074a50a5-6717-4074-afd7-3ef0b380f481 out (8 page)

*~*~*

Gresh woke up and rolled over, checking the time. It was five
in the morning. Had he even finished off with Lane? He closed his eyes, trying
to remember if he'd actually come. Lane moved beside him, stretching his arms
over his head.

"Hey, baby. I have a surprise," Lane mumbled beside
him.

"Yeah."

"Mmm. Let me use the bathroom and brush my teeth."

"I like that plan. I'm with you."

They took care of business then settled back in bed, Gresh
wrapping his arms around Lane and holding him close. "What's your
surprise?"

"I made the reservations."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Lane stretched again then snuggled in
close. "I'm so excited. Let me show you." Lane rolled away and
grabbed his laptop. He pushed his pillow back so he could lean against the
headboard. The screen flashed and Gresh smiled when he saw the resort page pull
up.

"Wow—that looks good."

"This is just a small shot of the room. The resort is so
sweet. We'll have our own private bungalow set away from the resort, a place we
can hang out on our own. It'll give you plenty of time to heal."

"I'm good."

Lane glanced away from the computer, his brows rose in
concern. "Gresh, you are doing better, but you still need rest. I love you
so much I want you to heal all the way. You're the most important person in my
life."

Gresh's heart expanded and it felt too big for his chest,
pressing up in his throat and forcing him to gulp in air. Tears burned the back
of his eyes. "Lane, you know me so well."

"We'll have fun, I promise. But we're not going to do a
bunch of running around. This is going to be a great experience, but we are
taking it slow."

Gresh drew in a slow breath, staring at the screen,
excitement bubbling. "So when do we leave?"

"Saturday morning."

Perfect!
"That gives us time to get ready."

Lane nodded then sat up, piercing Gresh with his gaze. "I
need you to go to the doctor's office before we leave. I just want you to be
checked out."

"Don't worry, I will."

"I'm gonna get up and get ready for the guests today."

Gresh moved to stand up. "I'll help you."

Lane placed his hand on Gresh's chest. "Not today. I
want you to rest. Later, once you've had some more sleep and spent some time relaxing,
you can come help."

"God, I feel so weak and useless." Gresh pulled the
pillow over his head and groaned.

"I know. But I promise you I'll let you play with the
guests tonight."

Gresh tossed his pillow at Lane and laughed. "Fine. I'll
be a good boy and stay in bed. But I'm going to have fun later this
evening."

Lane leaned down and kissed him. He ran his fingers down
Gresh's stomach to his hip. He loved the fire in his lover's eyes. Lane really
cared for him and that more than anything made him happy. He was looking
forward to their vacation and some alone time with Gresh.

*~*~*

Jamie sat in the passenger seat as Kip drove him to the
doctor's office. He felt better, but Kip had insisted he go in and the doctor
had told him he needed to be seen again. "I wish I could stay with you,
but I need to check on the order at the feed store. I'll be back as soon as I'm
done."

"I'm fine. Really, Kip, I need to do this on my own. I'm
a man, not a child. I know this guy beat me up and it pissed me off, but I
can't hide for the rest of my life. I need to be proud of myself. I need to be
able to go out into public and not be afraid of everything that moves."

Kip nodded. "I'm terrified and I don't like it."

"I don't either. You know, it scares me what happened,
but neither one of us needs to live afraid."

"I'll drop you off and I won't complain, but know that I
don't like it." Kip shook his head, "I understand your need to be
independent. Hell, I'd feel the same way, but I think you'll agree that if the
situation was different, if I'd been beaten, you would have a hard time
dropping me."

"Guaranteed. I'd be acting like an ass, trying to make
sure you weren't alone."

Kip laughed as he pulled into the hospital's parking lot.
Jamie was glad that the bastard who'd attacked him was still in jail. Kip
reached across the seat and squeezed Jamie's hand. "As soon as I'm done,
I'm coming back."

"Thank you. I feel better knowing you'll be here when
I'm done." Jamie hopped out of the truck and headed to the door. He waved
before stepping into the hospital, a sliver of fear traced through him. The
doctor was located on the third floor of the office wing. Jamie was a few
minutes early so he decided to take the stairs. On the way over to the
stairwell Jamie ran into Liz, one of the girls he'd slept with a time or two.
She turned around and after seeing her face he looked down, surprised to see a
huge swelling where her normally flat belly used to be.

