Page 55 of Galen's Redemption
When Galen yawned, a sliver of regret sliced through Robert. “I’m sorry I’ve kept you up. Get some sleep.”
“No, it’s okay.”
The sleep in thatsoft voice told Robert it wasn’t. “Sleep, Galen. That’s an order.”
“Okay.” He yawned again. “Robert?”
“Yeah?”
“Can we talk again tomorrow?”
“Sure. I’d like that a lot.” This time Robert yawned, and Galen chuckled. “Shut up.”
“Go to sleep, and that’s an order.”
The words were on the tip of Robert’s tongue, but he bit them back. Now wasn’t time for them.
“Good night. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Night.”
Hanging up the phone was the hardest thing Robert had to do in a while. He ached to hear Galen’s voice again.
Was it tomorrow yet?
“ARE YOUsure I look okay?”
“You’re fine. Stop fussing.” Andy came in from the other room, held his hands up, and did a twirl. He was dressed in black jeans and sported an embossed shiny silver shirt with dark blue swirls across the torso. His darkeyes looked even more mysterious with a bit of guyliner artfully done up. No matter what, even in a crowded house, Andy would definitely attract attention. “What about me?”
“You look great, but….”
A crease formed on Andy’s forehead. “But? I’m not sure I like how that sounds.”
The last time Galen had gone out with Andy and Marco, he’d had to separate the two of them when Andy climbed onto Marco’slap and gyrated his ass onto Marco’s groin. Both of them had their heads thrown back, mouths wide. When Andy started moaning, that was too much. Galen clutched Andy’s arm and pulled him off Marco, who scowled at him. Marco stood, and Galen couldn’t help but notice the rather sizable bulge in his pants. No wonder Andy was so happy.
“You swear you’re going to control yourself tonight.”
Andy sighedand rolled his eyes. He held up one hand, giving the fakest Boy Scout pledge Galen had ever seen. “Yes, Mom.” He stuck his tongue out. “God, I’m not the one who got screwed on the dance floor. And now you’re practically being a Puritan.”
“Don’t start.” Galen waggled a finger at Andy. “Thanks to your littleshow, they’re not going to let us back into McDonald’s. Did you even notice the looks themothers were giving you? One of them had her kid’s eyes covered and was marching her out of the restaurant. You’re lucky you didn’t get arrested.”
The bastard didn’t even have the decency to blush. “What can I say? He brings out the best and worst in me.”
Warmth flowed through Galen at the dreamy expression on Andy’s face. “God, I’m so happy for you both.”
“I am too. Marco’s not like any otherguy I’ve ever met. He treats me like… to him, I’m precious. He holds doors for me, he’s not ashamed to take my hand in public, and when we were with his family, he stayed by my side the whole time, even when they tried to get him to join in on a game of volleyball. I told him to go play, because I wanted to watch those muscles pumping. The bastard leaned over and whispered in my ear, telling meif I wanted his muscles to pump, we could go into the closet.”
“And lemme guess….”
“It was great, until his mother opened it to grab a jacket. Marco grinned at her and just closed the door again.” Andy reached for Galen’s hand. “I’ve never felt like this before. Did you know that he’s got a degree in marketing? He’s like a supergenius type.”
“Why is he delivering flowers?”
“The shop belongsto his parents. He helps out there, usually on the weekends. The first day he came here, it was because his sister was sick and they needed him. He told me that when we met, he went back to his mother and said if there were any other deliveries to us, she had to call him.”
“And you were scared to ask him for coffee.”
“You think I was bad? He was a nervous wreck. He’s big and growly and was afraidhe’d scare me off if he moved too fast.” Andy leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. “His mom invited me into the kitchen, and when Marco stood up, she glared at him and said he wasn’t invited. I was so sure she was going to tell me to get out, but instead she put me to work slicing bananas, watermelon, and grapes to make a fruit cup. While we worked, she told me that I was all Marco hadtalked about since he met me. Then she related the story of how she and her husband had met.” He tilted his head and grinned at Galen. “I admit, I was a little sexist. I asked her if he pursued her that way. She smacked me on the arm and told me it washerwho did the pursuing.”
