Chapter Text
It wasn’t unusual for Ronan’s farm dog, Opal, to disappear, but she always came home. She was more mutt than sheepdog, probably mixed with a hunting breed. He would often catch her diving into the woods at the edge of the farm property line, only to find her on the porch later that evening with a rabbit or a large stick, a prize from her waltz around the forest.
Today, Opal wasn’t lounging on the porch with her tongue lolled and wolfish proud grin on her face. Today she was limping through the pasture with a face and chest full of porcupine quills.
Ronan scooped her up and brought her to the mudroom with a couple towels and some pliers and started to attempt to remove the quills, but Opal was yelping and crying and he knew he had to bring her to the vet. He loaded her into his truck and sped off to Fox Way.
Fox Way Veterinary Clinic was the only vet in this stretch of rural Nowheresville, so it was a busy practice. They helped small pets and large animals. Cabeswater Farms used to have a standing herd control package with the clinic. A veterinarian would come out yearly to monitor pregnancies with the cattle and assist in calving when necessary. After his father died, Ronan was left as owner of the farm, the business was given to his older brother, Declan. Ronan always had a weak heart when it came to the business of raising and eventually selling the animals for slaughter, so he quickly shifted the farm to be more of a rescue or sanctuary rather than a traditional farm. Now he rarely called the clinic unless there was something severely wrong, most things he could handle on his own. This was both a good and bad thing.
Good because it saved Ronan time and money and also meant that none of his animals were sick enough to warrant any veterinarian intervention.
Bad because it meant Ronan rarely got to see Dr. Parrish.
Ronan was probably too old to have a crush and he was definitely too cynical for one, but anytime he saw Adam, his heart would race, his palms would sweat, he would stumble over his words and trip over his own feet. They were friends, although because Adam was so busy, Ronan rarely saw him. Occasionally he would catch Adam at the farmer’s market or at the local bar in town. He never had the courage to ask for anymore of his time.
Even when Ronan did go to Fox Way, it didn’t always guarantee a visit with Dr. Parrish. He and Dr. Poldma took turns going on farm runs, spending about half their time out doing house calls and the other half helping out at the clinic.
The parking lot for the clinic was full, as it always was, so Ronan parked in the one available spot and didn’t waste any time. He scooped a whining Opal out of the truck and carried her through to the front door. The waiting room was small and equally packed. A metal crate filled with chickens, a bloodhound with a wrapped paw, a hissing cat thrashing against their carrier, and more. It was loud, it was chaotic, it was a normal day at Fox Way.
“Hi, Ronan,” Blue Sargent was first to greet him at the front desk, her eyes widened at the number of quills sticking out of Opal. “Oh, jeez, what in the world was she thinking?”
“She wasn’t, that’s the problem.”
“Is she going to be a pin cushion for Halloween?”
“Ha-ha,” Ronan replied humorlessly. “I tried removing them myself, but she won’t let me. Any chance you have time for her?”
“Poor thing,” Blue said, while scanning the computer screen in front of her. “I mean, not really, but we’ll squeeze y’all in. One sec.”
Opal thrashed in Ronan’s arms as a quill brushed his arm and sank in deeper. She yelped and a few other animals in the room echoed her discomfort.
Blue came around the front desk and led Ronan down the narrow hall to an empty exam room. “`Kay, I think you’re probably next in line priority-wise, so Adam will be with you in a bit.”
Great.
Ronan nodded and Blue headed back to the waiting room, shutting the door behind her. He set Opal down on her own feet and she crumpled to the floor. He knew she was in pain, but she was always a rather dramatic dog. Once when she was stung by a bee, she threw herself down on the grass and laid there, refusing to move. She was fine , not allergic to the sting, not even swollen in the spot she was stung, she was just wallowing from the drama of it all. Ronan had to carry her inside when the sun went down. He knew she was uncomfortable, but honestly, he was hoping this would stay in her memory so she would learn her lesson and stop getting herself into trouble.
Opal whined and kept whining until Ronan started to pet along her spine. She huffed and leaned against him, panting heavily through a mouth pinned open by the quills.
It wasn’t too long before Dr. Parrish knocked twice and opened the door. He was dressed in loose jeans, mud covered boots and a red Coca Cola t-shirt with a plaid flannel thrown over top. His head was buried in a folder of notes, no doubt the previous pet’s records that he was wrapping up. He looked up and upon seeing Ronan, he smiled, a true, warm smile. Ronan’s pulse sped up.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” Ronan echoed.
