Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

17th December

Echo

“ E cho.”

Tom nudges me.

I’m serving a customer, so it takes me a moment to pay attention. “Yeah?”

“Dean’s here.”

I look up to see Dean in a booth with three other men, laughing and chatting. He hasn’t glanced my way yet.

I feel an unexpected stab of jealousy at him laughing with other men, then tell myself not to be ridiculous. They’re all dressed in navy blue cargo pants and matching polo shirts. Dean was training at the fire house that morning. He’d told me that before I left for work.

Then he looks over to me and I see the real smile, the one he reserves just for me.

The other men follow his gaze, and I see a look of surprise, then knowing smiles.

Dean seems to be oblivious as he gets up and heads over to me. “Hi there.”

I want to lean over the bar and kiss him, but I don’t know if he’d want me to do that. I see him looking at my mouth. He wants the same thing. He looks over his shoulder and at me. Then he leans over and kisses me.

The three men keep talking, and nothing happens.

“Hi,” I say softly, because I know he’s on the verge of freaking out right now.

He takes a deep breath. “They’re not even looking, are they?”

“Nope. You’re as boring as fuck. Just another gay guy in Collier’s Creek. Sorry, honey.”

“Language,” Randy snaps as he walks past.

“Sorry, boss.”

“Boring as fuck…” Dean mouths the last word in amusement. “Why do you even want to be with me?”

“You have your talents.” I waggle my eyebrows, and he laughs.

He showed me one of his talents this morning before work. Damn, he’s got mad skills with his tongue.

“How’s your ankle?” he asks.

I grimace. “Sore, if I’m being honest.”

I’m spending too much time on my ankle, I know that. But I’ve got medical bills to pay. I can’t afford to take time off work. Dean has offered to cover the cost for me more than once, but a man’s got his pride, you know?

The fact I’m standing on one leg like a flamingo to take the weight off my ankle is another matter entirely.

Randy walks past the other way. “Put him down, Santa. He’s supposed to be working.”

Dean flushes, and I want to yell at Randy, but he’s grumpy today. No one knows why. But we’re all trying to keep our heads down.

“I’m sorry. I need to get back to work,” I say.

“I’ll see you later?” he asks hopefully.

“It’ll be late,” I warn.

“That’s fine. I’ll pick up the princess and bring her back with me so she’s not on her own.”

My heart pitter-patters. He’d thought of my cat. “You spoil her rotten.”

“She deserves it, and so does her daddy,” Dean says.

I want to say more but Randy is scowling at me from down at the other end of the bar. “Gotta go.”

He returns to his companions, and I get back to work before Randy shouts at me again. I check to make sure he’s not getting any crap from the other guys. I know what they’re like at the fire house. We get a lot of them eating here. They’re beer and wings type of guys, not fancy food from the new French restaurant.

“I’m sorry,” I say to the next man at the bar. “What can I get you?”

The guy looks over his shoulder at Dean. “Is the hottie available?”

Not a local then.

“No,” I snap.

“Has he got a brother?”

I fix him with a glare. “Yeah, he’s the mayor, and he’d throw your ass in lockup for talking about him and his brother like that.”

He shrugs, not intimidated at all. “Win some, lose some.”

The guy is lucky not to get his beer poured over his head. The hottie is all mine. I’m so lucky that I’m the guy he wants.

By the time I stagger out of Randy’s and toward my car, my ankle hurts like a bitch, and all I want to do is lie face down and not move for twelve hours. I’m tempted to drive home because I just want to sleep, but I promised Dean I’d go to his place, and Ariel is there. I want to see my baby.

When I arrive at Dean’s, he’s left the outside light on and cleaned his driveway of snow, just a light dusting left from the evening. Initially when we became an us, we spent more time at my place, simply because of my cat, but from her first visit Ariel made herself at home, and now we go between the two. I walk carefully to his front door and use the spare key to let myself in.

Ariel greets me at the door with a demanding chirrup, and I scoop her up into my arms.

“Who’s my gorgeous girl?” I croon.

