Don't Read in the Closet volume one (22 page)

“What have you
tried so far?” He cringed at the sharp exasperation in the younger man’s eyes.

“Everything I
could think of. I even have half a dozen calls in to my father, but he hasn’t
responded.” Fatigue and defeat returned. “I should take him to the emergency
room.”

Thoughtfully,
Sully considered the situation. The young man didn’t seem to be employed, the
apartment was sparsely furnished, and it seemed that money might be hindering
his search for medical assistance. Sully reached for the phone on the counter.
“May I?” He’d left his own phone upstairs when the noise awakened him, but he
knew the perfect person to consult. With six kids of her own, Tallia would be
more than happy to help.

Devyn nodded,
then wandered away, shoulders slumped. He paused at the open glass door,
whispering to the baby.

Tallia picked
up on the second ring. “Tallia? Sully. Listen, I’m-"

“Oh my god! Is
that a baby crying in the background? Where are you Sully? What’s happened?”
Yep. Tally could be counted on to help out, all right. He just had to prevent
her from ditching her own kids with Dude and heading right over here to help in
the flesh.

“I’m at my
neighbors. Listen, Tally… the baby’s not well and,” he lowered his voice,
cupping his hand over the receiver, “I don’t think he can afford to take the
baby to the clinic. I hoped you’d know some homeopathic remedies that we
haven’t tried.”

“Oh, of course
you don’t need to go to a clinic. What’s wrong with the little guy? Give me the
symptoms, honey.”

“Symptoms,
well... he’s feverish.” Sully tried to recall what else Devyn had said. “He’s
unhappy. This morning he was laughing and playing. But he’s been crying for the
last few hours non-stop. Devyn said he didn’t eat.”

“Devyn, hmm?
Sounds familiar. Anyway, Sully, is the baby tugging on his ear?”

Sully peered
across the room where Devyn stood with Kail, restarting the CD player. He’d be
dreaming Sergeant Pepper if he ever got to sleep tonight. Yep, sure enough, the
baby was tugging on his left ear. “Yes, he is. What does that mean?”

“It means he
has an ear infection. Not good, but not the worst thing that could happen
either. You got garlic there? Or at your place?”

“Hang on.”
Holding the phone by his side, he called out to Devyn. “You got garlic here?”

Devyn cast him
a quizzical glance as he paced back to the door again. “Yeah, I have garlic in
the basket over there. Why?”

“Not sure, but
I’m going to find out. Yeah, sis. We have garlic.”

“Okay, then
Sully, here’s what you and your
friend
do. You take a clove of that
garlic and crush it into a teaspoon of vegetable or olive oil. Warm it up on
the stove. Don’t get it too hot. You don’t want to burn the inner ear. Moisten
a q-tip with that oil when it's warm and rub the oil inside the baby’s ear.
It’ll work. Trust me.”

“Sounds easy enough,
sis. Hey, I’ll call you back if it doesn’t work.” Half threat, half begging for
support.

“It’ll work.
And, hey yourself. Bring your friend and the baby to dinner some night, okay?”

“Not that kind
of friend, Tally. Thanks anyway.”

“Maybe not yet.
But I know you, brother. I can tell by your voice this one is different. Bring
him.” The call disconnected on that order.

Devyn was
watching him, eyes brimming with hope.

“Okay. Simple.
Q-tips, olive oil, and garlic. I got this, if you want to get the Q-tips?”

CHAPTER 5

Devyn came
slowly awake, refreshed and surprised that no cries had awakened him during the
night. He stretched his arms above his head and turned to check the crib on the
other side of the room. His eye fell on his sleeping son next to him on the big
bed, and he cringed. What if Kail had rolled over and fallen off the bed during
the night?

Seconds later
the memory of Sully returned, and he raised his gaze slightly from the sleeping
baby to land on his rescuer of the night before. Sully’s sister’s remedy had
worked, but not before his migraine meds had kicked in. Sully had tucked both
him and Kail into bed, and apparently all three had drifted into exhausted, but
blessedly pain free slumber together.

