Chapter 49

His chest heaved too quickly.

“Sit

down. Head between your knees,” Bryan said firmly.

“Me?

No, I’m fine—”

“Now!”

Bryan barked.

Phiz

dropped immediately onto one of the kitchen chairs, braced his legs and bent

his head down. He took large gulps of air.

Bryan

stood beside the chair for a while, listening to him. He put his hand on Phiz’s

shoulder and gently squeezed. “That’s it. Calm down. You’ll be fine.”

“I’m

sorry,” Phiz whispered. “It’s just…thinking about it again. One minute we were

kissing, then you got grabby, then the chair and table crashed down all around

us. I didn’t know what to think, you were unconscious. Didn’t know if you’d

choked, if you’d hit your head. I had to see…” He gulped more breath. “I needed

to see you were okay.”

“Which

I wasn’t.”

Phiz

didn’t reply, but his breathing had steadied.

“You

cleaned me up, too, didn’t you?” Bryan said. “That’s what’s in the washing

machine.” His clothes and his towel. His humiliation made flesh.