Adam looked down at Opal and his eyes widened. “Yikes, girl, what happened?”
Despite the pain and dramatics from earlier, upon seeing Adam, Opal’s tail started to wag. She left Ronan’s side and started to walk toward Adam, who immediately crouched down to assess her.
“Tried to play with a porcupine, huh?” Adam hissed, turning Opal’s head to the side.
“I tried pulling them myself, but she wouldn’t let me.”
Adam looked up over Opal’s head toward Ronan. “Yeah, I don’t blame her. There’s too many of ‘em and the barbs at the end of the quill keep them in there good.” Opal turned her body, pushing her quill-free torso and back toward Adam, hoping for pets. Adam huffed a laugh and gave her a good scritch. “God, you’re such a sweetheart, aren’t you?”
Ronan tried to swallow the lump in his throat, his tongue felt swollen. Just hearing Adam’s southern drawl, thick as honey accent, coo the word “sweetheart” made him feel all sorts of embarrassing things.
He cleared his throat. “Do you need to sedate her?”
Adam looked back at Ronan, a smile still lingering from Opal’s behavior. “Yeah, we’ll put her out so she’s more comfortable and I’ll get Jimi to help me pull out these quills,” he stood up and leaned back against the door. His eyes darted to the watch at his wrist with the cracked glass faceplate. “Should be, uh, about an hour or so if you have time to stick around? Otherwise we can call you to come pick her up later.”
“You can call me.” Ronan’s face warmed at the way he said it, the way he worded it or his tone, something just felt too vulnerable in that statement. As if he was asking Adam to call him unrelated to Opal’s emergency. God, he should really just be focusing on Opal and not his heart beating out of his chest for Dr. Adam Parrish. He added quickly, “I just mean, I… I have some shit to do in town so might as well while I’m here.”
“Right,” Adam nodded with a smirk, face partially obscured from the medical files back in front of him as he made a note. Ronan tried not to focus on the slight furrow of his brow of his long elegant fingers. Adam opened the door and popped his head out into the hall, calling for Jimi, a veterinarian assistant. When she came into the room, he handed her the file and leaned down to scoop up all seventy pounds of Opal with ease.
“We’ll call you in a bit, Lynch,” he called over his shoulder as he brough Opal down the hall to another room.
Ronan spent the next two hours in town running some errands. He was notorious for not normally answering his phone, but now he kept glancing at it every fifteen minutes waiting for the call from Fox Way. He loved all of his animals, but Opal was his shadow. He got her right after his parents died, needing some companionship on such a large, but lonely farm. She was such a good dog, immediately steadfastly loyal. She would patrol the property, herd the cattle and sheep, and kept him company on his daily chores around the farm. She was mischievous, but kind, stubborn, but loving. He knew she was going to be okay, but he was still nervous of anything happening to her.
Blue called him when Opal was ready to be picked up and when he arrived back at Fox Way, the parking lot was just as busy. He managed to squeeze inside the waiting room, waved to Blue, and waited somewhat patiently. Soon enough, Dr. Parrish came through the waiting room carrying a still drugged-out Opal, now quill-free. Her body was limp in his arms, her eyes blinking the sleep slowly away.
“She’s still out of it,” Adam said by way of greeting as he handed Opal’s limp body off to Ronan. Opal huffed at the movement, but otherwise fell back to sleep. “But that should wear off in a couple hours.”
“Thanks,” Ronan managed, shifting her a bit in his arms.
Adam smiled, again that private small, honest smile, that made Ronan weak at the knees. “We cleaned her up, I’d just keep her in the house until a couple of those bigger wounds on her chest heal. I don’t want those getting dirty and infected.”
“You got it, doc. Anything else?”
Adam rolled his eyes and gave Opal one last scritch behind the ears. “Nah, just let us know if anything changes and keep her out of trouble.”
“As if she listens to me,” Ronan said, but they both knew that she did.
This was the extent of most of his interactions with Adam - short and sweet. He ached to ask for more, it would be pretty simple to ask him out for a drink or to grab dinner sometime. But his insecurities kept him silent. If Adam wasn’t interested or even if he was and things didn’t work out later, Fox Way was the only vet clinic in the area, so he didn’t really have an option of avoiding him later. Plus, it was probably considered inappropriate to ask Adam out at his workplace, but…
“Dr. Parrish!”
