guy the most about being in a chair?
“Taking a piss or dump on his own, and having sex that doesn’t become a circus side show.” Rory remembered it easily, because Red had said it to him a lot.
Red nodded. “I’ve heard both ends of that spectrum, and everything in between. So hit me with it. It’s just between you and me and my three million social media followers.”
“Yeah right.” Rory chuckled, but met Red’s gaze squarely. “I want to have sex on top. Beginning to end.”
Red pursed his lips. “Doable. Especially if you do a man’s job right, which means warming her up first, hot and ready as a Pop Tart.”
Rory winced. “C’mon man. This woman is important.”
“I get that. No guy in a chair is going to contemplate busting his ass for that level of conditioning unless he thinks she’s worth it.” Red put a hand on his shoulder, his expression serious. “I wasn’t disrespecting her, man. Not a bit. A woman caught up in her passion is a thing of sacred beauty, and that’s no lie.”
“Yeah. Okay.” Rory lifted a shoulder. “That was actually pretty poetic.”
“Well, a good Pop Tart is a religious experience.”
Red danced back from Rory’s right jab, fast enough it still made glancing contact with his abdomen. Probably a good thing, since hitting Red’s abs would be like bashing concrete.
“Whoa, boy’s got mad fight skills. Let’s get to it. Variety adds to the spice. Right, my man?”
Telling Red what he needed was a good thing. Rory reminded himself of that as he hiked himself from his chair into the driver’s seat of the van with muscles that throbbed. He’d need to keep moving and stretching through the day, or in short order those muscles would feel like they’d been injected with acid. Even so, when his cell rang, he almost unmanfully wept with joy at the option of pressing the button on the steering wheel to activate the handsfree. Even lifting a phone to his ear sounded like too much effort.
“Just checking in,” Thomas said. “Everything okay this morning? Daralyn waved at us when Mom picked her up to take her to Dr. Taylor’s, but we didn’t get a chance to talk to her. Wanted to make sure you’re both okay.”
“Better than,” Rory said, and meant it. “How about you guys? I know that was a little over the top.”
Thomas’s voice reflected surprise that he’d asked. “Yeah, we’re good. Mainly we were worried about her, and you. Marcus in particular.”
“Tell him that it turned out good. She’s even going with me to Florida, for that trip to look at fixtures. I’m working on scheduling coverage at the store.”
“Good.” Thomas sounded pleased. “I can take a day if you need me to. Marcus has that thing in New York, but if it doesn’t overlap, we can be here to help.”
“If I can’t get full coverage and it won’t mess you up, I may take you up on that.”
“No problem.” Thomas paused. When he spoke next, he’d lowered his voice some. “Hey, can you do me a favor?”
Rory could count on one hand the number of times those words had come out of his brother’s mouth, in the kind of tone that said the request was pretty important. “Depends. Does it involve being a backroads tour guide for the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders?”
Brother-speak for sure, hit me with it.
Thomas chuckled. “I think Daralyn would have something to say about that.”
As Rory thought of her reaction to Amanda Brewster, a smile crossed his face. If he didn’t watch himself, she might check with his mother for tips on how to use that skillet. His head was far too easy a target in his chair.
“You might be right. What did you need, bro?”
“Can you stop by here for a few minutes? Let Marcus know face-to-face things are okay with Daralyn and you.”
“No problem.” Rory was surprised it had rattled Marcus that much. “Is he all right?”
“Yeah.” Thomas paused. In the ensuing silence, Rory wondered if Thomas was doing for Marcus what he himself had done, when Marcus had asked specific questions about Daralyn. Weighing what information was okay to share, against what would respect the privacy of someone you were worried about.
“Marcus has lost key people in his life, Rory,” Thomas said at last, his voice still quiet. “When he was younger. To bad things. He’s pretty protective of people he considers family, and Daralyn matters a lot to him. So do you, though I’d probably have to stick matchsticks