Why Did The Chicken? Read online

  Rich returned with the rinsed out washcloth. “Ready?”

  Morgan nodded and took a deep breath. It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. Apparently the soap had caused most of the sting. Rich’s touch was gentle as he wiped away the soap and patted the scratches dry with a paper towel.

  He laid the washcloth aside on the breakfast bar and took a tube of antibiotic gel out of the open first aid kit. “They’ve pretty much stopped bleeding. A couple applications of antibiotic gel should keep them from getting infected, although with cat scratches that’s hard to avoid. They’ll probably start to itch, if they haven’t already.”

  “They have,” Morgan confessed.

  “Figures,” Rich commiserated. “This stuff has a pain reliever in it. It should numb them for a bit.”

  Applying the gel to his fingertips, Rich lightly smoothed it along first one scratch and then another. A particularly lurid one took a path right over Morgan’s nipple. Glancing down, Morgan saw and felt the slow glide of Rich’s slick finger against his skin. Unconsciously his body tightened and his breath sped at the approaching touch to that tiny nub of sensitized flesh. Before he could steel himself to it, contact was made. He jumped, a small gasp torn from him as his nipples beaded tight.

  “Oh,” Rich breathed. “Fuck.”

  Morgan’s gaze flew upward and collided with Rich’s. His eyes had gone from dark blue to nearly black. As Morgan watched, Rich’s lips parted and his tongue slipped over his bottom lip. “Morgan, I…”

  “I don’t…” Morgan began but stopped at the sound of a car in the drive.

  A split second later, Matthew was calling from the living room “Daddy! Stefwanie’s here!”

  Morgan and Rich both looked out the window in time to see a smartly dressed woman step out of the car. She pulled a bag from the back seat and started toward the front door. Morgan leaned away from Rich’s touch and slid from the stool, grabbing his shirt as he went. “Uh, thanks, I’ll get out of your hair.”

  “Morgan, wait.”

  Morgan hustled to the kitchen door and stood with his hand on the doorknob. He looked back. “What for?”

  Rich gave him a hesitant, almost pleading look. “I, well, oh hell. I may be way off the mark here but I’m going to take a chance and ask. Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?”

  “You mean as in like a date?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Look, I appreciate the offer but I’m going to save us both a lot of time and trouble. I don’t do married men.”

  “I’m not married.”

  “Or men with girlfriends. In other words, straight men. Thanks for the first aid.”

  Rich opened his mouth but Morgan had had enough. He slipped out and shut the door on Rich’s reply.

  * * *

  Stephanie Reed noted the almost stricken look on the face of the bare-chested man who’d hurried out of Rich’s kitchen. She watched as he quietly shut the door behind him and retreated to the house next door. The thought crossed her mind that it was a shame to spoil such a nice face with such a look. A cute guy like that should be smiling. Especially if he’s just been with Rich.

  Stepping up to the front door, she was just about to knock when the man himself, accompanied by little Matthew, opened the door for her.

  “Hi, Stefwanie!” Matthew crowed.

  Steph gave him a big smile, covering the small twinge of pain that struck whenever she came face to face with the little boy who once had been destined to be her son. “Hi, Mattie-boy! How are you?”

  “I’m good.”

  “That’s great ’cause I brought you something.”

  “Yaaaayy!”

  “Here you go.” Steph handed Matt the bag she’d brought.

  Taking it, Matt started to run into the living room. Rich stopped him. “Hold on a minute, kiddo. What do we say when someone gives us a present?”

  “Thank you!” the little boy crowed excitedly.

  “You’re welcome, sweetie.”

  “Come on in, Steph.” Rich stepped back and closed the door behind her. “What brings you here? Would you like some coffee?”

  “I can’t stay long but, yeah, I’d like a cup.”

  Rich led the way into the kitchen and quickly got the coffee brewing while Stephanie took a chair at the kitchen table. “As to what brings me here? It was the present I gave Matt.” She looked down at her joined hands where they rested on the table. “I was going through some things Clarissa had stored in the attic. I came across the toy fire truck stuffed in a box with some other things. I don’t know when she bought it, but she must have intended to give it to Matt when he got older. So I, um, thought I’d bring it by.”

