The One That Counts
Page 3
But as Rob wandered through the empty building, reliving his past, David knew he had made the right decision sweet-talking the lawyer’s assistant into giving him the key. Here, within these silent walls, Rob opened up and David caught a deeper sense of the forces responsible for shaping the man he loved.
“What happened next?” David asked as he struggled to balance his jealous curiosity against his desire to support his partner.
To David’s surprise, Rob laughed. He threw back his head, face split wide in the unabashed grin David couldn’t resist, the burst of sound disrupting the quiet around them. “No one would write a comedy this bad, I swear.” Rob climbed onto one of the clothes folding tables, his movements smooth and easy. His feet swung back and forth, rail-thin body swaying as he acted out the rest of his story. “I’m stoned out of my mind. Come all over me, and my shorts at my ankles. Jim’s got his dick out, still on his knees, and before I can even say ‘thanks’ or give him a hand up, a car pulls into the lot and nails us. Headlights full on.”
“You’re kidding me.” David raised his eyebrow, forcing back his own expression of incredulous humor. Rob had a knack for storytelling, and his detailed description made it easy to imagine the scene, transporting them both to that moment in time.
“No, really.” Rob held up his hand, his laughter trailing off. “But the story gets better.”
“How?” David demanded as Rob paused and loosened his tie, dragging the silken knot lower down his chest. David leaned forward, his hands squeezing Rob’s thigh muscles, relieved to see Rob return to his more natural and grounded self, losing the stiffness so present throughout the weekend.
“It was the cops.” Rob fumbled with his collar, and David took over. He unfastened the top two buttons and opened the shirt for him, comforted by the simple, domestic act. “We were so busted.”
“Oh, my God.” David dropped his head onto Rob’s legs to hide his expression, rubbing his cheek over the fine wool fabric. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t ever heard this story before, and he planned to memorize every last bit for teasing at a more appropriate time. Preferably Christmas, when everyone gathered at his mother’s house. She thought Rob was so perfect.
“You should have seen the officer’s face, especially once he recognized me.” Rob stroked the hair on the back of David’s head, then started to rub at the base of his neck. “He had no clue what to do. He bowled with my dad, for Christ’s sake.”
David groaned at the knowing press of Rob’s long and steely fingers and, ignoring the twinge in his lower back at the awkward position, shifted his feet for better balance. God, he loved those hands, always had. If Rob needed a distraction from his emotions, David stood ready and willing to be his human worry stone. He stretched his arms across the smooth surface of the table and wrapped them around Rob, cupping his palms over Rob’s ass to make sure he wouldn’t get away.
“Are you even listening to me?” Rob paused his rubbing, and David nodded, silently urging Rob to continue with both the story and the impromptu massage. Call him pathetic, but only a fool would turn down one of Rob’s amazing neck rubs, no matter the circumstance.
“Anyway, he told us to zip up, herded us inside, and called my dad.” Rob turned his attention to David’s shoulders, finding and pressing on the knotted muscle with the unerring skill David appreciated.
“That sucks,” David managed to mumble semi-intelligently as his own stress of the last few days started to dissolve. Who knew being supportive was such a literal pain in the neck? Rob should be spending all his time massaging the world’s troubles away instead of wasting his talent teaching. At least, David’s troubles; he never had learned to share well with others.
“I talked him into letting Jim leave, since he couldn’t think of anything other than indecent exposure to book us on.” Rob still sounded surprised at his success. David might have told him otherwise; he knew his partner to be an extremely persuasive man. His mind drifting to prior compelling tactics, he needed a second for Rob’s words to sink in. With a manful and mature display of his devotion, David lifted his head out of Rob’s lap and stared at him in disbelief.
“He took off and left you there?” David’s protective instincts wouldn’t let him imagine just abandoning Rob like that, and his shoulders tensed all over again. He glared around the laundry, searching the dark corners for some sign of the jerk. But nothing moved through the deserted rows of equipment other than the dust disturbed by their presence.
