Donny closed his eyes and enjoyed the touch. He’d been drawing for years. He started sketching the arches of Athena’s high heels when they were both teenagers. There was something about the elegance and grace of the lines that had spoken to him. He’d gone from sketching her shoes to sketching her legs, then realized he shouldn’t be drawing his sister, so he started people watching at the park and drawing everyone he could. Donny had always been drawn to the shapes of people. Their angles and curves, the way they bent and moved and stretched. It was a challenge to capture the emotion of a moment in time, but he tried.
That was what he’d done after the first night with Roland. He’d caught a glimpse of a powerful and graceful creature— chained by a body that confined him and a brain that restricted him. Donny had seen a hint in Roland’s eyes and his movements of someone greater than he was allowing himself to be. It was burned on the backs of Donny’s eyelids, and that’s what he drew. That was what he showed Roland. That was who he challenged Roland to be.
“I was fifteen, I think.”
“What keeps you drawing?” Roland lowered his palm onto Donny’s hand and gently flexed his fingers to twine their hands together.
Donny turned his palm up and squeezed. He looked Roland square in the eye and truthfully replied, “I want everyone to see what I see.
Chapter 14
Pete's Fine So It's Different
Donny woke up and stretched,untangling himself from Roland’s long limbs. He padded to the bathroom and showered, dressing in his clothes from last night before he tiptoed past a still sleeping Roland into the kitchen. He popped a pod into the Keurig and waited for it to brew.
Pete was curled up on the couch, face tucked between his legs, sleeping soundly. Donny picked up his mug of coffee and sat down beside him, stroking his fur. Pete mewled, stretched, then fell back to sleep. The vet had told him the bandage should be able to come off, but Donny hadn’t told Roland that. Pete didn’t need a babysitter anymore, but Roland seemed eager to try and make amends for the last nightmare.
Donny supposed he could see if Roland wanted tokeepPete on a permanent basis. The idea of not having Pete around all the time made him a little sad, but Pete was so excluded with Jack and Jill, it might be better for him to live with someone who was home and could pay attention to him more. And if Donny and Roland kept seeing each other, then it wasn’t like he’d never see Pete. Maybe Roland could even meet Jack and Jill.
That was presumptuous.
Donny finished his coffee and washed the mug, putting it back into the cabinet. He scratched out a note for Roland, letting him know he’d be back before four, then let himself out. As the door clicked shut, Donny remembered how enraged he felt walking in and seeing Pete on that broken plate, covered in paint, then Roland, fucking stumbling and shit-faced. Donny shouldn’t have fucked Roland the way he had, but he couldn’t find another way to channel his feelings.
It had worked out, Donny supposed. Roland was going to take his medication, and that would help. Donny hoped it would help because Roland had been allowing him glances at the person he was— that he could be, maybe the person hewantedto be, and Donny was eager for more.
He wanted to see if Roland’s eyes sparkled when he came.
Donny groaned and shifted his dick between his legs as he slid into his car and headed to work.
Before he went inside, he tapped out a text message to Athena, seeing if she wanted to get lunch. She sent him a middle finger emoji, which he assumed was yes.
His first delivery was a ridiculously heavy box that rattled and clanked with every step back to his car, and he clumsily tossed it into his trunk, keying the address into his GPS. It was a bit of a drive up to Pasadena, but Donny always enjoyed the gorgeous houses in the old part of town so he tried to see the bright side.
He pulled into a long driveway, stopping at a closed wrought-iron gate and unrolling his window to hit the call button.
“Yes?”
“Hi. I have a package for Richard Harrington. I’m from Frank’s Delivery.”
There was no reply, but the gates swung open and Donny drove down an even longer driveway, parking in a roundabout in front of a giant Craftsman style house. He lugged the awkward box out of his trunk, managing to get it to the porch with a lot of effort but minimal commotion. He set the clipboard on top and rang the doorbell.
Donny heard the click-clack of heels against hardwood get louder as someone approached the door and opened it. The man was attractive, that much was undeniable. From a perfectly styled head of blond hair to the amber colored eyes that widened, then narrowed, at the sight of Donny, to the impeccable black slacks and black oxfords, and a white dress shirt, rolled up to the elbows.
The man looked down at the box and lifted it up with ease, setting it on a table directly inside the house.
“What do you have in there? Twenty feet of chain link or something?” Donny held out the clipboard and laughed.
The man laughed but his face quickly turned serious again as he signed the paperwork and handed it back.
“I don’t think it’s any of your concern.” And then the door was closed in his face.
Donny blinked and shoved his hand in his pocket to dig out his phone so he could text his sister.
Donny:I just had THE weirdest customer.
Athena: You’re the weirdest customer.
Donny: If you never see me again, I’m chained up in the basement of a gorgeous house in Pasadena.