She meows again, informing me she is indeed a gorgeous girl and deserves to be treated with more respect by her errant owner. I love on her in the quiet of the hallway. I’m not sure where Dean is, but as it’s gone two, I assume he’s in bed.

I nestle Ariel against me, flick all the lights off downstairs and head upstairs. The art deco lamp on his nightstand casts dim light in the bedroom showing Dean is in bed. I stand there admiring the curve of his spine. I put Ariel down much to her disgust, and back out of the bedroom, closing the door quietly so I don’t disturb him. I’ll use the guest bathroom.

I badly need a shower. Two guys managed to spill their beer on me before the evening was over. I stink. I’m surprised Ariel could bear to be near me. I strip and throw all the clothes in the hamper. I’ve spent so much time here the past month I have a change of clothes here. Dean is always washing my clothes. I clean my teeth. I’ve got my own toothbrush now. I pause, mid-brush, white foam around my mouth as I look at myself in the mirror. I feel like I’ve moved in without realizing it. Have I moved in? My clothes are here, my toothbrush is here, even my cat is here, and I know Dean bought bowls and all the food and treats for her, rather than bringing them from my home.

“I’ve moved in.”

Whoa.

I spit into the sink, finish my brushing and decide I’m way too tired to have a freakout now. I’ll worry about it in the morning.

The shower is heavenly. I turn the water as hot as I can take it and stand under the spray. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and relax.

“You smell of beer.”

I nearly shed my skin as Dean climbs into the shower behind me and enfolds me into a hug. “What the hell? Where did you come from?”

He puts his chin on my shoulder. “The bedroom.”

“I didn’t hear you come into the bathroom.”

“I thought you were asleep.” I can tell he’s amused.

“I wasn’t asleep.”

“You were resting your eyes?”

“I was probably asleep.” I allow.

I had to have been to have missed him walking in the bathroom. I sigh and lean against him, loving the feel of his body against mine.

“You were snoring too,” he murmurs.

“Liar. I don’t snore.”

“How do you know? You’re asleep.”

I can’t really argue that, can I? And really do I care? I’m more interested in what his hands are doing, caressing my chest with soapy bubbles. A flick of my nipples makes me gasp. Yeah, I can come just from the right man playing with my tits. Dean hasn’t discovered it yet, but he will. He’s the right man. He flicks them again, eliciting another gasp.

“Hmmm, you like that?”

I can hear the interest in Dean’s voice. “I like,” I admit, my voice full of need.

He hums again but slides his hands downward to stroke over my belly. I make a noise of protest.

“It’s the middle of the night,” he says. “I’ll explore this another time.”

He’s right. We’re both tired. Although my dick has other ideas which is responding enthusiastically to Dean moving further down my body.

“I need to get off, honey,” I plead.

“Let me finish cleaning you,” he says, “then I’ll get you off so you can sleep.”

That sounds perfect.

I stand still, resting my head on my arm against the tiles as he squeezes bodywash into his hands and gives my shoulders, back, and butt a quick massage, then he washes down my legs. It’s so soothing I’m nearly asleep by the time he finishes.

Then he kind of slides up me as he stands. I have no idea how he did that without losing contact with me. I lose that sleepy thought as he wraps his hand around my cock and starts to jack me.

I’m supported by the tiles, and I have his heavy weight against my back. I just want a lazy orgasm, to dry off, and to fall into bed with him wrapped around me. I curl my toes with each slow stroke of my cock. The world has shrunk to the two of us in this stall, his hand around my dick, the steam blurring out the rest of the world. It doesn’t take long for my balls to tighten, on the edge of the need to come. I want to tell Dean how good this is but I’m too tired to do anything except let him take me over the edge, my balls emptying, cum spurting out between his fingers. I watch as it washes away down the drain.

Dean sighs, presses a kiss between my shoulder blades, and takes a step back. I miss his weight.

“Ready to get out?” he asks.

I nod, and he turns off the water. He dries me like a child, quickly dries himself and leads me to bed.

