Page 52 of Painted

He stood and hurried into the bedroom to grab his robe from where it hung on a hook inside his bathroom door. When he rushed back to the main room, Early was wobbling to his feet.

“Here,” Rhys said, moving to throw the robe around Early’s shoulders. “Don’t worry about getting paint on it. Everything I own has paint on it. I’ll walk you down the hall to Rafe’s place.”

They were lucky that only a hallway separated Rhys’s apartment from where Early was now staying and that none of the rest of the family was out wandering the halls. It took half a minute for Rhys to get Early to the door.

“Sleep well, baby,” Rhys whispered to them as they stepped into Rafe’s apartment.

“I think I’m going to have good dreams tonight,” Early said with a bashful smile that did nothing to quell Rhys’s erection.

He kissed Early one last time, then let them go before turning and hurrying back to his apartment.

Once he was alone in his own space, Rhys practically threw off his clothes as he rushed into his bathroom and turned on the shower. He barely waited until the water was warm enoughbefore diving in and letting the water hit his tight, overheated body. He washed the paint from his hands, then rubbed some extra soap over his body before leaning back against the shower wall and taking his cock and balls in hand.

He groaned as his body responded instantly, then let it all go and let out a cry of, “Early!” He was already so primed and ready that it took less than two minutes before he lost his load in spectacular style, eyes closed, while imagining plowing a paint-smeared Early on a wide, empty canvas.

It took him a long time to catch his breath once the power of his orgasm had passed. The warm water of the shower felt good, though. Even better was the feeling that he’d actually managed to get things right with Early. The promise of everything else the two of them might get right going forward stayed with him as he cut the shower, dried off, and went to bed.

He could do this. He could build something real and true with Early. He could be the kind of boyfriend that would have made Raina proud.

FIFTEEN

Early floatedthrough the weekend on cloud nine. The Date, which would forever be thought of in capital letters, had been everything they could have hoped for in a first date with Rhys and then some. Even though they had felt so out of their depth at first, Rhys had made them feel special and valued.

It hadn’t stopped with the date either. Even though they were trying to keep things low-key with the fundraiser happening in less than a week and the entire family watching them with a little too much giddiness, Early and Rhys had spent Saturday together as well. They mostly just goofed off, walking around the grounds of Hawthorne House while Rhys had told Early stories about Raina. Some of those stories had dampened Rhys’s energy and stolen his smile, but Early had gotten them back again by stealing small kisses, and a few larger ones.

The day had ended with Early posing on Rhys’s sofa again while he continued his painting. That had every one of Early’s nerve-endings lighting up with expectation, but instead of going where they wanted things to go, the night ended with just kissing before Rhys sent them back to Rafe’s flat.

It was still amazing, as far as Early was concerned. They were getting somewhere, moving forward with their life and falling head over heels in love. It was just a shame that Rhys had other things to take care of on Sunday. But at the same time, that meant Early could spend the day hanging out with Rebecca and telling her everything.

“I never would have thought anything like this would be possible for me,” they said with a happy sigh as they and Rebecca lounged around pretending to watch romantic movies with the couple she was dating.

“And why shouldn’t you have someone fancy you?” Claudia asked, playing with Rebecca’s hair as Rebecca splayed across her lap. “You’re lovely.”

Early flushed with the compliment. They might actually believe it if things kept on the way they were going.

“It’s just that I’ve never had much positive reinforcement from my parents or, well, from the world,” they replied.

Nigel huffed and shook his head. “The world is overrated,” he said.

“Don’t listen to him,” Rebecca laughed, nudging him with her foot. “Nigel is a confirmed pessimist.”

“I just don’t see that there’s much to approve of in the world as it is right now,” Nigel defended himself with no sense of humor at all.

Early didn’t care. They laughed along with Rebecca and Claudia because their heart felt too light not to. By some gift of the Universe, they had friends who understood them, a family around them that included them as one of their own and loved them for who they were, and very likely a boyfriend, as long as they didn’t mess things up.

Things continued happily as the week began…with one exception.

“Your mobile’s ringing,” Rebecca called to them as Early photocopied materials for one of the new photography classes.

No one had called Early at all for days. They stepped back into the front part of the office with a curious frown and picked up their phone from the desktop where they’d left it.

Their dad’s name flashed across the screen.

They took a deep breath then hit the button to make their phone silent before returning to work. Whatever their dad wanted, it could wait. They weren’t in the mood to be yelled at baselessly.

The next time Early looked, a voice message was waiting for them. They ignored that as well.

“It must feel weird not posing for Rhys’s class this morning,” Rebecca said once Early settled at their desk to put together the materials they’d just copied. She sent him a knowing smile along with her comment.

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