Resilience

by Bailey Bradford

  Mika raked Adam with a hot gaze. “Man looks happy enough to me.”

  Todd rumbled, Adam could feel it in Todd’s chest pressed to his. But Todd didn’t let up on the kiss, and Adam blocked out his annoying friends and closed his eyes. He let Todd kiss away the last of his anger, and most of his frustration and fear. When Adam sighed and sagged against Todd, Todd murmured his approval and layered soft kisses on Adam’s face.

  Adam decided getting the shit scared out of him might be worth it if this was how Todd gentled him down.

  “Wow, they look so sweet,” Gabe murmured. “My Todd has become a stud for sure.”

  Adam opened his eyes then and flipped Gabe off, much to Gabe’s delight. Todd

  nuzzled Adam’s neck and Adam had to point out, “He’s always been a stud, just no one else was smart enough to see it. I mean, look at this.” Adam grabbed a handful of firm, rounded ass.

  “Adam,” Todd whispered, and Adam let go.

  “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to embarrass you.” Adam wished his tongue and his brain could get together to set some rules on etiquette and all that stuff. “But you are gorgeous, you know. I can’t believe someone didn’t snap you up before I got the chance.”

  Todd shook his head and laid another kiss on Adam before stepping back. He was blushing furiously, probably because he had a boner no one could miss, when he turned to his friends. “So what brings y’all over?” Todd asked with only a slight stutter.

  Gabe and Mika looked—how could they not? And Adam preened, because Todd was all his.

  “We, uh, we…we—” Gabe jumped and yelped. “Hey, what the fuck?” He glared at

  Mika and promptly elbowed him in the ribs. “That was totally uncalled for!”

  Mika glared back but his amusement shone clearly in the way his lips curled up just the tiniest bit. “You were ogling another guy.”

  “So were you,” Gabe pointed out. “I should elbow you again, as a matter of fact. Todd’s been my best bud for years, so I can ogle him objectively.”

  Mika opened his mouth only to shut it when Gabe pointed at him. “Do you really want

  to argue about it?”

  Mika arched a brow. “Maybe. Later, when we’re home and you’re naked and begging

  me to fuck you.”

  “Oh my God,” Todd rasped. “Shut up, please! I don’t want to know!”

  Gabe blinked as if he’d forgotten there was anyone else there besides him and Mika.

  “Sorry? Didn’t mean to have my mate spill that little bit of fun.”

  “Just stop,” Adam said when Todd could only squeak. He didn’t mind listening, so

  maybe he was kind of a voyeur or whatever, but Todd obviously wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. And that thought sent Adam’s mind spiralling down into the gutter until Todd grabbed his hand.

  Adam shook himself and wound his fingers between Todd’s. He looked at Mika, who

  was usually the calmer, quieter one of the two. Although obviously not this time. Adam turned back to Gabe. “So y’all are here giving my lover a stroke because…why?”

  “Oh!” Gabe clapped his hands then bounced on his toes. “Because we have great news!

  Mika and I, along with Aidan and Zane, are going to go with y’all to look for Jameson! And we get to fly on a private jet, how cool is that?”

  Adam thought he just might have a stroke, too.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Todd and Adam decided to hit up Fort Worth even though it’d likely be a disaster

  taking care of getting their passports. Plus, Todd just didn’t want everyone in town to know where he and Adam were flying off to. For that matter, he hoped they’d buy Gabe’s

  proposed explanation that he and Adam were off on a hiking vacation. The questions they’d get asked if people found out they were going to Europe, aw, man, Todd didn’t even want to think about stuttering through the explanations.

  There’d be the troublemakers, too, who’d spread rumours about how much such a trip

  would cost and where did Todd and Adam get that kind of money and, yeah, he didn’t want to deal with it. He couldn’t even imagine the fuss if people found out they were flying out on a private jet. That belonged to the head honcho werewolf—er, shape-shifter—of North

  America. Holy mother, visions of villagers with torches and pitchforks, and really big guns, were not a totally impossible reality.

  Texans and their guns. Sometimes it was just a bit unnerving knowing there were so many people in the state with deadly weapons, licensed to carry concealed.

