Chapter 20

Ryder couldn’t believe that he really wanted to be with a man. The excitement of rubbing his cock against Nolan’s hadn’t worn off by late on Sunday evening. He’d skipped church to suck Nolan’s cock and wasn’t sorry about it. His parents would be pissed because he missed church, but he would never tell them why.

During the day, when they’d taken breaks from sex, Nolan helped him with the chores outside. It reminded him of how he and Amy had worked together on their home. He liked having someone else around. That it was a guy didn’t seem like a stretch. Maybe he’d always wanted a relationship with a guy. Whatever the reason, he wasn’t worried about being with Nolan like he’d thought he would be.

“I should go home and sleep in my own bed,” Nolan said.

The words disappointed Ryder, but he knew they wouldn’t get enough sleep if they stayed together.

"Yeah. I'm not really happy I won't wake up next to you, but you're right. We both have work in the morning and the last two nights, we've woken up to have sex in the middle of the night."

Nolan leaned over and kissed him. “It has been nice. But we both need sleep. I liked waking up to your hard cock pressing up against my back. I also enjoyed being sucked in the middle of the night.”

“That was nice. I like how you swirl your tongue around my cock. It feels so good.”

“We can work on that later in the week.”

Ryder chuckled. “I get off early this Wednesday. Maybe we can hit the chores early and then spend a few hours seeing how many times we can come.”

Nolan flashed him a huge smile. “I like that idea.”

Ryder slapped him on the ass and then pulled him into a hug. Hugging Nolan felt right. “I’ll see you later.”

Nolan held on for a long moment, then stepped back. "Have a good day tomorrow."

“You, too.”

When Nolan took off, Ryder felt empty. He glanced at his phone and saw he had two voicemails from his mom. He didn’t want to listen to them, but he knew he had to. He opened the first voicemail and blew out a slow breath filled with frustration before hitting play.

“It’s your mother. I want you to know I’m disappointed that you’ve missed church again.”

Ryder chuckled because she would be more than disappointed if she knew he’d been sucking Nolan’s cock while she’d been in church.

“Cindy’s mother has convinced her to go out with Daniel Needlemeyer. That man is a joke. You need to get yourself together and go beg Cindy to take you back. If you don’t, you will regret it.”

The eye roll was automatic. Why couldn’t his mother understand he would never date Cindy or anyone else she picked for him?

“You had better be at church on Wednesday. It will be your last chance to impress Cindy and her mother. I can’t believe you’ve turned out to be such a bad son.”

The voicemail ended, and he closed his eyes. Why had he moved back here? With Nolan living next door, it wasn’t too bad, but there was no way he would be able to take another two years of his mom acting like a crazed tyrant. He had no clue how to get her to stop.

He played the next voicemail, which wasn't any better than the first. "Ryder, I found another woman who is young, but her father is ready for her to get married. She turned eighteen last week, and they are prepared to pull her from school if you'll marry her. With her wide hips, she'll be able to pop out babies like crazy. You need to jump on this. I'll have her over after church on Sunday, and you can meet her."

There wasn't any way he would marry some eighteen-year-old child. He'd thought he was mature at eighteen, but thinking back to that time, he was worlds away from where he was now. No way would he force the girl to drop out of school and be his wife. This wasn't the fifteen hundreds or even eighteen hundreds. He didn't know what was wrong with his mother, but she needed to see someone about her obsession with marrying him off.

Amy had been dead for four years. Maybe most men would have already started dating, but he wasn't one of those men. Besides, now that he'd had a taste of Nolan, he wasn't sure he ever wanted to go back to dating women. Being with Nolan brought a level of excitement to his life he'd never experienced before. Sucking dick might not last, but for now, it was what he wanted.

He decided not to call his mom back because he didn’t want to get into another argument with her. No question, she was being ridiculous, but talking to her wasn’t working.

Work was boring on Monday, and it sucked that he didn't see Nolan on Monday night. On Tuesday, it was raining, but a huge delivery came in. He was in the middle of helping one of the other guys move a pallet to the back of the lot when the loader shifted, and everything pitched to the side. He was out of the way of the main load, but because of the way it fell, a piece of wood shot back, piercing his arm. Pain ricocheted around his body, and he dropped to the ground. The man driving the loader was in a worse position. All Ryder could see was blood.

