A heat came over Dylan's cheeks. "He's still in bed."
"Oh, you guys are living in sin. I love it!"
"It's not like we can legally get married or anything," Dylan grumbled as he stirred the eggs.
Becca came over and hip bumped him away from the stove. "You go wake up your stud muffin so I can meet him. I'll finish breakfast."
Dylan hesitated only a moment before going off like an obedient puppy. He knew better than anyone not to deny Becca something once she set her mind to it. She had the tenacity of a pit-bull at times. He went into the bedroom and climbed onto the bed.
Kaleb still slept and he looked damn good, his blond hair slightly sleep mussed and the sheet barely covering his hips. Dylan would have loved nothing more than to pull back the covers and spend the rest of the morning playing around, but he had other issues to deal with. So he settled for lightly shaking Kaleb's shoulder.
"Hey, babe, I need you to wake up," he said in a low, soothing voice.
"Why, you want me to fuck you again?" Kaleb smiled, but didn't open his eyes.
"Not quite. There's someone here I need you to meet," Dylan hedged, praying that Kaleb would take the news well.
He didn't know what he'd do if Kaleb refused to take Becca in. While Dylan loved Kaleb more than anything, Becca was important, too. Dylan didn't even want to contemplate having to choose between the two of them. His prolonged silence must have clued Kaleb in that something was wrong because he sat up and looked at Dylan.
"What is it?" Kaleb asked as he rubbed a comforting hand over Dylan's shoulder.
"It's my sister, Becca. She needs your help. Or maybe I should say
we
both do."
Chapter Four
Kaleb's heart galloped in concern as he watched Dylan fidget with his fingers while his teeth worked his bottom lip. Dylan only did that when something had him really worked up. He hadn't acted this itchy even last night, so having Becca show up unexpectedly must have really tied the guy into knots.
"Whatever it is you need, all you have to do is ask," Kaleb rushed out, desperate to relieve the tension.
"Dad kicked her out and she doesn't have any place to go." Dylan continued to twist his fingers.
Unable to watch any longer, Kaleb reached out and stopped him. "She can stay with us."
Dylan's eyes grew soft with emotion. "Are you sure? I know it's a lot to ask."
"I don't mind at all." Kaleb didn't either. If Dylan needed him, then Kaleb would do anything in his power to be there.
"Why don't you come out and meet her?" Dylan suggested, his face alight with excitement.
"Okay, just let me get dressed first. I don't think being nude would make a good first impression."
"Oh, I don't know about that. I happen to think you look fantastic in the buff," Dylan teased with a lopsided grin.
Kaleb gave him a quick kiss before shoving him on the chest. "Go, I'll be right out."
Dylan gave him one last smile before he hopped off the bed and left. Kaleb quickly got dressed in a pair of sweats and Flint Fire t-shirt before he went out to meet their new houseguest.
As he approached the kitchen, he could hear the low conversation between the pair, the exchange punctuated by Dylan's soft laughter. The smells of cooking reached him, making his stomach grumble as it reminded him that they'd skipped dinner the night before.
He walked into the kitchen and smiled at the sight that greeted him. Dylan and his sister were huddled in front of the stove. She stood around the same height as her brother and had the same dark hair as Dylan and Lucas. She had hers pulled back into a sloppy ponytail.
"Hey," Kaleb said as he went over and helped himself to a cup of coffee.
Becca turned, her mouth opening in shock. "Oh…my…gosh, Dylan didn't say you were such a hot piece of man meat."
Kaleb felt a blush come over his face.
Dylan sputtered, "Shit, Becca. Couldn't you just go with hello or nice to meet you?"
She nodded. "Okay, nice to meet you, Mr. Stud, who is banging my brother."
Kaleb had made the mistake of taking a drink and when her words hit him, he sucked in a breath of shock. That resulted in him choking so hard tears came to his eyes. Dylan rushed over and rubbed Kaleb on the back as he nearly coughed up a lung.
"Sorry, she tends to speak first and think second," Dylan offered once Kaleb caught his breath.
"Then Matt and her should get along perfectly," Kaleb replied.
