Page 27 of Ken
THIRTEEN
At some point, Justin must have fallen asleep.
Not surprising, maybe. He and Ken had gone halfway through the night, slaking their thirst for each other in a way that was almost frenzied. Eventually, even after how long it had been since Justin had gotten laid, his body must have given up, and he had passed out.
What was maybe more shocking was that Ken, with all of his energy, must have passed out, too. Had Justin actually managed to wear him out? That was something for him to be proud of, for sure.
When he woke up, when his eyelids parted, golden sunlight streamed in through the windows, and he couldn’t figure out at first why his whole body ached. For a moment, he was confused, until his eyes fell on the spot beside him on the bed and he caught a quick whiff of a scent that was all too familiar.
Ken. Ken had been here. Delicious memories flooded through him at the thought, and, unwisely perhaps, Justin let himself think about it, remember it, all of it. Ken had been here.
He wasn’t anymore, and Justin tried not to be disappointed by that. After all, Justin had done his best to make it clear to Ken that he couldn’t stay the night, and that Ken had to be gone before Jade knew that he was there. It had been enough of a risk for Justin to let anyone into his house at all.
So Ken had respected that and was gone. That was probably for the best, right? With a soft sigh, Justin slipped out of bed, pulling on the first clean clothes that came to hand and tugging his favorite hoodie on.
Only something was weird. His favorite hoodie seemed to be about two sizes too big, and when he looked in the mirror, he couldn’t help but notice that the sleeves hung down over his hands, looser even than the clothing he usually wore. It was a different shade of the same color, too, and had a logo over the chest that wasn’t on his own.
It was Ken’s hoodie. Ken must have taken off without it, and Justin supposed he should give it back. For the moment, he left it on. It wasn’t that he was feeling some sort of sentimental attachment to what had happened the night before, but …
Well, actually, that was exactly what it was like.
With a smile on his face that he couldn’t seem to wipe away, Justin went to his daughter’s bedroom. Luckily, though he hadn’t remembered to set the alarm, it wasn’t too late for her to get ready for school on time.
She was fast asleep, and her color was normal now. She had been sick, but now she was better, and he gently pushed her dark hair away from her face, smiling a little bit as he watched her eyelashes start to flutter.
It never got old. This was, and would always be, the most important person in the world, and Justin had always known that he couldn’t be with anyone who didn’t know that. Ken, though, Ken didn’t seem to mind that at all, and Justin could kick himself for the thought, but he couldn’t help but hope that there was a chance that he and Ken could be more than they were now.
“Daddy?” Jade murmured, and Justin settled on the edge of the bed and gazed down at her as she opened her eyes.
“Yeah, baby girl,” he said gently. “It’s time to get up for school if you think you’re ready to go back.” She had been sick, after all, and he wouldn’t want to rush her back.
“Yeah. I’m ready,” she agreed and then sat up in bed. “Go away. I have to get dressed.”
Chuckling softly, Justin shook his head as he left the room. Go away? His daughter resembled him a little bit too much sometimes, though others it was like they were from completely different planets. Or maybe galaxies. With a shrug, Justin went to start fixing his daughter’s breakfast.
Everything went smoothly until they were heading out the door, and Jade had woken up enough to apparently notice that things weren’t exactly as they usually were. She stopped, blocking the doorway, and looked him up and down before her eyes narrowed and she put her hands on her hips.
“Why are you wearing someone else’s hoodie?”
Damned if the girl wasn’t too observant for her own good. She knew very well what his clothes looked like since he tended to wear similar things all the time. With a soft sigh, Justin explored her face, seeing curiosity but not hostility there.
“It was a work thing,” Justin tried to explain, as he put his hands on her slender shoulders and tried to guide her outside into the fresh morning air. She went, but only as long as he kept on talking. “There’s this guy that I work with. I must have grabbed his hoodie by accident.”
There was a brief, blessed moment of silence as they got into the car together, and then Jade turned to look at him, capturing his gaze with her own and refusing to let go.
“You’re smiling, Dad,” she informed him, and Justin shrugged, trying not to let it show just how self-conscious he was. She would notice that, too. She noticed everything. “What’s his name?”
“Ken,” Justin admitted because there didn’t seem to be much of a choice in the matter. Besides, did he really have anything to hide? He was seriously considering getting serious with this guy, and Jade was going to have to know about his existence sooner or later. Even if this was a conversation that he had been pretty sure he would never have to have with his daughter.
“Well, Ken makes you smile a lot.” Jade frowned, chewing on her lower lip, as was her habit when she was thinking things over. “I think I should probably meet this guy.”
Sometimes—Justin mused to himself—it was like Jade didn’t know which way the caretaking was supposed to go. She wanted to watch out for him, which he supposed was natural enough, given that they were really all that the other had. Natural enough, but, of course, he couldn’t actually let her do that.
He had spent far too much of his own childhood trying to take care of his mother, and he didn’t want the same for his daughter.
Luckily, Justin was saved from having to respond because they pulled up outside of her school. She did something strange, then, leaning in to press her lips against his cheek before she turned to go. She hadn’t done that in a while, not since she’d been trying to show her friends how cool she was. It felt nice, and he had to swallow down a sudden lump in his throat.
“Hey, Dad? Have you found anyone to do my makeup for the recital yet?”
