I picked Isaac up from work on Friday afternoon, looking forward to the weekend. He talked of his day, asked me about mine and we agreed on a quiet night, a nice dinner and some wine. We were almost home when he remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot. I spoke to Hannah today. She called during my lunch hour. We're having lunch at home on Saturday."
"Okay. Sounds good."
"And I invited Josh."
Fuck.
"Is that okay?" he asked.
No, it's fucking not. "Yeah, of course."
"Sure? Because you hesitated…"
I didn't want to ruin our Friday night, so I came up with, "Of course I'm sure. Just thinking of ways I can dazzle him with my cookout skills."
Isaac shook his head at me. "You mean dazzle him with your ability to turn any kind of meat product into a carcinogenic bio-hazard."
I gaped and laughed at the same time. "I'm deeply offended!"
Isaac smiled. "Is that so?"
"Yes! I think that comment is going to cost you."
He was grinning now. "Cost me what?"
"A definite taste test."
"Hmm," he hummed with a nod. "If you insist."
"Oh, I insist." I pulled into the drive and waited impatiently for the automatic roller door to open. My groin was starting to ache at the thought of this impending taste test. I rolled the Jeep into the garage, turned off the ignition and jumped out.
Isaac laughed. "Impatient for something are we?"
Opening the back door, I leaned over the back seat to undo Brady's harness. "You started it."
Isaac licked his lips deliberately. "Don't know what you mean."
As soon as the harness was undone, Brady jumped out. "Good boy," I said to the dog. "Go find Missy. Daddy's gonna be busy for a little while."
Isaac's laugh died when I took his hand, followed Brady in through the access door and headed straight for the bedroom. I wasted no time in undoing my workpants. "You really shouldn't talk about tasting me when I'm driving."
Isaac's hand slipped under the elastic of my briefs and his fingers wrapped around me. I pushed my pants down over my hips and they slid down my thighs, and he kissed me as he used both hands to push my briefs down too.
"On the bed," I panted. "I want to taste you too."
Not a moment later, we were both on the bed, lying on our sides in a sixty-nine position with our pants around our thighs, our shoes still on. I slipped my arms around his hips, bringing him closer, so I could take him deeper.
Isaac's hands were everywhere. He knew my body better than I did. His fingertips had every inch of me mapped out, committed to memory. He knew exactly where a light trace of a finger would make me shiver. He knew where his blunt fingers pressed harder in my skin would make me groan. His lack of sight meant his knowledge of my body was purely tactile.
Like always, he kissed the star tattooed on my hip, as though he'd seen it with his very eyes and not just had me show him where it was. His fingers touched, caressed and probed and when he took the length of me in his mouth, his throat, my eyes rolled and I groaned around his shaft.
It felt so good. So, so fucking good.
Ignoring the beautiful tightening in my balls, I concentrated on him.
I loved the taste of him. I loved having him in my mouth, having him thrust gently into my throat. I loved how he moaned at my touch, my tongue.
But then he sucked deeper, pumped me harder, moaned louder. I pulled off his cock, crying out as I came, trying not to thrust too deep. He tightened his hold on me, took what I gave him, as I spilled down his throat.
Before the room had stopped spinning, before the haze in my mind was gone, he was back in my mouth, thrusting, swelling, coming. He groaned and writhed as I drank him down, and shuddered when I licked him clean.
"Mmm," he mumbled, rolling onto his back.
"Mmm, indeed," I agreed. I took his spent dick in my hand and gave him a pump and a squeeze. He convulsed, and I chuckled. "More taste testing later tonight, I think."
"Maybe we can get fully undressed next time."
I cupped his balls and probed my index finger down his perineum, making him squirm. "I think so too."
And after a swim, some dinner and some lounging on the sofa, we made our way to bed. Only this time when we made love, when I was buried inside him, his legs were wrapped around me, and I was slowly rocking my hips, thrusting gently into him, making love to him. He sucked in a shaky breath.
"Baby, you okay?"
He nodded, and then he whispered, "I wish I could see your face when you come."