Becca's nose wrinkled in confusion, the gesture reminiscent of Dylan. "Who's Matt?"
"The stud who's banging your other brother," Kaleb offered, deciding to shove some of her own medicine back at her.
She let out a soft sound of surprise, while Dylan covered his eyes with one hand and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like the Serenity Prayer.
Then Becca let loose a peal of laughter. "I'm going to like you." She gave him a playful shove toward the table. "Sit, I'll have breakfast finished in a second."
"She's a much better cook than me, too," Dylan offered as he took the chair opposite of Kaleb.
"As much as I love you, Dylan, that doesn't say much." There was a good reason they lived on take-out when it was Dylan's turn to make dinner.
"Still?" Becca gave a mock shake of her head. "I would have thought you'd have learned by now. Did you know that Dylan was the only kid in our family that couldn't even master s'mores? He always burnt his marshmallows to ash."
Dylan laughed. "Yeah, but Terry would always give me his." Just as soon all the good humor left the room as the siblings frowned. The name sounded familiar to Kaleb, so he scrambled his mind until he came up with where he'd heard it before. "Terry is the oldest in your family. Right?"
"Yeah," Becca turned off the burner, then started to plate the eggs.
"How many kids did your parents have?" Kaleb felt bad that he already didn't know all this, but until then Dylan hardly spoke of his life before Flint.
"Six," Dylan replied, "Terry, Lonnie, Lucas, Saddie, me and then Becca."
"That must have been interesting at times."
"Let me, guess. You were an only child," Becca surmised as she carried over the plates, then joined them at the table.
"Kaleb was one of those trust fund babies who was raised by nannies and stuff," Dylan informed her.
"I wouldn't exactly call an elder babysitter a nanny and the only trust fund I had was a small inheritance I received from my grandfather. Dylan just loves to tease me," Kaleb said.
When Becca pointedly glanced around the rundown kitchen, Kaleb added, "We're not exactly close, so I told my parents to keep the money."
"Is it because you're gay?" Her gaze softened with understanding.
Kaleb shrugged. "That may have been part of it. I think the biggest thing was that I chose to become a firefighter instead of a lawyer or something more to the social standards they always yearned for themselves."
"That's stupid," Becca scoffed. "Everyone needs firefighters. Rich houses burn down, too."
Kaleb smiled at her simplistic, yet endearing logic. He could see why Dylan doted on her so much and talked highly of her. Then she had to blow his admiration with her next question.
"Which one of you two is the bottom and who's the top?"
Dylan choked on his food for a second, while Kaleb found himself stunned into silence. Becca for her part, just sat there, the perfect picture of innocence. She even blinked her baby-blues a few times while she waited for her answer.
"Sheez, Becca. That's none of your damn business," Dylan finally managed to gasp out.
"Why not? I'm just curious. Not that I judge you or anything, Dylan. I love you just the same whether you're gay or straight. Although, I'm a bit jealous that you managed to land someone as hot as Kaleb."
"You have a boyfriend of your own," Dylan pointed out.
"Yeah, and I really do love him. I can't wait until he saves up enough money to move up to Flint, too. He's just not a smoking, hot fireman."
Dylan lowered his face into his hands and this time, Kaleb was certain he was reciting the Serenity Prayer. Kaleb didn't know whether to laugh or get offended by Becca's comments. One thing was clear though, she didn't share the same shy steak that plagued Dylan and Lucas. Speaking of which…
"Have you called Lucas yet?" Kaleb asked. Maybe if he came over, he could help Dylan work some damage control until Becca got settled in.
"No, he worked a double last night," Dylan replied.
Which meant that he no doubt just got home a couple hours ago and wouldn't be awake for a while. Great, by then she'd probably be demanding a demonstration of their favorite sexual positions.
"That's okay," Becca shrugged. "That will give Dylan and me all day to get caught up."
"Not really. I have to go into work in just a few hours," Dylan said apologetically.
Her face fell. "Oh, well how about tomorrow then?"
"I have a shift then, too."
"But that's Christmas Eve," she protested.
"It doesn't matter when you're low seniority. I have to work on the twenty-fifth, as well. All of them will be long shifts, too."
