Morris caught his hand. “Tell me you’ll stay. I don’t want you being alone tonight.”
Theo hesitated. What if Lincoln came home and couldn’t find him? Then common sense returned. There was no way Craig would leave Jill again to ferry Lincoln home. Besides, his phone was right there on the nightstand. Anyone in his family would be able to get a hold of him. “Yeah, I’ll stay.” Theo squeezed Morris’s hand. “Come on.”
They lingered in the shower, washing each other tenderly. Stripping the bed didn’t take long, and soon they were stretched out naked next to each other. Theo scooted closer to Morris, their skin still damp from the shower and Morris’s lotion that they’d slathered over each other. Moments later Morris was snoring lightly.
Theo draped his arm over Morris’s side. His body urged him to sink down and let exhaustion take over. His mind wouldn’t stop circling around the same worries, touching on Jill and Lincoln before trying to figure out how things were going to go tomorrow. Then there was his argument with Dustin, and he was sure to drag Robin in on it like he had the last time. It made Theo sick to think he’d made things worse for everyone.
Maybe if he called and apologized tomorrow, maybe this time Dustin would hear him out.
Chapter Twenty
MORRIS STIRRED, reaching for Theo across the messy sheets of the bed, but the other side was empty. It was still warm, as if Theo just left. Morris listened, stretching as he slowly woke up until he heard the sounds of activity in the kitchen. He frowned and half pushed himself up. Theo was trying to be quiet, but he was definitely moving about. Did the man ever sleep?
What the hell could he be up to first thing in the damn morning? Morris peered blearily at his alarm clock and then sat up with a groan. Half the morning was gone. He threw back the sheets and jerked on a pair of boxers and a Nightwing T-shirt. The scent of coffee hit his nose as he opened the door, and Cassie streaked inside to disappear under the bed. Poor girl had been locked out all night. Morris knew she was pissed about that and would spend half the day sulking in her favorite hidey-hole.
Morris scratched his stomach as he headed toward the kitchen, following the aroma of coffee. Theo was dressed only in his work pants and was busy stacking dishes into the dishwasher and wiping down the counter as he hummed to himself. He looked entirely too happy to be tidying up. It wasn’t natural. The only thing that seemed right about the scene was Theo half-naked. He was supposed to be all the way naked and still in Morris’s bed.
A pot of freshly brewed coffee waited on the burner, begging to be poured, and there was a clean skillet on the stove. “What do you think you’re doing?” Morris demanded.
Theo looked over his shoulder with a crooked smile. “I literally cannot help myself. I see a kitchen in chaos and I start to twitch.”
“I was going to do that,” Morris said, not sure if he should feel miffed or not.
“I know. I saw evidence you’d started, and then I interrupted your efforts with my dramatic, angry fit last night. So this is an apology before I have to run off to work.” Theo folded the washcloth and draped it over the sink spout.
“You already apologized.” Morris reached over him to snag a coffee cup from the cabinet. He was not awake enough to be mollified. He could clean after all, though he wasn’t sure why he was so irked at the thought of Theo cleaning up after him. Then he saw the shadows under Theo’s eyes and regretted his bad humor. “How’s your sis? You hear from her or Lincoln?”
“Jill’s fine and I’m not supposed to worry about her or check up on her every ten minutes. She’s getting enough of that from Craig.” Theo’s mouth turned downward as his eyes went faraway.
Morris raised a brow as he filled his cup and went in search of milk and sugar. “Right. Good luck with that. You’re going to worry and you’re going to check up on her, just maybe not every ten minutes.”
Theo nodded solemnly. “I think fifteen minutes is doable.”
God help him, Theo was too adorkably cute even when he was serious. Morris tried to figure out the appeal. He was good-looking, no lie—it was just the vibe he put out, the boy-next-door, the quiet friend who could be too easily overlooked for the flashier guy. Morris found that quiet steadiness greatly appealing. Even last night, he didn’t go off the way others would have. They would’ve heard Felipe for miles if he’d been that upset. Still, that quiet, cold fury had revealed layers to Theo that Morris hadn’t even started uncovering, and he really wanted to.
