Page 26 of Touch of Innocence
Whatever Gunner might have expected, it wasn’t that. Mr. Perfect, the boy genius himself, getting kicked out of school? He would have thought, well, pretty much anything but that. For the moon to fall, or the sun to rise in the west and set in the east.
“What?” Gunner asked, feeling a bit stupid, but his genuine surprise came out. Sam turned to shoot him a wry little smile and shrugged, like he found it hard to believe, too.
“I got in with a full scholarship. Joined a fraternity, because that’s what you’re supposed to do,” Sam spoke in the tone of one confessing, and Gunner settled down to do some listening. He could tell when someone needed to get something off their chest, and that applied to Sam more than anyone else he’d ever met, maybe.
“I started partying, I guess. All through high school, I didn’t really have to try too hard, you know?” Gunner didn’t know, but he gave a little nod, more to ask Sam to continue than anything else. “There was this guy in the same frat, Caleb. We started to hang out a lot, more than either of us did the school thing.”
Oh. All of a sudden that made much more sense. Sam had developed a crush on this Caleb, that was clear by how he spoke about him. Probably neither of them had ever acted on it, in fact, Gunner knew that they hadn’t since Sam had come to him as a virgin.
It just made him surer than ever that Sam wasn’t straight. Not that he’d needed a lot more convincing on that particular front.
“I got kicked out. So did he. Last I heard …” Sam’s recitation ceased for a moment as he gathered his thoughts and rested his cheek against Gunner’s head. “Last I heard, he got married. He invited me to the wedding, but I didn’t go …”
As he spoke, his voice got more and more indistinct. How much had the guy drunk, anyway? Not more than Gunner, he was pretty sure, but it seemed like Sam didn’t have much of a tolerance. Then again, he was so young, only legally allowed to drink for a short time.
“Maybe he had the right idea,” Gunner murmured. Give up fancy, expensive school and settle down with someone, to Gunner, to part of him, at least, the part that wasn’t scared, the part that wasn’t running, that felt pretty much like heaven. Sam was passing out, anyway, so it was safe for him to say that.
“Mmm,” Sam murmured, and Gunner laughed softly and rose to his feet, supporting Sam on the way up.
“Okay, come here, sleepy,” he teased and slid his fingers into the pocket of Sam’s jeans. Snagging the cool metal ring of Sam’s keys, he drew them out and helped Sam down the rest of the stairs.
All of a sudden, it was impossible for Gunner to avoid feeling a bit tender toward Sam, who was so sleepy as he clung to Gunner. He aroused not only Gunner’s body but also his desire to take care of him.
It had just been so long since he’d had anyone to take care of. Gunner had kept himself so busy, and he told himself that he didn’t remember that sort of thing, or want it, anymore, but part of him obviously did.
“We can go back in,” Sam murmured, but he didn’t protest more than that as Gunner led him to Sam’s car. Gently, Gunner guided him into the passenger’s side, then went around to slip behind the wheel.
As he looked briefly back at the bar, he saw that Ben was there, looking at him, though Gunner couldn’t read the look on his face, backlit as Ben was. He raised his hand in farewell, hoping that Ben knew that Gunner would take care of his little brother, that he didn’t have to worry.
It was impossible to say what Ben thought, with his face in that thick, impenetrable shadow, but he did raise his hand in return. Gunner took that as a good sign, and when Sam slumped over in his seat, he tugged him closer and let the younger man rest against him.
The whole way home, they were silent. Gunner clicked off the radio, and Sam was half asleep, only the sound of his breathing, slow and steady, filled the car. But it seemed to Gunner that the things that they had said, the secrets they’d shared with each other, filled up the space between them and made it warmer.
At the farmhouse, the lights were all off. The inhabitants slept, and Gunner turned to look at Sam, shaking him to try to rouse him. Long, dark eyelashes flicked open, showing a mere gleam of jade green, but that was about it.
“Babe, we’re home,” Gunner tried again, but Sam still barely responded. Smiling a little, Gunner made a decision. One that was maybe just a little bit selfish, but honestly, he thought it was really the only option.
If he took Sam into the house, the man would stumble around, knocking things over, and he was too big for Gunner to keep him from doing so. Poor Ruby would be woken up, and there would have to be an awkward talk about why her adored big brother figure was shitfaced.
So Gunner got out of the car, walking through the smooth, cool night, the air finally starting to release the heat of the day, though it clung still to the baked, hard ground. Carefully, he opened the car and reached out, doing his best to ease Sam out.
“You’re too big for me to carry you out of there,” Gunner murmured. “You’re going to have to help me out here.”
He wasn’t sure that Sam was listening, or that he was even able to. Not until he felt the other man’s arm around his shoulder, then felt Sam’s weight on him. Staggering only a little, Gunner helped him out, then let him lean on him as he led him across the yard.
Gunner had been given a little converted barn. It wasn’t much, but it was all his, and it was going to be safer to let Sam sleep here than to try to get the poor, drunk man into his own bed.
Of course, the fact that it had been ages since anyone had shared Gunner’s bed, and that he’d almost forgotten what it was like to have arms wrapped around him in the night, might have had something to do with it. Call it a win/win situation.
Slowly, muscles straining, Gunner eased his sleepy young man down into the bed. What was Sam to him, anyway? Friends with benefits? Lover?
Boyfriend?
The idea wasn’t as terrifying as it should be. It wasn’t like Gunner had very good experiences with boyfriends, but Sam was a very different sort of person than Chad was. Somehow, Gunner knew that Sam wouldn’t ever pull the same shit than his ex had.
What a freeing thought, that he could actually be safe with this person, who he was coming to care about far too quickly. With great care and attention, Gunner tugged Sam’s clothes off, leaving him in his underwear, then tucked him under the light, smooth cotton sheet that was all that he would need on a night as warm as this was.
Sticky and damp, Gunner slid out of his own clothes with a soft sigh of relief. The cooling air kissed his skin, and he realized just how exhausted he was, all the way down to his bones.
