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 Right. Yes. Good idea.
He slunk into the kitchen and stared at the take-out containers. His appetite
dwindled as he considered eating the meal by himself. Eating separately wasn t unusual
for them. Between Luke s intramural sports, and the conflicting demands of Trevor s
store and his business, they didn t have a great track record of eating together as a
couple. But he had never felt the lack more keenly. It was like he lived in this house by
himself, like both son and husband had moved out. His husband seemed happier not
seeing him as much as he used to in the early days. Was content with their vanilla, old-
married-couple, once-a-week sex. Didn t want Derrick to touch him any other time.
Derrick had known from the beginning they were very different people, but
those differences had always fascinated him. Problem was, he thought their sexual
styles had been in sync. He d thought they were both after the same thing, in life and in
their relationship. Was he wrong? Had he been too busy to notice there was something
wrong with their relationship?
Opening the nearest container, the scent of curry wafting out so appealing
a few minutes ago made him nauseated. He dumped the lot into the trash, took a
sleeping pill and headed to bed. A good night s sleep would help, right? Tomorrow he d
come up with a plan. Figure out how to fix this.
* * *
The credits rolled and Trevor realized Derrick had never come back into the den.
Trevor didn t like anyone eating anywhere besides the kitchen even though most of
the furniture in the house wasn t antique, he had spent a lot of time making the house
into an attractive, inviting place. None of the furniture was cheap and there was no point
in needlessly ruining it. But he d expected Derrick to at least return after eating and
cuddle on the couch with him, maybe watch a movie.
Stretching out his legs shifted his damned raw skin against fabric and he bit
his lip against a howl. How the fuck did anyone do this on a regular basis? He stood
and shook the folds out of his pajamas.
 Derrick, hon?
When no answer came, he wandered into the kitchen. Strangely, there
wasn t a trace of Derrick or his dinner. His husband was good about a lot of things but
dishes wasn t one of them. The rich smell of curry still filled the kitchen. Maybe he could
sneak a piece of naan. Surely that wouldn t derail his diet too much.
Head stuck in the open fridge, Trevor couldn t see any containers from The
Palace. Derrick couldn t have eaten all of it, could he? Surely not. He d bought enough
for both of them. A cursory look around the kitchen didn t solve the mystery, not until he
spied the propped-up lid of the trash can. Lifting the lid revealed the take-out containers
smashed in, so they d fit. Food wasn t supposed to be disposed of in the trash anyway
& should be dumped in the green bin for organic waste at the very least. But he didn t
understand why Derrick had thrown it all out without even opening any of the containers.
Derrick loved The Palace and so did he.
 Derrick? What s going on? he called out. Still no answer. He shouldn t
have snapped at Derrick. The suggestion about hiring someone to do yard work made
him wonder if Derrick thought he was too old, too decrepit, to take care of the house.
Especially after everything else. Even if that s what Derrick thought, biting his head off
for caring about Trevor s well-being wasn t right.
Looking through the house, he discovered Derrick in bed and already
asleep. Trevor stood in the doorway, just staring. The fine bones of Derrick s face were
so familiar. Those sharp cheekbones had been the reason Trevor had looked twice.
The equally sharp hip bones had drawn his tongue the first time they d had sex& and
every time thereafter. Derrick s wild brown hair was perfect to slide fingers in, perfect to
grip when guiding Derrick s mouth to his dick. But it was Derrick s enthusiasm, his
optimism and his razor-sharp brains that made Trevor love him. He knew he d always
love Derrick no matter what& Why was he having so much trouble believing Derrick felt
the same about him?
Trevor s cock twitched, but he ignored it, willed it to stop paying such close
attention to the naked sylph in his bed. His prick didn t hurt, but jerking off would require
more movement than his abused skin could handle.
Poor man had been working such long hours. The few times their schedules
had coincided, Derrick had several sarcastic, uncomplimentary comments about his
new client. They hadn t even been able to work their regular Saturday night sex date
into their schedule since Luke moved out. Trevor wondered if Derrick had been
avoiding him, but given his attention this afternoon, maybe not. Trevor was tired, too,
and he d never been more thankful than he was now that his store had never been
open on Mondays or Tuesdays. He wasn t looking forward to working the next day, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]