  Todd pointed just such creepy thinking out to Adam as they walked down the

  sidewalk. He was glad they were in shorts, it was frigging hot. The sun was brutal, and it was early hours yet.

  “Can’t you tell who has a weapon tucked beneath their shirt or in their pants?” Adam shook his finger at Todd. “And don’t even crack a joke about guns and pants and penises.”

  Todd’s brain hadn’t leapt that far ahead. A bead of sweat ran behind his sunglasses and dripped into his eye. “Ouch! Crap. Hang on.” Todd nudged Adam to a shady spot and out of the middle of the sidewalk.

  “What happened?” Adam was already patting at him.

  Todd, aware of just where they were, gently pushed Adam’s hands aside and shook his

  head. “Just sweat in my eye.” He finally got to take the sunglasses off and rub.

  “Todd, don’t rub your eye. You can scratch your cornea.”

  Some people might have got annoyed at Adam’s mama-ing, but not Todd. He took one

  last swipe at his eye before Adam could stop him and smiled at his man. It always made him feel good to know Adam thought he was worth nagging. “It’s just sweat.”

  Adam scowled. “And your big…” his scowl melted as he eyed Todd’s hand, “sexy,

  manly hand.”

  “Stop it,” Todd whispered. It was both wonderful and wrong how his dick got half

  hard just from Adam talking about his hand. Of course, the rough timbre to Adam’s voice reminded Todd of how he sounded when—Oh hell. He wasn’t going to make his hard-on

  any less obvious by going down that route.

  “You probably need to walk in front of me for a while,” he suggested.

  Adam shoved his own sunglasses back into place. “I love how easily you respond. And

  now I just want to get you home.”

  Sounded good to Todd, but they didn’t get to the big city often and he didn’t want to deprive Adam of the trip. “Why don’t we do some sightseeing, maybe go to a gallery if you want?”

  Adam snorted so loud people turned to look at him. “What?” he asked them.

  Obviously he wasn’t worried about concealed weapons.

  “Do you really want to go to a gallery, Todd?”

  How was he supposed to answer that? He knew Adam liked artsy stuff. “If you do.”

  Wow. He touched Adam’s shoulder, just a brief connection then ran his knuckles down Adam’s arm before shoving his hand in his back pocket. Otherwise he’d keep stroking

  Adam. “I just want to spend the day with you, watching you have fun. However it happens, I don’t care, as long as we’re together.”

  Adam’s smile could have lit up the city. “Right answer, stud. Home it is.”

  Butterflies in his belly. Todd should have been used to them after more than two years with Adam, but no, and he hoped he never did get to where the sensation was nothing to be amazed about.

  “Are you sure?” He had to ask.

  “Do you want me to change my mind?” Adam batted back. “Nah, you know I’m teasing. Why would I want to go look at somebody else’s idea of art when I have my very own masterpiece I can touch, and lick, and fuck?”

  “You need to walk in front of me,” Todd got out. Geez, he should have worn a button—

  up shirt over his tank top. There was nothing but Adam to hide his boner now.

  “I don’t mind giving you a show.” Which Adam
did by doing nothing more than

  walking as he usually did. But the way the khaki cargo shorts cupped his ass, the material caressing the flexing globes with each step he took, God, he was something to see. Add in the trimly sculpted back, the muscular calves, and Todd’s dick didn’t stand a chance of going soft.

  They got back to the truck and Todd fished his keys out of his pocket. The paid parking lot was full and he wondered if there was something going on in town to make everyone willing to come out in the heat. He was soaked through and so was Adam, and there was little Todd loved more than getting his hands on his sweaty man.

  “Soon,” Adam muttered, proving he knew Todd very well indeed.

  It was a good hour and a half drive home, though. “Not soon enough.” Todd took his

  cell phone out. He hit the lock button on the fob and hissed when he opened the door. “And I was grumbling about it being hot out here. You’d think I’d get used to it.”

  “I don’t think it’s possible to get used to this kind of heat,” Adam said from where he stood at the passenger’s side. “I mean, it’d be like getting used to the heat in hell, and what would be the whole point of being sent there as punishment?”

