Page 59 of Goodbye Paradise
“Well. Chloe and I are going inside for coffee. We’ll save you some.”
Daniel gave me a wave. “You’re the best, Josh. Really.”
I liked hearing it, even if I doubted his opinion would hold up if he knew the real me.
* * *
Daniel broughtMaggie home from the hospital that afternoon, still looking like hell.
“The drugs make her really sleepy,” Daniel whispered after he’d gotten a zombie-like Maggie upstairs. “But it’s supposed to even out soon.”
He took the baby from me then, leaving my hands empty. And Caleb was at work. So I had nothing to do at all, except worry and wonder what would happen next.
There were practical things I might have worked on. I needed to write to the State of Wyoming and ask them to grant me a birth certificate. But I needed instructions from Maggie, who’d had to do the same thing. Or at least computer help from Caleb, who knew his way around Google.
With nothing better to do, I went in our bedroom and lay down on Caleb’s pillow, because it smelled like him. And I had sexy thoughts about him as I drifted into a nap.
That night, after I ate macaroni and cheese that Daniel made from those blue boxes they sell at the store, I put the baby to bed again. This left Daniel in front of a football game with a beer, looking tired but content. And he didn’t even fight me too badly on putting the baby to bed for him. I think he’d finally just given in and accepted my help.
I liked that. A lot. Because family is supposed to help family. Family is how Maggie viewed Caleb and I. Maybe Daniel could, too.
After Chloe was settled into her crib, I tiptoed into Maggie and Daniel’s room, and perched on the bed.
Maggie opened a set of unfocused eyes, then seemed to locate me through her haze.
“I just came to say that I hope you feel better soon. And I’m sorry for your troubles.”
“Thank you,” she said, surprising me. “I’m embarrassed, though. That people have to fuss. That it couldn’t just be easy.”
I reached over to give her hand a squeeze. “You just described the first nineteen years of my life.”
Maggie’s eyes opened wide, and then she smiled.Finally!A smile from Maggie. So I smiled too. “I love you, Josh,” she said.
My chest squeezed with happiness to hear it. So few people had ever said that to me. Caleb, and my mother. And my mother hadn’t said it since I was seven. When I answered her, my voice was rough. “Love you too. I’ll see you in the morning.”
* * *
That nightI got into bed before Caleb. And when he finally crawled between the sheets, and rolled to face me, I slid into his arms and kissed him. Hard. He opened for me, but not without making a surprised little noise in the back of his throat.
But Caleb was a smart man. He went for it, inviting my tongue to tangle with his. And his strong arms pulled me close, against that broad chest that I loved so much.
I’d been dying for this. While he was at work, I’d been yearning for it. Kiss after kiss, I lost myself in Caleb. Pushing my body into his, I could have stayed there all night.
“Baby,” he whispered, dipping a hand into my underwear. “Let me make you feel good.” His hand closed around my cock. But then he waited, asking permission to go on. His other hand stroked my back slowly.Lovingly.
“You can’t fuck me, because I can’t be quiet,” I whispered.
In the dark, I watched him smile at me. “Can you be quiet if I blow you?”
Thinking that over for a second, I shook my head. “Stay right here with me.” Tonight, I just wanted him close. I wanted to rub off on him, kissing him. Sucking on his tongue.
Caleb shoved his underwear off his body and tossed them on the floor. “Come here.” He pulled me partway onto his chest, yanking my own boxers off of my ass.
I spread myself out on his hard body. He felt incredible underneath me. I could have happily stayed there forever.
Caleb produced his little bottle of lube and dripped some into his hand. When he gripped both our cocks in one slicked palm, I gasped.
“Shh, now,” he reminded me.
