Archive of Our Own ^beta

Tony Stark was frustrated. Very frustrated. It was a week since he and hot nurse Steve started dating. No scratch that, it had been since they had kissed in the hospital with the promise that they would start dating. Pepper had brought him home, but only to get a bag of stuff he needed. The tower wasn’t nearly done and he couldn’t stay there until it was finished. So Pepper brought him to the airport where his plane was waiting and they flew to his mansion in Malibu.

The very next day Steve had called him and Tony was really excited to hear from him so soon. Steve was serious about this, he stuttered that he hoped they could go out for dinner together sometime this week. Tony thought it was adorable. The man had let Tony touch his beautiful behind and returned the favor in front of children without even turning red, but asking Tony out of a date made him all flustered. So bad that he started stuttering.

He had told him that he would love to go out with him, but that Pepper had dragged him to Malibu. He couldn’t go to his home in New York and Pepper didn’t allow him to get a hotel. He hired someone to help him learning how to walk again and that guy visited him every day and, yeah, the therapist couldn’t come all the way to New York to some hotel. He could hire another one, but Pepper kept complaining. Steve had said he understood, but he did sound disappointed. He asked if Tony would call when he could come home again. Of course he promised.

But he didn’t have to wait. The next day he received a text message from the blond, asking how his legs were doing. Tony had texted back if a nurse was allowed to use his phone during work. They continued messaging each other like that the rest of the day and the next day Tony called Steve. Steve had held his breath until the genius told him he couldn’t come back yet. They had chatted and since then they called each other every other day.

That was two weeks ago. Two whole weeks and Tony had asked Pepper every hour of every day if the tower was finished already, until she had kicked him out and told him to get some work done if he was bored. Even his ‘come on Pepper, the hottest man of New York is waiting for me’ didn’t help anymore. Tony didn’t go to his workshop, instead he searched for Happy. He started bothering his driver with the same question. Happy answered him three times before he quickly ran away from his boss, knowing he couldn’t keep up with his crutches.

So here he was, lying on his bed, calling Steve. The phone rang a few times before the man picked up.

‘Hi Tony,’ said the low voice on the other side of the line.

‘Steve, take a few days off, I’ll send my private plane to get you.’

For a few seconds it was silent. ‘I’d love to see you too, Tony, but I have to tell my boss at least a week before I want to take time off. We have to be patient a little longer.’

‘Fuck being patient,’ mumbled Tony. He was pissed, but at the same time he know Steve was right and that he was being childish.

‘I walked past the tower today and it looks to me like they are almost done,’ said the blond. ‘I’m not sure how long they will take, but I think it will be done in about a week. So why don’t we meet each other next Sunday for breakfast somewhere and spend the entire day together. To make up for our lost time?’

‘Promise?’

‘Yes, I promise.’

‘Can I plan our date?’ Tony asked.

‘I would like that, I’m pretty busy this week, so I don’t have much time to plan anything.’

‘But if I come home before Sunday we’re totally going out for dinner that night,’ stated the billionaire. ‘I’m not waiting two weeks in Malibu only to get back and wait even longer. I did more work in the last two weeks than I did in the six months before that. I’m not that patient, Stevie!’

‘Tony, don’t call me Stevie,’ sighed the nurse. ‘And am I not worth waiting for?’ he added jokingly.

For a few seconds Tony didn’t answer. Steve worried that he said something stupid, until the genius finally spoke. ‘I guess you are.’

‘Thank you,’ said Steve softly. He had a bright smile on his face and Tony felt like he could see it. He felt a stupid grin appear on his own face, but he didn’t try to stop it.

‘You’re going to use that against me until the end of times, aren’t you.’

‘Yes,’ laughed Steve. ‘So be a patient boy and wait until your tower is done and I will see you soon.’

~

Steve stretched his arms above his head. He was alone in the changing room at the hospital. His shift had just ended and it had been a tiresome day. He grabbed the clothes from his locker, took a quick shower, dried himself and got dressed. The nurse decided to grab some food on his way home. He really didn’t feel like cooking tonight.

He walked through the hospital to the parking lot until he reached his bike. He blinked and blinked again when he noticed the very big and very shiny car parked next to him. The moment he wanted to grab his helmet the door of the car was opened.

‘You promised!’ said a familiar voice from inside.

Steve smiled, approached the car and looked inside. ‘Welcome back. How did you know I would be here?’

‘Because there was only one blue motorbike in the parking lot. It had the color or your eyes and it’s as sexy as you are. Couldn’t miss it.’

‘Your tower is rebuild?’ Steve asked and he climbed in on the backseat next to Tony.

‘More beautiful than ever before,’ grinned the millionaire. ‘Came back as soon as I heard they would be done. My plane landed two hours ago and I only went home to take a shower. I came here straight away, hoping your shift would end soon and I was lucky! I only had to wait about fifteen minutes for my super model to show up. Don’t you think I have been super patient? Fifteen minutes and I didn’t complain once! Ask Happy!’

‘Yes, fifteen minutes, I’m very proud of you,’ said Steve sarcastically.

Tony simply ignored it and grinned at him. ‘I think I deserve a little reward, don’t you think so too? And I already had something in mind.’

Steve moved a little closer. ‘I think I might know what you are talking about.’ He pressed a kiss on Tony’s lips, but it was way too short for the billionaire’s liking. He wrapped his arms around Steve’s neck and pulled him in another kiss. He kept it pretty innocent. He was tempted to bite Steve’s lip so he could slip his tongue in, but he didn’t. He could wait until the end of their date to do that.

‘Where are we going?’ asked the nurse as he sat back and put on his seatbelt.

‘A small restaurant,’ explained Tony. ‘But it’s something where we can get in with casual clothes and where people probably won’t pay too much attention to us. I hope. Haven’t been there before, but the computer said it was nice, casual, but with good food. Thought you would like good food, being a nurse and all.’

Steve laughed. ‘I was planning to get some take out tonight, because I was too tired to cook. I do eat unhealthy food sometimes as well.’

‘I can’t feed you too much unhealthy food,’ stated Tony. Steve was almost proud, for real this time, but then Tony continued. ‘Can’t have you lose the beautiful muscles you have! I want to enjoy that six-pack.’

Steve rolled his eyes. ‘I eat what I want and don’t you dare complaining, or I will start complaining about your lack of abs.’

‘I have…damn,’ sighed Tony. ‘Not fair. You have already seen me naked. Can’t fake having perfect abs.’