Sully asleep
was gorgeous. His head rested on one arm as he lay on his side facing Kail. The
firm tempting lips that had haunted him after their meeting at the pool were
parted in silent invitation. The body he’d been unable to keep his eyes from
while the man slept at the poolside lay relaxed and supple, curled slightly
inward. One large, strong hand rested on Kail’s tummy protectively.

Safe. He’d felt
a strange safety in Sully’s presence. The man exuded confidence and capability.
Turning to him for help with Kail, a shoulder to lean on, had felt very right.
Giving in to temptation, Devyn braced his arm on the bed and leaned forward to
caress those lips with his own. He knew after the incident at the pool gate
yesterday, that Sully was interested in him. Yesterday he hadn’t been sure he
could trust anyone. Today, after the night they’d spent, the tender care Sully
had lavished on his son, Devyn knew he wanted to at least try. It had been a
long time since he’d had the luxury of touching, of liking, another man.
Married at nineteen, a father at twenty-two, he’d had to stifle this side of
himself
.

Warm, firm
lips, sweet hot breath, he shivered as Sully murmured sleepily. He pressed
gently,
half-hoping, half-fearing Sully would wake. He
should have known better. Kail gave an indignant coo, and flailed his hands in
protest at being trapped between the two men. The little hand with its sharp
nails caught him square in the eye before finding Sully’s nose and grabbing it
tightly.

Sully came
awake with a start of surprise. He carefully peeled the baby from his nose and
licked his lips, never breaking eye contact with Devyn, who felt the heat of a
blush spread across his cheekbones.

“Devyn.” His
voice was husky with sleep, a sultry caress. “You kissed me?”

Shit. Could he
pass it off as a dream? Even as the thought slid through his brain, he was
nodding. The blur of movement from the corner of his eye caught him by
surprise, and he flinched before he had time to brace himself for the blow that
never came. Instead, a caressing palm cupped his cheek, a rough thumb rubbed
over his bottom lip.

“You want to
try that again while I’m awake to enjoy it?” Though Sully made no comment about
his foolish shrinking, his shrewd eyes indicated he’d noted it, and filed it
away for future reference.

Emboldened by
the teasing, Devyn scooped Kail up and headed for the changing station. “Maybe.
Want coffee?”

“Coffee, God,
yes, I want coffee.”

Devyn watched,
fascinated, as Sully absently picked up the key that hung from a chain around
his neck and nibbled it. Plump red lips closing on the shiny metal key, and his
groin pulsed in sympathy for the metal. He licked his own lips, dragged his
attention back to diapering Kail, and offered in a husky voice. “In the
kitchen. Do you mind making it?”

He ignored the
rustle of sheets, forcing his gaze to stay on the wipes and the diaper in hand,
but oh, how badly he wanted to peer around and see that long sleek body
climbing out of his bed.

He started in
surprise as a hard hand brushed his hair aside and a moist hot kiss landed on
the nape of his neck. He shivered as muffled footsteps wandered to the door.
“No problem. I can make the coffee. You want breakfast too?”

Only
if breakfast is you. Please God let me not have said that out loud.
He had a sinking
feeling it had been when Sully’s chuckles drifted back from the open plan
living area.

CHAPTER 6

Sully
discretely adjusted himself as he padded barefoot out to the living area. In
the kitchen, he checked the fridge and freezer but couldn’t find any coffee
beans. Frowning, he started opening cabinets, staring in horror at a can of
pre-ground, store brand coffee.
Is there enough time to run up to my place
for real coffee? More to the point, once outside that door, will Devyn let you
back in?

Reluctantly he
grabbed the can from the shelf and set it on the cabinet next to the coffee
pot. Okay, he was a coffee snob. A case of bottled water sat on the floor next to
the fridge, and he pulled three of them from the plastic wrap. He filled the
water reservoir on the pot and started searching the cabinets for spices.
Cinnamon, salt and pepper seemed the
limit of Devyn’s spice
collection.
We are
so sleeping at my place next time.

