Chapter 24

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CHARLIE

CHARLIE SAT at the front window, looking out at the street. It was late April, and the trees had already gone from bloom to leaf. He watched as the branches swayed in the breeze, the leaves fluttering and dancing in their varied shades of green.

It wasn't enough of a distraction.

Ward was coming. The man should be arriving at any moment. Charlie's heart began to beat faster, wondering how Ward would be when he arrived.

After Ward saw Skylar in February, Charlie had insisted that Ward come by the house to tell him everything. He hadn't wanted to find out through a slow, delayed text exchange. He'd wanted to hear it all, straight from Ward's mouth, and then have Ward hold him afterwards.

Ward had told him all about what happened. Every detail. Helping Skylar take a shower. Pleasuring Skylar, making it all about him. Even through the feelings of jealousy, that part had made Charlie smile. Ward had kept his promise, making Skylar feel good.

The only promise Ward hadn't kept was to pay Skylar for the extra time they spent together. Ward swore that Skylar had refused the money. For whatever reason, Charlie believed him.

Then Ward told him about the conversation they'd had. About how he learned that Skylar's parents had kicked him out. How Skylar had survived on the streets. How Uncle Zeke—someone Charlie had never met, nor did he want to—had ultimately found him and taken him in.

And about those awful days when Charlie had thought his Sky was dead.

Charlie held his breath, his chest aching at terrible the memory. He'd wanted to die himself back then. Thinking his Sky was gone had left a huge, gaping void in his life. Way worse than Mouse Mouse. Worse even than his sister. As hard as it had been to face Sabrina's death, that had nothing on the loss of his Sky.

But his Sky had never been dead. Just Skylar's stupid, cruel parents lying to him.

And Ward had looked so incredibly sad as he'd relayed that conversation. Charlie hadn't been able to resist crawling into the man's lap. That made Ward smile.

For some reason, that made Charlie really happy.

Charlie hadn't wanted Ward to leave after that, but the man had to get back to Paso Robles so he could get ready for work the next day.

But when Ward came up to spend the night with Skylar again in March, he came over the next morning to see Charlie again, too.

That time, Ward looked much happier. He'd gotten to be inside Skylar again—which made Charlie feel both incredibly jealous and desperately turned-on—and they'd talked about happier things. Things like favorite movies and foods.

Skylar told Ward all about the hundreds of books he'd read over the years, practically living in the library when he wasn't asleep or on a job.

Ward told Skylar about going to college to learn about wine-making. About getting his job at Vista Robles Vineyard. Ward also talked about his brother, who was gay and happily married.

And, apparently, they'd talked about Charlie himself a lot. Skylar told Ward about memories of the two of them, growing up. Told Ward all about Charlie's quirks and rules and needs.

Ward was even learning sign language. Had been, in fact, ever since Christmas. That first visit, back in February, they'd still had to rely on Charlie texting his part of the conversation. The second visit, in March, Ward had been able to understand about half of what Charlie signed. It helped that Skylar had apparently warned him not to bother learning ASL's grammatical structure. Charlie didn't follow it. He'd use various signs when he had to, but only to a minimalist extent. He could usually express his needs just fine with a simple hungry or potty or now .

But the fact that Ward was learning? Was trying, just for him? That was enough to make Charlie smile.

A white pickup appeared. Charlie gave a start and leaned forward, nearly pressing his nose to the glass. He watched as the familiar truck pulled over to an empty section of the curb. Ward got out, looking towards the house. Charlie had to squeak as he bounced in place. Ward was there!

Charlie ran to the front door.

“Hey, pal,” Dad said. “What's the rush?”

Ward here! Ward here! Ward here! Charlie signed. He didn't have to finger-spell the man's name anymore. Charlie had given him a name sign and taught it to his parents. It was the sign for man , but modified with the letter W instead of an open hand.

Dad chuckled. “Okay. Easy, pal. No running in the house, remember?”

Charlie remembered. He'd slipped and fallen more than once in his excitement. But how could he not run? Ward was there! He stopped at the front door, rocking on his feet and waiting for Ward to knock. Ward had to knock first. Charlie was tempted to open the door already, but that would mess up the order of things.

Heavy footsteps approached. The knock sounded. Charlie opened the door.

He glanced at Ward's face without making eye-contact. Ward looked happy. Maybe tired, too, but definitely happy. That was a good sign.

“Hey, Charlie,” Ward murmured.

Hi , Charlie signed. He stepped back and added, Come in .

“Thank you,” Ward replied. He entered the house, stopping just inside the doorway, and dutifully removed his shoes, following Charlie's rules.

Dad came over and held out his hand. “Hey, Ward. Good to see you again.”

Ward's face did a funny thing, just like it always did whenever he saw Charlie's parents. His cheeks turned red and his smile got tense. But he gave Dad a handshake and greeted him politely in return.

Charlie bounced in place and reached for Ward's hand.

“Hey, pal,” Dad said, stopping him. “You wanna offer Ward some coffee or anything first?”

“ Hhnn ,” Charlie whined. He knew that was the polite, correct thing to do, but he was eager to get Ward alone. Besides, coffee time had ended hours ago. Dad knew that.

“I'm fine, really,” Ward said. “Thank you.”

“Make yourself at home,” Dad replied, giving Ward a nod before he wandered off.

Charlie didn't wait. He grabbed Ward's hand and led him to the living room. They only had a few hours before Ward would have to leave so he could drive back home. Charlie didn't want to waste a second.

He stopped at an armchair and bounced in place, squeaking and pointing. Ward now had to sit in that chair and nowhere else. It had been a struggle, the first time the man visited, trying to decide where Ward would fit in Charlie's order of things. He'd wanted to have Ward come to his bedroom so they could talk in private, but Ward had gotten that same funny look on his face and declined. Charlie still couldn't understand why. So they'd made do with the living room.

