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Jessie stuck her tongue out. “Ew. That’s yucky.”

“Yucky? It’s the Braden special,” he teased but she didn’t look impressed. “Fine. I bought you a cheese pizza, too. Don’t think I won’t remember this, though.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Ignore me.”

They finished eating. Braden cleaned up the mess afterward and Jessie watched him like she always did. “Are you having a sleepover?” she asked.

I wish, kid.
“No. Your uncle will be home around seven thirty, so he’ll put you to bed.”

“How come you never have a sleepover? I sleep at Aunt Lydia’s.”

Hell. Why did he always get these questions? “Because I have my own house. I just like to hang out with you for a few hours on Wednesdays.”

“Don’t you want to sleep over? It would be fun.”

Yes, yes he did. He very much wanted to spend the night with Wes again.

Braden put the milk in the fridge. “I’m sure it would be, but...it just doesn’t work that way.” How the hell did he put it other than that?

“Why?”

Braden really wished he could ban that word tonight. “I’m craving ice cream. How about you?”

That easily, her questions stopped and her eyes went big. He’d have to remember to make sure Wes always had ice cream in the house.

After they had their snack, Jessie curled up with Jock on the living room chair and watched TV. She yawned about eight hundred times, and he thought about putting her to bed, but he had no clue what he needed to do to get her ready. He glanced at his cell. It was already eight. Where the hell was Wes?

Just as he went to dial, the door opened and Wes came in. “Uncle Wes!” Jock and Jessie both jumped off the chair and ran to greet him.

Braden watched Wes’s tired eyes brighten as he hugged the little girl. It didn’t change the bags he had there, or the slump of his body. He was obviously tired as hell.

“We had pizza and ice cream!” Jessie told Wes, who looked at Braden over her head.

“Oh, did you?”

“Is that a bad thing?” Braden asked.

Wes shook his head. “Nah. It’s okay to treat her sometimes.” Even his voice sounded lower and more exhausted than usual.

Jessie yawned and Wes picked her up. “Let’s get you to bed.” He caught Braden’s eyes. “Sorry I’m late. I—”

“Get her to sleep. I’ll hang around and we can talk when you’re done.”

Wes nodded and disappeared down the hall. Damn, he respected the hell out of the man for everything he did. And he wished there was more he could do to help. It hadn’t started this way, but he really did consider Wes a friend. He enjoyed his company, and for the first time in his life, outside of work, he was doing more than just going out to get laid or have fun. He felt like what he did mattered, even if it was just to a curly-haired little girl and her uncle, who Braden liked to see smile.

***

A
fter Wes got Jessie into bed, he went to his room and changed out of his scrubs and into a pair of sweatpants and a shirt. His stomach growled and his bed called his name, but he knew that if he lay down, he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. His mind didn’t want to shut down lately, picking night to run wild.

When he made it back to the living room, Braden sat at the table in front of three pizza boxes. “Hungry?” he asked.

“Jessie wanted cheese. I didn’t know what you liked, so I figured I’d be safe with pepperoni. And then I needed mine, too.”

Wes opened one of the boxes and set a few pieces on a plate. “You didn’t have to get a whole cheese pizza for her, or a whole one for me. Let me know how much it was and I’ll pay you back.”

“Nah. It’s not a big deal.”

Wes sighed. “Yes, it is.”

“Then I guess you’ll have to buy next time.”

Wes wasn’t in the mood to argue, so he went over and sat on the couch.

“I was told we aren’t allowed to eat dinner in the living room. I might have to tell on you.”

A laugh sat on the sidelines but he didn’t have the energy to get it out. “Don’t go getting me in trouble.”

They were mostly quiet while Wes ate. He wondered why Braden stayed, but then realized he didn’t mind the company and didn’t mention it. When he finished eating he set the plate down and tossed a crust to Jock, who caught it. “I am so fucking tired.” He dropped his head back and closed his eyes. “We lost the patient. It was a MVA. I always...” He sighed, knowing he wouldn’t finish that statement. Motor vehicle accidents were tough for him, especially when they lost the patient. He always pictured his mom.

“Anyway, I ran a few minutes late from that, and then someone needed a ride home and they were a little out of the way. Sorry again for being late. I owe you one.” He owed him more than that if he would admit it.

“Do you want me to go so you can get some sleep?”