‘Lucky you, I don’t care about perfect abs,’ smiled the nurse. ‘And you have nothing to complain about, you have a very nice body.’

‘You looked!’ grinned Tony. ‘You wash so many people, but you couldn’t resist looking at the body of that super handsome man that was put in your care! You must have enjoyed giving me a sponge bath as much as I enjoyed getting it.’

The nurse laughed again. ‘Yes, you’re irresistible.’ The car stopped so Steve got out and helped Tony getting out as well.

The genius nodded at a place a little further up the street. He told Happy he would call when they needed him and with his crutches he made his way to the little restaurant. Steve held the door for him when they entered and Tony joked about what a lovely gentleman he was.

The restaurant was very nice. It was small, but it had a nice atmosphere. They got a nice table in the corner and were handed a menu. The food was simple, but it was how Steve licked it. He picked something he hadn’t tried before and when after Tony ordered his food he also asked for a bottle of wine. He waiter poured them both a glass and put the bottle on the table.

They had a nice and relaxed dinner. They talked about the things Tony had done during his two and a half weeks of extreme boredom and Steve told him about the things that had changed in the hospital, like Bruce finally being able to leave after such a long time. They talked and laughed until the bottle was empty and dessert was eaten.

‘I think we should get going,’ said Steve when he checked his watch. It was 11.30. Not that late yet, but he had to get up early tomorrow and he was tired. ‘Could your driver drop me off at home? My bike is still at the hospital, but I had too much wine, I’m not allowed to drive anymore.’

Tony called Happy and told them they wanted to be picked up. The driver promised he would be there in about ten minutes and the billionaire hung up again.

‘You know, if you come home with me tonight, Happy can bring you to the hospital tomorrow.’

‘Very smooth Tony, but no,’ smiled Steve.

‘But it’s convenient?’

‘It is, but still no. I have work early tomorrow and you can’t do anything with those legs yet, too dangerous. I’m not doing this on a first date and last, but not least, I remember something about being worth waiting for.’

‘So many reasons!’ sighed Tony. ‘I should have fed you more alcohol. So much you couldn’t walk anymore, so you would have to come home with me.’

‘Your poor driver would have to carry us both to the car.’

Laughing they went outside. Tony insisted on paying and Steve let him, this once. The moment they sat in the car the genius attacked Steve and started kissing him. Their lips didn’t separate from each other until Happy called that they had arrived at Steve’s place.

Tony tightened his grip, but Steve gently pushed him away.

‘See you Sunday. Let me know where we will meet and what I’ll have to wear,’ the nurse smiled as he opened the door.

‘My place, no clothes needed,’ said Tony as he slapped Steve’s but as the man got out of the car.

‘Text me the details,’ winked the blond before he closed the door and walked home.

~

‘No, I can’t go to the charity event Sunday, Pep!’ said Tony from the couch. ‘I thought you had access to my agenda. You know my appointments. No, screw that, you make most of my appointments. You can see I’m busy the entire Sunday!’

‘You’re only busy with a stupid date! This auction is important Tony!’ Pepper almost shouted. ‘All important business people will be there, you have to be there too.’

‘I’m sure they will excuse me after what happened with Obadiah, since it was all over the news and everyone was making a big deal out of it,’ argued Tony. ‘They know I haven’t completely recovered yet. They rather not have me around in the first place, because they still believe I’m a fucking drunken party animal that is on his way to steal their beautiful wives. I haven’t done anything like that since fucking forever. I’m serious about Steve. I really want to give this a try.’

‘Then go to the auction, prove them wrong and have a date some other time.’

‘Yes, because nothing says ‘I’m serious about you’ as cancelling your first real date!’

‘Tony, do you really think this is going to work out?’ Pepper asked. ‘You were in the hospital. You were scared, you were in pain and suddenly there was a handsome man who helped you. He took care of you, he was friendly and he laughed at your jokes. You think he is perfect, but it was all about the circumstances.’

For a moment Tony just stared at her. ‘You really think that?’ he asked. ‘You really think I’m that stupid. That I don’t know the difference? This isn’t some happy go fucking lucky puppy love! Some high school romance. I know he has been through some fucking terrible things in his life and he knows I did so too. We might not have talked about it much, but I know he understands, he knows I understand. I know he is not the same in his private life as he is when he is at work, but he also understands that I’m not the same as the Tony Stark people see on television or read about in stupid magazines. But if you don’t even have faith in me, why would anyone believe that I can be serious. That I am serious. I like him.’

He got up as quickly as he could and he walked out of the room. He heard Pepper calling his name and saying she was sorry, but he didn’t stop. He went to his workshop and locked himself up. With a deep sigh he sat down on his favorite chair. It had survived the explosion.

Tony held his phone in his hand. He wanted to call Steve, but he knew the man was at work. Didn’t want to disturb him. And maybe it was too early to call Steve about his problems. They hadn’t even gone on their official first date yet. And Tony was sure Steve would cancel their date, so Tony could go to the auction.

Instead of calling him he decided to send him a message. He quickly typed that Pepper was bothering him, but that he had escaped her and that he was looking forward to Sunday. A minute later his phone rang and Tony smiled a little when he saw the caller’s ID.

‘Steve,’ he said, trying to sound as cheerful as he could.

‘I’m having my lunch break,’ answered the nurse. ‘What is wrong?’

~

Steve was nervous. It was Sunday morning, very early. He had changed his outfit three times before putting on the first one again. He combed his fingers through his hair before he grabbed his jacket and helmet and left. He jumped on his bike and drove to Stark tower. He parked his bike and looked up. He had passed this tower so many times already, but it was even more impressive from so close by. The door was opened by an older man in a crisp black suit.

‘Mister Rogers?’ asked the man. ‘Mister Stark is almost ready. Please follow me.’

Steve followed the butler into an elevator and they quickly moved to the top floors of the tower. When the doors opened they showed a very large and beautiful living room.

‘Please make yourself comfortable,’ said the man. ‘Mister Stark will be with you shortly.’

‘No need!’ said a familiar voice, but the owner of the voice was nowhere in sight. ‘I’m done, I’m done, I’m done! Sorry to make you wait!’

Tony appeared, walking as fast as the crutches could carry him. He stopped when he saw Steve.

‘You look great!’

‘Thank you,’ smiled Steve. ‘So do you. But you didn’t have to hurry, I’m early, I can wait a little longer.’

