Page 55 of Nugget

Were his mom and dad okay?

What about his grandparents? They were too old to run!

“Leo?” Gavin panted out as he leapt over a big branch.

“Everything’s fine. We just need to get home. It’s late.”

Gavin could smell his brother’s fear.

Fear stank. It was foul and made Gavin’s stomach hurt.

He’d run faster! Gavin could do it! He needed to get to his family. Run! he told his little legs. Run fast!

“Gavin!”

He sat up in bed, clutching his chest, and he panted, trying to catch his breath. Stryker was holding on to his arm with his nails digging into Gavin’s flesh.

“Fuck, man!” Stryker released him to run his hand roughly over his face.

“Are you okay?” Gavin asked.

Stryker dropped his hand to glare at Gavin. “I’m fine. You were the one thrashing in bed.”

The nightmare. Damn it, Gavin had hoped that he’d move past this. “I’m sorry I woke you.” He moved to get out of bed, but Stryker grabbed the wrist he’d braced on the mattress. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll let you get back to sleep.”

“Where are you going to go?” Stryker demanded.

“I just need some air,” Gavin said. He was doing his best not to show how much the dream had affected him.

“Okay.” Stryker rolled out of bed.

“What are you doing?” Gavin knew the nightmare was still messing with him when he just stared stupidly at Stryker.

“Well, Papi, you need air. Let’s go get some.” Stryker bent to grab a pair of shorts off the floor.

“You can go back to sleep,” Gavin offered.

Stryker yanked the shorts over his hips. “Or we can get some air.”

Shaking his head, Gavin climbed off the bed. He wasn’t in a place to argue with the boy.

“Come on,” Stryker coaxed. He grabbed the top blanket from the bed. “I saw a pretty comfortable-looking rocker on your porch. I’ll sit in your lap and cuddle while you tell me about the dream.”

“You want to cuddle?” Gavin asked in disbelief.

“Hey! I can totally cuddle.” Stryker smirked. “I think.”

Gavin laughed, catching himself off guard. Usually, he spent hours in the air after a nightmare, but that meant leaving Stryker. And he was already feeling better. Just seeing Stryker sleepily drag the blanket from the room helped.

“Come on, Papi,” Stryker said. “I’ll even let you give me a few kisses to make sure you’re feeling better.”

Little brat. Gavin followed behind though as Stryker strode to the front door. Stryker had been calling him Papi more since their scene in the kitchen earlier. Gavin hadn’t meant for things to play out that way, but Stryker had submitted beautifully for him. Which led Gavin to believe that the nightmare wouldn’t plague him. He’d been wrong.

Stryker opened the front door, allowing the cool night breeze inside. Gavin shivered but it wasn’t from the cold. His overly heated skin pebbled though. Stryker threw the blanket over his shoulders before gesturing Gavin out the door.

Gavin sauntered forward and paused in front of Stryker to place a gentle kiss on his lips. The boy had promised him kisses after all.

---