Chapter 40

I’ll leave the back door unlocked.

As soon as he hit Send, ten-pound weights attached themselves to his eyelids. He battled the urge to drop his head back and sleep. He wanted to see Carson. He wanted to curl against the man’s chest, speak in murmured half sentences about his day, and then fall asleep, warm and contented. He didn’t need Carson to feed him. He didn’t need Carson to fuck him. He just needed a sympathetic ear that didn’t mind muddled half sentences.

“Hey…”

Edwin rolled his head toward the sound, but he didn’t see Cooper’s familiar form. “What are you doing here?”

“Talking to you. You look like you’ve had a hard day.”

“You mean, you don’t know? You weren’t following me all day?”

“I was. But I didn’t want to distract you. Or cause more problems.”

“That was thoughtful of you,” Edwin murmured.

“Why do you do it?”

“Do what? Go to the center?”

“Yeah.”

“If you were with me, you know why I was there.”