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

grazed his knuckles across Garrick’s jaw. “Goodbye.” He dropped his hand and jogged across the street to his car.

Garrick couldn’t make himself move. He stood on the sidewalk, locked in place, and watched Devlin drive away.

Something brushed against his arm and Garrick finally realized Grace had joined him. “Do you need to go?” she asked, staring in the direction Devlin had driven away.

Garrick shifted and caught a glimpse of Shawn and Chloe sitting close together on the bottom step, pretending not to watch him. “No.” He understood what Devlin meant. More, he agreed with the man. “I need to stay.”

Shit. Where am I supposed to begin?

“I promised the kids ice cream.” Garrick’s chest pained him, more than he would have thought with just one short month knowing these people, but he got it said. “When we get back, we have to talk.”

Chapter Seven

Twenty minutes later, Devlin’s hands still shook as he pulled his car into the designated slot in front of his apartment building.

I can’t believe I found him--not only in Redemption a few days ago--but where he lives now, and then I just drove away.

Devlin hadn’t thought there could be anything that would make him walk away from Garrick without a bloody, drag-out fight, but he hadn’t counted on two kids who maybe needed a father more than Devlin needed a lover.

Garrick. I started thinking of him as that person today.

For a little while, Devlin had even slipped seamlessly into the role of playing house with the man. He’d completely blocked out of his mind--until Grace Fine had shown up on her own porch looking so beautiful, happy, and well-loved--that there was a mother attached to those kids. To Garrick, it seemed, too.

Not that Devlin thought Garrick was sleeping with the woman. If he were, Devlin figured the kiss Grace had given Garrick would have been more intimate than the one she’d pecked on his cheek. That didn’t mean they didn’t have a relationship of some importance and intimacy, though; they clearly did. That woman so obviously trusted Garrick; she liked him, she respected him, and Devlin could tell it went both ways.

Devlin couldn’t categorically say Garrick would never have sex with a woman, or even if he chose to do so that he wouldn’t enjoy it. Devlin could only say that the person he’d known in San Francisco had a wild passion for other men and a sexual appetite for his own sex that Devlin could certainly attest to firsthand. Conversely, the man Devlin had corresponded with toward the end of their e-mail and phone relationship had not only hinted at women, but then in that final goodbye had out-and-out stated he’d been in a long-term relationship with a woman and intended to marry her. Devlin supposed it could be possible that Garrick was bisexual.

No. I would have sensed it. He’s not. He flirted with me. Today. And I think he almost kissed me. He didn’t want me to leave.

Holy Mother of God, up until Grace had come home and their family vibe had knocked the wind right out of him, Devlin hadn’t wanted to leave Garrick or those kids.

Today had been amazing. Devlin could only remember one Saturday in his life being better...

*

...A soft thud followed by a light scraping noise tickled in Devlin’s ears and tried to pull him from sleep. He mumbled and hugged his pillow tighter to his chest as he burrowed deeper under the snuggly protection of the covers and tried to slip back into the most wonderful dream.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” The man in his dreams manifested in real life and spoke from somewhere in Devlin’s room. “Well, almost good afternoon now.”

The sound of that voice, so new yet already recognized by Devlin, spread warmth through his insides and brought forth a secret smile.

Oh, right. I’m not in Redemption. And last night wasn’t just another jerk-off fantasy.

He had a new awareness of his rectum to prove it.

Opening his eyes, Devlin turned his head on the pillow and found Gradyn sitting in one of the two chairs at the table in the far corner of the small room. He was dressed in the jeans and flannel shirt he’d worn yesterday and he had his booted feet kicked up on the table next to a handful of paper and plastic bags. The man looked intimidating as hell with his shaved head and tribal tattoos, yet humor and clear intelligence sparked his green eyes, and he smiled in a way that invited a person closer to taste and feel. Devlin’s body hummed as it slowly came out of its slumber, and he knew he’d never seen a sexier human being in his life.

As Devlin’s staring went on, Gradyn shifted and adjusted himself. “You’re very cute when you’re not quite awake,” he said, his voice a little gruff.

Speak, Morgan. Clear the fog and open your mouth. “Um, thanks.” Feeling his face heat, Devlin stretched his arms and legs toward the top and bottom of the bed, groaning as each muscle slowly woke up. “What time is it?” He scrubbed the sleep out of his eyes and rolled toward the nightstand. “Shit.” The big red eleven and thirty-seven on the digital clock loomed large and bright. “I never sleep past eight.”

“I think today you can be forgiven. You have a good excuse. I’m sure you’re exhausted.” The green in Gradyn’s eyes darkened and his lips thinned to a tight line. “And probably more than a little sore too.”

Even though Gradyn had tasted and touched every centimeter of Devlin’s body so very recently, Devlin experienced a strange sense of shyness right then. “Did you go somewhere?” he asked, and then immediately cursed himself. “I mean, you obviously did.” He eyed the bags on the table. “Where did you go?”

Gradyn pointed toward the top of the bed, and Devlin looked up to find a note folded on the other pillow. He grabbed the tiny square of paper and opened it.

Need a change of clothes. I’ll pick us up some