Rob smoothed his hand over David’s cheek, his thumb brushing across the David’s upper lip and mustache. “He didn’t owe me anything. Besides, if the cop wasn’t going to file charges, it was better he took off before my dad arrived.” He pressed a kiss at the corner of David’s mouth while David processed this new twist.
Sulky rather than soothed, David let Rob slide forward on the table, his body encircled by Rob’s thighs as he voiced his displeasure. “What an ass.” He wouldn’t admit it to Rob, but finding a downside to this amazing specimen of manhood in Rob’s past pleased his competitive nature. “So, how did your dad handle things?”
“Not very well. I couldn’t wait to get back to school.” Rob leaned further forward, resting his head on David’s stocky shoulder. His sudden need for contact told David more than any words ever would. “My sister freaked. All she could think about was what people might say. Mom wouldn’t stop laughing, I guess I get my sense of humor from her. She made visits home a little easier. We all pretended nothing was wrong, but after she passed on, I was pretty much on my own.”
“She died right before you received your teaching certificate, didn’t she?” David’s eyes narrowed, his mind adding this new information into the already familiar timeline of Rob’s life.
“Yeah.” Rob’s reply sounded muffled, and he turned his head to the side. David resisted the urge to speak ill of Rob’s family and forced himself to sit quiet. He knew if Rob didn’t talk about this now, the emotions would stay with him. David’s hands stroked over Rob’s spine, the light movements soothing for him as much as Rob.
“I feel bad things weren’t better resolved between us.” Rob sat up again, his face shadowed. He waved his hand, encompassing the building around them. “So much of our lives spent within these walls, so many memories, and in the end this is the place where it all fell apart. I’m never going to get a chance to make him understand everything turned out okay.”
David thought about the phone calls Rob had made over their years together. The cards they picked out and mailed, the slow and limited replies received in return. But responses none the less. He paused, choosing his words with care. “I think he did understand. As much as he could. He knew you went on to a good life, a career, people who love you. What more can a parent want for their child? Even if he couldn’t find a way to show you.”
“Damn, you’re really good at this support thing.” Rob played the compliment off as a joke, but the tenseness he carried disappeared under David’s hands. David tightened his embrace, hugging Rob closer. Rob might complain about his octopus-like tendencies, but what else could he do? Words wouldn’t lessen his partner’s sorrow; maybe it was time to lighten the moment. “I find the whole situation totally unfair.”
“What?”
“Your experience sounds much hotter than my first few fumbles with what’s his name in the fifth grade.” Despite his teasing, David was afraid his statement hit too close to the truth to be comfortable. Rob liked to poke at him about his possessive streak; hopefully he didn’t realize how deep it ran.
“You thought it was hot?”
David nodded. Clueless to his own charm, Rob sounded dubious. David squeezed his hands over Rob’s ass and let his voice drop until it was low and growly, the way Rob liked it best. “The way you tell it, real fucking hot.” Rob’s cheeks flushed and, inwardly pleased at the proof his diversion worked, David continued. “I still want to kick that guy’s ass for coming on to a sweet young thing like you.”
“I was legal,
” Rob protested with a fist thump against David’s chest.
“Barely. He shows up out of nowhere, pushing drugs, public indecency, God knows what else.” David allowed some of his honest outrage to bleed through. “We should look up that officer. I want to thank him for interrupting.”
“You were the one messing around in the fifth grade,” Rob pointed out with careful precision. He avoided David’s eyes, his fingers stroking across David’s striped tie.
“I was precocious.” David’s voice filled with smug satisfaction at the small signs of Rob’s displeasure.
“I’ll say.” Visible in all its lecherous glory, the resurrection of Rob’s grin made David want to cheer. “You reminded me of him when we first met, you know.”
“Who? This Jim guy?”
“Both of you appeared so open, so sure of what you wanted.” Rob slid his hands between the buttons of David’s shirt, fingers lightly teasing the tufts of hair. A sneaky tactic David whole-heartedly approved of.
“I was a respectable college professor when we first met,” David said. “Beyond reproach.”