Resting my weight on one elbow, I took his hand and put it to my face. It was his way of 'seeing' me. He traced his fingers across my eyebrows, my cheeks, my jaw. He slid his thumb along my bottom lip, edging it into my mouth.
Isaac brought his other hand to my face and kept them there, feeling my face, seeing me, until I came. He pulled me against him and kept me there, wrapping his arms around me. When I suggested I get up to clean us, he tightened his hold on me and shook his head.
"Stay."
Lunch with Hannah and Carlos was always funny. Isaac was sitting at the kitchen counter, holding little Ada, while Hannah and I finished getting lunch ready in the kitchen. Carlos was channel-flipping on the TV, searching for something sports related.
Hannah was telling us all about the most disgusting dirty diaper Ada had done to date, how it seeped up her back, into her hair and even down to her socks.
"Ew," Carlos groaned from the sofa. "It was so gross."
I laughed. "Yeah, this one time, we had a Dalmatian at the clinic with distemper. Poor thing had crapped so bad."
Hannah looked concerned. "Was it okay?"
"Oh, sure," I assured her. "He was fine with the right treatment. But the smell… dear God, we used about a month's worth of disinfectant to try and get rid of that smell. The owner had tried some homemade remedy they'd found online. It was some garlic and molasses concoction." I shook my head. "I can still smell it."
Hannah looked up from washing the lettuce in the sink and laughed. "Sounds gross."
Isaac lifted little sleeping Ada up to his face and inhaled like he always did. "Don't you listen to them, sweet little one. They're being immature and uncouth, talking about disgusting things. You stick with me, sweet heart."
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Hannah spun to look at me. "Expecting someone?"
"That will be Josh," Isaac said.
I smiled tightly at her. "That would be Isaac's work friend, Joshua," I explained further. "I'll go let him in."
Wiping my hands on a dish towel, I opened the front door. Joshua smiled and held up a white box, offering it with a smile. "I bought dessert."
I took the box and stood aside. "Come on in."
Walking back inside, I made introductions and was secretly pleased Joshua seemed a little uncomfortable. I don't know if it was that he wasn't expecting other people to be here, or if he wasn't used to walking in on such a family-type scene, but I think Hannah and Carlos being here threw him off guard. He lived most of his life on the road apparently, so it must have been a little unsettling.
His eyes certainly widened when he saw Isaac holding a baby. I grinned, rather pleased at his reaction. "And that little bundle of pink Isaac is holding, is Ada."
"Oh, this is the little niece you mentioned."
"The one and only," Isaac said. "She's the most amazing smelling creature in the world."
"Yeah," Hannah scoffed. "We were just talking about the amazing smells that ran into her socks."
"Will you two stop it?" Isaac scolded us. I laughed and Hannah grinned at me. Isaac sighed and turned in Joshua's general direction. "Excuse them. They're being crass."
"They're always crass," Carlos piped up from the sofa.
Joshua looked between us all, smiling but seemingly a little overwhelmed. He looked to the white cake box in my hand. "I um, I didn't know if I should have brought anything. I didn't want to turn up empty-handed."
I slid the box onto the countertop and opened the lid. It was a small cake of some sort.
"It's a butterscotch triple torte," Joshua said with a shrug. "Whatever that means."
Hannah peeked over my arm. "That means it's delicious and while I'd like to say you didn't need to bring anything, I'm kinda glad you did."
"I'll pop it into the fridge, yeah?" I asked. "Just need to make some room." I took the tray of homemade kebabs out of the fridge and put the cake in. "I made some kebabs for the grill. Here are some I prepared earlier," I said, using my best TV chef impersonation voice as I peeled back the foil.
"Excuse me," Isaac reprimanded me. "I did most of the skewering."
I shook my head and mouthed 'I did them' to Hannah and of course Isaac picked up on it. "Did he just tell you all he did them?"
Hannah chuckled. "That's so we'll eat them."
Isaac's mouth fell open. "My cooking isn't that bad."
I walked around to his side of the kitchen counter and kissed his cheek. I pretended Joshua wasn't watching us. "Of course not, baby. You cook just fine."
