A Guy for Christmas - K.C. Wells Page 0,82

about the second part. He didn’t know Mr. Davis well enough to be certain of that.

The doorbell rang, and Dean glanced at the kitchen wall clock. At this hour? As soon as he walked into the hallway, he knew who was standing on the other side of the door, and his heart sank. He hurried to open it, and his arms were full of a shivering Robin.

Dean pushed the door shut, then held Robin to him. “Hey, what happened?”

Robin pulled back and gazed up at him. “Can I stay? Maybe for a few days?”

Aw fuck. “Of course you can.” He kissed Robin’s hair. “I take it things went from bad to worse.”

“Can… can we talk about this in the morning?”

Dean looked closely at him. Christ, he seemed exhausted. “Yes. You need to sleep.”

Robin gripped his upper arm. “If it’s okay… can I sleep in your guest room?”

He nodded. “I’ll make up the bed. On one condition.” He lifted Robin’s chin with his fingers. “If you need me, you come right on in to my room, okay? Don’t lie there upset and in a mess. Get into my bed and curl up with me.”

“Okay.”

Lady chose that moment to stroll into the hall, and Robin scooped her up into his arms. “Is it okay if Lady sleeps on my bed?”

Dean didn’t have the heart to refuse him. “That’ll be fine. Just be prepared for the other little furball to come too.” He kissed Robin’s forehead, before heading for the stairs. “Come on up. I’ll show you to your room.” Dean didn’t quite get why Robin didn’t want to share his bed, but he wasn’t about to argue the point.

What mattered now was giving Robin time and space to ease his pain.

Then Dean was going to try to sort out this mess.

Chapter Twenty-One

After the tenth time of checking his phone for texts from his parents, Robin gave up. They’re not gonna budge on this, are they? Granted, it had been less than twelve hours since Robin’s world had crashed and burned, but he thought there’d be at least one text asking him to come home.

Nothing.

And not all my world crashed and burned. Dean was still there. And Ryan had sent several texts. Some of them weren’t appropriate to the situation, but his heart was in the right place. Robin was sure he and Dean would both get some enjoyment out of them at some point once everything was resolved.

If it ever gets resolved.

Dean came into the living room, carrying two mugs. He set them down, then glanced at Robin’s phone on the coffee table. “Still nothing?”

Robin couldn’t answer. He had the feeling that if he tried to speak, his voice would crack, and the tears that had fallen so freely the previous day would return with a vengeance. The night had passed with little to no sleep, and although he’d debated getting up and going to Dean’s room, Robin had stayed put.

He had to know for sure.

Dean sat beside him, and Lady got up from her spot by the fireplace and strolled over to them. She jumped up, landing with a soft whump on Robin’s knee. Dean smiled, stroking her behind her ears. “Lady’s come to give you some love.”

Robin snorted. “She’s a cat. I’m pretty sure she’s expecting me to do the loving.”

Dean gave his thigh a gentle squeeze. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Thanks, but no.” Not unless you can give my dad a new heart for Christmas. Because right then the one he had wasn’t working. How could it be, if he couldn’t see the parallels with his own life?

“Do you want me to go talk to him?”

Robin sighed. “He needs time to think. And I need to not think about this.” He’d replayed their conversation over and over in his head. “I keep asking myself: was there something else I could’ve said that would’ve gotten through to him? If I hadn’t flown off the handle the way I did, would he have acted the way he did?” Robin leaned his head back against the seat cushion and closed his eyes. “Only two days till it’s Christmas.” Except what kind of Christmas was it going to be this year?

“What does your family usually do on the day?”

Robin opened his eyes. “We actually start celebrating on Christmas Eve. Mom makes a special meal. It’s kind of a tradition.” He smiled. “There was one year when Ryan tried to convince them it was okay to open presents after midnight, but they nixed