"Liz, you're pregnant."

She smiled up at him and smirked. "I am—shit, I thought
I'd eaten a watermelon."

"Funny as ever. So—gosh, I have no idea what to say. It's
exciting."

Her face fell and desperation shone in her eyes. "No, no
it isn't. I don't know what the hell I'm going to do."

Her face turned red and tears started to fall. Jamie panicked
then wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back, squeezing tight, her
belly poking against his stomach. He wished she wouldn’t squeeze so much
because his body still felt like someone had used him for a punching bag, his
sore muscles screaming at him. Liz cried for a bit then straightened up, wiping
her eyes.

"Sorry, you don't need my problems. What the hell
happened to you?"

Jamie tried to smile but his face still hurt too much. "Some
guy mistook my face for—"

"Oh shit," Liz grabbed Jamie's arm and her eyes
went wide. He feared she was going into labor and the need to flee struck him.
He could deliver horses, cows, and dogs but a woman in labor scared the crap
out of him. Even if he weren't gay, he'd never find himself in a delivery room.
"Fuck, that was you?" Liz squeaked.

"I'm sorry, what are you talking about?"

"You, you're gay right?"

Jamie looked around uncomfortably, fear pumping through his
body. "I—um."

"No one cares. Well that one jerk did, but really,
everyone down at church was saying good things about you."

Jamie took a step back, surprised that the church crowd was
talking about him. "Really?"

"Yeah, a few girls are upset, but that's only because
you won't be marrying them."

Jamie breathed out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, the guy beat
me up because I'm gay."

"I'm sorry. So why are you here?"

"Appointment,"—Jamie checked his watch—"in
like two minutes."

"Oh, you probably need to go."

Jamie nodded and started to turn away when he stopped and
glanced back at Liz, she looked like she wanted to say something. "Hey,
would you like to have lunch tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I would. I need someone to talk to."

"So are you here for an appointment?" Jamie asked.

Liz shook her head, "I need to find a doctor, but I
don't even know where to start."

Jamie gave Liz another hug, squeezing her tightly before
heading up the stairs. Two years ago and that would have been his kid. Well,
not really because he always played safe—hell, he hoped the daddy was in the
picture.

The doctor's visit went well. Jamie had a couple of sore
ribs, but the doctor believed that he had no broken bones based on the reduced
swelling and how Jamie was able to move.

"I really want you to watch those ribs. The bruising is
less and you're not acting like they are cracked. Just be careful." Doctor
Nance checked his chart and breathed in deeply.

"I will," Jamie said. The doctor looked
uncomfortable and Jamie wondered what was up.

"You need to be careful around town too." Nance's
face turned a bit red.

Anger pulsed through him. "I'm sorry, what do you
mean?"

Doctor Nance blew out a huge breath, shaking his head.
"I haven't heard anything negative, but I worry."

"Are you saying this because I'm gay?"

The doctor met his gaze, frown lines were etched deep on his
forehead. "Yeah. I hate having to say anything."

"We were being careful. I shouldn't have to change my
behavior for something stupid like this."

"God, it came out wrong. I almost didn't say anything.
You see, my cousin is a lesbian. She lives in Florida. Some guy attacked her
girlfriend last year. It pisses me off so much to see guys and girls getting
attacked because of this. I'm just worried and the other night when you came
into the ER I was so sad. I probably shouldn't have said anything, but I can't
ignore the issue. You should be safe and if I were around I would want you and
your boyfriend to hold hands and kiss just like I would be doing with my
wife."

"Oh." Jamie bit his lower lip. "I
assumed."

"Just be careful. I would hate for you to be a casualty.
Things are changing, but not everyone is up with the times."

Jamie nodded, "I will be. From what my brother said,
this guy is from out of town."

"That's good to hear. I know the people around here are
supportive. Well, some of them are. Just promise me you and your boyfriend will
be aware of your surroundings."

"We will. We're getting married."

