Chapter 9

Rylan hit the stop button on the elevator and stepped close to Brett. Two people crying in the elevator coming from the intensive care unit surely wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, but he wanted a moment’s privacy. Certainly, Brett did too. He slipped his arms around Brett’s waist and pressed his face to Brett’s shoulder, trying and failing to choke back a sob.

Brett’s arms enveloped Rylan and held on tightly while garbled sounds rumbled from his chest and he rested his cheek against Rylan’s head. Rylan wasn’t sure how long they stood there like that, probably no more than a minute, before Brett moved his hands to Rylan’s shoulders and rubbed up and down. He very gently moved Rylan back a small step, putting the tiniest bit of distance between them. Moving one hand to Rylan’s cheek, Brett wiped the tears there away with his thumb then leaned down and brushed his lips over the same path.

“We should probably get going and try to keep it together,” Brett murmured.