Read Nobody's Son for Free Online

how bad you got bit?”
    Con finished wiping off that hand and held it out. Blood seeped from a ragged cut, not deep but long, running along the base of Con’s thumb and down the side of his wrist. “Ouch,” Shaun pronounced as he laid the kit on the side of the sink and flicked open the lid. “That’s gonna take more than one Band-Aid. Let me see if there’s some gauze and tape in here.”
    “It hardly hurts anymore.” Con dabbed at the blood with the wad of paper towels. “I just don’t want to bleed all over the place while I’m working.”
    Shaun found a gauze pad, a spool of medical tape, and a tiny sachet of antibiotic cream. He gave Con a small smile. “Time for surgery, sir.”
    Con chuckled as he held his arm out. Shaun applied the cream and then the gauze, nodding for Con to hold it in place as Shaun added the tape. It wasn’t the prettiest bandaging job ever, but Shaun figured it would hold up long enough for the bleeding to stop, at least.
    “There. All done.” Shaun looked up to find Con’s gaze intent on him. Shaun cleared his throat, suddenly nervous. “I’ll send you my bill.”
    “I’ll pay up now.” Con brought his uninjured hand up to wrap around the side of Shaun’s neck, thumb under his chin, tilting Shaun’s face up to make it easier for Con to kiss him.
    This kiss was everything their first kiss wasn’t: soft, gentle, almost hesitant. The sweetness of it nearly took Shaun’s knees out from under him.
    The one thing it did have in common with their first kiss: it was over much too soon. Con pulled back but not away.
    “Why don’t you come by for a drink after work?” Con murmured. “Just one, ’cause I know you have to drive home.”
    A shiver ran through Shaun at the heat in Con’s voice. “Gotta go. Gran’s waiting for me.”
    He winced as he realized what he’d said. Yes, I’m a loser who lives in my grandmother’s basement. But Con just flashed a smile.
    “That’s cool of you, looking after her like that.” He shifted his whole body closer somehow, without moving his feet. “Family’s important to you?”
    “Pretty much the only family I’ve got.” The words came out sounding so raw that he chuckled to cover the depth of emotion. “So I gotta keep an eye on her,” he said in a light tone. “Rain check?”
    Con studied him for a moment and then stepped away. “I’m gonna hold you to that,” he murmured.
    That’s not all I’d like you to hold. Shaun nodded and stepped toward the door. “See you later this week, I guess?”
    Con smiled, slow and easy. “I’ll be here.”
    That smile followed Shaun into his car and all the way back home.
     
     
    THE BASEMENT where Shaun’s room was—the “terrace level,” as they jokingly called it—was less than half the size of the house above, which sat on a lot that sloped down at one side. The basement was built out from the side of the hill so that from one side, the house looked like it had two stories instead of one. Even with the limited space and the need to leave a laundry room and some storage, there’d been room for a decently sized bedroom and bathroom for Shaun. He had a closet that spanned almost the length of an entire wall, room for not only a queen-sized bed and a wide dresser but also a desk in one corner and the fridge and microwave next to the bathroom door. And since it wasn’t a true basement, he even had windows and a private entrance.
    He’d loved the room from the day it was ready. He’d lived there from late in his senior year of high school through his junior year of college, and he’d moved back as soon as he was finished with his last finals. He didn’t care that the distance from the house meant a long commute to work. It was home.
    It was where his mom had lived, and he never wanted to leave her.
     
     
    “SHAUN ROGERS, you get your skinny butt in here!”
    For once, ten-year-old Shaun had no idea what had made his mama mad. He’d been good: doing his homework and