  Todd leaned in and started the truck, glad he’d left the air on full blast. “You calling Texas hell?” He gave Adam a mock-glare that had Adam laughing and shaking his head.

  “Aw, now, it ain’t so bad here.” Except sometimes it was, especially when some politician did something stupid and made everyone in the state look bad.

  “You know what I mean, and I don’t believe in hell anyway,” Adam said as he got in,

  gingerly sitting on the hot seat. “Ow, damn, that’s uncomfortable. Turn the AC on the seats.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Todd flipped the switch. He’d forgotten about heated and cooled seats. It was a luxury he’d never thought to have. Well, had never thought about period, until the sales man at the Chevy store had started talking it up.

  Todd got in and had the pleasure of hundreds of tiny bursts of chilled air blowing on his heated skin. “Ah, that feels soooo good.”

  “It does.” They shut the doors and Adam patted his leg after buckling up. “Only bad

  thing is, now we’re going to have to get out and run around the yard or something to get all sweaty and glistening.”

  “Or we could just shower. It lacks the distinctive, manly odour—”

  Adam snorted and covered his mouth.

  “That sweat has, but it’s still got the wet and glistening part going on.” Todd grinned when Adam laughed again. He wanted to hear that sound every day, as often as possible.

  Sometimes with their jobs, they didn’t or couldn’t laugh, especially Adam. He took the loss of his patients very hard.

  Adam tapped Todd’s phone where he’d laid it on the centre console. “You’ve got a

  missed call.”

  Todd was pulling into traffic, one of the lovely wonders of Fort Worth. It had just

  sprung up out of nowhere. “Can you check it for me?”

  Adam picked the phone up and looked at the call. “It was Manny.”

  “Okay, go ahead. You can put it on speaker if you want.” When Adam didn’t

  immediately answer, Todd risked a quick glance at him. “What?”

  “Well, it’s just…” Adam sighed and Todd really wished he hadn’t pulled out of the

  parking lot. “What if it’s bad news?”

  “Manny’s called me before when I’m off.” Todd braked for the guy in front of him who was apparently determined to run the car in front of him off the coming overpass. Then he thought about what he and Adam had just said. “Okay, every time he’s called me when I’m off it’s been ‘cos there’s a problem, but it’s never been something personal for us, right?”

  “Yeah.” Adam punched a button. “I don’t know what’s up. You get a sudden case of

  gun paranoia and I’m scared to listen to your voicemail.”

  “It’s the heat. Baked our brains.” Todd signalled—instantly making him a wuss in

  Texas traffic—and squeezed into the right-hand lane, intending to exit. The phone beeped and the automated message rattled on, then came Manny’s voice, sounding kind of grave as he asked Todd to call him.

  “Okay, now I’m worried for real,” Adam muttered. Todd knew how he felt.

  “I’m gonna exit and pull over at the Valero. Can you go ahead and call Manny back?”

  Todd gave himself a mental ass-kick. “Unless you really think it’s something bad and don’t want to hear it from him.”

  Adam was already dialling, Todd could hear the tone. “I do think it’s bad, but I’m not the hiding kind. Manny, this is Adam. Todd is driving. I’m going to put you on speaker.”

  “…Not sure if—”

  “You’re on,” Todd said, and now it felt like all those butterflies had turned to lumps of ice in his stomach. Shit.

  “Ah, okay. Well, I don’t know if this is going to upset you or not, Sheriff, er, Todd…”

  Manny’s tone had already set Todd on alert, but the use of his name was a definite

  precursor to something upsetting. “Who’s hurt? Are Gabe and Mika all right? Or was one of our men—”

  “Your father,” Manny cut him off. “Sorry, I hate to tell you like this, but he passed away a few hours ago. The guard found him dead in his cell. They think it was from natural causes but—”

  “Thank you for letting me know, Manny.” Todd blocked out the rest of the call,

  Manny’s goodbye and Adam’s reply. He parked the truck at the Valero.

  “Todd, I’m sorry. Can I hold you?”