Wes opened his eyes, rolling his head to the side so he could still lean back against the couch but could see Braden, too. He had his leg pulled up, his ankle resting on a knee. He had on a long-sleeved shirt, but like most of what he wore, it was pulled taut across the hard planes of his body. His dark hair looked like he’d run his hand through it over and over; Wes realized it pretty much always looked like that. He hadn’t had his hands in that hair enough the night they spent together.

“I’m tired as hell but can’t seem to relax enough to go to sleep. I toss and turn half the night.” He shut up there and hoped Braden wouldn’t ask why. Wouldn’t pry into things Wes would rather not talk about.

And thankfully, Braden didn’t ask. He just looked at Wes with an expression in his eyes that Wes didn’t understand. No, that was a lie. He knew what it was. Lust.

Braden stood, walked over, and sat on the coffee table in front of him. Arguments and words teased his tongue but he didn’t let any of them out, just continued to lean against the couch and look at Braden.

“When was the last time you’ve done anything for yourself? The last time someone has done something for you?” Braden didn’t move closer as he waited for Wes to answer.

“Why? What does that have to do with anything?”

“You work extra hours when you’re exhausted to help someone else out. You give someone a ride when we both know you just wanted to be home. And that’s just what I know about from today. What do you do for you? What do you let someone else do for you?”

Plenty of people in his life had made sacrifices for him—Chelle, Lydia, his mom. “Don’t try and make a hero out of me. And you watched my niece for me tonight. You watch her every week, so I could say the same thing to you. You do something for me every week.”

Braden shook his head. “Nah. I don’t do that for you. Jessie’s cool to hang out with and you’re nice to look at. I’m here for me.”

The air in the room thickened. Wes’s body began to overheat. He wanted to feel something, something besides worry and stress and fear.

And Braden was more than just nice to look at. He had a dimple below his mouth that Wes suddenly wanted to taste. Wanted to put his hand in the hair he’d been admiring and fist it tightly there.

“I want you.” Braden pushed toward the edge of the table.

“I have nothing to give right now.”
I never do...
When Alexander walked out on him, when he hadn’t been enough, he’d decided he’d never try to be again.

“I’m not asking you for anything. Well, except for you to let me get on my knees and blow you.” He went down to the floor between Wes’s legs and reached for his sweats.

Wes’s hand shot out, wrapping around Braden’s wrist. “Not here.” His voice sounded gravelly, even to his own ears. “Not where Jessie could come out.” Because no wasn’t even a possibility. How could he turn this down? Braden had fucked him before. He’d almost been with Noah. Sex was just sex, and he was tired of fighting it. It had been different when Chelle was still alive. Different right after. But damned if he didn’t need this right now.

“Hell yes.” Braden stood and Wes was right behind him. He followed Braden to his bedroom, closing and locking the door behind them. As soon as the lock clicked into place, Braden went back to his knees again. “Jesus, it’s been killing me not to have my mouth on you.”

He put his forearm against Wes’s stomach and pushed him backward, against the door. “I didn’t get to suck your cock last time. I’m warning you right now, I’m good at this.” He looked up at Wes and winked.

Wes shook his head but his lips still pulled into a smile. He grabbed a hold of Braden’s dark hair and tightened his fingers in it. “You’re the only man I know who still talks shit when he’s about to have sex.”

“Then you’ve been with the wrong kind of men.”

“Prove it.”

With eager hands, Braden shoved Wes’s sweats down his legs. His dick ached as it sprung free, wanting nothing but the heat of Braden’s mouth to envelope it. But he didn’t take him deep right away. Braden’s tongue started at the base of his erection, right above his balls, before he dragged his mouth upward, not stopping until his tongue circled Wes’s head.

“Fuck.” Wes squeezed his hand tighter in Braden’s hair.

“I love the taste of cock.” Braden licked his shaft again. “The hardness against my tongue but that soft, tender skin as well.” He sucked Wes’s balls into his mouth. “The saltiness of not just your flesh, but the reward I get, too.” He tongued Wes’s hole and the pre-come there. He buried his face in Wes’s crotch. “The scent and the feel of rough hair against my face.”

His cock jerked, and Braden snickered. The deep burn and tingle already pulled at him. “Then do it. Suck me,” Wes gritted out.

