Page 140 of His Boys to Protect

“I doubt he'd see it that way.”

Skylar managed a shrug. Adam was right, of course. Ward had insisted that Skylar was the furthest thing from a burden. Still, it didn't feel fair to the man. “He's done so much for me, and I'll never be able to pay him back.”

Adam breathed a laugh. “I feel the same way about John sometimes. And not just about money, though there it that. I have way more than he does, but he'll only let me pay exactly half of our expenses and no more. It was all I could do to convince him to let me do the repairs on his rental, since he's working and I'm not.”

“You're not?”

Adam shook his head. “Not since I got fired from the coffee shop last year. I keep house for us, mostly. Which is honestly kinda nice. John likes things clean and tidy, so I go through a list of chores every day, which keeps me busy. And I can blast some music while I do it. That's always fun. I love seeing the pride onhis face every night when he comes home. It's so nice to give that to him. And when I'm done with chores, I run errands or write songs or hang out with friends. But right now, I'm busy learning home improvement, if you can believe it. The last tenants didn't tell John about some problems with the house, so once they were out and he inspected the place, he found all sorts of things that needed fixing. John normally would have done it all himself, but that would have eaten up our weekends, so I offered to do it while he's at work.”

“Do what, exactly?” Skylar asked with a laugh, trying to picture Adam with so much as a paint roller in his hands.

Adam blew out a breath. “Let's see. I've fixed a toilet. That one just about killed me, but I did it. You should have seen the surprise on John's face. I've scrubbed and scoured every inch of the house, though of course that was easy. Patched some holes in the walls. I still need to replace a light fixture that isn't working. But right now, I'm in the middle of repainting every room. I mean, I get that white walls are common for rentals, but they're just so fuckingboring. I'm trying to convince John that a touch of color won't hurt anything. That's where I was with Dakota earlier. We went to the home improvement store. I needed more paint, and he needed a new flapper valve for one of the guest room toilets at the B-and-B, so we went together. Can you imagine? A couple of gay boys running around Lowe's?” Adam threw his head back and laughed.

Skylar couldn't help laughing with him.

“You guys should totally come check out the house when I'm done with it,” Adam went on. “I mean, Dakota says that Charlie wouldloveto live in the country, and I bet Ward wouldn't mind. John offered the place to him and he said that Ward seemed interested, even if he did turn it down. Plus, John and I are on the same property, so if you guys moved there, you and I could hang out all the time! How cool would that be? Justlike the old days, but even better. You and I could be happy little househusbands for our daddies, and we could spend our free time having jam sessions. Hey! We could get you a piano. There's a perfect spot in the rental where one could fit–” Adam broke off abruptly. “Sky? What's wrong?”

Skylar blinked rapidly.Shit. “Nothing,” he lied.

“Fuck. Listen to me, sitting here, chattering away while you're recovering. I'm so sorry. I should let you rest. Or can I do anything? Do you need pain meds or–”

Skylar waved a hand. “I'm fine.”

Adam studied his face. “If you're sure.”

“I'm sure,” Skylar said, managing a smile.

“Okay. Well, I'll get out of your hair. But call me when you're feeling up for company, okay? Or if you feel like going out. We'll take it real easy. I remember Morgan having a hell of a time, being stuck in the house after his surgery. But you can do some light walking, right? Shit. Here I go again.” Adam laughed. “Okay. Really going now.” He bent down and gave Skylar a gentle hug. “It was so good to see you.”

“You, too,” Skylar said, resisting the urge to hold on tight.

“Get some rest,” Adam insisted, taking a step back. “And do everything the doctors said. Okay? I mean it. Everything. No cheating.”

“I will,” Skylar promised.

“Good. Okay. See you soon!” Adam flashed him a smile and a wave from the doorway, then vanished from sight.

Skylar swallowed hard and turned away, blinking rapidly. Adam had outlined such a beautiful dream.

If only it could come true.

Chapter 50

________

WARD

WARD RUSHED home from work. Skylar had been healing well over the past few weeks, and his first post-op checkup had been positive. But Charlie had texted a few minutes ago, saying he was worried.

Truth be told, Ward was worried, too. Skylar had been out-of-sorts ever since his surgery. Ward kept catching the boy glancing at the clock or the calendar, like he was waiting for something. And whenever Ward asked if anything was wrong, Skylar insisted he was fine. Tired and bored, of course, but otherwise fine.

And no wonder. Poor Skylar had been cooped up in the apartment ever since Ward had moved him down from the city back in June. Other than that first day of errands, a couple stops at the pharmacy, and two trips to San Jose, Skylar hadn't set foot outside Ward's front door.

While Ward had tracked the passage of time on his daily commute—first, by the arrival of the grapes and, now, the slow changing of the leaves—Skylar had been hidden away. It had to be worse now that he was under such heavy restrictions. Thepoor boy was probably going stir-crazy, having to stare at the same blank walls, day in and day out.

Maybe, once Skylar was fully healed, Ward could bring up the prospect of moving. They could pick a place together. All three of them. Somewhere they could all feel happy and comfortable. Somewhere Skylar and Charlie felt safe.

Of course, just his luck, they'd no sooner do that than either or both of the boys would decide they'd had enough, and Ward would be all alone once again.

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