  Todd checked the area. It seemed safe enough, and his truck did have tinted windows.

  “Yeah.”

  Adam pushed the console up and settled right beside Todd, looping one arm over his

  shoulder and the other around his middle. His stomach didn’t feel so awful now. In fact, all of him felt almost normal, and that made him sadder than anything.

  Adam was murmuring condolences, but Todd shushed him with a kiss. Then he tipped

  his head back and closed his eyes. “I don’t feel bad that he died, Adam. I feel bad that he was such a hateful man, but, other than that, there’s just nothing. Does it make me a horrible person?”

  Adam turned Todd’s face towards him and waited until Todd opened his eyes. “No.

  Todd, I know we’re born to families, but blood isn’t what makes us family. You know how I feel about the subject. Mr Benson may have been your genetic father, but he never loved you like a dad should. I don’t think he was capable of loving anyone, not even your mother. She was just another devoted worshipper of his who fed his ego.”

  This time it was Adam who initiated the kiss. It warmed Todd inside where he hadn’t

  even realised he was chilled, and that in itself gave him a sense of relief. He wasn’t a totally heartless bastard like his father. Todd knew he hadn’t been loved, but, in turn, he also hadn’t hated his father or mother.

  Oh hell, his mother. Todd couldn’t even begin to think of how she was handling this.

  Even though she hated him, he’d offer to help her. “She’s just gonna slap me down.”

  “Who?” Adam asked, his lips brushing over Todd’s.

  “Mother.” Todd sighed and pulled Adam into an awkward hug. “I’m gonna have to see

  if she’s okay.”

  “Of course you do,” Adam said. “And I’m going to be right with you when you do it.

  You’re not dealing with her, or this, alone.”

  “I don’t know what to think, what I feel.” Todd shook his head, careful not to bump

  Adam’s. “I’m kinda, I don’t even know what.”

  “We’ll figure it out. You have me, and our friends. If you need to mourn, we’ll respect that. If you don’t, not one person will condemn you. At least, not anyone who cares about you.”

  “Okay.” Todd would have to spend some time figuring
out just what was what in his

  head. Meanwhile, “Can you drive us home?”

  “Anything you need,” Adam told him. “All you have to do is ask.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Adam shoved the newspaper in the trash, hoping Todd wouldn’t ask to read it before

  going to work. It was probably a futile attempt to protect him from additional pain. Someone would almost certainly come up and tell Todd he wasn’t mentioned at all in his father’s obit.

  On the one hand, Adam didn’t consider the piece of shit Todd’s father, but he knew,

  sweet man that his partner was, Todd had never stopped wishing for his parents’ love and approval. He’d known realistically it’d never happen, but Todd wasn’t cynical enough to not be affected by this, and Adam loved him for that innocence and kindness.

  It was going to hurt Todd to know the obituary claimed Benson was childless. How

  Adam was going to keep from going off on Mrs Benson if he saw her was beyond him. He had neither the control nor the patience Todd had. As if the snub in the paper wasn’t hateful enough, the old bitch had banned Todd from the memorial service.

  Adam heard the shower shut off. He looked at the trash can. “Oh, God damn it!”

  Luckily the paper hadn’t landed on anything gross. Sometimes it was fucking hard not to be overprotective when you loved someone.

  “Well, if he wouldn’t have noticed the paper before, he sure as hell will now. Moron.”

  Adam glared at the newspaper as he tried to flatten it out. He hadn’t crumpled it that much, had he? “Apparently I did.”

  “You talking to yourself always makes me hot,” Todd said from the kitchen doorway.

  “And if you’re trying to hide the obituary from me, don’t. Marla from the paper called and told me about it yesterday.”

  All that worry over Todd seeing it had been for nothing? Adam cocked his hip when he faced Todd, a sure sign of his irritation. “And when were you going to tell me?”

  “Well…” Todd dragged the word out as he sauntered up to Adam. The need in his eyes

  scattered Adam’s thoughts and put the kibosh on his pique. “I’d planned to say something when I got home last night, but you were waiting for me at the door.”