not to think about what any of it meant, it was almost always at the forefront of my mind. I still couldn't believe that I'd missed the obvious signs of my sexuality when I'd been younger, but in all fairness, I hadn't been a particularly busy guy when it had come to sex.
So when the phone rang and I saw the number for the cabin on my caller ID, I nearly sprained my thumb trying to answer the damn thing fast enough.
"Hello, Lex? Is everything okay?" I asked.
"Hi. Yeah, everything's good," Lex responded. He sounded really good. He sounded light. The fact that I was even recognizing when the man sounded light versus when he sounded dark was pretty telling. I really needed to get a grip.
"Good, good," I said.
Smooth, Gideon. Real smooth.
"Is there something you need?" I asked, injecting a bit more formality into my voice.
There was a beat of silence on the other end of the phone.
"Lex?"
"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry. I, um… you know what, never mind. I'm sorry to have bothered you." Just like that, the lightness in his voice was gone and I wondered what the hell had happened.
"Wait, what's up? It's okay, you can tell me."
Lex seemed to hesitate a moment before he said, “My driver is having some car trouble, so he won't be able to get to the store for me and I'm running a bit low on food. Is there any way—"
"Yeah, sure. I can pick you up some stuff. Just let me know what you want."
Another moment of silence. "I was hoping you could take me to the store. I know this sounds weird, but I've been practicing trying to move around a bit and I just… I want to get out there and see what it's like…"
When he didn't say more, I said, "Absolutely. I can pick you up in fifteen minutes. Will that work?"
"Yes, that would be great, thank you."
I felt ridiculously giddy at the prospect of seeing the young man again. How the hell had I gone from enjoying the solitude of my life to being excited by the prospect of seeing one particular person who I’d only just met and who was stirring up feelings within me that I never would've expected?
I considered what he'd said about wanting to get out there. I wasn't sure if he meant that he wanted to see how people would react to him and his limitation or if he just needed to get out of the cabin for a while. God knew it was easy to go stir-crazy after being cooped up for even a few days in a cabin that had no internet and limited television channels. And since reading wasn't an option, I wondered what Lex had been doing to entertain himself for the past week.
I reminded myself that it was none of my business and went to the kitchen to pull on my boots and shrug my coat on. Today was supposed to be a relatively mild day, but it was still only in the low forties. Once outside, I called for Brewer with a sharp whistle. The husky mix bolted out of the tree line and was in the back of the truck before I even reached the vehicle. I gave him a pat and then quickly got underway.
It took just minutes to get to Birch Cabin. As soon as I saw Lex waiting outside, something inside of me lifted. I shook my head because I just didn't get it. I thought back to when I’d met my wife. There had most definitely been an instant attraction there, but I couldn't remember having had this sensation of rightness every time I'd seen her. I couldn't help but wonder if maybe that had been a sign of things to come.
Thoughts of my ex immediately crashed whatever high I'd been riding and by the time I got out of the vehicle and near the porch to where Lex was waiting, I no longer felt like doing anything but going home and crawling into my bed or, better yet, to the bottom of the bottle of whiskey I’d bought but hadn’t consumed the day Lex had apologized to me.
Brewer reached Lex before I did and as soon as the large dog licked Lex's fingers, he smiled widely and greeted my dog with excitement. As I climbed the porch steps, my eyes dropped to where Lex's hands smoothed over Brewer's body. My dick reacted to the sight and that only served