Adam smiled, nodding once toward Ronan, and then was pulled back into the chaos.
—
It was only a couple months later when Ronan had another visit to Fox Way. One morning he discovered a recently rescued baby calf lying down in the fields by themself. She was only at Cabeswater for about a month and Ronan had been bottle feeding her. He let her out to pasture with the rest of the herd, trying to get them all used to each other, but obviously something must have gone wrong.
He made his way over, nudging her a bit, trying to get her up on their feet, but she wouldn’t budge. He noticed her back right leg was swollen and when he put pressure on it, the calf cried out, eyes wide and helpless. A broken leg, maybe? Probably got trampled on by the rest of the herd, wrong place, wrong time. If it was broken, though, he didn’t know what to do. He tried a few more times to get her up and walking, but eventually he loaded up the bed of his truck with some blankets and laid the calf down in the back, speeding off to Fox Way.
This time, he was lower priority on the overflowing list they had today. He checked in with Orla at the front desk, ignoring her sultry smile and inability to take a hint, and rushed to wait at his truck outside. He didn’t get a chance to ask which doctor was in, but he hoped it was Adam.
Dr. Persephone Poldma was a great vet, she helped the Lynch family deliver countless calves and foals, helped downed horses and miscellaneous ailments. But she talked in riddles and Ronan always left every conversation with her feeling both happy that his animals were better off, but confused as to what in the fuck happened.
Dr. Calla L. Johnson was also a great vet, but she and Ronan had similar attitudes. Every encounter with Calla started and ended with blank stares and sarcastic remarks and Ronan’s begrudging thank yous.
Dr. Maura Sargent was an equally skilled veterinarian and had been good friends with Ronan’s mother before she passed. Ronan’s only complaint with seeing Maura was she would always ask him about settling down and finding a nice husband to raise a family. He would always leave appointments with red ears, feeling flustered and awkward with thoughts of Adam.
Honestly Ronan couldn’t complain about seeing any of them for their quality of care. His only real valid complaint was none of them were Adam.
Sure enough after over two hours waiting in the parking lot in the back of the truck with the calf, Dr. Adam Parrish came heading over to them in his trademark loose fitting jeans and graphic t-shirt layered with a flannel. He was wiping off his hands with a rag that he shoved in his back pocket as he approached. Ronan hadn’t seen Adam since he was last here with Opal, but his body remembered exactly how to react to seeing the vet. His pulse raced, his palms were sweating, his tongue felt swollen. Ronan held in a frustrated groan.
Ronan was sitting in the bed of the truck, his legs stretched out in front of him. He was stroking the calf’s head, which was laid gently in his lap.
“Hey,” Adam greeted, leaning over the side of the truck to peer inside.
“Hey,” Ronan echoed.
“What’ve we got today, Lynch?”
“Think she broke her back leg,” he began, gesturing toward the right one. “Found her out in the field by herself and she wouldn’t get up. Gets mad when I touch it.”
Adam cocked his head to one side, Ronan could almost see the cogs turning as he assessed the calf. He gripped the truck and leaned back. “Mind if I hop in?”
Ronan shook his head and watched as Adam effortlessly hopped over into the truck bed, crouching down in front of the calf, who cowered back closer to Ronan. Adam hushed her, hand gentle at her chest as he pulled a stethoscope from around his neck to start checking her vitals. Ronan stayed quiet as Adam listened to her heart and lungs. After a while, Adam sat back on his knees. “She’s a new one, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Ronan nodded. “Surrendered last month. Been bottle feeding her. Just let her out to pasture yesterday to get her with the herd, but…”
Adam hummed. “She got a name yet?”
Ronan blinked. “Uh, no. She didn’t come with a name.”
“Promise me you won’t name her something like Drillbit or Jackhammer.”
Ronan grinned. “Can’t make promises I can’t keep.”
Adam rolled his eyes and turned to the calf’s right back leg, leaning forward. Sure enough, when he touched it, the calf cried out. Adam hushed and cooed the quivering calf, feeling along the leg and sitting back again. “Broken,” he confirmed.
“Shit,” Ronan’s heart plummeted. Even though he suspected it was broken, he still was hoping it was a sprain or something minor. “What can you do for her?”
“I can probably make a splint for her,” Adam rubbed his hands on the front of his jeans. “Calves are pretty resilient, she should heal fast. She just needs to stay out of the way for a couple weeks.”
Ronan nodded, stroking the head of the calf, who was still lying half in his lap, looking up at him.
