Wholehearted by Cate Ashwood Read Free Book Online

the case, but it was helpful in allowing Declan to get to know him.
    “Anything good on tonight?”
    “Not really. They’re playing a repeat of a zombie movie on the space channel. I guess because it’s getting pretty close to Halloween, all the monster movies are on.”
    “You like monster movies?”
    “Some of them.”
    “You wanna watch the zombie one?”
    “Are you staying a while?”
    “I can stay as long as you like.”
    “Are you working tomorrow?”
    “Night shift. I should try to stay up late tonight to adjust.”
    Lucas nodded. That was all the reason in the world Declan needed to make the decision to spend one last night sleeping upright in that fucking awful chair. He didn’t know what would happen in the morning when Lucas was released. He had offered to have him come and stay, but the offer had been thrown right back at him. Several days had passed since then, but Declan didn’t want to bring it up again, not when they were finally getting along. Instead, he resigned himself to sitting on pins and needles, imagining every possible scenario as he watched people’s guts get ripped open and devoured on TV. He would just have to be patient, something Declan had never been particularly good at.
     
     
    D ECLAN WOKE a few hours later to yet another stiff neck and the room cast in an eerie glow from the TV. The signal had long since faded, and the neon rainbow tinted the room a sickly green color. Lucas was asleep, his head tilted back and his lips parted slightly. He was beautiful even in the green light. His hair was sticking up all over the place, and his eyelashes created dark fans on his smooth cheeks. The days without shaving had given rise to light-colored stubble that covered his jaw. Declan stood and walked closer, taking in Lucas’s sleeping form. He just wanted to touch him, so very badly. Just once. He reached out and brushed Lucas’s hair across his forehead, smoothing it back into place. Lucas made a soft noise and turned his head, leaning into Declan’s touch. He fought the urge to lean down and kiss him. He knew that if Lucas woke up, he would lose all the progress he’d made.
    Declan flicked off the TV and sat back down, sliding his hands underneath his thighs. He wouldn’t touch him again unless Lucas needed him to. He could control himself. He was a grown man; he should be able to control his impulses. He sighed, knowing that he was lying to himself, and tried to go back to sleep.

Chapter 5

     
    M ORNING CAME before he knew it and the nurse was coming in to deliver Lucas’s breakfast.
    “Oh wow, another plate of dry-as-fuck eggs. Fantastic,” Lucas said sarcastically after the nurse had left the room.
    “Is the food no good here?”
    Lucas tilted his head and gave him a disapproving stare. “What the fuck do you think? Have you ever had hospital food? It’s bullshit.”
    “I’ve snuck a couple of bagels and muffins from the coffee shop, but I’ve been too afraid to venture into the cafeteria. You should eat, though. You need the calories.”
    Lucas looked underfed. Declan could see his collarbones protruding prominently above where the hospital gown fell across his chest. The smooth skin stretched over them made him hungry, and not for dry-as-fuck eggs. He’d been teased and tortured spending time with Lucas. Every time Lucas got up out of bed, the gown would bunch and gape, giving Declan glimpses of smooth skin over taut muscle. He wanted to rip the thin cotton off his body and run his hands over every rise and valley.
    After breakfast, the nurse came back in to take Lucas down for blood tests and X-rays. Declan stayed in his room and waited while he was gone, cracking open the book he had bought and reading the first few pages.
    Lucas was right; it was pretty good. Reading the captions and speech bubbles took some getting used to, as Declan had never been one for comic books as a kid, but the story was pretty enthralling, and having the imagery right there on the page