Chapter 1

When the alarm clock rings at ten minutes to five in the morning, Jeremy Pollick doesn’t want to get up. He doesn’t want to roll over, and he doesn’t want to turn off the alarm, and he sure as hell doesn’t want to get out of the warm bed he shares with his lover. He can feel the strong body alongside his and he burrows beneath the covers, telling himself if he just ignores the buzz, the clock will shut off eventually. If he just pretends it’s not trying to tear him awake, then he doesn’t have to get up—

The bed shifts beneath him as his lover, Blake Tarrington, reaches across him and turns off the clock.

Thank you,Jeremy thinks. He sighs in the sudden stillness and tells himself he’s still asleep. Maybe if he thinks it hard enough, his body will believe it, too.

Blake’s arm wraps around Jeremy, hugging him back against the firm warmth of Blake’s chest. Into Jeremy’s ear, he breathes, “Time to get up, hon.”

Jeremy sort of mumbles something noncommittal and snuggles closer to his lover.

A quick kiss on Jeremy’s temple and Blake’s already getting out of bed, stretching in the darkness of their room, yawning and shaking himself awake. “Jeremy…”

“I’m up,” he mutters into pillows that still smell like Blake. He doesn’t want to get out of bed—has he mentioned this yet today? Because no one seems to be listening.

As Blake leaves the bedroom, he slaps Jeremy’s legs playfully through the covers, a barely-there touch buffered through the thick comforter. Come back,Jeremy wants to say, but when he hears the water running in the bathroom, he knows it’s too late.

He glances at the clock—it’s now eight minutes to five. Too early.He fists the blankets beneath his chin, stubborn. He’ll close his eyes for a few minutes more, just until Blake gets out of the shower, and thenhe’ll get up, even though he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to get dressed, either, or fight the morning rush hour traffic, or spend the day at the office in meeting after meeting.

Let’s just skip all that,he thinks. It’s a wonderful idea—he wishes he could really do it. Skip everything between here and coming home tonight.Then Blake could snuggle back beneath these covers with him, and they could make love until they fall asleep even though it isn’t Friday yet and they usually don’t have time for sex during the week. Maybe he’ll suggest a quick morning tryst when his lover comes back into the bedroom, still damp from the shower. Maybe Blake will agree that, for today at least, they can forget everything else but each other.

* * * *

In the shower, Blake rinses the soap from his hair and wonders if his husband is out of bed yet. Knowing Jeremy, probably not. It’s getting colder in the mornings—autumn’s in full swing and the leaves are all turning, winter’s just around the corner, and it’s getting harder and harder for them to crawl from beneath the warm covers at such an ungodly hour. But he has an early appointment at the recording studio, and Jeremy’s needed downtown at the planning office where he works. Neither of them get paid if they don’t show up.

His mother was right when she said the romance starts to wear thin after the first year. This is it, just the two of you now,she said at the wedding, straightening his tie. Make sure this is it, honey. Make sure he’s the one, because it’s going to get old real quick, trust me.

He wouldn’t say old…he still loves his boy, more so now than when he first asked Jeremy to marry him three years ago. But the flames are definitely guttering low. There are too many other things vying for their attention, and they no longer have the time to spend together like they used to. Except weekends. Then they try to pack it all into two days, everything they should’ve said throughout the week, all the kisses, the touches, the love. It’s so bad, he hates to do anything on the weekends but stay at home because he hasn’t had his lover all week and he doesn’t want to waste one precious moment together.

Some weeknights they do manage to steal a few hours between the time Jeremy comes home and Blake has to turn in. With any luck, tonight might be one of those—

Shit,he thinks, turning off the shower. Not tonight—they have a dinner date with his parents tonight, the four of them going out to celebrate his mother’s birthday, and if he almost forgot, he’s sure Jeremy doesn’t remember it at all. He wraps a towel around his waist and stands in front of the bathroom mirror as he listens for any sound in the quiet house. He’s sure Jeremy’s still in bed.