“I will have to set the bone first though,” Adam added, wincing a bit as he said it.
“Fuck. Uh, what can I do to help?”
“Let me grab some stuff for the splint and I’ll be right back.”
Adam swung his legs over the side of the truck and hopped out, heading back into the clinic. The calf moo -ed weakly and Ronan patted her side as they waited for Adam to come back. When he did he had an armful of supplies - wads of cotton, rope, shears, and a deconstructed woven basket. Adam popped open the back of the truck and laid the supplies down.
“Can we slide her forward toward me?”
Ronan got up and slid the calf forward on the towels beneath her toward the back of the truck. Adam instructed Ronan where to hold the calf while he set the bone. The calf yelped, but otherwise settled.
“Okay I need you to hold the bone in place while I get the splint ready.” This was all the warning Adam gave him before he grabbed Ronan’s hand and wrapped it around the leg of the calf. It was so fast, a blip, their hands touching, Adam’s long elegant fingers and bony knuckles gripping his own. It was a second, but despite Ronan being too distracted by the hurt calf, his skin still burned when Adam withdrew his own. “Right, there, yep, that’s perfect.”
Ronan swallowed hard and tried to focus on breathing normally.
“How’s Opal been?” Adam asked, his head ducked down as he got to work cutting up bits of cotton.
“Good,” Ronan managed and cleared his throat.
“Not getting into trouble?”
“Not more than usual.”
Adam huffed a laugh and ducked his head to focus on the task at hand. Ronan watched him work silently for a moment, his heart doing a familiar dance at being so close to his ridiculous crush on the vet.
He tried to be brave and take advantage of the few moments he had outside alone with Adam. He cleared his throat. “Um, how have you been?”
Adam sighed. “Busy.”
“You’re always busy.”
“Yeah,” Adam focused on layering bits of cotton around the calf’s leg. “I’m good though. Lucky Maura’s in today too, so might actually leave here on time today.”
Ronan hummed, removing his hand from the calf’s leg so Adam could tie up the cotton binding.
“I should thank you,” Adam murmured, voice low like he was telling a secret.
“What?” Ronan let out a surprised laugh. “You’re the one doing the actual work here. Why the fuck should you be thanking me?”
Adam glanced up with a smile and his cheeks were bright red. Must be from the heat. “Well for one, this is the first moment of peace and quiet I’ve had all day.” He paused to start cutting at the bushel basket, measuring out a strip about the length of the calf’s leg. Ronan has seen him use this trick before, it was cheap and effective, the material was flexible enough to allow movement but sturdy enough that the leg would heal.
“And most people wouldn’t do this for a calf,” Adam continued. “Most people wouldn’t do half the stuff you do for your animals.” He secured the fragment of the basket along the outside of the calf’s leg with the rope and made a few more adjustments.
“It’s nice to know that even after everything they’ve been through, some animals are lucky enough to end up with Ronan Lynch.”
Ronan’s chest bloomed with warmth as they locked eyes over the calf. He knew this was something and he couldn’t let this moment go without taking a leap. Thankfully his mind was empty, filled with nothing but Adam’s wide eyes and long lashes and flushed cheeks and-
“Do you want to go to dinner tonight?”
Adam blinked, that genuine smile slowly spreading across his face. “Are you asking me out on a date, Lynch?”
“Maybe.”
Adam laughed, patting the calf on the head and collecting the rest of the supplies he hadn’t used. “I should be off by six.”
—
A year passed in a whirlwind of laughter and tears and so much damn happiness, Ronan could burst. He was so in love with Adam Parrish and he realized he probably always was. He felt like the luckiest bastard in the world.
Today was their anniversary. They both worked, Ronan busy with chores all day, Adam off going farm calls for Fox Way. They hadn’t seen each other in a few days, but they still spoke on the phone every night, sometimes falling asleep to each other’s soft slow breaths. He was planning on asking Adam to move in with him tonight over dinner and wine and maybe some waltzing in the kitchen if they had time between trading kisses and being absolute saps. After his work day, Ronan quickly showered and started on dinner, hoping to have it ready when Adam got there.
He got most of the way done, just adding a few more minutes to a kitchen timer when he got the call.
“Adam?”
Adam sighed into the phone, a rush of air blew through the speaker, before replying. “I’m sorry.”
“Guaranteed it's not your fault,” but Ronan was bracing himself for disappointment. “What’s up?”