"That's not right." She slapped her palm down on the table. "Nobody should have to work on Christmas!"
"People still get sick on holidays," Dylan explained patiently.
"So, you have to miss out on all the fun? Is that why you two don't have any decorations up?" she demanded.
Kaleb and Dylan exchanged looks of surprise. It had never occurred to Kaleb to decorate because he'd never celebrated the holidays before. Since there hadn't been a family to go home to, Kaleb had always volunteered to work, so the guys with kids could get the time off. Something he hadn't considered changing until just then. The sole reason he wasn't working both days was because of the damn budget cuts. As a result, he only had to work at the fire station for Christmas Eve.
Guilt slammed into Kaleb. No wonder Dylan was acting the part of the Grinch …he'd been living with Scrooge. This holiday season marked the first one since Dylan left home…what's more, it marked the first one they were celebrating as a couple. Both were reasons why Kaleb should have been going out of his way to make sure everything was perfect.
Dylan waved a dismissive hand at his sister. "What's the big deal? It's not like I'm going to be here to enjoy a tree or anything."
Becca slowly shook her head. "But you used to always love putting the lights and ornaments on the tree."
"That was a long time ago." Dylan got up and scraped his plate into the garbage. "While I'm at work today, why don't you take my credit card and buy yourself some clothes?"
"Okay," she replied absently. Her brow furrowed in concern as she studied Dylan.
"I'll have Kaleb drop me off at work, so you can use my car. The mall is only a few blocks from here. Not even you could get lost on the way there." He gave a weak smile before he left the kitchen.
Kaleb and Becca sat in uneasy silence. She pushed her eggs around on her plate while he continued to battle feelings of guilt for letting Dylan down. He finally asked, "He really liked the holidays that much?"
"Yeah, after we got the tree all decorated, we used to lie down underneath it so we could look up through the branches. It was something just he, Lucas and I did, but we made sure to follow that tradition every single year. Terry used to love to tease us about it."
He smiled as a visual came to his mind of Dylan lying on his back, his head stuck underneath the tree. Yeah, it seemed like something his guy would do. Then just a quickly, another sensation of sadness came over Kaleb as he realized how much Dylan had lost in the past year.
"I know what your father did to Dylan and I just don't mean kicking him out," he told her.
Tears filled Becca's eyes. "It was so horrible. Even though I was in another room, I could still hear everything. I tried to run to Dylan and help him, but Terry held me back and wouldn't let me go."
"Why didn't you try to contact him after?" Kaleb pressed.
"Dad took away my cell phone and computer. It wasn't until I turned eighteen last month that I finally gathered the courage to rebel against him."
Kaleb couldn't hold in his sound of disbelief. "Even after everything he did to Lucas and Dylan?"
"I know it sounds stupid now, but you don't understand how things worked in our house. Our dad ruled our family and we were always taught to obey without question. We were to go to church on Sundays and Wednesdays, get good grades and respect our elders."
The practiced way she said the last sentence let him know it was phrase she'd been forced to recite numerous times before. His gut turned at the thought of someone as free-spirited as Dylan being raised in such a strict household.
"Did your father abuse all of you like he did Dylan?" Kaleb asked, pushing his breakfast away. The discussion ruined his appetite.
"No, he just used the paddle on our rumps when we got out of hand."
Even though that comment came out dismissively, it still took a while for Kaleb to realize that she actually didn't think it a big deal. "As in, he hit you with a piece of wood?"
"Yeah, all the parents from our church and private school did it to their kids. Mary Jilliks and I used to compare the bruises on our butts."
"You shared them, like they were no big deal?" Kaleb's outrage echoed through the kitchen.
"What's the issue? We went to the privacy of the bathroom first. It's not like we lifted our skirts in the middle of biology class or something." She rolled her eyes.
"That's not what I mean. What has me appalled is that any parent would ever discipline their children so harshly that marks were left behind," Kaleb explained.
She paused for a second as if considering his words. "I guess you may have a point."
Kaleb swallowed hard before asking the next question, "Did Dylan get paddled a lot as a kid?"