Page 19 of Heart of a Hero

Forrest cupped Conrad’s cheeks. “You just do what you like. It not only tells me about you, but I’m sure there is nothing you could do that isn’t going to make me happy. I’m pretty versatile.”

Conrad stopped all movement. “You mean… you’d let me…?” His record seemed to have skipped for a few seconds.

Chapter 9

THAT REVELATION was more than a little shocking. Conrad had dated guys before, and most of them wanted to be the one doing the driving, so to speak. “You don’t mind being the one…?”

“Doing the catching?” Forrest asked. “You know, we all like different things, and some of us are tops and others are bottoms. But some of us are both, and I think we should all worry more about making our partner happy. So stop worrying about all that and just be happy.”

Conrad threw himself into that. Forrest was huge, and yet he was gentle, though strong. It was plain to him that Forrest could easily take over what happened between them, but he didn’t. He took his time and seemed to know exactly how to stoke Conrad’s desire until he could hardly breathe. And when Forrest hugged him close, their kisses turned magical and lovemaking lasted for hours until they both fell asleep in a heap with blankets strewn all over the bed.

It wasn’t until Conrad woke feeling cold that he managed to straighten the covers and they fell back to sleep. He woke again with a start a bit later, the house otherwise quiet and Forrest sound asleep next to him.

“What is it?” Forrest asked.

“Lizzie,” Conrad said.

“She’s at your mother’s, remember?” Forrest told him. “I don’t know what time you expect her home, but it’s not that late.”

“Yeah.” Conrad’s head cleared, and he remembered what was happening. “Mom will give her breakfast and take her to Sunday school. So we don’t need to worry about anything until after noon.” He sat up, and Forrest held him around the waist. “I can get up and make us some breakfast.”

“Or we can stay here in bed.”

Conrad laughed. “Dude. Your stomach is already protesting.” As if to accentuate the point, Forrest’s belly voiced its emptiness. “Come on. Let’s get dressed, and we can make something to eat. Then maybe we can see what we can find on Lester.”

“Good idea. It’s time we figure out a way to get that guy off your back.”

Conrad pulled on a pair of light sweatpants and a T-shirt before heading to the kitchen. He left Forrest alone to dress and started breakfast.

Forrest joined him a few minutes later in just a pair of pants. He slipped his arms around Conrad and nuzzled the back of his neck. Conrad stopped what he was doing and just went with the moment. It was wonderful to have the time to just be together. He didn’t want to worry about deadlines or accounting stuff, and Forrest didn’t need to worry about kids or classrooms. It was just them.

“I need to get cooking.”

“I thought we already were,” Forrest murmured. Conrad turned and forgot about pans and cooking as Forrest pulled him against his chest, held him in his strong arms, and kissed him into near-complete oblivion.

“You have this thing with getting me going in the kitchen, don’t you?” Conrad asked.

“Sure. But we could move to the living room. You know, christen every room in the house,” he whispered as footsteps sounded outside. Forrest stilled, and Conrad straightened his shirt and hurried to the door.

“Mom is here with Lizzie,” he told Forrest, who hurried out of the room. He opened the door to his mom holding Lizzie’s hand.

“What’s going on?”

“She woke up with a fever this morning and hasn’t been feeling good, so I thought I’d bring her home,” Mom said seriously. Lizzie came in, sniffling, and Mom sat at the table. “No coffee?”

He cleared his throat. “I haven’t had a chance yet.” Movement in the other room told her that he wasn’t alone.

“I see. You used the time to move things along. You should have said something. Lizzie could have stayed at my house. She just asked to come home, and since she was sick….”

“It’s okay. Of course she should come home.” He lowered his voice. “Forrest and I slept in a little.” He patted Mom’s shoulder and then went into the living room, where he got Lizzie settled under a blanket and promised her some juice to drink.

Forrest came out fully dressed and managed to stay out of Lizzie’s line of sight. “I should probably go.”

Mom shrugged.

“I’m sorry,” Conrad said.

“No. It’s best we keep this from her if we can.” Forrest kissed Conrad and went out the back door. Conrad put on coffee and sat with his mom at the table.