Chaos erupted as more people came running back. They couldn't move the loader, which didn't surprise him. Someone finally remembered to call emergency services. He wanted to get up and help, but the pain hit hard. Eventually, he was loaded into a truck and driven over to a medical facility. He had no idea if the other guy from work would make it, so when they brought him into a room and told him to stretch out on the gurney, he wasn't sure where he was.

Then Nolan walked in.

Panic filled Ryder as Nolan flashed a smile and then came close. He couldn't let anyone know they were screwing around. If one of the guys from work figured it out, he would be crucified.

“Ah, what have we got here?” Nolan said as he pulled on gloves and bent over Ryder’s arm. “That looks like it hurts. I need an X-ray on this, Nurse Thompson.”

“Yes, sir. We’ll get that taken care of fast.”

Nolan met his gaze and smiled, though he could see worry shining in Nolan's eyes. "We'll take care of this, but I want to make sure your bone is intact. If it is, we can get this out and have you on your way, but if the bone was damaged or your tendon was injured, you'll have to see a surgeon."

Ryder nodded, unsure his voice wouldn't betray his attachment to Nolan. Could other people see how he felt now? What if someone picked up on the vibe between them? He had to do something, but he wasn't sure what. Before he could come up with a plan, he was wheeled into another room with an X-ray machine and told to hold still. The injury freaking hurt like a bitch, but he held as still as possible. He glanced around but didn't see Nolan. Was he too dependent on the man? He wanted to see Nolan, but that worried him. What would people say?

Less than ten minutes later, he was back in the room with Nolan and getting a shot in his arm. "The bone looks good. I think we can get this out without causing any more damage." Nolan flashed him a smile that made his body heat, and panic swept through him.

“I can’t do this,” Ryder ground out.

"Well, you can't get up and walk out," Nolan said.

Ryder shook his head. “No, this. I can’t do this right now. If someone finds out?—”

Nolan's lips turned down in the corners, and he shot Ryder with a look that shut him up. A weird feeling slid through him, like he'd just been chastised, and he didn't like it.

Nolan leaned in so only Ryder could hear him. “I’m at work right now. Don’t you think I’m a professional?”

More heat filled Ryder, and he didn't know what to think. Of course, he knew Nolan was professional. He knew the man was serious about his career and wouldn't do something to put his job in jeopardy. So many thoughts were screaming through his mind, from how sexy Nolan was to the fact he would be off work for a while because of this injury. Maybe he could do some light office work, but the chunk of wood in his arm was serious.

Nolan started working again but didn't look at him. Instead, he was one hundred percent focused on Ryder's arm. Nolan was very professional, and Ryder felt bad for assuming the worst. He'd worked in labor-intensive jobs, and though the guys kept it professional when the boss was around, they did cut loose and say things that were very inappropriate for a work environment. But Ryder didn't think Nolan was like that. Sure, when they were naked and in bed together, it could get raunchy, but Nolan had never given him any indication that he would make advances in public.

The pain was gone, which must have been from the shot. Nolan and the nurse worked on his arm. A man came in and checked their progress, saying what Nolan had done was good. After a moment, the man introduced himself.

"I'm Doctor Moore. I'm new here, so I know I haven't met you yet. Nolan is doing great work. I'll check it to make sure no ligaments were impinged. I took a good look at the X-ray, and the bone looks good. We'll do another look at it after Nolan finishes."

"The man who was in the pallet loader. Where is he?" Ryder needed to know what had happened.

The doctor frowned. “He’s on his way to Dallas. I’m not sure the extent of his injuries, but it was bad enough he had to be flown into one of the big hospitals there.”

Ryder blinked and thought about shaking his head, but he was too afraid to move. “That’s awful.”

“I’m just glad you weren’t walking beside the loader when it failed. If you’d been closer, it would be more than just a piece of wood through your arm.”

He glanced at Nolan who was staring at his face. Their gazes met, and he felt more than just relief flowing between them. He couldn’t believe that he’d messed up and thought Nolan would do something to reveal they were lovers.

Nolan went back to looking at his arm, his lips twisted up to one side. “Doctor Moore, would you take a look at this? I think I got everything out. Would you like me to pack it so we can do another picture of the arm before I sew him up?”

“That would probably be best. We need to make sure we got all the splinters out.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Nolan said.

"Good. Pack it, and we'll get another shot of it. Then we'll close him up."

“Thank you,” Nolan said before he began working on his arm again.

Ryder closed his eyes, knowing he had a fair amount of apologizing to do. He never should have said what he had to Nolan.