“I’m heading back from The Allen Farm,” Adam’s voice was muffled by road noise. He was driving. He always managed to call Ronan on the road when driving to his next client. Sometimes because that was the only time he had and sometimes because it was a sad visit and he just needed to hear Ronan’s voice.
“Nice, that was fast.”
“Yeah, uh, I just am not headed your way yet, I’m headed back to Fox Way.”
“What’s happening?”
“Emergency c-section for that beagle I was telling you about the other night? She’s been in labor for too long and the owners are bringing her in. I’m meeting them there now.”
Ronan checked the clock. Fox Way was definitely closed. “Is anyone else around?”
“I don’t think so? I tried calling ahead and no answer so… Unless there’s a bigger emergency there that everyone is tied up in.”
“Do you want me to come?”
“God, Ronan,” Adam let out a tired laugh. “I didn’t want to do this to you today.”
“Say the word and I’m there.”
“I…” Adam hesitated. This was something they had both grown in over the last year - being comfortable asking for what you need. They both struggled with it, but Adam was more stubborn when it came to doing everything on his own even to the point where he’d drop from exhaustion. Ronan just remained as encouraging as he could be and patient. He waited and then Adam asked.
“Can you get there? I could probably use some help…”
“Yep, on the way.”
“They’re puppies, so like… that’s cute, right? Not a total disappointment for our anniversary?”
“Yeah puppies are fucking cute, dumbass. I’ll meet you there in a bit.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
It took Ronan a bit to clean up and leave their dinner in a salvageable state for whenever they got back. When he arrived at Fox Way both Adam and the owners were already there. He followed the noise to the back room and sure enough, no other Fox Way staff were around. Adam was already in the middle of surgery, fielding questions and worries from the owners as they babbled away.
Ronan stepped into the room and cleared his throat. “Where do you need me, doc?”
Adam glanced up with a small smile. “I need you next to me catching puppies. Wash your hands and box of gloves are behind me. Oh, and can you grab some more towels?”
Ronan got to work doing what Adam asked as Adam introduced him to the panicked owners. “Henry and Noah, this is Ronan, he’s gonna help us out with Bea.”
“Delivered a lot of puppies, have you?” Henry asked, skeptical of Ronan’s qualifications. Ronan being the animal lover he is couldn’t blame them for that, but he was still annoyed for Adam’s sake.
“He owns Cabeswater Animal Sanctuary,” Adam interrupted, not missing a beat as he cleaned and prepped Bea. “He’s delivered a lot of animals and nursed them to health. I trust him.”
Adam’s Dr. Parrish voice seemed to be enough for the two. Everyone was quiet as they anxiously awaited the first puppy.
Sure enough after only a few minutes, Adam handed the first squirming bundle to Ronan, who again followed Adam’s instructions and wrapped them up in a towel, rubbing them gently to stimulate them, clean them off, and check their breathing before passing them off. Henry and Noah took the bundle next and continued to rub and clean them off just like their mother would if she were able. The cry from the first puppy was enough to break some of the tension in the room. No one could be unhappy when there were puppies in the room.
This pattern continued for the next four puppies, every one of them seemed healthy enough that the focus could go back onto the mom and to make sure she was healthy. Five puppies in total. Ronan had the runt of the litter in his hands, rubbing them gently as he watched Adam close Bea’s incision. Then it happened so fast.
At first he noticed the puppy stop wiggling.
“Parrish.”
Adam’s eyes shot up to lock on Ronan’s then the puppy, who was turning blue in his hands. He took him from Ronan immediately and started rubbing at him with more pressure. He turned the puppy upside down, trying to drain any remaining fluids from their airways with gravity. He checked their breathing again and put them on the table beside Bea and with two fingers at the puppy’s tiny chest, he started chest compressions. He paused to check their breathing and then pressed his lips over the puppy’s muzzle to get some oxygen into them.
The room was thick with dread, the only sounds were the four healthy puppies wailing on the table and Adam muttering to the puppy.
“Come on, hang in there, come on.”
“He was so small,” Henry was saying, already prepared for the worst. Noah was bent over Bea, stroking her head while she slept, eyes on the struggling puppy.
After a few more compressions, Adam’s fingers were gentle on its pulse. “I feel a heartbeat. It’s just faint,” he took the towel again to rub at the puppy’s chest, lifting them again. “I’m just waiting for a cry. Just gimme a little cry, come on…”
And as if the puppy couldn’t disobey Dr. Parrish’s wish, it started as a tiny chirp before evolving into a much louder wail . Everyone in the room sighed with relief.