Isaac growled at me. "You can't lie for shit, Carter."
"That's why you love me," I said. Leaning in this time, I whispered in his ear quiet enough no one else could hear. "You love my nine inches of… honesty."
Isaac blushed and gasped, and with his free hand, he pushed me away. "Carter," he hissed at me. "We have company. Now go start the grill or we'll never eat."
Smiling, I shrugged at Joshua and winked at Hannah. She laughed and handed me a bowl of sliced onion. "Here. We'll need these cooked first," she said, piling some tongs and the bottle of oil on top of the onions.
"Do you always have lunch together?" I heard Joshua ask as I walked out of the kitchen.
"Most of the time," Hannah answered. "Most weekends, anyway."
I left them to it and set about starting the grill. Waiting for it to heat up, I threw a ball for Missy a few times, while Brady watched on as though the concept was childish. He preferred the cool shade of the trees in the garden. It was a warm spring day, and I knew at some point I'd be getting into the pool.
It was a shame, I mused, the hickeys and scratches on my back and torso had faded. I didn't half mind the idea of Joshua seeing those again.
"What's got you smiling?" Hannah's voice startled me. She was standing under the patio, putting plates of salads on the table. "Grilling onions isn't that much fun."
I chuckled. "Sorry, I was a million miles away."
She walked over to me. "So, has Isaac been treating you okay?"
My smile widened. "He's been great."
Hannah hummed. "I'm really happy for both of you." Then she nodded pointedly back to the door. "What's that Joshua's story?"
I groaned quietly. "Not sure."
Her look became serious. "Is he trying to get between you?"
I looked back to the door, making sure we were still alone. I spoke quietly anyway. "I don't know what angle he's playing. Isaac swears he's a nice guy, but I'm not sure."
She frowned just as the back door opened and the others walked out, and our conversation about our guest was over for now.
Carlos walked out first, holding Ada, and Isaac and Joshua followed. Hannah walked over and collected the fussing baby and declared it was lunch time for Ada first. She sat at the outdoor table, unbuttoned her blouse and started to feed her baby. She draped a light baby-wrap over her shoulder, covering her exposed chest and fed her daughter. Carlos put a bottle of water in front of her, kissed the side of her head. "I'll just grab the tray of meat," he said, and disappeared inside.
Isaac ran his hand along the back of a chair, feeling it, then stepped beside it and sat himself down. Joshua, still looking a little out of place, pulled out the chair next to Isaac and sat down.
I turned back to the grill, trying not to give a shit that Joshua sat next to Isaac. It was only lunch. It meant nothing. It was just a seat at the table. No big deal. Jesus, I really had to stop letting this guy get under my skin.
"Here ya go, chef," Carlos said, handing me the tray of kebabs and sausages.
Scraping the onion to one side, I started cooking the meat while conversation steered toward Joshua. Hannah soon learned that, yes, he worked with Isaac. He spent his time contracted to various schools for the blind across the country. No, he wasn't a teacher. Yes, he could read Braille.
"You don't have a base?" Hannah asked. "No home to speak of?"
I stopped turning the kebabs to listen.
"No," Joshua answered. "I used to keep a place in San Diego, but I was never there. I'd only spend a few weeks there every couple of months, so it was a cost I couldn't justify."
The table was quiet as they processed this information. I presumed Isaac already knew this, but going by his silence, I started to wonder if he knew this about Joshua at all. The guy was literally homeless. Not in a can't-afford-it kind of way, but in an I-chose-to-live-like-this kind of way.
"Kind of a weird question," Hannah said, "but what about your mail?"
Joshua chuckled, a little embarrassed. "It's all mostly electronic and comes through to my email, but my head office in New York catches anything I need. I can spend up to three months working in any one place, so they can forward it to the hotel I’m staying at if needed."