Rob snorted and sharply tweaked David’s nipple before he removed his hands with obvious reluctance and rested them on David’s waist. “Who dropped to their knees in the supply closet and blew me fifteen minutes after that first staff meeting ended?”
“Ouch.” David jumped, rubbing his sore flesh. “What can I say? You inspired me.” Perhaps not conventionally handsome, Rob carried himself proudly, so full of confidence and good humor David had immediately been drawn to him.
Maybe there were one or two similarities to their situations. Mainly, Rob. While not happy at the comparison to Mr. Bail-at-the-first-sign-of-trouble, David took pride in knowing at least he didn’t dick around for four weeks before making his move. He did still question how Rob had transitioned from that first, tentative encounter to the man David found so intriguing.
“I should have thanked him,” Rob said. “Jim, I mean. Honestly, the whole mess saved me so much time.”
David tried but couldn’t hide his disdain. Anybody who turned tail and left a kid to clean up after him didn’t deserve any gratitude, no matter how things worked out.
“Don’t get me wrong, everything put right out in the open before I had time to come to terms with it scared me to death. But the situation freed me to make decisions without worrying about the fallout.”
Pleased with the proof their minds once again traveled along parallel paths, David decided he would allow himself to be a bit more gracious. “Kind of eliminated the whole ‘what’s the worst that could happen’ scenario.”
“Exactly.” Rob grimaced. “Makes sense now, when I think back. Imagine had things happened differently, if I made different choices, do you think we still would have met or ended up together?”
“Trust me, sweetheart. One way or another, I would find you.” David kissed Rob, letting their lips cling and linger with slow, gentle promise. He refused to contemplate a life where he and Rob hadn’t ended up together, not even to satisfy Rob’s sudden and healthy introspection. “And if we hustle back to the hotel, I’ll do my best to remind you of anything you might have otherwise missed.”
“Shouldn’t we get on the road?” Rob yawned, and David traced a finger over the dark circles beneath Rob’s eyes with concern. “Work, and all that jazz?”
“Not when someone requested an extension to our bereavement leave.” David tilted his head to the side and he waited. He licked his lips, uncertain of Rob’s reaction to his so-far un-discussed decision. They had struggled with this issue before, David’s need to protect Rob versus Rob’s innate independence. David viewed it as a challenge, one more aspect of their relationship to keep him on his toes.
“How much time are we talking about?”
“Long enough for us to take a drive to the UP and enjoy a little down time,” David offered. He kept his voice low, a match for Rob’s neutral tone that refused to give anything away.
“You planned this.” Rob looked thoughtful. “You are a bad, bad man, and I love you very much.” Rob slid off the table into David’s arms, and together they swept their gaze over the paneled walls and equipment one last time. He caught David’s hand in his, and, always willing to follow whenever Rob led the way, David allowed himself to be pulled to the exit. “My dad told me something when I was a kid. I can’t even remember why now. I just thought it was kind of stupid. Now I’m pretty sure I understand.”
The sun had dropped lower in the sky, hidden by the gray, rain-soaked clouds that had swept in while they explored the building. Traffic whizzed by, tires humming across the pavement. David made sure Rob stayed tucked by his side as he locked the door and Rob’s past behind them. He pocketed the key, pleased to see Rob’s eyes clear and unshadowed when he leaned to whisper into David’s ear.
“The last one is the one that counts.”
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About the Author
The joke in CHRISSY MUNDER’s family is that she was born with a book in her hand. Even now, you’ll never find her without a book or seven scattered about. Forced to become a practicing realist in an effort to combat her tendency to dream, her many years of travel and a diverse assortment of careers have taken her across most of the United States and shown her that there are two things you can never have enough of: love and laughter.
Visit her web site at http://www.chrissymunder.com/ and her blog at http://chrissymunder.livejournal.com/.
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Copyright
The One That Counts ©Copyright Chrissy Munder, 2011
Published by
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Art by Catt Ford
This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the Publisher. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press at: 4760 Preston Road, Suite 244-149, Frisco, TX 75034 http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/
Released in the United States of America
June 2011
eBook Edition
eBook ISBN: 978-1-61372-034-9