“Do you think you could stay awake for a couple more minutes?” he asks.

I nod, although I’m not sure. I’m exhausted now.

Dean disappears out of the bedroom and returns a moment later with an ice pack for my ankle and a large bouquet of flowers which he hands to me. I stare at them, bemused. Red roses, mixed in with something pink and white. I don’t know flowers beyond roses, but these are beautiful.

“For me?” I manage, sniffing them, inhaling their sweet scent.

He nods, his expression nervous. “I wanted to get you something to say thank you. I didn’t know what to get. I know flowers are silly but?—”

I place a finger to stop the babble, then kiss his lips. “They’re beautiful, Dean. Thank you. No one has ever bought me flowers before.”

“I’ll put them in a vase overnight and you can arrange them tomorrow,” he says.

I look at him in consternation because I have no idea how to arrange flowers.

He chuckles. “Don’t panic. We’ll do it together.”

“Much better,” I say and kiss his lips. “Thank you. I mean it. No man has ever thought I was worth flowers before.”

“I’m glad I was your first.” Dean says. His tone is solemn, but he has a twinkle in his eye, and I love that. “Come on, into bed.”

He takes the bouquet, placing it on the nightstand. Then he puts a pillow under my ankle and rests the ice pack against it, tucking the bed clothes around me. Ariel meows as she joins me.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” he says.

If he is, I have no idea. I’m warm, comfortable, thankfully off my ankle, and exhausted. I close my eyes and tumble into a deep, deep sleep to the accompaniment of my cat purring.

I’m late!

I sit bolt upright in bed and stare at the clock.

Why didn’t Dean wake me up?

I’m halfway out of the bed when I remember that I have a day off, and I flop back on the pillows. I had to wrangle today from Randy. We did some hard negotiation. I have today off, then I work 24/7 until the twenty-third , and then I have two days off.

I hear Dean puttering around downstairs, chatting to Ariel. I can’t hear what he says, but I love the way he’s talking to my cat.

Maybe I doze for a few minutes because when I open my eyes again, the flowers are in a vase on the nightstand next to me. I reach out to stroke the petals.

“Hello, sleepyhead. You’re finally awake.”

I turn my head to see Dean is reading a book in bed next to me.

“Morning.” My voice is raspy, so I swallow a couple of times and try again. “Morning, honey.”

Dean bends down and brushes his mouth over mine. “Afternoon.”

“What time is it?”

“One-thirty.”

I groan. “I’m sorry. You must be sick of waiting for me to wake up.”

Dean puts his book down and slides down next to me in the bed, then runs his hand down my side. “It’s nice to have a lazy morning. I fended off another order from my brother for Santa to make an appearance, using you as an excuse.”

“I bet he’s thrilled with me.”

“He’ll live.” Dean seems unconcerned.

“How did you manage to say no and have him listen to you when he hasn’t before.”

“I threatened not to fund his next campaign.”

I gape at him. “You threatened the mayor?”

“Who do you think is his primary backer? I told you; I have money from the accident. I also took great investment advice.”

I lick my lips. “So what you’re telling me is you’re rich.”

“I am. I’m also someone who struggles to hold down a job. Can you deal with that? My head doesn’t always work.” He taps his temple.

I know that was the case after the accident. I wonder if he’s just gotten into the habit of thinking that now.

“You volunteer everywhere. You give to the community,” I say, because I see how hard he works even if others don’t. I lean forward to kiss him.

“It’s my way of salving my conscience about the money,” he admits.

“You could live in a mansion.”

Dean looks horrified. “What for? Can you imagine me rattling around in a huge house? Danny needs the mansion, not me. This place suits me fine, and anyway, I need the money to support local charities.”

I lean forward and kiss him. “You’re a good man.”

“It’s nice to hear that.”

I tug Dean closer to me. “As neither of us have to be anywhere, I have a little problem that needs taking of…”

Mirth lights his eyes. “Oh?”

“Hmmm, I woke up with morning wood.”

Dean slides his hand down my body. “I think I can help with that.”