  Rich reached across the table and patted her hand. “Thank you. I know this isn’t easy for you.”

  “No. No, it isn’t. We both lost so much that day. You lost your best friend and I lost the love of my life.” Stephanie blinked, her eyes swimming with tears. “At least you have Mattie. All I have left are memories.”

  “Steph…”

  Stephanie looked up to find her distress mirrored in Rich’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Rich. I didn’t come here for this. Neither one of us needs to rehash the past.”

  “It’s okay.” Rich got up and poured out two cups of coffee. He brought them back to the table along with sugar and milk. “I guess I don’t need to waste my time asking if there’s anyone new in your life.”

  His half-hearted inquiry was met with a snort. “Hardly. When Clarissa died I buried myself in my work. That’s why I willingly gave you custody of Matt, well, that and the fact that you’re his biological father. I knew I wouldn’t be a good parent to him. Not by myself. Clarissa was the nurturer. It sounds hokey, but she was going to be the stay at home mother and I was the breadwinner. It’s how we’d planned it.” She gave Rich a smile. “I know I’ve said this before but I’m glad you wanted Matt. Lord knows I’m not the motherly type and you’ve loved him and raised him just the way Clarissa would have wanted.”

  “Thanks. I’ve never regretted having him.”

  Her smile widened at the light blush suffusing Rich’s cheeks. “So, who was the cute guy sneaking out the kitchen door when I arrived? Looks like I should be asking if there’s anyone new in your life.”

  Rich’s blush deepened. “Oh, um, that’s my next door neighbor, Morgan Jacobsen. He had a little accident and I was playing doctor.”

  “Playing doctor! Well, whoo hoo,” Stephanie teased.

  “It’s not like that.”

  “Well, what’s it like then? I want details.”

  “You’re incorrigible.”

  “Of course I am. Now spill.”

  Rich chuckled. Shaking his head, he obliged, filling her in on the details of Morgan’s accident. By the time he finished, Stephanie was laughing and he was blushing again. Until he told her what passed between Morgan and him right before Morgan left.

  “You’ve got to set him straight. No pun intended,” Stephanie advised with the lift of an imperious brow. “You obviously like him and from what you’ve told me, he didn’t exactly find you repellent. It’s about time you had someone in your life.”

  “Yeah, well, easier said than done, you know?”

  “Yeah, I know. You big he-men don’t talk about emotional stuff.”

  Rich scowled. “Well, what do you think I should do? Show up at his door with a bouquet of flowers and declare my undying love?”

  His answer was a snort and a chuckle. “No, but maybe you could show up with beer and pizza and bond over a football game or something. Then while you’re sitting together on the sofa you could do that manly reach around thing. You know, the arm resting on the back of the sofa that just sort of ends up around the other person’s shoulders? Then if he doesn’t object you could sort of start nibbling on things like, oh, I don’t know, his ear, his neck, his shoulder, his, um,” she paused for effect, “cock?”

  “Bitch,” Rich growled with a teasing twinkle in his eyes.

 
“You love me.”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “See,” Stephanie declared as she rose from her chair. “That was an admission of an emotional nature. If you can do it with me you can do it with him.” She headed for the door. “Keep me posted. I expect to be invited to the commitment ceremony.”

  “Anything you say, Steph.”

  She shot him a grin and walked to where Matt was playing with his fire truck. “Do you like the truck, Mattie?”

  “Yeah! I’m gonna be a fiweman!” He held up his arms and Stephanie bent to accept his hug.

  “I’m sure you’d make a wonderful fireman. Bye, Mattie. Be a good boy.”

  “I will. Bye, Stefwanie.”

  She paused for a moment to watch Matt as he went back to playing with his truck. Taking a deep breath, Stephanie returned to Rich where he stood next to the open front door. “Take care of yourself, buddy. Don’t let too much time go by before you take care of that problem,” she advised, jerking her head to indicate the house next door.