Adam had a thousand-watt grin on his face as he handed the puppy over to Henry. “Keep rubbing him, he’s not out of the woods yet. Make sure he keeps breathing.” Without missing a beat he went back to Bea to finish the last suture, but even with his head ducked, he was still smiling.
“You’re a fucking marvel,” Ronan murmured, quiet enough that it was just for them. Adam’s cheeks flushed and he bit his lip, but continued on unphased.
—
Ronan was still getting used to waking up next to Adam every morning. It still felt surreal, like a dream. Adam had moved in four months ago and while they normally got out of bed at different times, they still managed to lean over to press a kiss to an exposed shoulder or cheek before starting their long days. Today was Adam’s first day off in what felt like forever and probably was. It took a lot of convincing both from Ronan and from the other veterinarians at Fox Way. He deserved a day off just like everyone else and it was about time he took one.
So when Ronan woke up that morning and rolled over to find the bed not only empty, but cold, he was definitely disappointed. He got up and padded down the hall. Adam wasn’t in the bathroom or the office. He checked the kitchen and the spare bedrooms, but still no Adam. He followed the light in the hall to the living room, where a lamp was lit next to the bay window and that’s where he found him.
Adam was lying back on the couch with a newborn lamb in his arms, a bottle on the coffee table half full of vet-approved formula. The lamb was making little noises to him and Adam was humming and nodding along. This lamb was just born the other day, her mom passed away in childbirth, so after a quick consult with Fox Way, he got ready to raise her on his own. This didn’t necessarily include needing the lamb to move into the house, but Ronan didn’t want her to get hurt in the barn. Plus, she acted much more like a dog than a lamb, which was maybe Opal’s influence, but he didn’t mind. The look on Adam’s face when he came home to this lamb curled up with Opal in a pile of blankets in front of the fireplace made Ronan’s heart melt a little.
“It’s your day off, Parrish,” Ronan said, coming into the room and sitting on the coffee table in front of them.
Adam turned his head with a tired smile, stroking down the lamb’s back. “Couldn’t sleep,” he said with a yawn. “And she wanted to keep me company. Couldn’t say no to that.”
The lamb bleated happily at them both before struggling off the couch with too long limbs and barely any coordination. They helped her land on her feet and watched her wander away to the nest of blankets on the floor to lay down next to Opal again. Opal grunted, but didn’t move when the lamb cuddled up close. Ronan took the opportunity to flop down on the couch, on top of Adam.
“Oof,” Adam groaned, but wrapped his arms around Ronan and spread his legs to settle in. He pressed a kiss to the top of Ronan’s head and leaned back and closed his eyes.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” Adam’s smile was unabashed and brilliant in the dim morning light. “What’s the plan today?”
Ronan nuzzled his face into Adam’s shoulder, closing his eyes. His whole body relaxed being in Adam’s arms. He breathed in deep, grateful. “The plan is for you to relax today,” he said, voice muffled into Adam’s neck. “I was going to make you breakfast in bed so you’re gonna have to go back to bed.”
Adam hummed, pulling up the hem of Ronan’s t-shirt to trail a gentle touch along the inked lines across his back. Ronan shivered. “I can make breakfast and help out with the chores.”
“Day. Off.” Ronan groaned as Adam pressed his fingertips into the knot of his lower back, rubbing firm circles through the tense muscle. “What don’t you understand about that?”
“But if I help with the chores then we have more time together,” Adam’s thick as honey accent was even more persuasive when it was rough and deep from sleep. “So maybe we can have dinner in bed.”
His hands trailed further down, brushing along the elastic waistband of his sweatpants, pulling it back and snapping it once against his hips. Ronan’s hips pressed down into Adam’s and their breaths hitched. Ronan grinned against Adam’s neck and pressed a kiss and a nip there, pulling back to press another to his lips.
“Breakfast in bed is non-negotiable,” Ronan smirked at Adam’s half-lidded eyes and darkened gaze. “C’mon, back to bed.”
When Ronan sat back, Adam didn’t move, t-shirt rucked up to expose a bit of his abdomen, arm thrown back over his head, gaze heavy and lips parted. Ronan smirked at this absolute wonder of a man and how goddamn lucky he was. He ducked down and ignored Adam’s protests as he scooped him up and tossed him over his shoulder.
They started late on farm chores that day.