“Why don’t you make me?” Braden leisurely licked up his shaft again. “And don’t go easy on me. It just pisses me off.”

Wes didn’t need another prompt. Braden opened his mouth and Wes thrust forward. He didn’t shove his way completely into Braden’s mouth, but
fuck,
if he didn’t need to.

Braden sucked him, letting Wes control the pace, pumping in and out as he pleased. Soon Braden’s hands were there, grabbing his ass and pushing, taking more of Wes’s aching, hungry dick into his throat.

The need to come tied him in knots, but he wanted this to fucking last, too. He pulled out and Braden took the hint, lavishing his sac with more attention—licks, sucks, and then just shoving his face close and inhaling. Wes fucking loved that inhale.

Braden’s voice was scratchy, full of sex when he said, “Spread your legs.”

Wes did, and then Braden’s hands were gone. He spit on one of his fingers before he found Wes’s asshole. “I wish I could see that tight ring of yours, but I don’t want to lose this, either.” With that he took Wes’s cock deep again, sucking him off. His finger rubbed Wes’s hole. Each time he brushed over it, a tremor shook Wes’s insides.

“Jerk me off, and push you finger inside me, too—fuck yes,” he groaned when Braden fingered his hole. Braden’s other hand worked with his mouth, making Wes’s dick beg to explode.

That deep burn and tingle shot toward the surface, making it harder and harder for Wes to hold it off. When Braden’s finger shoved deeper, rubbed against his prostate, he couldn’t have held off if he wanted to. The orgasm bulldozed him as pulse after pulse filled Braden’s mouth. He didn’t stop sucking, or fingering, and Wes shot again before his whole body went limp like a noodle. Well, everything except his cock, that was still half-hard despite the monster orgasm. Wes let the door hold him up, deep breaths making his chest heave in and out.

“God, I love sucking dick,” Braden said.

“And you proved you are really fucking good at it.” Suddenly, he wanted his mouth on Braden, too. Wanted to feel the man’s rod against his tongue.

“We have to be quiet and you can’t stay long.” He grabbed Braden and pulled him to his feet, but Braden shook his head.

“I have a hand that works just fine. Tonight was just for you. Relax. Get some sleep. You deserve it.”

Stay
lingered on his tongue but he didn’t let the word free, for the first time easily accepting the gift that was given to him. Braden nodded his head to the side, telling Wes to move from in front of the door. He did, but when Braden’s hand wrapped around the knob, Wes grabbed him, pulled Braden to him, and owned his mouth. He tasted himself on Braden’s tongue as he sucked it, as he explored every part of his mouth before pulling away.

Braden smiled. “Good night. And have I told you I like this?” He fingered the hair on Wes’s chin but didn’t wait for a reply.

Braden got the door pulled open before Wes said, “Happy Thanksgiving...For tomorrow.” It was a random comment, but he’d needed to say something.

Braden nodded. “You’ll do great. You guys will have a good time. Get some sleep. I’ll lock up.”

And then Braden Roth was gone.

––––––––

B
raden had to leave his house at eight thirty the next morning to make it to his parents’ place by ten. They wouldn’t eat Thanksgiving dinner until about three, but he didn’t make it home as often as he should, so when he did go, he went early.

He climbed out of his truck, taking in the two acres of land around the place he’d grown up. Living in Blackcreek was the closest he’d lived to their house since he left it at eighteen.

Not because he wanted away from them, or not because they weren’t close, but there was a whole lot of world out there to see. But it was still beautiful out here. He’d always remembered how gorgeous it was every time he came home.

Braden pushed open the heavy, wooden door to the house his parents had designed and built just as his mom walked by. Her blue eyes lit up. “Look who it is! My favorite son decided to come see me!”

She wrapped her thin arms around him, and Braden hugged her back as his brother Evan said, “Nice, Mom.”

Evan smiled at Braden and embraced him when he parted from their mom. “She can’t help it that she’s smart.” He patted Evan on the back. The truth was, Evan and their mom were very close...and exactly alike. “Are you two going at it again?” Braden asked.

“Yeah. I forgot she’s always right.” Evan rolled his eyes at their mom, Emmy, who hugged him.

“Oh, my boy is back. I missed my favorite son.”

“Hey!” Braden pretended to try and pull them apart before the three of them started laughing.