But now, Ward was part of the context of that room. That chair, now his. Charlie bounced with excitement until Ward sat, then settled himself in the man's lap.

“ Hhng .” How had he gone a whole month without this? Hell . A whole lifetime, for that matter? It was like a missing piece of his life had fallen into place. Ward just fit .

“Hey, buddy,” Ward murmured. “Comfy?”

Charlie nodded.

Ward smiled. “Good. Having a good day so far?”

Charlie nodded again, then signed, My Sky?

“He's good,” Ward said.

What do? Charlie signed.

“We just stayed in the room,” Ward said, then went on to describe their heated collision the moment Skylar arrived. How they tumbled, naked, into bed. Ward kept his voice soft and low as he described kissing Skylar, touching him all over, being inside him.

Charlie's penis got hard. He drew up his knees, trying to hide it, though he wasn't sure why. Every time Ward described having sex with his Sky, Charlie was sorely tempted to drag Ward to his bedroom so he could have the man touch him instead. But that still didn't make any sense. Charlie was only supposed to want sex with his Sky. Then again, his Sky was only supposed to have sex with him, too, yet he had sex with lots of other men as well. Charlie didn't like that.

But his Sky and Ward having sex? That fact was really growing on him. Charlie almost wanted to see it. To be part of it.

His penis got even harder at that thought.

“Then we talked,” Ward went on. “Mostly about inconsequential things at first. The weather. Traffic in the city. Somehow, we got around to the subject of marriage.” Ward paused. “Skylar asked me why nobody had snatched me up yet.”

Charlie frowned. He had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

“Why I'm still single,” Ward clarified before Charlie could ask. He paused again, looking across the room. “Truth is, I nearly was married once. Very nearly. It was my wedding day, and there I was, standing at the altar, waiting for Kelly, but she never showed.” Ward breathed a laugh that had no humor in it. “My first and only thought was that something was wrong. That she was hurt. Maybe had an accident on the way there. Turned out, she'd run off with an old boyfriend. While I was calling the hospital after her phone kept going to voicemail, she was in bed with another guy.”

Charlie winced. The hurt in Ward's voice clawed right under his skin. He snuggled in closer to the man, letting out a whimper.

“Hey, buddy,” Ward murmured. He put his arms around Charlie and held him tight. “It's okay. I'm sorry. Sad conversation, huh?”

Charlie nodded. The sad feelings were always so much louder than the happy ones. He didn't like those one bit. Within the confines of Ward's embrace, Charlie signed, Sorry .

“Thank you, Charlie. I'm okay now. I mean, yeah, that rejection still hurts.” Ward breathed another humorless laugh. “Every woman I've ever dated has left me, and it always seemed to happen right after I told them that I loved them. But that one was the worst. I was finally getting my happy ending, or so I thought. Then it all went to hell.”

Charlie shrugged. No date women .

Ward laughed, the sound cheerful and genuine that time. “Yeah, I think you might be right.”

Charlie paused. There was something different in the quality of Ward's voice just then. His tone was deeper. Happier. Charlie really liked it.

“Oh! I finally got to hear Sky play.”

Charlie perked up at that. Piano?

“Yeah. I mean, I'd heard him before, back at that party at your brother's place, but I didn't know it was him at the time. But we were having breakfast in the hotel's restaurant this morning, and there was an upright in there. Sky kept eyeing it as we ate, so I told him to go play something.”

What play? Charlie demanded.

Ward frowned in thought. “I think he said it was called 'In Your Veins' by Andrew Belle.”

Charlie bounced. He knew that one! Charlie liked it when his Sky played that song.

Ward smiled and shook his head. “He's so good, isn't he? So incredibly good. And it made him look so happy…”

Charlie nodded. His Sky always looked happy when he played. Charlie wished Skylar could play more. He wanted to buy Skylar his own piano, but those cost a lot of money, apparently. Way more than he could afford with his allowance. Sometimes, Charlie thought about getting a job so he could make enough money to buy a piano, but whenever he looked into the process of résumés, cover letters, and interviews, he got so overwhelmed with the loudness of it all that he gave up. Even when he'd asked his parents for help, it was too much.

And what could he do, anyway? He had no college degree. No work experience. And when he did leave the house and was able to observe people at their jobs, he knew he couldn't do the things they did. Dealing with crowds or noisy machines or phones ringing, hour after hour, day after day? The very thought made him want to hide in the dark.

He was just about to tell Ward what he was thinking when Dad walked into the room.

Ward's face did that funny thing again. His cheeks turned red and his smile grew tight, but at least he didn't loosen his hold. He did let go with one hand, but only for a second. Just long enough to rub the back of his neck, but then he put the hand right back where it was.

“Hey, Charlie,” Dad said. “Did you tell Ward the good news?”

Charlie gasped. In his excitement over Ward's visit, everything else had completely slipped his mind. He bounced in place and had to squeak a lot before he could sign, We go P-A-S-O R-O-B-L-E-S!

“Oh yeah?” Ward asked, his eyebrows going up.

Charlie nodded. Next month , he added.

“For Wine Fest,” Dad added. “Dakota and his guys invited us down again, like last year. I think Beau's folks are going, too, so it'll be sort of a big, extended family reunion.”

Charlie scowled. It would mean lots of people, maybe even more than had been there last year. He didn't like that. But at least he and Skylar would have a room of their own, so they could escape the noise and just read.

Oh oh oh! Charlie bounced again. He had to tell Ward the best part of the news. My Sky go with us!

Ward's eyes widened at that. Even though Charlie wasn't looking at him directly, he noticed the man's pupils grow larger and darker. It made the man look…hungry.

For some reason, Charlie liked that look.

He liked it a lot.