‘I wasn’t in a hurry,’ lied Tony.

Steve laughed. ‘Your hair is a mess and your fly is open.’

‘Shit,’ Tony mumbled. He tried his best to use the zipper of his pretty tight jeans, but it was pretty difficult with crutches. Steve walked towards him, pried his hands away and zipped the jeans for him. The tugged his fingers through Tony’s hair and tried to style it a little.

‘I’m still in doubt if it’s a good thing I’m dating a nurse,’ said Tony, looking all serious. ‘Normally my hot date would pull that zipper down, but the hot nurse zips it up.’

‘I’m hungry,’ smiled Steve. ‘And I need some food before I will start unzipping your pants.’

‘Breakfast it is!’ Tony stated and he walked towards the door. He threw a bunch of keys Steve’s way. The nurse barely caught them. ‘We’ll take the car, but you’ll have to drive. Happy is a nice guy, but I don’t want him on my date. Not that interested in threesomes with guys that are all bigger than I am. Okay, forget I said that! I don’t want a threesome with guys that are taller than me! Taller! Don’t know anything about Happy’s bigness.’

‘If you’re trying to convince me to share the bed with you and your driver I will take a car, drive off without you and never return,’ said Steve.

‘No, no, no, no! No I’m not.’ Tony almost stumbled over his words, almost stumbling over his own feet at the same time. Steve caught him and grinned.

‘I know,’ he answered as he helped the genius in the car. ‘When you’re nervous you start blabbering and you don’t know what you’re saying anymore. It’s kind of cute.’

Tony opened his mouth to say he wasn’t cute, but when he saw the smirk on Steve’s face he shut it again without saying anything. ‘You enjoy this way too much.’

‘Of course I do,’ answered Steve. ‘Where to?’

They went to a nice big place where Tony ordered a huge breakfast for the two of them. The place was pretty crowded and there was quite a lot of noise, but with so many people nobody paid attention to the famous billionaire who was on a date and nobody could hear their conversation. Tony was telling him about the auction. He thought it was fair to let him know. He had thought about it after his conversation with Pepper and he wanted to discuss it with Steve.

‘I don’t really know what to do about it. I don’t even know why I’m bothering you with it,’ ended Tony his story.

‘I’m glad you did,’ smiled Steve and he put his hand on top of Tony’s hand. ‘I think I have a solution.’

~

‘Tony, you’re here!’ said Pepper surprised when her boss walked through the door at the auction. He looked a little too casual, but he was there and that is more than she had hoped for.

‘Yes, I talked to Steve about it,’ he said as he searched for a chair. There had been a small introduction before, but the main event was about to start. Pepper pulled a chair for him and sat down next to him.

‘Don’t get me wrong,’ said the billionaire. ‘I’m still not happy about it, but Steve thought I shouldn’t let you down, even if it meant I had to let him down to do so. I’ll be here for an hour maximum and then I’m leaving again.’

‘Why leave half way?’ asked Pepper. ‘There is a dinner afterwards.’

‘Pep, I’m here, I showed my face, they took my picture. Steve and I chose a painting from the catalogue that will look good in my office. He knows more about art than I do, so I’m sure it’s fine. The painting is piece number eleven, so I wait, buy the damn painting and I’ll be gone again. Steve is waiting at home and he said he was going to cook me dinner, so I’m not going to waste any time on a disgusting cheap meal with fucking boring people.’

‘You left him alone in your house?’

‘Yes, he can cook, he is not going to burn it down and I know where he lives if he would try to steal anything. It’s not like I let a total stranger in!’

‘Do you even know his last name?’ asked Pepper.

‘Of course I do!’ sighed Tony. ‘Haven’t you seen all the hearts I’ve drawn on my reports with ‘Anthony Edward Rogers’ written inside with curly letters?’

‘How old is he?’

‘He’s been in the army, he served in Afghanistan and then he went back to school and became a nurse, so he isn’t eighteen anymore.’

‘You don’t know how old he is!’ stated Pepper.

‘No I don’t!’ said the genius a little pissed. ‘Who cares about age anyway?!’

‘Tony, you know I’m only worried about you and that is why I ask you all these things. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I care about you.’

‘I know,’ answered Tony. ‘I know. But you of all people should know that I’m nowhere near perfect, so I’m never going to find a partner that is perfect. Not as perfect as you want him or her to be. Steve has a fulltime job, he isn’t interested in my money and he can handle my stupid flirting, even if it’s with other people. That is more than most people I’ve been with before, so give him a chance.’

‘And he is responsible,’ smiled Pepper. ‘He made you come here, even if it’s just an hour.’

‘See, if you’ll get to know him I’m sure you will like him. You two can gang up against me and try to make me a responsible human being.’

‘I’m sorry I called your date stupid, Tony. I know this is important to you. So tell me, what did you do on your date?’

‘Oh, now you’re interested! Steve is a normal guy, doesn’t like standing out, so I thought I’d take him to the fair. You know, the big one is in town. With so many people around nobody will pay attention to us. Forgot that I couldn’t do much with crutches. Tried to be romantic and win him something with a shooting game, but I couldn’t even stand. He actually held me up, so I could shoot without putting pressure on my legs. It was embarrassing, I tell you, but I did win, so now we have a baby unicorn named Peter. But well, you know it, Ferris wheel and all. I think he really liked it.’

Pepper had been grinning while he told the story. It was so much like her boss, but if that Steve wasn’t scared off by such a first date he couldn’t be a very bad man for Tony.

The moment the painting came up Tony offered an insane amount of money. Probably more than the painting was worth, but the money was for charity, so whatever. Another man offered more. It pissed the billionaire off, more than it should. He raised his hand again, raising the price, but the other man did the same.

‘Who is that asshole?’ Tony hissed through his teeth. He was throwing death glares at the man. ‘You’re dead! Anyone who keeps me away from a blowjob is dead! He is so fucking dead!’ He raised his hand again and this time the other man didn’t try to offer more. Tony won. He smiled at the people around him and acted very pleased, but he was trying his very best not to run out of the room yet. Only when they had started with the next object Tony got up and walked out, followed by Pepper.

‘Before you go,’ said Pepper. ‘I don’t know if I want to know, but what was that about a blowjob? Is Steve offering you sex in exchange for that painting?’

‘No! We just agreed Steve was a decent man!’ whined Tony almost desperate. ‘The painting is mine. But he said he would cook and that he would make sure there would be a lovely desert and he winked and it has to be at least a blowjob, right? With these fucking legs I can’t do anything else!’

