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Laughing, Evan wriggled free of Jeremy’s grasp, skin still slippery from the shower. “Stop it, I have to put on pants.”
Jeremy grinned and fastened the towel he’d been using to dry Evan’s skin around his own hips. “Not necessarily. We could go right back to bed.”
Warm and relaxed from the shower and a toe-curling handjob, Evan was tempted. “It’s not too early?”
“Hey, we make our own rules. If we want to go to bed at nine o’clock on a Sunday night, we can. Besides, there’s a TV in there. We can watch a movie. Make out. You can sit on my face while I eat your ass.” Evan’s cheeks flamed red as Jeremy grinned and put his arms around Evan’s waist. “My leg may be a little sore but my tongue isn’t.”
“Oh, my God, Jeremy!” Evan’s cheeks burned even redder. “You can’t just say stuff like that.”
Jeremy threw his head back and laughed. It lit up his face, made him look young and happy, and Evan felt his embarrassment fade, replaced with a warm, content feeling. He liked knowing he made Jeremy happy. Sometimes, he was half-afraid he’d wake up and find out this had all been a dream, but deep down in his gut, he knew it wasn’t.
Being with Jeremy was so much better than he’d ever imagined.
“Why not?” Jeremy asked teasingly. “There’s no one else here. Why can’t I tell my boyfriend what I want to do to him?”
Not sure how to respond and totally overwhelmed by the feelings inside him, Evan lunged forward, pressing his lips against Jeremy’s. He merely chuckled and held Evan tighter, sliding a hand up Evan’s back to hold his head in place as he deepened the kiss. Mindful of his leg, Evan lightly rested against Jeremy. The press of their warm, damp skin together and the smell of Jeremy’s body wash made his head spin.
In the other room, Evan’s phone rang, and he frowned as he pulled away.
“Ignore it,” Jeremy coaxed with a grin that made Evan seriously consider it, but he was afraid it could be work. They knew he had a few days off, but if there was a big influx of bodies or one of the other funeral directors was sick, they might call him in an emergency.
“I’ll be right back,” Evan promised as he wiggled out of Jeremy’s arms again. “We can go to bed after I make sure they don’t need me to go in to work,” he added as he pushed the bathroom door open. He shivered in the cooler air of the bedroom and reached for the pile of clothes on the floor where his stuff was piled together with Jeremy’s. He smiled at the sight of their clothes mingling as he dug in his jeans pocket for the phone.
“Nice view!” Jeremy called out from the bathroom, and Evan’s cheeks turned red again when he realized he was presenting his naked ass to his boyfriend. Distracted and in a rush to answer before the caller hung up, Evan swiped his thumb across the screen to answer the call. It wasn’t until he brought it to his ear that the words on the screen registered.
“Evan, honey?”
Sinking heavily onto the edge of the bed, Evan closed his eyes for a moment as the sound of the familiar voice washed away the good feeling inside him. “Mom?”
“Oh, baby, the most awful thing has happened.”
“I know you lost the house. You left me a voicemail about that a while ago.” Evan glanced up to see Jeremy frowning at him from the bathroom door.
Lavinia sniffled. “No, not that, baby. It’s your dad.”
For a moment, Evan had the awful, selfish thought that maybe his father was dead and felt nothing but relief.
“Okay,” he replied warily. Jeremy crossed the room and handed a robe to Evan. He took it with a distracted smile. Jeremy helped him slip it on, and Evan mouthed, “Thank you.”
“Mom, what is it?” he prompted as he took a seat on the bed again. Jeremy gestured toward the door as if asking if he should leave. Evan shook his head and reached out to grab Jeremy’s hand, needing Jeremy’s touch to anchor him. Jeremy settled onto the bed beside him and rubbed his thumb across the back of Evan’s knuckles.
She sniffled again. “Your father was ... well, he was arrested for drunk driving.”
“Oh.” Evan let out a heavy sigh. Well, that wasn’t a huge shock; he’d done it before. Evan winced as he wondered if his dad had been in an accident. “He didn’t hurt someone, did he?”
“No, he wasn’t in an accident. The police pulled him over because he was weaving.”
Evan let out a quiet snort although it was humorless. “I wasn’t worried about him. I just didn’t want to think about him hurting someone else.”
“Evan!”
“Oh, come on, Mom, do you really expect me to feel sympathetic?”
“That’s your father you’re talking about. Show some respect.”
Evan rolled his eyes. “Mom, I lost respect for him the first time he drove drunk. He deserves whatever happens now.”
“The judge was horrible, Evan! He took away your dad’s license, and he’ll never be able to drive again. He’ll be in prison for five years, which is the most they could give him, and they’re making him pay! We don’t have that money.” Evan braced himself for her to ask him to pay it, but it never came. “He has to go to AA or something too. I don’t know what to do.”
“Wow.” Evan blinked for a few moments, trying to absorb everything his mother had said. “That’s ... serious then.”
“I’m scared, Evan.” The fear in his mom’s voice tugged at his heartstrings. “I’ve never lived alone before. The apartment seems so—so empty.”
Evan felt all jumbled up inside, angry with his father, worried for his mother, and unsure how to react to any of it. He didn’t want to just hang up on her, but he needed some time to sort through everything going on in his head. He tried to soften his voice when he responded. “I’m sorry you’re scared, Mom, but you’ll get through this. It’ll—it’ll be okay.” He didn’t know if he really believed that, but it wasn’t his responsibility any more. “I’ve gotta go though, Mom.”
“Wait, Evan!” She sniffled again. “Can I call you again? Just to talk. Or you can call me. I just want to hear your voice, honey. It makes me feel better.”
Evan hesitated. “Uhh, sure, I guess so.” She hadn’t asked for money this time, and his father obviously wasn’t there to pressure her to do that, so maybe Evan could trust that she was telling the truth.
“Thank you.” She was full out crying now, and Evan muttered goodbye, feeling guilty and confused. As he took the phone away from his ear, he thought he heard her say, “I miss you.”
He had no idea how he felt about that.