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Tyler took a moment to reply. He was quiet and still. “Yeah,” he said. “My foot’s starting to fade away.” He laughed. He opened his eyes and held the joint out. Holden took it. He felt electricity when their fingers touched and their gazes held for what seemed like minutes. The joint was wet with Tyler’s saliva. Holden savored it as he inhaled. He felt the second hit, a rush that spaced him out all of a sudden and made his inhibitions fly. Christ, he could have just sunk to his knees now and… he glanced over at Tyler, gaze sliding down his body to rest on the bulge in his cargo shorts. Nice, very fucking nice. He tore his eyes away as Tyler’s lashes lifted and focused on the joint. Holden handed it back. Tyler gave him the sweetest of smiles and Holden’s cock started to thicken and ache. Fuck, he wanted Tyler so much. He watched him smoke again and sink back in his seat with the joint burning unheeded between his fingers. He’d never seen anyone get stoned so quickly as Tyler. It was kind of endearing.
When it seemed like Tyler had fallen asleep and the joint might smoke away to itself, Holden snagged it from his fingers and took another drag. Tyler turned his head, lashes fluttering up to watch. There wasn’t much left. He handed it back. Tyler smoked again. Holden retrieved it and looked at the butt. “Blowback?” he asked with his heart beating hard.
Tyler leaned towards him. Holden placed the butt between his teeth and angled his mouth, closing his eyes as he saw Tyler coming. He drew in his breath as Tyler’s lips brushed his. Tyler jerked back. “Sorry man,” he muttered. “Too stoned for that.”
Holden retrieved the joint. His lips were burning and not from having the embers of the joint in his mouth either. Tyler had his eyes shut again. He tilted his face to the sun when it peeped from behind the cloud. Holden sucked on the joint again and felt his bones melting into languor. He studied Tyler. The veteran’s skin was pale, unlined and completely without blemish, with a light dusting of stubble on his jaw. Holden lifted his hand. He hovered it over Tyler’s face for the longest time before he stroked gently with the backs of his fingers, tracing the curve of Tyler’s beautiful cheek with a reverential touch.
Tyler didn’t move, although his lashes fluttered. “Tyler,” Holden said softly, “why don’t I help you home so you can lie down?” He waited, hoping Tyler would contradict the offer because if he wanted to lie down on Holden’s bed, Holden wasn’t going to refuse.
Tyler groped for his crutches. Clumsily, he lurched to his feet and Holden put an arm around his back, nearly shuddering at the solid feel of Tyler’s frame.
“I didn’t tell you I was a lightweight, did I?” Tyler said as he made his way slowly across the yard.
“That’s okay, me too,” said Holden.
They reached the annex and Holden let Tyler go ahead, negotiating the hallway. As soon as he got to the bedroom, he let his crutches go and virtually launched himself onto the bed, falling heavily and sprawling on his back. Holden unlaced his sneaker and pulled it off. Still he hoped, despite Tyler’s obvious incapacity, that he might pull Holden onto the bed now. His gaze roamed Tyler’s body and he felt like the pervert he was. It didn’t stop his cock from getting hard. He stepped back reluctantly, knowing it was time to leave. His gaze fell onto the red album he had glimpsed Tyler looking at through the window. It lay on a bureau by the door. Throwing the motionless Tyler a guilty glance, Holden walked over and lifted the album, opening the front cover.
He was confronted with pages and pages of glassine leaves holding small square and rectangular colorful bits of paper. He stared at them and started to smile. Tyler was a stamp collector.
Chapter Six
Tyler
Tyler woke groggily, tangled in his sheets. His gaze focused on his prosthesis sitting in the corner. He shifted his right leg, then his left. He waited for the ache in his ghost ankle that meant he needed to try to flex then rotate it, even though that wasn’t possible. Waited for the pin pricks, stabbing and burning in his sole. Waited for the ache that turned him inside out and made him want to swipe, claw and punch at thin air.
Nothing.
He gasped, staring at the ceiling. Thinking. He moved the stump again, from side to side. He pushed back the covers to look at the pale, smooth skin. It looked good. His mind drifted to Holden. He wasn’t naïve enough to think that one joint meant his pain was gone for good—gone even for one day—but Jesus Christ, this was the first time it had ever happened. He could have wept with joy. And he did. He let out a sob before he stifled it, because Tyler didn’t cry. Not ever.
He shuffled to the edge of the bed, put his right foot down and hopped across to the window, drawing the curtains. He saw Holden immediately in his kitchen standing at the sink. Tyler froze as their gazes met. Holden smiled. With a warm burst of feeling in his chest, Tyler smiled back. He hopped to his crutches. Holden had brought him back here, hadn’t he? He hoped he hadn’t said any stupid shit to him while under the influence, or worse, been inappropriate. My God, what if I made a pass at him? Thrusting his arms into his crutches, he made it out of the bedroom and across the hall to the bathroom where he peed. Then it was into the kitchen for a long drink of cold water while the coffee brewed.
A knock came at the door. Tyler tensed. He put down his glass and made his way down the hall on his crutches. Holden stood on the other side of the door. Man, he looked good that morning. Really fucking good. He was fresh from the shower, judging by his damp, pushed back hair and he wore a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showing a hint of smooth chest. Tyler wanted to taste. He wanted to slide his tongue over Holden’s Adam’s apple and push it into the notch between his collarbones before moving down between his firm pecs and across to lick at one nipple. Fuck. He wondered what sounds Holden would make as Tyler’s tongue left his nipple glistening and hard.
He swallowed, his cock pushing against his zipper.
Holden smiled. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“How’s it going?”
“All right.”
“Did you sleep okay?” Holden’s smile widened to a grin. He was teasing.
Tyler groaned. “I’m sorry.”
Holden arched a brow. “What for?”
“For you having to put me to bed.”
“It was my pleasure.” Their gazes held and Tyler found himself blushing. “How’s your leg feeling?”
“You’re not going to believe this, but I don’t have any pain this morning.”
Holden gaped at him. “For real?”
“Yeah.”