‘Tony, he could have been talking about pudding,’ stated Pepper. ‘Or ice cream, or cake. He could have made you a lovely desert and you are not going to show him that disappointed face you are showing me now, are you? I thought you were serious about him.’

‘I am! Please get the painting for me!’ he said and he walked out of the building. Happy was waiting for him and they quickly got in the car. Within a few minutes they arrived at the Stark Tower and Tony hurried inside. He found Steve in the kitchen.

‘Steve!’ shouted the genius. Startled the nurse turned around, but he smiled when he noticed nothing was wrong. ‘Tell me you were talking about a blowjob when you talked about a lovely desert!’

Steve’s smile disappeared and he blushed. Then he started laughing. ‘You hurried all the way back to ask that? Did you even buy that painting or did you run out before you had the chance to buy?’

‘I bought it,’ answered Tony. ‘Pepper thought you were talking about pudding. I thought I imagined you being all hot and seductive about it with all the waiting, because you’re worth it things and stuff. I thought I…’

Suddenly Steve was right in front of him. ‘For someone who acts so confident all the time you’re worrying a lot. I did find pudding in your fridge, so we will eat it. But I think we can fit in another dessert on the menu.’

Tony kissed the tall blond man and Steve kissed back until something started beeping and needed his attention.

‘How old are you?’ asked Tony suddenly. He only just remembered the question.

Steve laughed. ‘I’m not a young innocent boy anymore, don’t worry. I’m 32.’

‘Oh thank God,’ Tony sighed relieved and sat down at the table. He was very glad they decided not to go to a restaurant. The food smelled very good, the cook was very nice to look at and after months he would finally get some action tonight.

~

Tony had seen Steve the day before, but he already missed him. If only the other man would move in with him already, but he knew it was way too early for that. He grabbed his phone. The least they could do was go on another date next weekend. Hopefully an entire day again. He quickly send Steve a message to ask if he felt like it too. He almost typed Saturday, but then he remembered the nurse was going to dress up as Captain America again, so he changed it in Sunday.
He put his phone back in his pocket and impatiently waited until it would start vibrating. He sat behind his desk and was supposed to get some work done, but he could only think about things they could do on their date this weekend. After a few minutes he got a message and that woke him up from his thoughts. He read it and sighed. Steve was having a weekend shift. With nothing to distract him anymore he went back to work.

~

‘Stark, what are you doing here?!’ said a familiar voice as Tony hopped through the hospital. ‘Pissed off more of your enemies or are you still recovering from last time?’

‘Barton!’ smirked Tony. ‘Long time no see. I still can’t walk normally and then they say I recover more quickly than most people and that I’m ‘lucky’. What are you doing here? Another crossbow incident? Or did they cut off something while you were sword fighting?’

‘Not me, Nat,’ explained Clint. ‘She got injured, didn’t want to go to the hospital until she almost bled to death.’

‘She the hot redhead?’

‘Yes, but don’t tell that to her, the woman is deadly. She can kill you in ways you never heard of. Some people nicknamed her Black Widow, since the guys she dated were never seen again. It’s just stories, but I’m not going to find out if they are true or not.’

‘Glad I didn’t meet her a few years ago. Might have jumped her!’ laughed Tony.

‘You changed Stark? No more flirting with random hotties? What changed you the last two weeks?’

‘I’m in a relationship! Sort of.’

Clint frowned. ‘Sort of? That sounds like you.’

‘Not really sort of!’ said Tony quickly. ‘So don’t try anything, I know you can’t resist me. I’m dating someone, but only for a few weeks yet. Only since I left the hospital.’

‘Oh, someone saw you, loved the beaten look on you and stole you away from me?’ cried Clint. ‘You wound me! I thought we had a connection Stark. All the time we spend together annoying the hell out of those nurses! I’m disappointed Stark! I’ve been waiting for your call for weeks! Your date better be extremely hot!’

‘He is,’ laughed Tony. ‘Nice ass, great abs, face of a super model. Does it ring any bells?’

‘Nooooo!’ said Clint. ‘No, no, no! You’re kidding me! You’re dating that nurse? What was his name? Steve? He is hot indeed, I would chose him over me as well. My God how did you convince him? Did you pay him half a million dollar too? You here to have your way with him in some unused bed and let your porn dream come true?’

‘Are you calling my boyfriend a hooker?’

‘No, I’m not!’ defended the archer. ‘Although he could earn a lot of money if he would start such a career. Ouch!’

Tony had hit his ankle with one of his crutches while he kept glaring at the blond man. ‘I’m here for an x-ray. They had to check my legs. But since that is done, I was on my way to see my very hot man. He wanted to take me out for dinner, no cheap porn in way too sterile rooms. We’ll do that if we ever get really bored. Until then I could show you the pictures of him in that nurse dress. You’d jizz your pants right here, right now.’

‘I don’t want to know!’ shouted Clint and he quickly walked away. ‘I really don’t want to know!’

With a big grin Tony made his way to the children’s hospital.

~

‘Steve, I’m shocked! How can you live in a tiny place like this?’ asked Tony as he walked around Steve’s apartment for the first time.

The nurse laughed. ‘It’s bigger than I used to have before I joined the military. I couldn’t afford anything else.’

‘You used to live in a closet,’ stated Tony. His closet was almost the size of Steve’s bedroom, so he couldn’t even imagine an even smaller apartment.

‘Yes I did,’ grinned Steve. ‘But before I joined the military I decided it was best to come out of the closet.’

Tony laughed. ‘I’m glad you did!’ He kissed the blond man. Tony wanted to deepen their kiss, make things a little hotter, but he bumped into the table when he tried to move them to the couch.

‘I can buy you a bigger place, you know. No problem.’

‘I know,’ answered Steve. ‘But I don’t want it. If we would ever break up I would feel guilty. I know you think it’s stupid, but I would, I know I would. I want to take care of myself. I don’t earn that much, but enough to pay for this place and I don’t really need anything bigger. I’m hardly home anyway. And maybe it’s not that long until you decide you want to keep me.’

‘Oh, so when I decide I want to keep you, you will move in with me? What if I already made up my mind?’ asked Tony with a smirk. He would love to have Steve coming home to Stark tower every day and waking up next to him every morning.

‘If you made up your mind, buy a ring and pray I made up my mind too,’ grinned Steve.

