“Homework? Football? Girls?”
“Yeah.” Will added softly, “And boys.”
Taylor gave a little shiver, and Willsqueezed him tighter. “See. I knew you’d be cold.”
“Cold? The opposite. Do you think —?”He rocked his hips insinuatingly against Will’s.
“No! I sure as hell don’t. With Grant’s earpressed to the wall?”
After a pause, Taylor said, “I hope you’rekidding.”
“I’m kidding. But we can’t. You knowthat. We’ve got to —”
He floundered, and it was Taylor whodrawled, “Slow their ascent so they don’t get the bends?”
Will laughed, but he couldn’t deny — andprobably hadn’t been able to hide — that instinctive surge ofpanic. Panic at the very idea. He was ashamed of it, but there wasno denying the idea of having sex within earshot of any member ofhis family was more alarming than exciting.
Taylor snorted. “Relax. Your virtue is safewith me.”
Will groaned softly. “It’s only a couple ofdays. If it helps, I’d feel the same if you were a woman.”
“Uh, no, Brandt. Actually, that doesn’thelp. At all.” But Taylor was laughing, and Will began tolaugh too.
After a bit Taylor said, “It wasn’t easy foryou, was it? Growing up here. Small towns, small minds. You had ittougher than I did.”
“It was okay,” Will said, uncomfortable withTaylor’s sudden sympathy. “It was tougher being the son of thelocal sheriff.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Every so often some asshole, usuallyone of the Dooleys, would accuse me of being a narc. You know howkids are.”
“A narc,” Taylor’s tone was derisive.“I bet. But you were the big varsity guy, right? Quarterback ofyour high school football team, then the big college star, then themarines.”
“I did okay,” Will admitted. “It wasprobably tougher for Grant.”
Taylor said unexpectedly, “Probably,yeah.”
Will thought that over, frowning into thedarkness. After a time Taylor turned his face into Will’s shoulderand began to snore softly.
ChapterFour
“You sure you don’twant to come?” Will’s voice murmured warmly against his ear.
Taylor’s eyes popped open.
Will corrected hastily, huskily, “Fishing, Imean.”
Taylor expelled a heavy sigh. He shook hishead, burying his face in his pillow once more. It was still dark.The flannel sheets were soft and warm and smelled pleasantly ofsoap and Will. It felt good, very good, to stretch out after anight of sharing a too small bed.
“I’m fine,” he mumbled.
“I’ll leave you the keys to my Land Cruiserin case you want to drive into town.”
“’Kay.”
“We should be back by lunch.”
Taylor nodded, smothered a yawn in thepillow, and promptly fell back asleep.
The next time he woke, really woke, the sunwas shining brightly and his cell phone, when he focused blearilyon its screen, informed him it was nine thirty. That was sleepingin very late for him. He must have needed the rest. He smotheredanother huge yawn and spent a few moments listening to the birdsoutside and Riley barking somewhere in the distance.
Someone had made coffee. He could smell theencouraging aroma drifting from down the hall, and the thought of ahot cup and something to eat that wouldn’t give him heartburn gothim out of bed. He paused by Will’s desk to check out Will’s highschool yearbooks, smiling faintly at photos of Will withuncharacteristically long hair and a very square jaw the rest ofhis face hadn’t quite grown into. The same old grin though.
Yeah, Will would have been quite aheartbreaker in high school.
Taylor hoped this fishing trip was mendingsome of the frayed feelings between Will and the kid. That had goneabout as well as Taylor had expected. But he felt a little sorryfor Grant. Finding out his idolized big brother was a faggot hadclearly rocked his world on its axis.
Taylor sighed, closed the yearbook, andheaded for the bathroom.
A shower and a shave later, he wandered intothe kitchen to find Cousin Dennis eating eggs and bacon.
“There’s plenty of food in the fridge,”Cousin Dennis told him.
Taylor nodded, pouring himself a cup ofcoffee. Bahrain was eleven hours ahead, which meant it was aftereight at night there. He needed to call Richard before it got anylater. He took his coffee and his phone out onto the long log deckbehind the house.
The air was cool and smelled damp andpine-scented, with just a hint of the ocean on the breeze. Severalyards from the house, he spotted a doe grazing in the meadow. Thatpeaceful scene wouldn’t last long once the dogs spotted her.
He dialed 973 for Bahrain and negotiated hisway through the usual obstacle course of telecommunications, thenhousehold and support staff, until he reached his mother — the veryperson he did not want to speak to right then.
“Taylor, sweetie. Is that you?” He couldhear the instant alarm, the fear that he was the subject of thecall and not the one making it. He mentally resolved to be betterabout phoning.
“Yep, it’s me. Hi, Mom.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, Mom. I just needed tospeak to Richard.”
“Has something happened? You’re not injuredagain?”
“No. I’m fine. I’m great. Really.”
“I was afraid it was Will again.” Will beingthe usual bearer of bad news.
“Nope, it’s me. I was just hoping to talk toRichard, if he’s home this evening.”
“He’s at his club, sweetie. Is it somethingI can help you with?”
“Not really. What time does he usually getback? Do you think he could give me a call?”
“Of course, sweetie. He’d be happy to.”
He gave her the number and, like a fool,mentioned they were staying with Will’s dad.
“Then it’s official?” Her voice shot up withexcitement. “You boys have set a date?” She hadn’t always been thisthrilled with his sexuality. In fact, she had been veryuncomfortable and unhappy when he’d tried to come out in college.But as society and her social circle had adjusted their attitudes,her feelings had changed. Now she seemed to believe having a gayson was a kind of cultural coup.
“Uh…not exactly. I mean, it’s official, yes.But we’re not…we haven’t really made any plans.”
She launched into a spate of unneeded adviceand unwanted opinions, and he remembered why he didn’t call veryoften.
He finally managed to disconnect, heradmonishing to please not get shot again ringing in hisears.
Damn. So nothing was solved and he’d have towait for Richard’s call, assuming Richard didn’t arrive home toodrunk and tired to phone.
He drank his coffee and ruminated. So okay.Next on
