“How about we make this fun and concentrate less on all these ugly bruises and scars. I know something you never can say no to. Truth or dare,” he suggested with a flirty wink.

Logan let his eyes run down over him, one of his eyebrows winging up. “Hardly fair considering I’d be the one doing all the dares.”

“Not necessarily,” Tate disagreed. “Who said a dare has to be something you do. It could be something said, something promised in the future… You’re smart. You get the idea.”

Logan’s full lips came together as he mulled it over. Then the usual spark that filled his eyes was back. “Okay, I’m game.”

“I’m glad. I would’ve been disappointed if you’d said no.”

“How disappointed?”

“You’ll never know. But since I thought of this, it’s only fair that I go first.”

Logan scoffed at his deductive reasoning, but then he raised his hand and crooked his fingers in a gesture that screamed, Bring it.

“Truth or dare?” Tate asked.

Of course, the first choice out of Logan’s mouth was, “Dare.”

Tate wondered what Logan thought he would ask. Probably something outrageous, maybe something sexual. “I dare you to stop thinking about how I looked weeks ago and start looking at me standing here and now.”

Well, okay, then, Logan thought as Tate’s words penetrated his brain. Not what I expected. “And how am I looking at you?”

“Like I’m still hooked up to—”

“Two breathing machines, a heart monitor, and around ten different IVs?” As Logan relayed the picture that would forever be imprinted in his mind, he took a step closer to Tate so their bare toes were touching.

“Yes,” Tate said. “Exactly like that.”

Logan reached for the buckle of the strap holding Tate’s shoulder brace secure. After he gently unfastened it and slipped it from his arm, he placed it on the sink beside him and then fingered the red shirt Tate was wearing. “I don’t know that I can do that.”

Tate’s hand covered his as he started to undo the top button. “I dare you to try.”

Logan’s lips curved at Tate’s choice of words. “Talk about coming full circle.”

“Mhmm. Come to think of it, I seem to remember a time in your bathroom just like this.”

“Ahh, yes,” Logan said with a sigh, slipping the first two buttons free. “But I was a lot more naked, and you were a lot more nervous.”

“That’s because I wasn’t sure about you.”

“And now?” he asked, and when he stopped what he was doing and waited for his answer, Tate looked surprised.

“Truth?”

Logan tugged on his shirt and gave a mock glare. “Of course. That’s the game, isn’t it?”

When Tate captured his lips, Logan’s automatically parted. The feel and taste of Tate made him moan softly as Tate traced his tongue along his lower lip.

He said, “I’ve never been more sure of another person in all my life.”

Logan’s hands clutched Tate’s shirt as he whispered his name reverently, and while they stood there in silence, the understanding of just how much they meant to one another was solidified.

“It’s your turn,” Tate said against his lips, finally breaking the connection.

Logan walked around behind him and helped him remove his shirt, and when he dropped it on the counter, he said in Tate’s ear, “Dare.”

Tate glanced back at him and gave that pearly grin he’d fallen for. “I dare you to get in the bath with me and smell like a lavender field for the next twenty-four hours.”

Logan laughed at that, looking down at the tub before returning his gaze to Tate’s. “I don’t know. Do you think you can behave yourself?”

“Me?” Tate asked like he thought the question was absurd.

“Yes, you,” he stressed, enjoying Tate’s incredulity. He came around in front of him to undo the button of Tate’s jeans, and as he slid the zipper down, he continued to talk. “The doctor said there was to be no…” When his words trailed off, Tate the tease came out to play.

“No?”

Logan narrowed his eyes on him and ended with, “No strenuous activity until you pass all the tests at your follow-up appointment and all the boxes are ticked.”

The amusement stamped over Tate’s face had Logan wondering how he’d managed to turn the tables on him. No one ever got the better of him—well, no one except for Tate.

Rolling his shoulders, Logan heard himself asking in a much more irked voice than he’d intended, “Is something amusing you?”

Tate clamped his lips shut and shook his head. “Nope. You going to take my pants off now, or do you think I should keep them on so I’m not tempted to do anything…strenuous?”

Logan slipped his fingers inside the waist of Tate’s jeans. Then he mumbled, “Sure, laugh it up,” as he crouched down, taking the denim and boxers with him.

When he was at Tate’s feet, he sized up his naked body and was more than satisfied with the healing progress he was making. The horrendous bruising that had discolored Tate’s ribs was starting to fade, and the incision where the tube had been was almost healed.

As he let his eyes continue up to the ones staring down at him, Logan tapped Tate’s ankle. “Lift.”

Tate lifted, and as Logan pulled the pants away and repeated the move with the other, he asked him, “Truth or dare?”

As he stood and faced Tate, who was now completely naked, he shocked him by saying, “Dare.”

Tate didn’t take his eyes off Logan as he continued to carefully study him. When Logan looked up at him from his feet and his eyes zeroed in on his bruises, he wondered what he was thinking. Would he ever see him the way he used to? Enter my stupid decision of a dare.

Really, when it came to Logan he should’ve known better. The guy would always find a way to come out ahead of the game, and of course, he managed to pick the most difficult of things—even when on the surface, it appeared to be the easiest.

“I dare you to keep your eyes open, and on my face, when I take off all my clothes.”

That arrogant ass, Tate thought as he looked over Logan.

Considering that this was the first time they’d been truly alone for close to two months, that particular request seemed like the most impossible thing Logan could’ve asked.

But Tate was determined. He was the one who’d started this, and he’d be damned if he cracked first. “Easy.”

“So confident,” Logan said as he reached down and drew his shirt over his head.

Tate swallowed and watched him toss it on the counter.

“Should I tell you what I’m doing?” Logan asked, lowering his eyes over him. “Oh, would you look at that. I don’t think you need me to tell you. You’re imagining it all on your own.”

Tate shut his eyes, but Logan was quick to say, “Uh ah, no cheating. Eyes open, Tate.”

“Fuck you.”

Logan removed his boxers and jeans, and when he was standing back up, he took a step toward him and grinned. “That is exactly the kind of strenuous activity I was referring to. See? You are the one who needs to behave himself.”

Tate grit his teeth as he continued to look Logan in the eye. This close, he could see the dark flecks of blue around his pupils. He really did have the most amazing eyes Tate had ever seen.

“I did it,” he answered stubbornly.

“Yes, you did. So I believe it’s your turn.”

Tate let his eyes rove all over Logan, soaking in the sight before him. He was fucking beautiful, and Tate wanted to touch him. But the game was not over yet, so he asked, “Truth or dare?”

And quick as a flash, Logan answered, “Truth.”

“Will you ever see me the way you did before?”

Tate held his breath as Logan’s eyes darkened. He hadn’t realized how important this question was to him. But ever since he’d woken up, Logan had acted…perfect. He’d handled him with the utmost care, and as he raised his hands to cup his cheeks, Tate discovered he was scared. Scared that Logan would forever see him as damaged.