I methodically plated the sausages and kebabs while this information turned in my head. I thought about the life he led, living out of a hotel room. The loneliness must be dreadful; no wonder he hung around so much. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
While we ate lunch, conversation turned to Hawkins School, and the upcoming summer break. It was hardly difficult; Isaac could talk about his work all day long. He told us of the new books he had his youngest students reading and how Joshua had helped implement new visual audio description players. "Like I use at the cinema, with the headphones," Isaac explained. "Only these are for the classroom. The kids loved it. The first DVD we played for them was Toy Story. It was incredible."
I loved it when Isaac spoke about what his students had done. His whole face would light up and he'd smile proudly. I did envy how Joshua got to share that with him. I mean, I shared everything else with him, in every sense of the word, but his one true passion, his job, was the one thing I had no part in.
I'd met everyone he worked with, and Isaac would tell me all about his day; what happened, what was gossip. I loved that we had that to talk about, his job and mine, because it paved the way for endless conversation. And sitting around the patio table on a Saturday afternoon was no different.
After we’d eaten, it was mid-afternoon and getting hot. Hannah had fed Ada again and put her to bed inside in the cool of the air conditioning and I'd put the sprinkler on the grass for Missy. She'd run through it, futilely chasing the water stream, having fun and cooling down at the same time. Brady preferred the cool grass of the shaded garden and Carlos and Joshua started discussing football.
I stood up and peeled off my t-shirt. "I'm going in for a swim," I declared to no one in particular. I walked behind Isaac, who was still sitting at the patio table, next to Joshua. I put my hand on his shoulder and leaned in to whisper. "Join me?"
"I um," he started. "I'm-"
Before he could come up with some poor excuse, I took his hand. "Come on, you're coming in with me."
"I wasn't expecting to go swimming-"
"Then why are you wearing board shorts?"
Isaac sighed. "I thought we'd go in later."
I gently pulled on his hand. "Don't make me throw you over my shoulder."
Hannah walked back outside and grinned at us. "You know he will, Isaac."
I led Isaac toward the pool. He hardly protested. In fact, he was smiling and I knew once we got in the water, I'd pay. I kicked off my flip-flops and turned to Isaac. I pulled his shirt carefully over his head, mindful of his glasses and threw his shirt over the pool fence.
"Jeez, Carlos," Hannah said. "Why don't you work out like those two?"
"Because I'm a married heterosexual man," Carlos defended himself. "No one gives a shit what I look like."
Hannah threw the lid off her water bottle at her husband. I laughed and Isaac chuckled beside me. I looked at him, at his pale, well-defined, trim torso and smiled. I deliberately didn't look at Joshua, though I knew he was watching us.
I took Isaac's hand as we walked down the steps into the shallow end of the pool and stood there, waiting for him to get his bearings. We'd done this a hundred times. Isaac was familiar with his own pool, he did laps all the time, but he was still cautious getting in and out. Once he was in, however, was a different story.
Knowing he wouldn't want to take his glasses off in front of Joshua, I waited for him to stand in front of me before I reached up and took his glasses off, carefully putting them on the side of the pool. But just two steps later he threw his arms around me and pushed me underwater, before swimming up the lap pool.
I came up for air, laughing and chased after him. He was faster than me in the pool, but I grabbed his foot and stopped him mid-stride. Isaac spun around, swiping the surface with his hand to give me a face full of water. We quite often roughhoused in the pool, though I never did anything that would frighten him or undermine his trust in me. We were never rough or serious. We just played.
He had hold of my arm and grabbed at my chest, so I slid one leg around the back of his thigh, trying to throw him off-balance, but he quickly grabbed me and dunked me, somehow managing to bring us both under. So I tweaked his nipple, making him laugh underwater.
He came up grinning and ran his fingers through his hair, shaking the water out, then he rubbed at his nipple. "That hurt."
I moved a little closer to him and ran my foot up his shin. "Oh, dear," I said quietly. "Then I best pay special attention to it later."
He splashed me again, so I took his hand and led him toward the steps in the shallow end. I only had to put his hand on the beginning of the edge of the pool at the first step and he was right to get out on his own, so I got out and picked up two towels off the sun chair. "Here's a towel," I said, handing it to him.
