Page 65 of Everything's Better With You
“Shhh, you’ll wake Mom.”
“Boys?”
Agnes came into view at the bottom of the stairs and Leslie sighed.
“Sorry, Mom.”
“Oh, I didn’t know we had company.” She raised an eyebrow expectantly and pulled her robe shut to cover up her Motley Crüe T-shirt. Her long silver-streaked blonde hair was piled up in a messy bun and her bright smile lit up the room. At sixty-seven, she was so beautiful, so incredibly beautiful…and happy. Happy as she’d been when Leslie and Barry were boys and Rick Payton was in his prime with the San Francisco 49ers. Happy as she’d been when Rick retired and she’d looked forward to their life together really starting. He liked to see her happy, but it also reminded him of the times she wasn’t. When Rick started having headaches, when his mood changed and he became violent. When he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and early onset dementia. When he died at the age of fifty-two from a stroke and what turned out to be complications of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.
Leslie teared up at how beautiful and happy she looked in that moment, that she could be happy still after what she’d been through. His stomach clenched at the terrifying thought that he could put her through that again.
When Leslie didn’t speak, Joe stepped forward with a smile.
“Sorry, Mrs. Payton. I was just seeing Leslie home. I’m Joe.”
“It’s great to finally meet you, Joe! I look forward to chatting with you. Soon. Leslie was supposed to invite you to dinner.”
“Sorry, Mom.”
God, he was a forty-five-year-old man living with his mother and just got caught sneaking his boyfriend up to his room.
“It’s fine, honey. I’m gonna get back toCriminal Minds. Good night!”
She trotted back to the bedroom and shut her door and the twins broke out laughing.
“Busted.”
“Don’t worry,” Sandy said. “We’ll get this cleaned up. You should get some rest.” His smile melted as he apparently recognized the fact that Joe was supporting Leslie’s weight and this wasn’t a social call. “Do you need anything?”
Leslie frowned.Don’t say anything, he tried to telegraph to his brother. Joe knew he had migraines. He didn’t need to know anything else.
“We’re good.”
“Good night,” Joe said and he looked up at Leslie expectantly.
Leslie gave one last warning look to his brothers and they scattered. Then he led Joe toward his suite of rooms and opened the double doors. There was a family room of sorts in the middle, a small kitchenette and half bath off to the right, bedroom off to the left with a full bathroom en suite including a jacuzzi tub. Which sounded great right now, but not as great as Joe’s hands.
“Please forgive the mess, please forgive my brothers, and for the love of God, please forgive the fact that I live with my mom.”
Joe burst out laughing and then covered his mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry. Wait, you’re serious about that?”
Les rolled his eyes and stepped away from Joe. “Have a seat, I’m going to…um, I’ll be right back.”
“Is there a bathroom?”
“Yeah, there’s one around here or in my bedroom.”
They stared at each other for a minute and Joe pressed his lips together, fighting off a smile. “You look like you’re about to drop. The only thing that’s happening in your bedroom is me tucking you in tonight, got it?”
Leslie’s cheeks heated—he was an open book for Joe. “Right.”
Joe walked around the kitchenette to the half bathroom and shut the door.
Leslie hurried to the cabinet where he kept his nighttime pill box,and started popping pills as fast as he could get them down. He guzzled three quarters of a bottle of water trying to get through them all and was just closing the lid when Joe came out. Leslie tried shove the pill box into a drawer but it kept catching. He smiled and tried to look innocent, but Joe raised an eyebrow.
“You really keep your trophies in the bathroom?”
Leslie barked out a laugh, left the drawer open and turned off the light in the kitchen on his way around the counter.
