Authors: Eden Winters
"I had to run out unexpectedly," Barry explained, attempting to free his tie from his jacket zipper one-handed. He gave up, cheeks flushing.
Amusement danced in the woman's eyes. "Don't worry, sir; if the fashion police arrive, I'll create a diversion while you get to safety."
Barry laughed in spite of himself.
Fanning the Flames - 44
More seriously, she asked, "Are you finding everything all right?" Her sideways look conveyed doubts.
He shook his head. "My boyfri... errr... my friend has allergies, and wants something that doesn't make him feel woozy."
"Oh, then you want non-drowsy formula. What's he allergic to?"
"Flowers, chocolate, and strawberries."
The woman winced. "Not a good day to be him, then." She reached around Barry, snagging a box labeled
"Loratadine." "One of these daily should do the trick."
Barry stared at the box, reading the directions.
Sniffling, sneezing, watery eyes, rashes... "Hives. He has hives, too."
"Those will help, but for immediate relief, try this."
She walked halfway down the aisle, returning with a box of oatmeal bath soak. "This will help with the itching and with the general achiness. Oh, and if the hives aren't at least getting better in three days, or if he experiences any of the side effects listed on the box, call his doctor."
"Wow! You're really helpful!"
The pharmacist ducked her head, giving a bashful smile. "My boyfriend gets bad allergies, too." She winked, and they shared knowing smiles. "How's his appetite? I have to threaten forced feeding when my guy is ill or he won't eat a bite."
"I don't know."
"Come with me, please, while I become my mother for five minutes." The pharmacist led him to the store's food section. "Ginger ale and ginger tea, if he'll drink it.
Gotta keep him hydrated. Oh, and plenty of chicken noodle soup. Mom used to serve it to me when I had a cold, but it's good anytime the patient doesn't feel much like eating. The important thing is to get some nutrition
Fanning the Flames - 45
into him, though I would get the low salt variety if I were you."
Barry piled the suggested items into his basket.
"Thank you so much."
"Don't mention it. Now get home and play doctor."
She giggled and, duty done, left the way she'd come.
Waiting in line at the checkout counter, Barry saw a display of teddy bears similar to the ones in the floral shop, holding red satin hearts full of mushy sentiment.
At the far end were other animals. A black cat caught his eye. Its heart said, "My Good Luck Charm." Given the direction of Adam's luck today, plus the toy being a replica of the two Toms, it seemed appropriate. Barry stuck it in the basket and sniffed a rather realistic-looking silk rose. Good, no scent. He added it to his growing pile of purchases, not wanting to go home empty-handed. Adam deserved a Valentine's present.
He spotted a clearance rack near the register filled with CDs, various stationary items, a few assorted candies, and car chargers for cell phones. He scrambled through the jumbled mess, finding a charger designed to fit Adam's Blackberry. No more needing to make a call and not being able to.
He'd driven two blocks when he passed one of his favorite home-cooking restaurants.
Ah, now there's an
idea!
Pulling into Country Come to Town, he rushed inside, checking the chalkboard by the register for the day's specials. Hmmm... chicken and dumplings, sorta like chicken noodle soup, only more filling, and most likely a lot tastier then the canned stuff Barry had bought from the drug store. He ordered two servings to go, then rushed back out into the cold, hoping Adam was okay but afraid to call lest he wake the man up.
Adam needed rest more than anything right now.
Fanning the Flames - 46
Keith pulled in behind Barry just past the city limit sign, driving Adam's car, and he parked next to the Tahoe in the driveway. The company truck pulled up to the curb a moment later, idling. "Here ya go, Bossman,"
Keith said, handing over the keys. "Good as new."
"Where are you boys going now?" Barry asked.
"We’re gonna get a pizza and go back to my house, play cards."
Barry pulled a few twenties from his wallet. Keith stepped back, hands raised. "No need for all that. We're good ol' boys. We help folks out 'cause that's how our mamas raised us."
Barry pushed the twenties into Keith's coat pocket.
"And my mother raised me to appreciate that help.
Tonight's pizza is on me. I'll see you and your crew bright and early Monday morning."
"Mighty kind of you, sir. We'll drink one for you tonight."