“Try out twenty, and then you can argue you doubled her allotment.” Morris doctored up his coffee and took a sip, sighing in contentment. “What are you going to do at work?”
Theo shut the dishwasher door and leaned his arms on the clean counter. “I don’t think I really got a chance to talk to you much since the last time we tried to get naked. We switched things around a bit. Scottie and I are switching off day and night shifts for five days and doubling up one day so we each can have a day off. I hate losing my right-hand man, but he’s good. Hell, he deserves his own restaurant. At least then I have someone I trust in charge when Jill and I aren’t there.”
“Did you ever get around to hiring a new manager?” Now more than ever Theo needed to stop resisting the idea of someone new. Morris couldn’t blame him, though. He’d thought a few times of bringing someone else on to help with his books since he had more ideas than time. But he couldn’t see himself actually doing it.
“Yeah, thank God,” Theo said with a tone of relief, though his brow remained furrowed. “She was supposed to start next week, but I called her this morning and begged her to start today.”
“You ended up going with Rose?” Morris asked, taking another sip of his coffee as he looked around for his other shirt. He was sure Theo had removed it in the kitchen.
“Yeah, we met with her a couple times after going over her résumé. We wanted someone who’d embrace the locally sourced Chesapeake bistro idea.” Theo topped his coffee off. “Plus we wanted someone who fit with the family. We all clicked with her the most. She even has ideas for expanding our hours while keeping with what makes us—us.”
Personally, Morris thought Theo should shelve any ideas of expanding. He was overworked enough as it was, but who was Morris to judge? He’d come up with a whole new comic book idea that would double his workload unless he gave up taking more commissions or contracts for trading cards. “What kind of an expansion?”
“Adding breakfast hours and taking on the boaters, giving them an early breakfast or boxed lunches before they head out for a day of fishing and pleasure riding.” Theo shook his head with a sigh. “It’s a good idea, but not anything we’re in a position to do right now. Maybe when Lincoln’s in college.”
“So, if the bistro isn’t open until lunch, how come you’re gone half the time in the mornings too?” Granted, Morris didn’t wander outside much in the mornings, but he remembered being mystified by a neighbor who never seemed to be there.
“There’s prep work every day. Scottie and I used to switch off on that. Then every third morning I hit up the farmer and fish markets. We took turns, Scottie, Jill and I.” Theo scrubbed a hand over his face, his shoulders slumping. “Which I guess means every other day now.”
Morris wished he could help, but he didn’t know the first thing about running a restaurant. There had to be something else he could do to brighten Theo’s day. Theo straightened and poured himself a second cup of coffee. “How did your party go yesterday? I forgot to ask.”
“Great, but I had to get your brother’s help. I had no damned idea what you meant by some of the instructions.” Morris watched in disbelief as Theo got out some eggs and a bowl. “No. You sit.”
“But….” Theo turned wide eyes on him as Morris gently pushed him away from the stove. “I don’t get to make my boyfriend breakfast after a night of hot sex?”
Boyfriend. Oh God. No, Morris was not ready for boyfriend status, but he kept his lips shut. He was not going to pick at that issue with Theo after the night he h
ad. He’d put them safely back into hot fling territory later on tonight.
“No, you don’t.” Morris deftly cracked some eggs into a bowl. “You already picked up the kitchen and made me coffee. And you’re cooking the rest of the day. Let me do something.” He did know how to make scrambled eggs and toast. It may not be gourmet, but it was good.
“You’re awfully cute when you’re irritated.”
Morris glanced over his shoulder. Theo sat at the table, his head propped on his fist. He had that little smile on his face, the one he had to know was so appealing, all boy-next-door and innocently sexy. Morris was onto him.
“Bite me,” he said, knowing it would make Theo grin, and it did, lighting up his face and erasing some of the exhaustion lining it.
The knock at the door startled them both, and Morris frowned. Anybody he knew would text before heading over. “Why don’t you get that?” he suggested. “If I get it, I’ll come back to find you overtaking my stove again.”
