Making His List (Naughty or Nice)

Read Making His List (Naughty or Nice) for Free Online

Book: Read Making His List (Naughty or Nice) for Free Online
Authors: Devon Rhodes
Tags: 2010 Advent Calendar
moment. Cory walked into the shower, almost feeling the caress of Ken’s gaze on his ass.
    It was a ridiculously large walk-in shower, so large it didn’t even have a door or curtain since the heads were so far back in the tiled area. He turned on the water to his usual setting and stood shivering while it warmed up. But it didn’t seem to be getting there. So he bravely stepped under the spray—or attempted to. He inched it warmer and warmer, and the shower still felt shockingly cool against his skin. Giving in and rinsing off anyway, he could feel his strength slipping away and sat on the tiled bench while he worked the shampoo into his hair.
    “Are you okay in there?” Ken peeked around the corner, eyes purposely on the floor.
    “Fine, almost done.” He stood to rinse off and swayed as his peripheral vision began to go dark.
    “Crap.” Strong arms were suddenly there, holding him up, a large hand running through his hair as he was held under the streaming water.
    The water turned off, and the ensuing silence was deafening. “Okay, good enough. C’mon, babe. Let’s dry you off.” Ken’s voice echoed and reverberated through him as reality began to slip away.
    His knees buckled, and the next he knew, he was laying on the shower floor with a towel being rubbed briskly over him.
    “There you are. Here, let’s get you back in bed while you can still help me. You’re no lightweight.”  Cory felt his eyebrow go up and Ken laughed in response. “Up and at ’em.”
    He was manhandled to his feet and force-marched along into the bedroom, shivering helplessly in the comparative cool of the bedroom. “Can you sit up for a sec?” Ken held out his hands as if to make him stay in place while he backed away.
    Cory propped his elbows in his knees and hung there until Ken returned. A towel over his hair, clean pajama bottoms, and a couple pills with water followed in rapid, efficient succession.
    “You make a good nurse,” he teased tiredly.
    Ken chuckled, and Cory got the impression he was seeing a whole different side of him, almost as if he was a stranger. At that thought, he looked up and was reassured to see the same familiar sky blue eyes he’d gotten to know.
    “If I was a good nurse, I’d’ve changed the sheets while you were in there, and gotten you out of the shower before you passed out on the floor.”
    “Why are you so okay with all this?”
    “With what?”
    Cory waved his hand aimlessly as he lay back against the pillow, and Ken covered him up. “All this with Bailey and now me. I didn’t see you as the nurturing type.”
    Ken’s eyes dropped. “What type did you think I was?”
    The charged silence between them was more than Cory could deal with right then, and he could feel himself withdrawing. Apparently, Ken sensed it, too, because he stood and gave Cory one last indecipherable look before he left the room without a word.
    As the door closed behind him, Cory’s eyes drifted shut. He felt as though he was missing something important, but then the fatigue finally overcame him, and everything ceased to matter.
     
     
    H EART aching, Ken headed downstairs to the welcome distraction of Bailey and her excitement over the letter to Santa. While he coached as she addressed the envelope, he reflected on what Cory had asked him earlier about taking this all in stride. It wasn’t like Ken had a lot of practical experience with kids. He’d been an only child to older parents growing up—a surprise baby when they were well into their forties.
    The caring for ill and incapable people part was something he knew well, however, having lost both of his parents after protracted illnesses. Not much fazed him after the nightmare of home hospice twice around. And he found there was an orphaned part of him that craved and enjoyed being a part of a family again, even peripherally and in less than fun circumstances. Mostly, he was just tired of being alone. But it was hard for him to put himself out there.

Similar Books

A to Z Mysteries: The Deadly Dungeon

Ron Roy and John Steven Gurney

Colter's Revenge

Jan Springer

Revolution World

Katy Stauber

Shadow Rising

Kendra Leigh Castle

Menu for Romance

Kaye Dacus