Tony’s eyes widened and he took a step back. ‘You want to get married?’ he asked almost shocked. ‘Why? Don’t you trust me?’

‘What does marriage have to do with mistrust?’ asked Steve surprised by Tony’s reaction.

‘I know I had a lot of partners, but I’m not like that anymore. Ring or no ring, you’re the only one. Marriage isn’t going to change anything. I could still cheat on you with a ring around my finger, you know. But I won’t do that, you should trust me. I…’

Steve stopped Tony’s blabbering with a kiss. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not afraid you will cheat on me. I’m not trying to bind you to me with a ring or anything. We’re only going out for a little over a month, so I don’t think we should even discuss this and just enjoy this lovely evening.’

‘Yeah, sorry, I was rambling. Forget everything I said,’ mumbled Tony, taking Steve back in his arms.

‘I’m not going to forget about what you said. You said I was your only one!’ smiled Steve. ‘And I think you’re a little scared of weddings. Which is totally fine. I only talked about it because I love weddings. Most beautiful parties there are.’

Tony thought about that for a moment. ‘Wedding parties are like ‘look at how much money I spend to celebrate how hot my man is, but he is totally worth it’.’

Steve laughed so hard that he squeezed Tony against him. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said when he caught his breath again. ‘I think a wedding ceremony is a bit more than that, but the party, yes, you gave a pretty good description of it. But you make it sound like the hotter the man, the bigger the party.’

‘If that’s the case we would have an extraordinary wedding party,’ grinned Tony and he pinched Steve’s butt. He wanted to pull Steve into another kiss, but he hit the table again and there was a beeping sound from the kitchen. The nurse kissed Tony on the nose and pulled himself away from his arms.

‘Dinner is ready.’

~

Steve was really tired. Somehow Tony had convinced him to stay over, but it had been a long day and his shift started early tomorrow morning. So after he had showered he lay down in the big bed. He waited for Tony, but the man was still in the shower.

Meanwhile Tony was being as fast as he could. It had been a while since Steve had stayed over and he wanted to make the most of it! He quickly showered, put on some boxers and went to the bedroom.

The billionaire climbed in bed and kissed Steve’s neck. He didn’t get any response, so he bit lightly. Still nothing.

‘Steve?’ he asked, wondering if the man was upset. He called his name again when the ex-soldier didn’t answer.

With a sigh Tony turned away and pulled the blankets over his shoulders. Steve was asleep.

~

It took some time, but Tony had convinced Steve to go shopping. Steve preferred to do some online shopping, but Tony didn’t want to hear it. Online shopping was fine, but Steve was always wearing pretty old-fashioned clothes. If he would try on some other things he might see that he could look great in something else than those loose pants.

So now they were walking through the streets of the shopping district. Steve had tried on a few things Tony had asked him to and he had even bought a few of the items. But it wasn’t enough yet. Jeans and two shirts weren’t enough for the upcoming summer. He would need more and if he couldn’t afford it himself, Tony would buy it for him.

‘So where do you suggest we go next?’ Steve asked. Since Tony seemed to know all the good stores he let him take the lead. Tony had a good taste when it came to clothes, although he liked the tights shirts a little too much. In a way Steve felt flattered.

Tony wanted to answer, but the moment he opened his mouth there was the loud screeching of someone slamming the breaks of his car. The pair turned around, just in time to see a woman get hit by the car.

Steve dropped his bags and ran to the woman. Tony grabbed his phone, called an ambulance and picked up the bags. He followed Steve and watched the blond work. As a nurse he knew what to do and he checked if she was breathing. When she wasn’t he checked her heart. It wasn’t beating. There was blood, but nothing extreme. Blood loss wasn’t going to kill her. Steve knew he could save her.

The driver had gotten out of the car and was freaking out. He cried that she just suddenly stepped on the road and that he had tried to stop. He had been driving way to fast and he was swearing he would never do so again. He wanted to kneel down next to the woman, but Steve pushed him away.

Tony grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him away, so Steve could do what he had to do. The billionaire wasn’t really good at calming people down, so he angrily told him to shut up and stay put. Maybe if he was lucky the woman would survive. At that moment a police car arrived and the man tried to escape, but Tony was still holding his arm, which was pretty difficult with crutches.

Meanwhile another man had kneeled down on the other side of the woman and quickly told Steve he was a doctor. Steve said he was a nurse and they agreed to do this together. Steve did the reanimation and the other man did mouth to mouth. With two people it was less tiring and they could do this until an ambulance would arrive.

The police asked Tony what had happened and they took hold of the man for him. The billionaire told what he had seen, which wasn’t much, so they quickly went searching for other witnesses. That made the man even more scared and they had to handcuff him and put him on the backseat of their car.

‘Sir, could you please move on?’ asked one of the polices when Tony didn’t move from his spot.

‘My boyfriend is trying to save someone’s life. I’ll wait for him if you don’t mind,’ bitched the genius, but he did step aside, so he wouldn’t be in the way. This whole things made him a bit nervous. He kept watching Steve. The man was super focused and did everything he could to save the woman. Still Tony could see relief on his face when the ambulance arrived and those people took over from him and the other man. He walked over to Tony and grabbed his hand. Steve gave him a sad smile.

‘I hope she will make it,’ he sighed. ‘I really need a coffee before we continue shopping.’

Are you sure?’ Tony asked and he pointed at Steve’s shirt. There was a lot of blood on it, so Tony handed the taller man his jacket to hide it. ‘Maybe we should go home and order the rest of the things online.’

‘I could put on one of my new shirts,’ said Steve. ‘For me things like this are a daily thing to deal with. I’ll just change and throw this away. We’re finally on a date together. I don’t want to ditch you again. It’s been so long since we went out together.’

‘Alright, but you’ll wear the tight shirt!’ sighed Tony. ‘At least it’s never boring with you around.’

~

Tony wasn’t easily scared. He had been through a lot in life. So much that it had almost become normal. But when Steve started crying and groaning in his sleep the billionaire didn’t know what to do. He almost panicked, but he knew Steve needed him in a situation like this, so he took a deep breath.

He used to have nightmares like this himself. He still had them now and then and then he woke up, all sweaty and with his heart racing. He didn’t have them as often as he used to anymore. When he was still dating Pepper it happened at least once a week. She couldn’t handle them, she didn’t know what to do. More and more often she slept in a spare room until they had broken up.

