be old, that s your role.
Nash tried to keep a straight face, but failed miserably. Forty isn t old, besides, you ll
always be younger than me. He scooped Sidney up into his arms and tossed him over his
shoulder.
My mom died when she was thirty-two, Dad when he was fifty-four. You ve already
had a heart attack and you re not even fifty.
Although Sidney said it in a soft voice, Nash heard the words loud and clear. He carried
Sidney over to one of the snow-covered benches and lowered him to the ground. After a
quick swipe of his hand, he pulled Sidney down beside him. I won t downplay what you re
feeling, because I think it s pretty damn natural for someone who lost both parents so young,
but Jim taught me something on that cruise.
When Sidney began to shake, Nash knew it had more to do with emotions than cold.
He lifted Sidney into his lap and kissed him. With the dark snowy night enveloping them,
Sidney slid his hands under Nash s coat and kissed him back. It was a special moment he
knew would stick in his memory for years. He hadn t told Sidney that his blood pressure
medication had been increased on his last doctor visit. There was little either of them could
do about it anyway.
Nash silently cursed as the kiss continued. He d already cut his work day down to just
a few hours in front of the computer. Exercise had become part of his daily routine and
Sidney made it his mission to make sure he ate properly. Although he was doing everything
right, his heart still wasn t as healthy as it should be.
Sidney broke the kiss. Tell me what Jim said that helped.
Well, he said a lot of stuff, but what I walked away with was this. It s better to live
your life than worry about your death. Nash shook his head. I can t promise you that
you ll live to be eighty or ninety, but I can promise to love you every single day I have you.
Sidney nodded. I ll love you too, he whispered against Nash s lips.
* * * *
I don t understand why we couldn t do this at our house, Nash grumbled as he
pulled into the Creative Solutions parking lot.
Sidney reached over and tugged on a hank of Nash s hair. Because sometimes it s
good to let other people host parties. So when Ben invited us to ring in the New Year with
him, I couldn t say no. He leant over and kissed Nash s cheek. Come on, no pouting. We
spent the entire day yesterday together for my birthday. Now it s time to party with our
friends.
I don t pout, and even if I did, it wouldn t be over a stupid party.
Sidney rolled his eyes and opened the door. Next to him, Nash was the king of pouting,
but Sidney doubted it was a good time to bring it up. Although JJ, Eric and Zac had returned
to their respective lives a few days earlier, the rest of Sidney s friends and work colleagues
were probably already inside. Jim had even decided to stay in Chicago for a few more weeks,
but had insisted on checking into a hotel. As Jim put it, meat and houseguests start to go bad
after three days. God, Sidney loved Jim.
Sidney took two steps before he hit a small patch of ice and went down, hard. Instead of
getting up right away, he stretched out on the frozen parking lot and waited for Nash. A
little help? he called.
Nash was out and around the truck before the words were barely out of Sidney s
mouth. Dammit, I told you to scuff the bottom of those boots. He grabbed Sidney under
the arms and carefully lifted him to his feet.
Sidney looked down at the shiny brown leather boots Nash had given him for
Christmas. But they re too pretty to scuff up.
Better than scuffing up your head. Nash pulled Sidney against his side. You okay?
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