A dash of
cinnamon and a quarter cup of sugar in the basket with the inferior coffee
grounds and his eye fell on a bowl of citrus fruit. Shrugging, he grabbed an
orange and started searching for a zester. Too much to hope for from a man who
only had three spices. Laughing, he bit into the bitter peel and pulled a few
small pieces from the orange. He dropped those into the grounds as well and set
the pot to go.

Absently his
hand went to the key on a chain around his neck, and he drew it to his mouth,
the faintly metallic taste of the key burst across his tongue, and he stared
out the sliding glass doors to the patio as he waited for his hosts to make
their appearance.

Devyn strolled
into the room with Kail in his arms, the little boy peering curiously around.
When his dark eyes found Sully, he crowed and clapped his little hands
together, reaching out to be held. Sully smiled in return, dropping the key.

“And a good
morning to you, too, baby Kail.” He stepped out from behind the counter and
accepted the baby’s embrace, brushing off Devyn’s polite ‘you don’t have to’.
“I told you. I’m used to kids. I’ve missed this, actually.” He confided,
settling on one of the barstools with the baby in his arms. “I used to live
over my sister’s garage. She has six kids. Last month I moved out, and the
quiet has been slowly driving me insane when I’m not at work.”

Devyn’s smile
of acceptance sent his pulse beating harder, and the erection that had begun to
subside was back with a vengeance. The other man was puttering around in the
kitchen, doing something with little jars and heating a bowl in the microwave.

“I’ll feed him
if you want to shower, or make breakfast.” He added hastily as the image of
Devyn from last night, wet and relaxed from the hot shower came back to haunt
him.

“I’m good,
shower=wise. We’ll go down to the pool in a bit, and then I’ll shower after
that. Fruit and cereal good for breakfast for you?” Devyn’s happy smile and
acceptance of his presence made something in Sully’s chest melt.

He gazed at
Kail, spooning bites into the little mouth like a mother bird, swallowing hard
to get the sudden tension to leave his throat. What the fuck? This should be a
feel good moment. This connection shouldn’t be so gut wrenching. “Yeah. Is that
coffee done?” He winced himself at the harshness of his voice, and Kail frowned
at him while Devyn just stared.

“Shit, I’m
sorry Devyn. I’m just... I need coffee. I have oral issues. If there’s nothing
in my mouth crap just spills out of it.”

Devyn burst
into laughter as he set a mug of coffee with a dancing Snoopy on it on the
counter nearby but far enough away that Kail couldn’t get to it. “Okay. Let me
take him and dress him, and you can take your foot out of your mouth and fill
it with coffee.”

“I’d rather
fill it with you, but I see that’s not on the menu, so coffee will do.” Willing
himself not to blush was probably foolish, but he raised his coffee to his lips
and kept his gaze locked on Devyn’s startled one as he gulped the hot nectar.

Well, it was a
stretch to call this swill nectar, but it was laden with caffeine, and it would
do. A few sips later, he felt he’d got his mouth, and his libido, under control
enough to put down the mug. “So, Tally invited us over today. You want to go
meet the gal who saved our night’s sleep? She and Dude are good people, have
six kids, the youngest just a little older than Kail, here. They have a pool
too, so we won’t have to miss our swim.”

He could see
the hesitation on Devyn’s face, and forged ahead. “It’ll be fun. Dude makes a
mean barbeque and Tally is the original homeopathic mom. She has remedies for
everything that will everything that befalls Kail. You can pick her brains
while you sunbathe. And thank her in person for the earache cure.”

Steamrolling on
ahead, he swooped over and scooped up Kail. “Come on. I’ll get the baby dressed
and ready to go while you change then we’ll head up to my apartment and I’ll
change. Oh, and hey, let’s stop at Starbucks and get some real coffee, okay?”