Page 83 of Roll With The Punches
Chapter Twenty-Two
Stuart had finished his dinner and was watching Jeff, who did little more than drag his spoon through his bowl of soup rather than eating.
It was painful to watch, which made him feel guilty since he knew how much legit pain Jeff was in.
By the time Jeff finally excused himself, he’d finished maybe a third of the soup, and a few bites of dinner. Stuart followed him to the master bathroom and stepped into the shower with him, holding him under the spray.
Jeff stood three inches taller than his own five nine, but right now, the other man almost felt frail in his arms. Stuart wished he could do more, fix this for him, make him feel better.
He rested his face in Jeff’s hair. “Sorry I can’t make this better.”
“It’s okay. It is what it is. Nothing I can do about it except hang on and hope the meds help.”
The two of them had a different bond than they each did with Brandon. They’d lived together for a couple of months as roommates not long after meeting Brandon. Stuart had moved into Jeff’s house. They weren’t sexual with each other before the first night the three of them had been together, but after that night, Brandon had let them have sex together, since his schedule with Emma meant he had limited time with them.
In some ways, Jeff was like a Dom to Stuart.
But more importantly, Jeff was his friend, and his lover. His partner for life.
His husband.
Stuart’s heart ached to see him in so much pain.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay behind with you?”
“Yeah. I got to speak my piece earlier. The girls know how I feel. Go with Brandon. I seriously doubt Bill and Faith will be jerks about the girls coming out, but just in case, he might need your help.”
“Okay.
The girls were quiet in the back seat as Brandon drove them all, in his car, over to Grace’s house. Stuart didn’t know how much trouble the girls would be in once Bill and Faith learned the story, but he was prepared for any option.
It went…pretty much the way it had at their house. Bill and Faith admitted they would have been a little more lenient about the overnights and alone time, but they liked Brandon’s style and imposed the same punishments on Grace.
And, just like in their house, the issue wasn’t that the girls were dating.
The issue was that they’d lied about it.
“I’m really disappointed in you two,” Bill said. “I’ve always felt a little superior to my brother, because his two boys run around and get in trouble all the time, and here we thought you were way better than that.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
“No, this isn’t a sorry and get out of it. No trying to renegotiate your punishment on this one, either. What Brandon said—you try to skirt around the rules and find a loophole, you’re going to wish you hadn’t.”
They sent Grace to her room and Emma to wait out in the car.
“Thanks for talking to us,” Faith said. “I…” She covered her mouth, and Stuart realized she was laughing. “I’m an idiot. I never thought about them dating. Sheesh.”
“Well, we don’t have to worry about a boy getting her pregnant,” Bill said, and the couple high-fived.
“She’s bi,” Brandon reminded them. “If they break up, you might have to worry.”
He pointed to himself and his wife. “We met inmiddleschool,” he said. “Been together since we were dating inninthgrade.” He smiled. “My parents have been married nearly forty years, and hers over thirty. Long-term relationships are in our blood. Might as well get used to seeing a lot of us, because we’ll probably end up in-laws.”
Brandon smiled. “At least we’ll have good barbecue at the wedding.”
Bill grinned. “Damn straight!”
* * * *