The truck pulled away into the night, and Barry, arms loaded with bags, made his way into the house.
Fanning the Flames - 47
That's
Amore
Barry tiptoed into the house, placing his packages by the door to remove his coat and boots. The tie took some time to work free of the zipper, and emerged a total goner. Oh, well, he hadn't particularly liked it anyway.
Soft snores escaped Adam's cocoon. Both Toms, one on either side of Adam, blinked owlishly at Barry.
Adam snorted and jerked, eyes popping open. He
relaxed, baby-blues disappearing behind closed lids again. "Hey, there," he murmured in a sandpapery rasp.
"Have I been out long?" Yawning and stretching, he stopped mid-motion, sniffing the air. "Oh, something smells good." His stomach growled, and he laughed and patted it. “Hey! I can smell again!”
"Feeling better?" Barry asked.
"A bit."
"Think you could eat?" He remembered the pharmacist saying her boyfriend lost appetite with allergies.
"It'll be the first thing I've eaten all day since the chocolate."
Barry pushed and pulled a weak-as-a-kitten Adam
into a sitting position. He retreated to the kitchen, emptying the dumplings into two bowls, and poured two glasses of ginger ale, making several trips to get the food and his packages to the coffee table.
"How long has it been since you took something?" he asked, pulling the cell phone charger from the drug store bag and setting it aside to get to the box of allergy medicine.
"Long enough to need another dose. What I took only lasts six hours. Diphendydramine was all they had at work. I normally take loratadine."
"Good, 'cause that's what I got you."
Fanning the Flames - 48
Barry shook out a pill onto his palm, handing it to Adam, who took it with a sip of ginger ale. A smile spread across his lips. "How did you know ginger ale is what Mama used to give me when I got like this?"
"Lucky guess?" He spooned up some chicken and dumplings, pleased that Adam agreed to let Barry feed him, even if the man only managed a few bites. Barry cleaned his own bowl and then carried them both back to the kitchen.
He checked on Adam, cuddled up with the pair of
purring Toms, and slipped down the hall to the
bathroom. After a tough day, nothing beat a good, long soak. Barry filled the tub, adjusting the temperature to
"warm but not scalding."
Returning to the living room, he snatched the drug store package from the coffee table and helped Adam into the bathroom. After lacing the water liberally with oatmeal soak, per package directions, he peeled off his lover's briefs, ignoring all protests of "I'm not helpless,"
and lowered him into the bath. Adam's sweet moans of pleasure were all the thanks Barry needed.
Next came a cup of hot ginger tea, served in the tub.
Long, angry purplish streaks, finger length and width, marred Adam's pale skin, interspersed with light patches of rosy red bumps. "The pharmacist at the drug store said the oatmeal bath helped rashes."
Lying back in the tub, eyes closed in pleasure and voice less strained than before, Adam murmured,
"You're so good to me."
"No, I'm not," Barry replied. "I don't even have a Valentine's gift for you." He pushed the bag containing the stuffed toy and fake rose behind the toilet with his foot. They seemed so inadequate now.
Fanning the Flames - 49
Adam cracked open one blue eye, appearing
surprised. "What do you mean you didn't get me anything for Valentine's Day?"
Unable to meet his lover's eyes, Barry explained, "I tried to get you flowers and found you were allergic; ditto with chocolate; and we won't even go into how painful a full body massage and salt scrub would have been tomorrow."
Barry looked up when Adam took one of his hands, lacing their fingers together. "Let me tell you something," Adam said. "You haven't met my family yet because they live so far away, not because I'm not dying to show you off." He gently stroked the back of Barry's hand with his thumb. "My oldest sister married fresh out of high school." He paused long enough for a healthy draft of tea. "After about a year, she stopped coming around. Then one day I saw her on the street and she ran." Adam closed his eyes tightly, as if in pain.
"What did she do that for?"
"I still remember it like yesterday. I chased her down and caught up with her. One of her eyes was yellow from a bruise, and hiding under her long sleeves were more bruises. I got pissed and demanded that she leave her asshole husband and come home. Know what she said to me?"