“Fine, be that way,” Theo said with a fake huff, “but if it’s Felipe half-naked again, I’m dunking him headfirst through the basketball hoop.”
Morris pulled out a fork and whipped up the eggs. He paused long enough to flip on the stove before turning toward the door, still mixing. Lincoln stood in the entryway, hands in his pockets in a gesture reminiscent of Theo, his shoulders hunched in misery. His gaze darted from Morris to Theo, and his cheeks turned red.
“I’m sorry,” he said in a barely audible voice. “Am I allowed back home?”
Morris turned away to give them some privacy as Theo hugged Lincoln. He waited a moment and then looked back. “You hungry, Linc? I’m making breakfast if you want some.”
“Actually, Morris, do you mind if we do this another morning?” Theo asked with an anxious glance his way. “I think Linc and I need a chance to talk before it’s time to head to work.”
“Yeah, sure, man, no problem.” Morris lifted his hand in a wave as relief crossed Theo’s face.
“Thanks.” Theo disappeared down the hallway in search of his shirt. Morris couldn’t remember where they’d tossed it. Lincoln shifted from foot to foot, his gaze darting around as if he didn’t quite know where to look.
“Hey,” Morris said, and Lincoln glanced at him. “If you ever want to, I don’t know, talk. My door is open.”
Lincoln flushed a darker red and nodded. Theo came back into the kitchen, shrugging on his shirt. He walked over and kissed Morris soundly on the lips. “Don’t go to bed early tonight,” he said under his breath and walked away, leaving Morris with a batch of eggs in his hands and one hell of a boner.
Bemused, Morris turned back to the stove. Somehow Theo managed to turn around all of Morris’s preconceived notions and wiggled his way into his psyche. He poured the eggs into the pan, humming to himself, suddenly much happier with the day. He knew exactly what he was going to do.
After Theo’s story last night, Morris understood why he liked that picture he commissioned from Morris so much. It was done. Morris had been procrastinating on scanning it and pulling his promo together. He’d finish that today, then go out and get the picture framed as a surprise.
Then he’d see if Lincoln was interested in a second job. He worked hard at the restaurant. Morris had seen that for himself. But it might be nice for him to do something that suited him and that would build his confidence. And Morris had just the thing in mind.
The tricky thing would be to find a way to make it work without taking away from Theo’s help at the restaurant, because with the way things were going, only Theo and Lincoln were left out of the entire family at the place. And Morris knew how important that was to him. Maybe if Rose worked out, Theo and Jill would be convinced to hire a few more people before they both worked themselves to the bone.
Chapter Twenty-One
THEO FOLLOWED a subdued Lincoln back up to their place, wondering what brought about this change. He’d been sure when his brother heard about Jill, he’d insist on staying to keep her company. “Your shirt’s on backward,” Lincoln muttered as he opened the door.
Theo glanced down at the tag sticking out. “It’s inside out too.”
Lincoln’s face turned red. “Are you going to start spending the night there?” he blurted out.
“I wasn’t planning on it.” At least not on the nights when Lincoln was home, which made him wonder what he was going to do. He hadn’t had a relationship since his parents died, and he’d never had to think about someone at home waiting for him if he did go out. It was something else to consider. Would it be too awkward for Lincoln at this stage if Morris stayed the night or would it blow over quickly? That would take some mulling too.
“Do you want to talk?” Theo asked, too tired to beat around the subject. Though he’d slept for a while next to Morris, his sleep had been troubled until he’d finally been driven out of bed to fix something.
“Not really.” Lincoln shrugged. “Craig laid into me. I guess I should be grateful neither of you told Jill or she would’ve been on my case.”
“She’s got enough to think about right now, and we don’t want her stressing more than she is already.” They couldn’t keep it from her indefinitely. She had a way of ferreting things out, and she’d be pissed. But they could wait long enough to take the bite out of it. “It might be best coming from you, though. Eventually, Craig will say something. Those two have no secrets.”