Tony didn’t want that to happen again. He understood Steve’s problem, so he should try his best to help him. He thought about the things he wanted when he was in such a situation. Gently he wrapped his arms around Steve’s waist.

‘Steve, wake up,’ he said softly. He didn’t whisper. Whispers could be turned into something scary, into someone scary. He wanted the nurse to hear it was Tony that was calling him.

‘Wake up, you’re dreaming. Steve, come on, wake up. You’re fine, we’re in bed, we’re in New York, everything is fine. Wake up!’

Steve opened his eyes widely. Bewildered he looked at Tony, but then he recognized him. He was breathing heavily and he was sweaty all over. His cheeks were wet with tears. Tony wiped them off, gently stroking the other man’s face.

‘It’s alright, it was just a dream,’ he said softly.

Steve pulled Tony closer and buried his face in his neck. It was a bit warm, but the genius didn’t care. For a long time neither of them moved.

‘Thank you,’ murmured Steve against Tony’s skin. ‘I love you.’

Tony’s heart started beating faster. For so long he had wished for someone to comfort him when he had those nightmares. Now he had Steve. He was sure Steve would do the same for him if he started dreaming.

‘I love you too.’

~

‘Okay, let’s cut them off,’ said the doctor as he started to cut the splints and bandages off Tony’s legs. It took a few minutes, but then the genius’ legs were visible again. Steve was standing next to them and watched.

‘There are your legs again,’ said the doctor when he was done.

‘They are hideous!’ sighed Tony as he looked at them. Nothing like his legs were before he fell. ‘The scars go all the way from my knees to my thighs! Scars on my chest, scars on my legs, what am I going to seduce people with, doc?’

‘It will get less,’ said the Doctor. ‘It will fade a little and I’m sure you have other ways to seduce people. Does it hurt anywhere?’

‘No, not really,’ answered Tony, still faking a pout until the doctor got annoyed by it.

‘I’m sure the nurse here thinks your scars aren’t that bad, right?’

‘Not at all,’ smiled Steve. ‘I’d love to follow them with my tongue. Starting at you knee and then licking all the way up.’

The doctor blushed a nice shade of red and Tony was gaping. He knew Steve wasn’t as innocent as he seemed, but this still surprised him. In a good way. The doctor coughed.

‘You will need more therapy for your muscles,’ said the doctor. ‘Don’t try walking too much yet, use the crutches. A few therapy sessions and a lot of practice and you can do anything again. You’ve been very lucky mister Stark, it could have been a lot worse.’

Thank you,’ said Tony, not really knowing what he was supposed to say, he hadn’t listened to the man. He had been trying very hard to get the image of Steve licking the scars out of his head.

‘Nurse, since you took the time to come here while you are supposed to be working, I assume you can help mister Stark getting his clothes back on.’ With that said he walked out of the door.

‘You’re the worst!’ said Tony. ‘I’ll never get that image out of my head again until you actually do it.’

‘Then I better prepare myself to do so tonight,’ laughed Steve as he helped Tony put his pants and shoes back on. ‘But the doctor said you have to make an appointment with the therapist and I still have work to do. So don’t get too excited yet.’

Tony growled in frustration, but the nurse just gave him the phone number of the physiotherapist and went back to work.

~

Tony was all dressed up. He had invited Steve to go out for dinner and they would go somewhere fancy this time. He was wearing a suit of a super expensive brand, but he knew Steve would never wear something like that, so he had brought him a cheaper one. It was specially made for the nurse, because it was hard to find a jacket that fit around all those muscles, but Tony wasn’t going to tell that to his beautiful Greek god.

He parked his car close to the door where he knew Steve would come from. Finally he could take one of his sports cars. Steve didn’t like them too much, because they attracted so much attention, but nobody would look at them in the neighbourhood of the restaurant. There were plenty of fancy cars around.

Tony checked his watch. He was a little early. He grabbed his phone and started to get a little more work done. The next time he checked the time it was exactly the time they were supposed to meet, but still no Steve. The genius was always late everywhere, so he couldn’t complain and waited a little longer.

Five minutes passed. Ten minutes passed. Fifteen minutes passed, but still no Steve. He tried to call, but the nurse didn’t pick up. A minute later Tony got a message with just one word: emergency. Tony sighed. Why were there always emergencies when they were planning to go on a date?! Okay, that was exaggerating, it didn’t happen that often, but it was still annoying. He replied the message.

I’ll wait.

Tony got out of his car and walked around a little. His legs were getting stiff. He could walk and he could drive his own car again, but his muscles weren’t used to it, so he needed to stretch them more often than he was used to.

Another half an hour later Tony got pissed. Steve was already 45 minutes late and they had missed their reservations. He was Tony Stark, so he could arrange another table, no matter what time they would arrive, but he was still pissed. He hated waiting. Suddenly he remembered Steve’s words again. The man was worth waiting for. With a little more patience he sat down in his car again.

Twenty minutes later Steve came running through the door. Tony’s anger immediately disappeared when he saw him. There had been no reason to bring the extra suit. Steve was dressed up in his own way. He was wearing a blue dress shirt and even a tie combined with beautiful dark blue pants. It was all new. He must have bought it after their failed shopping incident when Tony had told him he looked amazing in blue.

But that wasn’t all the genius noticed. Steve looked tired, very tired. There were dark circles under his eyes and he wasn’t walking straight up as he normally did and his smile wasn’t as brightly. He sat down in the passenger seat and gave Tony a short kiss.

‘I’m sorry I’m so late,’ he said. ‘There was a drunk and really violent man in the emergency room and I had to help to keep him in control. In the end we had to call the police.’

‘It’s alright,’ answered Tony. ‘You couldn’t help it.’

Steve raised his eyebrows when Tony didn’t start the motor. The billionaire just sat there.

‘We shouldn’t go,’ he said after a minute. ‘You’re really tired. You have to get some rest.’

‘I’m fine!’ said Steve quickly. ‘We can go. We should go! I’m really sorry I made you wait so long. But you can still get us a table right? We should go.’

‘No,’ stated Tony. ‘Let’s get some fancy take out, eat it while cuddling on the couch and then get to bed early. To sleep.’

Steve smiled. The sparkle seemed to return to his eyes. ‘I would love that.’

~

A man with a helmet on his head walked into the hall of Stark Industries. He was wearing a black leather motor suit. The lady behind the reception desk looked a little scared. On Saturdays there weren’t too many people around, since most of them had the weekends off, but she had to work, since there were a few meetings. There were less security guards as well. But she relaxed when the man took the helmet off.