  “I’ll do my best,” Rich conceded. “You know, I’m not the only one who needs someone in their life. It’s been three years, Steph. Maybe you should start thinking about it too.”

  “Hmm, I’ll take it under advisement,” she replied, evading the issue. She leaned in to kiss his cheek. “Bye, Rich.”

  “Be careful.”

  “I will.”

  Stephanie slid behind the wheel of her car and breathed a sigh of regret and relief. She backed out of the driveway and waved as she drove away.

  * * *

  Rich watched Steph drive away, melancholy tugging at his heart. He knew she wouldn’t be looking for a new lover anytime in the near future. She was still grieving for Clarissa and not ready to let go. As for himself? He gave the house next door a speculative glance while pondering the merits of beer and pizza.

  Morgan would certainly be worth taking a risk on and not only because of his looks. Although it didn’t hurt that he was cute as hell with that short and shaggy shock of chestnut hair and that trim, lithe body. Rich felt his balls tighten at the thought of how those two little nipples had gone rigid at the touch of his fingertip. He could only imagine how they’d feel under his tongue.

  “Oh shit,” he breathed, leaning back against the door frame as his blood rushed south.

  But it wasn’t just Morgan’s body that got to him in such a short time. It was the man inside. When Rich looked into those big, hazel eyes there was something there that drew him in. There was an answering heat, but there was also wary hesitancy and vulnerability. There’d been a slight quaver to Morgan’s voice when he declared he didn’t do straight men. Someone had hurt him and Rich debated the issue of whether or not he wanted to risk either of them hurting again.

  Frowning, he sighed, straightened, and shut the front door. This was going to take some thought. In the meantime, Matt needed to be fed and bathed and put to bed. Rich dropped on the sofa near Matt where he was still playing with the fire truck. “Hey, buddy, what would you like for supper?”

  “Hot dogs!” Mattie’s answer was immediate and not unexpected.

  Rich chuckled. “I’ll tell you what. You can have a hot dog but you gotta eat some corn and applesauce for me too. Okay?”

  Matt got up and climbed into his dad’s lap, throwing his arms around Rich’s neck. “Okay, Daddy.”

  Rich rocked back and forth a little, his arms tight around Mattie as he breathed in the fresh scent of his son’s hair. It occurred to him that maybe Morgan wouldn’t be interested in getting involved with him because of Matt. The last guy he’d gone out with couldn’t leave fast enough after Rich had revealed he had a son. He shook his head. Their loss. He and Mattie were a package deal.

  “Let’s eat. I’m starving,” Rich said, kissing the top of Matt’s head. He stood up and carried Matt to the kitchen. “How about I sit at the table and you cook?”

  Matt giggled as his dad swung him around. “Daddy, I can’t cook.”

  “No? Well, all right. I guess I’ll do it, but you have to do the dishes.”

  “Yaayyy! Bubble water!”

  Rich bit his lip. Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea after all.

  Chapter Two

  Four freaking a.m. Morgan took a swipe at the steam on the bathroom mirror before wrapping the towel around his waist. He looked at himself for a moment before sticking his tongue out at his image. There were dark circles under his eyes. Three days after his cat scratch encounter with Rich and he still wasn’t sleeping well. He kept dreaming about the man. Dreams that had him waking up with his cock hard as stone. There’d even been the unforgettable one that had him spurting in his sleep like a testosterone driven teenager.

  Like any normal guy, he masturbated, but this? Hell, this was like being sixteen again. Back then erections were a dime a dozen and his cock had the controlling vote on how he spent his days. Whenever it wanted, he delivered. It was that or walk around with an embarrassing lump in his jeans. And now, twelve years later, it seemed to have regained the upper hand. In a manner of speaking.

  Given the least provocation, his cock was up and demanding attention. Even the sound of Rich’s truck when he came home from work gave Morgan a hard-on. And that damn cat. She’d taken to following him around like a shadow. It was like she knew he was going to jack off and she wanted to watch.

  He still scowled thinking about that memorable first night after his encounter with Rich. There he’d been, naked on the bed, cock in hand, lost in the fantasy of Rich’s mouth wrapped around him expertly sucking him off. Every stroke of his hand had been a pair of passion-plump lips sliding up and down his lube-slicked skin.

