Devlin and Garrick by Cameron Dane (short story to read txt) 📕

into his pockets and raised his brows at Garrick as if to say, What do you think?

With brows arched right back, Garrick silently conveyed, Up to you.

“Ms. Fine,” Devlin began. He paused to study Garrick and Shawn, his lips pursed and stare narrowed. He then nodded and came back to Chloe. “What do you think? Would you like to team up with me and whip their butts?”

Chloe glanced from her brother, to Garrick, and finally to Devlin. Abruptly, she grabbed Devlin’s wrist and pulled him a few feet away.

Garrick took a discrete step closer to them and listened in.

“Are you serious about beating their butts?” Chloe asked Devlin. “Lots of times adults let my brother win cuz they’re afraid he’s too little and will cry like a baby if he doesn’t get his way.”

Devlin responded with, “When we were kids, I never let my little sister beat me at anything without a fight. She lived and does just fine today. If we beat your brother and Garrick fair and square, Shawn will live too.”

Garrick glanced over just in time to see Chloe thrust her hand out to Devlin. “Then I’ll be on your team.”

The two of them shook on it, and Shawn yelled, “Come on, come on, come on!” He had his arms outstretched, ball in one hand and bat in the other. “You guys are taking for-ev-er.”

Chloe shouted at her brother to be quiet, then ran over to him and snatched the ball out of his hand. She took her position behind the two-by-four serving as their pitching rubber, and Garrick jogged the rest of the way over to Devlin.

The man Garrick wanted more than anything stood in his yard, willingly spending time with him, and Garrick could hardly contain the knocking in his chest. He felt almost shy, but he also couldn’t keep a smile off his face. “Let me give you the playing field specs. See that white Frisbee in the grass there?” He pointed to his right. “That’s first base.”

Devlin sidled up close and followed the line of Garrick’s arm. “Got it.” As he spoke, his breath rustled against Garrick’s ear.

“Right.” Shit, heat filled Garrick’s cheeks again. Pretending he wasn’t blushing, and that Devlin’s shoulder wasn’t brushing against his arm and driving all of his nerve endings crazy, Garrick shifted and pointed at a silver object partially obscured by the grass. “Now that hubcap straight out, that’s second.”

“Got it.” It seemed liked Devlin pushed his shoulder into Garrick with a bit more pressure. “Where’s third?”

Garrick grinned, giddy as a fucking schoolboy, and explained the rest.

* * * *

In the kitchen, Garrick paused behind Devlin. The man stood at the counter shaping ground beef and pork into balls that he then handed to Shawn who pounded them into hamburger patties. Garrick stood dangerously close to Devlin and tried not to get high on the remnants of sweat left over from their game of baseball clinging to the man’s body and clothes. A few damp tendrils still spiked the edges of hair at his nape, though, and Garrick ached to lick them and taste him, and then to push the collar of Devlin’s shirt aside and bury his face in the curve of that warm, tan skin.

Garrick dipped down; just as he breathed in deeply, maybe even hummed with pleasure, Devlin shifted out of kissing range and shot a pointed look at Garrick from over his shoulder.

Shit. Garrick’s heart almost stopped. Shawn stood on a stool right next to Devlin, and Chloe was spreading mac-n-cheese into a baking pan only half a dozen feet away. That was too close.

Devlin bit his lip and his shoulders shook. “Do you need something, Mr. Langley?” he asked, laughter in his voice. “Shawn and I have this part of our lunch covered, and we’re doing a good job, thank you very much.”

“Damn good!” With his declaration, Shawn slammed his hand down on a defenseless ball of meat.

The crack of sound hurled Garrick the rest of the way back to reality. “No damning anything, buddy.” He tugged the kid’s shaggy hair. “It’s ‘darn good.’ Got it?”

“Got it,” Shawn said, without turning around.

Devlin met Garrick’s gaze. “Seriously, go ahead and relax for five minutes,” Devlin said. He bumped his hip to Garrick’s in a way that made the contact feel like a hand soothing his back. “We have this covered here.”

Feeling restless, Garrick clasped his hands behind his back and strolled over to Chloe. “How about you, Miss?” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the kitchen island. “Do you need any more help?”

Chloe nudged the foil-covered glass cookware in his direction. “If I open the oven, can you put that in? It’s kinda heavy now with all the noodles and cheese.”

The second Garrick touched one finger to the dish, Chloe raced to the oven and whipped open the door.

“You want it to get all bubbly on the top, right?” he asked as he slid the dish onto the top rack. “That’s what we’re going for?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, so to do that I think we need to let it cook for a little bit longer and then remove the foil and switch the oven to broil.” With his hand on the oven controls, Garrick looked to Chloe at his side. “Sound about right to you?”

She sucked her lower lip between her teeth. “I think so.”

“Then that’s it for us for now.” As Garrick double-checked the oven settings one more time, he said to Chloe, “Grab us a couple of juice boxes and let’s go kick our feet up.”

By the time Garrick was satisfied they wouldn’t burn the mac-n-cheese, Chloe already had their drinks and was tucked into the booth table in the corner of the kitchen. Garrick slid in next to her, and she handed him a drink. They both stabbed their straws through the small seal, took a sip, and settled into watching Shawn wrangle condiments out of the fridge as Devlin grabbed a frying pan and asked Shawn to get him some butter