Unease squirmed to life in Barry's gut. What if that happened to Karen? His eyes narrowed. He'd beat the living shit out of Jack, that's what, even if he did like the guy. "What did she say?"
"She said she couldn't leave because he loved her, that he proved it by buying her flowers. He treats her like shit ninety percent of the time, and a lousy dozen roses every blue moon convinces her that he loves her."
For a moment Barry worried about Estelle, but no, he didn't think she'd been mistreated by her late, much
Fanning the Flames - 50
lamented husband. However, Barry wanted to go find Adam's brother-in-law. Five minutes. That's all he wanted. Five minutes. "Is she still with him?"
"Last I heard there's not one damned thing I can do about it, which sucks big time."
Barry fully understood Karen possessed a mind of her own, too.
"Thank God they didn't bring kids into that mess."
Yeah, thank God. If kids were involved, a trip to Georgia, and possible arrest for attempted murder, loomed in Barry's future. Wait! Wasn't "he needed killing" a plausible defense in the south?
Adam wasn't finished. "Then there's this lady I work with, the one I got the chocolate from 'cause I didn't have the heart to turn her down. I've only known her a few months. In that time, she's caught her husband cheating twice, and keeps taking him back 'for the kids.'
Personally, I believe she's scared to be alone and thinks she can't make it on her own. I'd also be willing the bet her husband put those fears in her head to begin with.
He sent her a measly box of chocolates, and she acted as though he's the best husband in the world, showing off the box and offering everyone a candy."
Neither spoke for a time. Barry occupied himself with a washcloth, taking great care with his lover's body, especially the sinister-looking welts. Touching like this, without it being blatantly sexual, was surprisingly intimate. He liked it. A lot.
Adam broke the silence. "Since we didn't go to dinner, I didn't get you anything, either."
"But you wanted to."
"Yes, I did. So did you. And you followed through."
"Why do you say that?"
A small, tired smile turned up the corners of Adam's lips. "I peeked into the bags you left in the living room.
Fanning the Flames - 51
Since you already have a warm coat and gloves, and green's your favorite color, am I to assume the blue coat, hat, and gloves are for me?"
"That's different. That's not a Valentine's Day gift. I got those for you because you needed them."
"And since it doesn't fit your phone and does fit mine, I'm assuming you bought me a car charger, too.
Thanks."
Barry ducked his head. "It's nothing."
"You still don't get it, do you?"
"Apparently not."
"Barry, gifts given to get what you want or to appease someone aren't true gifts. Look at all you've given me today. I'm willing to bet that the problem with my car is now fixed, and it's in your driveway. Am I right?"
How the hell did Adam know that?
"You bought me a warm coat after I almost froze to death, 'cause I'm too stubborn to admit I needed one, got me a car charger because I kept forgetting to pick one up, bought bath soak and whatever else you thought of to make me feel better, and you're not expecting anything in return, are you?"
"Just for you to get well."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you want me to get well? So you can fuck me?"
"No!" Barry drew back, horrified that Adam had even said such a thing.
"So I'll leave and go home?"
Again Barry reeled as if hit. "Oh, hell no! You can stay as long as you like! Move in, even!" His eyes went wide and he slapped a hand over his mouth. Oh, shit, he'd said too much.
Fanning the Flames - 52
Adam's hand cupped Barry's cheek. "See what I mean? You don't ask anything but for me to be a part of your life, as it should be. And you actually care how I feel. That's all the gift I ever want." He leaned up in the water, brushing his lips across Barry's nose. "We’ve never said the words, but your every action today said them louder than your mouth could. Coats, car chargers, chicken and dumplings, and warm towels. You'll have to redo that whole load, but you couldn't care less, could you?"
"No. They're not important, you are."
"My point exactly. Now, you gonna join me in here?"
Barry didn't need to be asked twice. He stripped down in record time, easing between Adam's legs, grateful that even in bachelorhood, he'd been optimistic enough to purchase a tub big enough for two.
He leaned back against his lover's no longer freezing body, sighing in contentment. For a day shot to hell and back, it might wind up on a high note.
Adam's hand lightly stroked his chest. "Did you mean that about me moving in?" His lips brushed against Barry's hair.