AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Maybe.”
As we tucked the sheets under the mattress, Daniel said, “Kerri told me she unpacked some stuff when she was here with Milky Way. Not just the linens, but the dishes too.”
We went into the kitchen, and while Daniel investigated what Kerri had put where, I called in an order for pizza delivery. Then I touched base with my parents, letting them know where I was for the night.
“The spices should go in the spice drawer,” Daniel murmured. “But otherwise, she did a great job. I’ll have to pay her extra.”
“You paid her?”
“Of course! She kept Milky Way for me and did some work around here. I wasn’t going to just say thanks.”
I grabbed his arm and turned him around. The bright light in the kitchen highlighted the tan he’d gotten in Florida. “I missed you,” I said, pulling him close into a big hug. “After we eat,” I said, looking up with a sly smile, “Do you want to test out whether the mattress you chose is comfortable or if you’ll need to search for a different one?”
“Testing mattresses with you is something I’m always ready to do.”
When the pizza arrived, we ate it on the sofa, using an unpacked box as a makeshift coffee table, and talked. I told him more about Harold coming over to my house, my classes, and how Minty seemed to be doing. And he told me about his brother, sister, and grandparents, and about his mom.
“She’s better, but then she always is when she’s right out of rehab.” He chewed a bite of pizza and swallowed. “She’s devoted to sobriety right up until the moment she’s not, and there’s no way to know when that will be, or what will cause it.”
“That sucks,” I said, never knowing for sure how to respond to his problems. They were all so serious and long-standing.
“It does. Especially for the kids. They’ve got their hopes up that she’s going to be all right. She’s told them they’re going to get a house together and be a normal family again.” He groaned.
“Shit.”
“Yeah. At least they’re liking their schools now. Paul’s even on the chess team and doing well with it. Kennedy’s made friends. My grandparents…” He sighed. “They’re tired, you know? They raised their son already and thought they were finished with all that. I was afraid they’d ask me to move down and help out, but they told me not to, actually. They said I needed to get away from the dysfunction.” His voice grew thick. “I almost cried.”
I squeezed his thigh. “I bet.”
“They get it, they really do, and I’m glad to have them, but sometimes I still get so angry with her, you know? The way we’ve all had to make our lives fit around her sickness. But I’m working on accepting that she can’t help it, that it’s not by design. My dad was good at that. He loved her so much.”
“He must have seen through to the real her,” I offered, not sure it was the right thing to say, but going with it.
“He forgave her for a lot. He wasn’t always a good father or even a good man, but he was truly in love with my mother. When it came to her—and her alone—he had a loving, generous heart. I don’t know if my heart is that open.”
I put my pizza down, and crawled over to him, straddling him on the sofa. I put my hand over his heart, feeling its steady beats. “You’re incredibly generous and loving. You’re forgiving. I see it all the time.”
Daniel clutched my back and leaned forward, dipping me a bit, to put his pizza back in the box, and then he wrapped his arms around me, nuzzling my cheek. “I don’t know about that, but I know when it comes to you, I’d forgive just about anything.”
“Would you?” I asked, breathless.
“Mm-hm. I’m whipped for you, Peter Mandel. Wield your power over me carefully.”
“I’m whipped for you, too,” I said, kissing his brows, his cheek, and bending down to press my lips to his.
The heat escalated. After a week and a half apart, and no Saturday sex-a-thons to keep us sated, we were eager for each other within minutes. We’d made the bed, but we didn’t make it past the kitchen counter anyway. Kissing, stumbling, clothes coming off in a heap, Daniel bent me over the counter, ate my asshole until I was shaking, and then flipped me around to suck me off while he jacked his own cock.
The second time was in the shower, and it was slower. Making out until our chins were stinging, and then humping against each other beneath the warm water until we both came with breathless grunts.
The third time was later andmuchlonger. We’d put away the remaining pizza in the refrigerator, thinking that we’d save it for breakfast, since there was nothing else to eat. Then we’d fallen into bed and cuddled up, spooning together while Milky Way got comfortable in her dog bed in the corner. I’d thought we were done for the night, but then Daniel went out to the living room and came back with his overnight bag from Florida.
“Condoms,” he said, pulling one from the link and putting it beneath his pillow since he didn’t have nightstands yet. “Lube.” He put the tube in the same place. “Bought them at the drugstore before leaving.”
“You think we can go again?” I asked, pulling him back into bed, our naked limbs intertwining, and his lips dancing over my neck and down my chest. I hadn’t douched, but Daniel didn’t seem to care.
“Let’s see,” Daniel said, rubbing his face against my chest, all over the minute amounts of chest hair that grew there. He reached down and touched my already-hardening dick. “That’s a good sign.”
I laughed, and he kissed my neck, the heat between us growing, as we moved and touched, licked and nipped, and finally rocked together. I breathed heavily, shaking with lust and effort, as I took him in.