He started to dry himself. "I'll go in and get changed."
"Need some help?"
"No, because I know you too well, Carter," he said, running the towel over his hair. Black spikes stood up in its wake. Then he whispered, "We have guests."
I laughed, tied the towel around my waist and collected his glasses from the side of the pool. I slid his glasses onto his face and hooking my arm through his, I led him to the back door of the house. "Last chance for my help."
Ignoring my offer, Isaac swatted me and went inside while I went back over to the others at the patio table. Wearing only a towel over my board shorts, I fell heavily into the chair next to Joshua and smiled at the three faces watching me.
Hannah smiled at me. "Feel refreshed?"
"Oh, yeah. You should go put your feet in if you don't want to go all in. It'll cool you down."
Isaac's sister smiled and tilted her head, which told me she was about to say something a little unexpected. "Joshua thought it was different that you'd wrestle with Isaac in the pool."
I looked at Joshua. "Different?"
He was obviously thrown by Hannah repeating this. "I just thought it was unusual for someone to behave that way in a pool, with a blind man. I mean, Isaac's obviously okay with it—"
"Okay with it?" I asked, keeping my tone light. "He starts it. Why would I go easy on him? He's fitter than me, stronger than me." I patted my exposed stomach, "he's in better shape than me. God, he kicks my ass on the treadmill."
Joshua nodded and smiled, clearly embarrassed. "Yes, I um… I didn't mean anything by it. I just was surprised, that's all."
Hannah smiled at him. "Carter has never once treated Isaac as though he was any different."
I shrugged one shoulder. "Why would I? He's remarkable."
"Oh, I know," Joshua agreed, though it seemed it was to placate the conversation. "I've seen him at work."
"Don't let his inability to see fool you," I said to Joshua. It was a warning as much as a statement. Any possibility of me liking this guy just withered. I didn't like how he talked about Isaac's blindness for a few reasons. One, it was not his place to say any fucking thing. Two, it riled me that he, or anyone, would see Isaac as anything other than an equal, and three, as someone who worked with blind people on a daily basis, he should know—and think—differently. "Isaac's one of the most capable people I've ever met, sighted or not." Then I added, for Joshua's benefit alone. "One thing I've learned and love about people who are blind is they treat everyone equally. They don't judge people by skin color, or the clothes they wear, or by preconceived stereotypes, such as how a sighted person might judge someone who is blind."
I figured that would be enough to shut Joshua up. I raised one eyebrow at him, silently daring him to say one more thing about Isaac, and wisely, he chose to just nod in agreement. Hannah tried not to smile.
Carlos stood up, nervous at the sudden tension. "Can I get anyone a drink?"
"Did someone want something?" Isaac called out from inside. "I can grab it."
"More water, please," I called out. "If that's okay?"
Isaac walked out the back door carrying four bottles of water, mumbling about being a damn pack mule. I stood up and grabbed the bottles he carried, then pulled out his chair for him. As always, he ran his fingers along the arm of the chair before feeling for the second arm, then sitting down. I sat down beside him. Isaac turned his face toward me, and asked, "So what were you guys talking about?"
Before any of us could answer, Isaac's cell phone, which was on the table, rang. The mechanical voice programmed to tell Isaac who was calling told us Detective Zinberg was on the line.
Isaac frowned, and I handed him his phone.
He swiped his thumb over the bottom left of the touch screen and answered the call. "Hello?... yes, this is Isaac Brannigan…" there was quite a long silence while Isaac listened to whatever the policeman was saying while we watched on in silence. "Can you hold on for one second?"
Isaac turned to face me and held out his free hand. I took it immediately. "Carter, can you take me to the police station tomorrow?"
"Of course."
He then spoke into the phone, "Detective? Sure, tomorrow is fine… yes, ten o'clock… okay, that's fine, thanks. Okay, bye."
Isaac frowned again and slid his phone onto the table. We all waited for him to elaborate. "Um, they think they've found my uninvited guest."
"The man that broke into your house?" Hannah questioned.
Isaac nodded. "Yeah, him."