Lincoln looked very uncomfortable at the thought and his mouth was downturned in unhappiness, but he nodded. “I’m still grounded, aren’t I?”
Theo wanted to back off. Lincoln looked so miserable and the memory of the angry words between them still stung. But if he didn’t show Lincoln he was serious about the rules, then there would be a lot more sleepless nights.
“Yeah, from video games.” Theo clasped him on the shoulder. “But it’s not the end of the world. Trust me, I’ve been grounded plenty, for pretty much the same thing.”
“Then what’s the point?” Lincoln asked in a sullen tone. “You know I didn’t mean to make you worry.”
Theo wondered if his parents ever felt this conflicted, because if they had, it never showed. “The point is the next time you go somewhere it may make you pause and remember to grab your phone, to send a text, something so we’re not worried about whether or not you’re safe. Sometimes it takes the thought of losing a privilege to remember the little details.”
Lincoln nodded again, and though he didn’t look happy about it, his stance lost that rebellious edge it had the night before. “How long until I can play my games again?”
Theo pondered that, weighing all the factors. “Until next weekend. Come Saturday, it’s yours. Just please don’t stay up till 5:00 a.m. on a binge, okay?”
“Okay.” Lincoln’s expression cleared. “That’s not too bad, I guess.”
“To be honest, I was so mad I was going to make it longer, but after looking back on it, you were only downstairs, and it started out with you helping a neighbor, and that was cool of you.” Theo remembered some fragment of advice from some well-meaning friend of their parents about not setting punishments when you were pissed. He got that now.
“Just next time, please think ahead, Lincoln. Because I’m telling you now with complete honesty, I will freak the fuck out every single time I can’t get a hold of you when I should be able to get a hold of you. Right or wrong, it’s wired into me.” If nothing else was drilled into Lincoln’s head but that bit of knowledge, Theo would take it as a win.
“I’m sorry I said what I said.” Lincoln scuffed his toe on the floor. “I didn’t think you’d let me come back after that.”
Theo squeezed his shoulder as an intolerable weight eased off him. “Lincoln, look at me.” He waited until his brother’s gaze lifted, his eyes stormy and troubled. “You will always have a home with me, got it?”
“Even if you hook up with Morris?” Lincoln fidgeted, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Now where had that bit of insecur
ity come from? Theo didn’t know why Lincoln would think he wouldn’t be welcome if Morris and he became more of a thing than they already were, but he hastened to reassure him anyway. “Morris and I aren’t looking that far ahead. I like him. He likes me. But let’s say we were to fall madly in love and want to shack up together, then yes, you would be more than welcome. Morris knows you and I are a package deal. He can’t have one without the other.”
Lincoln brightened a bit. “I like him too. He didn’t have to invite me to stay with his friends but he did. It was fun.”
“Was it all those geek games you try to get me to play with you?” Theo had tried, but some of them went way over his head. What was so wrong about a simple game of Monopoly or Life? Give him a deck of cards anytime.
“Yeah, some I never heard of before. Mostly creepy ones. That was cool.”
As Lincoln started to relax, Theo realized he needed to apologize too. “I’m sorry I yelled at you in front of everyone. That was wrong of me,” Theo said quietly. “I like to say I wouldn’t do it again, but I can be a thoughtless jerk.”
Lincoln nodded, looking down at the floor before meeting Theo’s gaze. “I don’t hate you.”
A tightness Theo hadn’t even known still lingered eased. “Thank you.” It was bad enough he had the enmity of one brother. Theo couldn’t bear the thought of another wanting nothing to do with him.
He glanced at his watch and winced at the time. The idea of having his mornings free worked better in theory than reality. “Our new manager is starting today, so I have to go in early and greet her and get things rolling on that end. Do you want to go in with me or catch a ride in later?”
“Might as well go in and pick up an extra shift. If I can’t go anywhere, I could use the cash. Besides, it’s my restaurant too, right?” Lincoln said with a smirk. “I need to keep an eye on my investment since you’re running the show solo now.”
A Little Side of Geek Page 20