Race With a Heart
Chapter 176: The Most Beautiful Scenery Martin Has Ever Seen

Chapter 176: The Most Beautiful Scenery Martin Has Ever Seen

When he was a child, Jack thought every mother acted as weird as his own. In time, he realized that this was not the case at all and that his mother had mental problems. Her instability could prove to be dangerous, and Jack painfully discovered that he, in the orphanage, might have a better life than his younger brother, whom he had last seen when his mother led him by the hand out of the house. With an emotionally unstable mother, Paul could be...

Luckily, Paul found people who loved him and gave him a good life. Jack was so grateful to them that he could kiss them. Thanks to them, this tiny boy grew into the handsome man Lambert had seen twice. Paul Denning really was beautiful. Even Kevin had told him about this new colleague before, though Jack hadn’t been listening very carefully at the time. But now he wanted to know everything about the man who was Paul Denning.

"Tell me everything you know about him," Lambert asked enthusiastically, wiping his wet eyes. "I want to know everything!"

"Don’t you want to learn everything from him?"

"I want to, but ... I don’t want to wait. I want to see him now, but ... "

Emotions began to take control of him. He was so happy he was almost ecstatic. He was so afraid that he almost trembled. Relief that Paul is alive. Regret that he has been abandoned by his mother. Uncertainty about how they will react when they stand face to face. There were too many of these emotions and they were so extreme that Lambert was not able to embrace them all. With tears in his eyes - he couldn’t stop them - and with a broad smile on his lips, Jack repeated:

"Please, I want to know everything about him!"

***

After two hours of driving, Steve pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car. It was autumn, so the sun was slowly setting below the horizon, pouring orange-red light on the sky. Almost the entire sky was flooded with this golden-fiery glow.

Steve got out of the car and leaned against its door and the roof looked west. Martin also got out of the car to stretch his bones.

"Beautiful," said Steve in a slightly dreamy voice, making Martin’s heart leap with excitement.

Yes, the sunset was undoubtedly beautiful, but the handsome man leaning against the sports car against the sunset was even more beautiful, especially since it was his beloved man. Martin never thought of himself as a romantic, but at this point he had to admit that the view was extremely romantic and he liked it very much.

Once again, perhaps the thousandth in his life, Martin couldn’t believe that this wonderful man, Steve Paxton, had agreed to let him into his life. Every minute spent in his company was like the most beautiful fairy tale for Martin.

They stood there for a few moments. Steve watched the sun fade below the horizon and its glow slowly faded to a more muted hue, Martin watched Steve watch the sunset. Both men were charmed by the scenery they had before their eyes. The sight was so captivatingly beautiful that Martin dreamed that the moment would never end, that it would last forever.

And it will last forever, the boy realized. The moment will be engraved on him as deeply as the moment when Steve stood with his back to the side of the building smoking a cigarette. The scenery was quite different, the time of day was different, and even the expression on Paxton’s face - then glum and absent, now romantically dreamy - was different, but the beauty that emanated from this wonderful man had exactly the same power.

Martin smiled happily to see this beautiful scenery. His heart was full of joy and love for this wonderful man.

"Have you rested yet?" Paxton asked suddenly, awakening him from the delightful world of fantasy and turned to face Martin. "Can you drive it?"

"Of course," assured the boy immediately returning to reality. This beautiful scenery is already imprinted on his eyes and memory. A bit of anxiety popped back into reality. "You are tired?"

"A little," Steve admitted. "I think I’ve gotten too lazy these last few days."

"Just a little," admitted Martin, smiling as he headed for the driver’s seat. His heart ached with concern, but he wouldn’t show it. If Steve knew Martin was worried about him, he would shut out from him. Their agreement that Paxton would give him signs if he felt worse could be lost. "Doctors still forbid you to work harder and recommend a lot of rest."

"That’s why I don’t argue and report it politely when I’m tired," Paxton announced as he took the passenger seat. "Happy?"

"Very," admitted Martin.

They both knew that the accident on the track, where Steve found himself tumbling at high speed and then overturning, was a tremendous trauma to his body. Before his body regained its balance, Steve was badly beaten and stabbed, causing more injuries. His athletic body, with only muscle nodes under the skin instead of fat, was strong, but every human’s internal organs are just as sensitive, regardless of the amount of muscle under the skin. Paxton had no major internal injuries, but his body still needed regeneration.

Probably if Steve were the protagonist of a movie, he would have got out of bed immediately after the surgery and started racing again, but the reality, although much boring, was more concerned with human health than the movie. The doctor told Paxton to spare himself. He should avoid situations where, by neglecting the recovery, complications may arise. Maybe they won’t show up now, maybe in a few years, but Steve was not a hero who stays on screen for two hours and then disappears. He should live for at least fifty more years.

Such caution to the young man might have seemed exaggerated and definitely unnecessary, but knowing that he was worried a loved one was already serious. Steve Paxton, tough and unyielding in life and on the track, in the face of Martin’s worried expression, completely softened and agreed to be an exemplary patient and not only to follow all the recommendations, but also to report any inconvenience he felt.

Martin was delighted that Steve had agreed to share his pain with him. He knew, of course, that Paxton would not tell him everything, that he would hide if something really serious happened, but the boy was sure he would learn to recognize if something bad happened to his man. Reading in a loved one was one of the privileges of true love.

Martin took the driver’s seat and, after adjusting the seat and mirrors to his height, set off. As he was on the long straight, he glanced at Paxton, who had adjusted the passenger seat to him, and now, looking dreamy and sleepy, he sat comfortably in it and watched Martin. The boy felt strange under that warm, soft gaze so unusual for Steve.

"You haven’t told me yet why we’re going on this trip," Martin remarked.

"I was a bit annoyed about Don today, and Karl decided I should get out of range of the stables and rest."

"Don did something again?"

"No." Steve curled his lips. "It is his mere presence that irritates me. I thought I was above that, but I guess I’m not."

"Are you kidding?" Martin was indignant. "After what he did to you, you treat him with such understanding as if you were the Christ or the Buddha."

Paxton laughed.

"I guess everyone would understand if I broke his jaw or his nose," he added, still smiling.

"Everyone would understand if you broke both! I understand Karl wanted you out of the stable, but why me too? "

"You do not know?"

"No," Martin admitted, wondering if there was anything he didn’t know or remembered.

"Nothing comes to mind?"

"Nothing," Martin started to blush, ashamed of being so backward.

Paxton laughed but didn’t answer. He looked relaxed and sleepy. His lazy eyes stared at the space outlined in front of the car’s windshield.

"Steve!"

"Because without you, I wouldn’t go anywhere," Paxton finally confessed urgently and looked at Martin again, the black depth in his eyes was absorbing even more this time. In the depths that pulled Martin in like black holes, however, there were beautiful, charming stars. "Have you forgotten that you are my light, my sun, my day?"

Martin swallowed hard. He had to focus on the road! He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by those beautiful, mesmerizing eyes!

Steve’s depth of eyes was captivating and disturbing. For Martin, it was no longer purely sexual anxiety caused by the craving of the flesh. The boy already knew his partner well enough to sense that something was wrong. This black, cavernous depth, even if star-rich, shouldn’t come up in a situation like this. Unless Don Alston’s cruel conduct had had more of an impact on Paxton than he realized.