‘Mister Rogers,’ she smiled.

‘Hello,’ greeted Steve. ‘I’d like to see mister Stark. He is here today, right?’

‘He is in a meeting, sir,’ answered the girl. ‘It should be done in about half an hour. You can wait if you want.’

‘I’ll wait in his office,’ said Steve and he stepped in one of the elevators. The girl wanted to stop him, but he already closed the door before she could reach him. Tony working on a Saturday was ridiculous. He never did that, unless he was tinkering around in his workshop. But not the suit-and-tie business meetings. Pepper usually did those.

Steve didn’t go to the office. If the receptionist said half an hour they could be talking for another two hours. He wasn’t going to wait for that and he was sure Tony wouldn’t appreciate it either. So he went to the room where the meeting was held. The room had glass walls, so everyone saw him approach, except for Tony, who sat with his back to the wall. He turned around when he heard knocking and smiled when he saw his man standing there.

Tony stood up and without saying another word he left the room and closed the door behind him. He knew Pepper was going to be pissed, but he didn’t care. Hello, hot boyfriend in tight black leather came to pick him up for a motor ride! Like he was going to stay in a meeting and listen to those boring old men blabbering how his new plans were too risky when he could cling to the broad back of the hottest nurse in the entire world!

‘I think this might look even better on you than your Captain America outfit,’ he said as he tried to tear his eyes away from Steve’s ass.

‘Thank you,’ was all the blond said.

‘No, thank you! Speaking of the Captain, I thought you would have to change into our national icon again this afternoon, so I went to a meeting. If I had known you were free I wouldn’t have bothered.’

‘I do have to go the hospital in the afternoon,’ said Steve. ‘But the weather is great for a ride on the bike today, so we’re going out now and I’ll drag you with me to the hospital in the afternoon. It’s just one and a half hour. If you want you can even take me to that super fancy restaurant we couldn’t go to last time.’

‘Are you trying to kill me?’ Tony asked. ‘You show up in this outfit, I get to see you dressed as Captain America again and you promise I can see you in a suit tonight! Promise I can peel you out of that suit after dinner and I will give you everything you want. You can have my company, all my money, I’ll become your slave if you want to. Anything.’

Steve laughed. ‘Whenever I wear something like this you already become my slave. You give me everything I would ask for. You haven’t been able to resist this ass ever since you saw it the first time in the hospital. So why would I let you take off the suit tonight?’

‘Because you like it?’ asked Tony.

‘Good reason,’ answered Steve. ‘You can take off my suit tonight.’

They arrived at the reception and the confused girl asked if the meeting was over. Tony laughed and said it was over for him, because he had a more important meeting. Steve got an extra helmet and a jacket out of the motor and handed it to the smaller man.

‘Ready?’

‘Hell yes!’

They climbed on the bike and Steve drove to the highway. He easily passed all the cars that were in a small traffic jam and when they were out of the city Steve went even faster. Tony held on tightly. He loved this. He loved the speed and the danger and the man that sat in front of him. If only he could feel the wind through his hair!

They drove for almost an hour before Steve left the highway and stopped at a restaurant. It was a simple place, but it would do. They took off their helmets and Steve pulled his hand through his hair. ‘Let’s grab a bite before we go back to the city. I’m getting pretty hungry.’

‘Me too, I didn’t have breakfast,’ answered Tony.

They ordered a lot and ate while they talked about motors. Tony was passionate about them and said he was going to buy one again, because he had really missed it. They could go out together, with communication devices in their helmets, so they could still talk. He was already looking forward to it.

‘Do you want to drive back?’ Steve asked suddenly.

Tony’s eyes widened. ‘Are you sure?’ he asked. But before the blond could answer Tony already grabbed the keys. ‘No, not letting you change your mind. I will drive back! This must be the best day of my life. Did I ever tell you I love you?’

Steve smiled. ‘You might have. Come on, let’s go.’

Tony almost ran outside. He impatiently waited until Steve took his place behind him and then they quickly took off. He had missed this so much. Steve’s arms around him made it so much better. Steve made everything better.

~

Tony couldn’t believe it. Things had gone so well the last weeks, but once again Steve was too late for their date. It was Friday night and they would go out for dinner and then Tony would take him to a club for a little partying. Steve had been looking forward to it, since he couldn’t even remember the last time he went out. Tony had been looking forward to it too. He was planning to take Steve to a gay club, so they didn’t have to feel uncomfortable when they would dance together. He knew a lot of guys would start hitting on his blond giant, but it was worth it.

And now Steve was half an hour late. Tony had called him three times already, but he got voicemail. He didn’t leave a message. He was pissed, so he grabbed the remote and sat down in front of his huge television. He had no right to be pissed, he now understood what Pepper had to go through for years. Tony had always been late and busy. He flipped the channels and suddenly he understood why Steve was late.

There had been a huge traffic incident with a bus full of kids coming back from a school trip. A truck had hit the bus and at least three other cars were involved. The road was a huge mess. One of the cars was on fire, some kids had been thrown out of the bus by the impact of the truck and there were bleeding people all around. Tony turned off the television, grabbed his coat and hurried to the hospital.

Steve had picked up the phone and was the first one to hear about the accident. All the ambulances were on their way and one of them called to tell what to prepare for. There had been fifty kids in the bus and four adults. One of the kids had already lost its life. At least three needed immediate surgery, as well as the driver of the truck and one of the people who drove a regular car.

The blond nurse had immediately called the people in the emergency room in the normal hospital to prepare as well. They had only three surgeons available and the children’s hospital had only one at the moment, so the others were called in. The children’s hospital didn’t have an emergency room, so they prepared rooms closest to the doors and doctors and nurses got ready to help. They also prepared a room where they could let all the parents wait.

Steve was running around and told his colleagues what to do. Everyone was nervous. Things like this happened more often, but not with so many kids. They got help from the hospital, but they weren’t really prepared for this. Steve was pretty calm. This wasn’t the first time he was in a situation of life and death.

When the first ambulance arrived he helped to bring the kid to the surgery room. One of the teachers had been in the ambulance as well and Steve asked for her name and the name of the kid. If he knew the names he could inform parents about the situation of their child. The teacher pulled a list from a pocket and handed it to him. It had all the names of the kids.