  At first he’d just panted with growing excitement. Then he’d been moaning, his hips undulating while his balls drew up tighter and tighter. The slow, electric trickle of heat climbing his spine had turned into a wild hot rush that had him shouting out, his back arching off the bed while hard spurts of semen shot over his chest and belly. With the sound of his own heartbeat pounding in his ears, he’d vaguely heard what sounded like a harsh yowl.

  It was only when he was coming down from the high of orgasm that he’d heard the purring. He turned his head to see Jinx perched on a chair not five feet from the bed. Her green-gold eyes reflected the glow from a streetlight outside his window.

  “I hope you found that entertaining,” he’d sarcastically husked out.

  Jinx winked at him. Unintentional? Coincidence? Maybe, but from that moment on he made sure there was a closed door between him and the cat whenever nature called.

  Morgan blinked and pulled himself from the memory which opened the way for a new thought. Coffee. Yawning, he headed downstairs and into the kitchen, automatically going through the motions of starting the coffee maker. A few minutes later the smell of brewing coffee tickled his nostrils. About to sit down, he heard the sound of the paper carrier’s car.

  If there was one thing Morgan loved it was reading the paper on Sunday morning while sipping a hot cup of coffee. He padded to the living room and looked out the window. It was still mostly dark outside. The sun hadn’t begun to make its appearance yet. Debating the merits of running upstairs to dress or just slipping out with his towel on to grab the paper, he boldly opted for the towel. Who was up to see him at this time of day?

  Leaving the front door ajar, he crossed the porch and was down the steps to the mailbox and back to the porch in seconds. He made it back to the doorway just in time to see a furry black tail disappear through it as the door swung shut in his face. Morgan froze for a moment before attempting the inevitable. Hand on the doorknob he tried to turn it. It was, of course, locked.

  “Son of a bitch! I don’t fucking believe this!” he muttered vehemently, keeping his voice low, although he wanted nothing more than to shout.

  Morgan stood there for several minutes at a loss as to what to do. He didn’t hide a spare key anywhere outside. He’d just never needed one. He never forgot his keys when he went out and he knew without
even trying them that all the downstairs doors and windows were locked. They always were when he went to bed. But then… the upstairs windows weren’t closed.

  “Oh, crap,” he cursed softly, knowing exactly what he had to do.

  He slipped off the porch and walked around the side of the house to the garage. The grass was cold and wet against his feet and the early morning air made him shiver, sending goose bumps over his exposed skin. Tucking his towel tighter, he went in the garage and flipped on the light. There, right where it had been left the last time it was used, was an extension ladder. He grabbed it up and carried it to the door, shutting the lights out as he went.

  Carrying it to the house, he settled it securely against the wall, positioning it under his bedroom window. While he knew the mechanics of setting up an extension ladder, Morgan had never used it himself. He looked up the length of that cold silver expanse of metal to where it rested. The top of the ladder seemed to be an extremely long way away, especially for a person who was afraid of heights.

  Fuck me. Am I really gonna do this?

  Morgan debated for a moment. It was either that or go to a neighbor’s house and call for a locksmith. To be scared or to be humiliated? What a choice. Giving in to the inevitable, Morgan placed his foot on the first rung and started the slow, agonizing climb. He kept his eyes trained straight ahead while carefully feeling for each step.

  With every upward move his tension and fear increased until his knuckles were white with the strength of his grip on the ladder. It was getting harder and harder to work his way upward. The further from the ground he got, the heavier his body felt. Morgan could almost swear his feet were encased in cement.

  A silent litany kept repeating in his head, accompanied by the pounding of his heart and the harsh, shallow breaths that puffed from his lungs. I can do this. I can do this. Halfway to the top, he was just about to take another shaky step up when two things happened. Rich chose that moment to arrive home from his shift and the knot on Morgan’s towel gave way. It floated merrily away, leaving Morgan completely naked in the starkly revealing glow of Rich’s headlights.