Doctor Nance smiled and clasped the clipboard to his chest.
"I'm glad to hear that. Congratulations."

After the doctor left the room, telling him he should call if
anything changed, Jamie got dressed and left the office, meeting Kip outside
the door. "Hey babe, how did it go?" Kip kissed his cheek and Jamie
leaned in, sniffing deep.

"It went well. I love you."

"You're the best. Let's go home."

Kip held his hand on the way to the elevator. The doors
opened and Jamie saw two other people in the car and he tried to pull his hand
away from Kip's but Kip wasn't letting go. All the way out to the car Kip held
his hand. Jamie's heart was racing but he felt comforted by Kip's touch. Kip
opened the door for him and helped Jamie into the vehicle.

When Kip got in the truck Jamie turned to stare at him.
"What was that about?"

"I'm not letting some idiot stop me from showing you how
much I care. On my way to the feed store I realized I love you too much to hide
that love. If you were a girl, I'd be touching you all the time. I'm not going
to pretend to just be friends all the time. No, I'm not going to hump you in
public, but I want to hold your hand sometimes."

"Damn, that's what I was hoping for."

Kip smiled the rolled his eyes. "All you want me for is
sex." Kip sighed loudly and pouted.

"I'll suck your cock when we get home."

"That's an excellent offer, but doesn't your face hurt
too much? Maybe I should suck you?"

Jamie settled in his seat, resting his head against the rest.
"It's a deal. Your lips, my dick." He closed his eyes and drifted a
bit, not really sleeping just dozing in and out as they drove home.

Chapter Eight

Connor had fallen asleep on the couch and Mike didn't want to
wake him. He'd been sober for five days. It had been tough and they'd argued a
few times, but he was so proud of Connor. He only had a week and a bit more
left on his vacation. He didn't want to leave Connor but he would have to go
back to work.

Mike watched Connor's lips move as he started to wake. They
hadn’t kissed since the one the day after he arrived. He brushed his fingers
over his lips, thinking about tilting his head back and allowing Connor to direct
the kiss. He wanted that again.

Connor opened his eyes and Mike put his hand on Connor's
chest. Neither of them said anything as he slowly let his hand trail down
Connor's body to his hip. The air thickened around them. The situation was
getting intense and Mike didn't know how them getting together would affect
Connor. He pulled his hand away and stood up.

"How about we get some pizza and a movie?"

"Was I out for long?" Connor asked as he scrubbed
at his face.

"About an hour." Mike resisted the urge to touch
Connor. He wanted his friend to feel comfortable with him. Constantly skanking
on the guy seemed wrong.

"You ever going to really touch me again?"

Mike's gaze shot to Connor, his breath caught in his chest.
"I don't think we should."

"Why not?"

"Fuck Connor, I want you so bad, but I don't want to
mess you up."

Connor stood, his long legs drawing Mike's gaze. His eyes traveled
up Connor's body, noting the bulge in the front of his pants. The desire to see
Connor naked again was strong. But he wouldn't fuck up his friend.

"I really like you. Messing around right now seems
wrong. I want you feeling good about yourself first."

"You know, you being nice like this really sucks."

"Yeah, but you might eventually thank me for it."

Connor snorted then headed to the bathroom. "I'm hungry.
You want to order the pizza?"

"Sure."

Mike turned away from Connor and ordered the food, saying
that he'd come into town and pick it up. "Hey, I'm driving in to get
it."

"Thanks. I'm taking a shower."

The thought of Connor in the shower, water beading on his
body, soap suds running over his round ass, his cock hard and waiting to shove
into Mike. "Fuck," Mike cursed as he headed out the door. His dick
only deflated a bit on his drive into town. He picked up the pizza and drove back
to Connor's home. The drive home wasn't any easier as thoughts of Connor naked
and in bed filled his mind. Fuck, he needed to get laid soon, but he didn't
want to sleep around with just anyone. Connor was the only one he wanted.

Connor was fully dressed when he showed up with the pizza.
They both drank sodas—he wouldn't have a beer with Connor needing to stay away
from alcohol, no matter how much he wanted one. Connor started a movie, picking
an action flick and they both settled back on the couch.