“We’ll see how it goes today with the doctor, I guess.”
Xander made quick work of a shower. He toweled off and dressed in the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror while he brushed his teeth. He’d gone to the barber and had his beard trimmed nicely for the wedding. He smoothed his hand down his chest. He never thought about how much hair he hadon his chest until last night. Younger men were never really what he was attracted to, but there was something about Wright. The word gorgeous had come so naturally to him. Checking him over last night and bandaging him up, he was more aware of his own body and how different they were.
“Are you almost done in there?” Wright’s voice came from the door by the hallway. “I need to use the bathroom.”
Xander pulled his shirt down over his head and reached over to open the door. He let Wright in before walking out of the room to the bedroom. He focused on making the bed while Wright was occupied. He was just setting the pillows on the bed when Wright came back in.
Each time he looked at him, rage built in his chest. He wanted to go find this guy and beat him the same way. Worse.
“Why do you look like someone just kicked your puppy?” Wright asked. He adjusted the waistband of the sweats with his good arm.
“If you were my puppy, that man would be dead yesterday.” The comment was supposed to be in his head, but of course Wright heard it. They both stared at each other, Xander’s mouth doing a fish motion as he tried to think of how he wanted to apologize. He didn’t know Wright that well to say something like that. He’d hinted at wanting to hurt his dad for what he did, but did he cross the line?
Wright’s laughter and then subsequent grunting from the exertion caught him off guard. He was by his side in an instant and Wright leaned against him once more. “Oh shit, that hurt. A lot.”
“Are you okay?” Xander led him to the bed and helped him sit down. He sat down beside him and hovered his hands over his body. The bandages, including the one wrapped around his shoulder were all under the shirt. Outside of his face and theslightly wheezing sound when he took a deep breath, he looked fine. He wanted to check the rest of his injuries.
“Yeah, I just need a breather.” Wright laid back on the bed. The shirt was long, but his movement bunched it up and Xander could see a sliver of his skin between the shirt and waistband of the sweats. It was a deep purple to red. Wright lifted the shirt further up his chest and lifted his head to look down. Xander did the same. The bruise had grown in size and deepened in color. The bandage was wrapped around the topmost part of the bruising, but it looked painful still. Xander brushed his fingertips gently around the edges of it. “How’s it looking, Doc?”
“I wasn’t a doctor, actually.” He continued trailing his middle finger around the bruise. He didn’t want to do anything to hurt him more. “I was EMS, but I was in the Emergency Room on floater shifts helping out.”
“Are you even qualified to be touching me, then?”
Xander pulled his hand back and raised his eyes to look at Wright’s face. He had that same little smirk on his face and lowered the shirt back down. Xander helped him sit up, making him move slowly.
“I’m letting you get away with this now,” Xander said. “Because you’re hurt. But once you’re in the clear, you better watch your comments, smart ass.”
Wright smiled, a true genuine smile. It lit up his whole face. Xander was sure it was hurting him to do it, but it didn’t seem to bother him. “I think that’s my favorite name you’ve called me.”
“Smart ass? Why?”
Wright shrugged. Xander helped him up and they started back toward the door to head to the main house. He wanted to pick Wright up and carry him, keep him from having to walk more than he had already this morning. The guest house had a small front grassy area off the patio style porch and the gravel area where they parked all of their cars was a decent size. It wasa lot of walking for him, even if he claimed he wasn’t hurting that much. They had his truck, Patrick’s, and Tracy’s SUV parked there. Wright spoke again when they started up the stairs of the porch. “I couldn’t make comments like that without the fear of getting yelled at or hit. You just roll your eyes at them where my dad probably would have hit me at least. I had to be careful of my tone and what I said around him. It’s nice to be called a smart ass and know you don’t actually mean it.”
“I would never hurt you,” Xander said. “Physically or verbally. No one here would.”
“I’m starting to realize that,” Wright said. He was still using Xander as a crutch as he moved slowly up each step.
Chapter Five
~ Wright ~
Walking into the main house with Xander was both overwhelming and amazing. The first thing that caught his eye was the expansive kitchen and dining room area. The space was all open, with light wood floors and white walls. It had a homey feel to it, like a real family truly lived there. Dishes sat in the sink, there was a chopping board and knife on the island that was the only separation between the spaces. The table itself was large, with ten chairs around it. Almost half of them were taken already.
“Wright, dear.” A woman who looked in her mid- to late forties stood from the table and walked over to them. Xander’s hand was in the middle of his back, careful to avoid the spot just below that was still sore. “It’s so nice to meet you. Did you sleep well?”
“About as good as expected,” Wright said. He wasn’t sure who the woman was, but she seemed nice. Her eyes were full of worry and he could see them taking in every part of his face and looking lower. He was still wearing Xander’s shirt that was at least two sizes too big on him, and William’s sweats.
“And Alexander here has been helping you?” The way she said it was more of a warning that she better like the answer hegave or the grown man behind him would be in serious trouble. He looked up over his shoulder at Xander and smiled.
“Yeah, he’s been great. I really appreciate everything that’s been done. The food last night was delicious.”
“I’m glad the sweats fit,” another guy said. He was still taller than Wright, but he looked closer to his age. His hair looked like he’d used his fingers to try and tame it this morning, but a few pieces were stubborn and still sticking up. “I’m William. It’s nice to meet you.”
He held out his right hand to shake. He couldn’t wait to be able to use his other hand. Being left-handed, it felt weird not being able to move it. His hand was smooth and he squeezed Wright’s gently before letting it go.
“Were the boxers okay too?”
“Oh, um, yeah. I can see why they were for your honeymoon though. They’re tight on me, so I can imagine on you.”