‘Thank you,’ said Steve and he wrote behind the name of the kid what happened to her. ‘Are you alright? I think that scratch needs stitches. We prepared the hall as a big waiting room for the people with minor injuries. Could you please come with me and wait there. It will be important for the kids to see a familiar face around.’

The woman followed him. Slowly more people were brought in. Two other kids needed immediate surgery and were brought to the normal hospital. Kids with broke limbs or big wounds were brought to the improvised emergency rooms where nurses were waiting for them. Steve didn’t join them. He wanted to coordinate this huge operation. It wasn’t his job, but nobody else was doing it and he didn’t want anyone to freak out or panic.

He went to waiting hall. There was a lot of crying and loud talking. It was chaos. Steve approached one of the kids that was crying. He comforted the kid and asked him if he was alright. The kid complained about pain in his arm, but it was nothing big. Steve asked for his name and wrote it down on the list. He gave the kid a toy to play with from one of the many waiting rooms around and quickly moved on to the next kid.

Meanwhile Tony had arrived at the children’s hospital, but he wasn’t allowed to go in. He could have known that things were chaotic and unless he had an injured child, he would not be allowed to enter. But that wasn’t going to stop him. He walked to the entrance of the hospital and sneaked in through there. He made sure no one would see him. He sat down somewhere in a corner where he wouldn’t be in the way and where nobody would pay attention to him. He could see Steve from there. The nurse looked tired, but he was working hard. It was the reason Tony had come. He wanted to bring Steve home when this was all over. The man would be way too tired to go home on his bike.

Tony just watched and saw how slowly the waiting room got more organized and more silent. Kids had stopped crying and there was no more screaming. Some of them were even playing together. Next to Steve there was only one other nurse around and two teachers. A third nurse came to get one of the teachers to give her stitches.

Steve went to the room with the parents and checked if all of them were there. Only the parents of one of the kids were missing, but the kid was treated in the normal hospital, so they were probably waiting there. One by one Steve took the kids with only small scratches and bumps to the room with the parents and let them go home. No need to keep the any longer. Then he called the names of the kids that were in the waiting room to be treated for small things. The parents could join their kids and hold their hands.

There weren’t that many people left and those would be the hardest to deal with. Steve took them all aside to talk about the situation of their kids. The ones with the broken limbs or concussions weren’t that hard yet, but these were also the parents of the kids that had been in the exact place where the truck had hit the bus. Some were in surgery, so he couldn’t tell them much, but he brought them to a different waiting room where they could sit and wait until the surgeons were done.

The worst things was to talk to the parents of the kid that had died. It had been a miracle only one kid had died. There could be more, kids that wouldn’t survive even with surgery, but that wasn’t something that would make the parents feel any better. The woman had hit Steve’s chest with her fists after he told her and screamed it wasn’t true. Her husband grabbed her hands, but there was nothing he could say to calm her down.

Steve offered them to bring them to their son. He woman didn’t stop crying, but she did follow Steve to the room where her son was. The nurse didn’t stay. He left as quickly as he could and went back to the waiting hall. He looked around and decided who the first kid was that he should help. He tried to help them as quickly and efficiently as possible without hurting them too much. He made appointments with some of them who would have to come back for a check-up.

When he was finally done with the last kid, he wanted to go to the changing room, but one of his colleagues approached him and told him one of the kids in surgery had survived an another had died. The truck driver hadn’t survived either. They weren’t done with the others kids yet and one of the teachers was in a critical situation too. Steve thanked his colleague and said he was going to head home.

‘You were of the day shift?!’ the other nurse asked shocked. ‘It’s almost 1am! Hurry up and go home. Everyone else of the day shift has gone home already.’

Steve smiled and nodded. He was really tired. He turned around to get changed and that is when he noticed Tony. The man was standing in the middle of the waiting room and was looking at him. For a few seconds Steve didn’t move. Then he started crying and ran towards his lover. He buried his face in Tony’s neck and sobbed. The billionaire wrapped his arms around him and rubbed his back.

‘I saw your soldier shining through.’

~

Tony lazily yawned and stretched his body. He accidently hit Steve’s shoulder in the process. He had completely forgotten the blond man was in his bed as well. The punch had woke him up and Tony felt a little guilty. Until he checked the clock. It was 11.30.

‘Something wrong?’ Steve mumbled, voice still thick with sleep. He opened his eyes a little, but closed them again when the light was too strong.

‘No,’ answered Tony and he wrapped his arms around the big man and snuggled against him. He felt how those big arms wrapped around his as well. ‘Forgot you were here until I hit you. Sorry.’

‘S fine,’ Steve answered. Suddenly his eyes opened widely. ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t text you yesterday! I was planning too, but I had so many things to do and..’

Before he could say any more stupid things Tony kissed him. ‘I know you had some other things on your mind. I was pissed, but then I saw on the news what had happened. I knew you would be busy. Your work is important. Not only for you, but for a lot of other people as well. I won’t complain about you being busy anymore.’

‘I’ll stop being Captain America,’ said the nurse.

‘What?! Why? Captain America is important to you!’

‘You are more important to me Tony,’ answered Steve. ‘I will only stop on Saturdays. I want to have at least my weekends off, so we can spend more time together. I will still have weekend shifts, but I will have days off during the week then. When you were there to pick me up yesterday I was so happy that I understood that you were more important to me than entertaining the kids. I want to spend more time with you.’

‘Oh wow,’ said the billionaire a bit surprised. ‘Thank you. I was going to say that I would get used to you being busy, but this is better. If you really want it that is. I told you you were worth waiting for and I still think like that.’

‘No, I already decided,’ smiled Steve. ‘Thank you for picking me up yesterday.’

‘I wanted to see you,’ murmured Tony. ‘I don’t really know why, I knew you would be busy, but I had to. I wasn’t allowed in, of course, but I sneaked in through the normal hospital. I’ve been there for a little over an hour and you were working so hard. The way you talked to those kids and helped them and their parents, it reminded me of how kind you were when I came into the hospital. You’re really good with kids. Oh shit….you want kids, don’t you?’

Steve laughed. ‘If possible, yes.’

‘Oh God, marriage and kids! How did I ever end up with a guy like you?!’ cried Tony. ‘And I don’t even feel like kicking you out of bed! You’re turning me into some family man! Before I know it I will drive a Volvo to stand next to a soccer field for hours.’

‘You even paid half a million dollar to keep me around! Do you regret it?’ grinned Steve.

‘Not at all,’ answered Tony and he kissed Steve’s lips. ‘Not at all.’