“Of course I fucking am,” Fletcher told him matter-of-factly. “You weren’t exactly gentle.” He made a fake sad face before quickly smirking at Taylor.
Taylor’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. “You fuckingbegged meto fuck you, Armstrong. You told me to go harder.” He felt bad if he really did hurt Fletcher, but Fletcher quicklystarted to laugh. He pressed a kiss on Taylor’s cheek as he reached down to smack Taylor on the ass. He kept his hand there and squeezed.
“At least you talked me through it,” Fletcher joked. “You’re such a gentleman.”
“Just this once,” Taylor smirked. “I’m usually not.”
Fletcher’s face lit with curiosity. “Oh yeah? Do your worst next time. I like it rough.”
24
The Babysitters Game
Taylor waited by the front door like an excited kid who was having a play date. Well, that’s basically what was happening. Pancek and Gretchen were heading out to dinner as a last hurrah before the baby was supposed to come. Taylor decided to invite Fletcher to come over, claiming he needed some reinforcements. It wasn’t the first time that Taylor had watched the kids for them. They were actually really easy to look after. But Taylor jumped at the opportunity for Fletcher to come and spend the night. He was actually really giddy about it.
It wasn’t like he could really have Fletcher casually come over to spend the night. He didn’t want to risk anything with Pancek or the rest of the team. But it wasn’t out of the ordinary for Taylor to have some of his friends stop by. Douglas and Sánchez had come over tons of times to hang out and play video games. So maybe Fletcher would come over under the guise of hanging out and playing video games while they watched the kids. Andmaybe he would just happen to fall asleep on the pullout couch downstairs in Taylor’s room. Nothing suspicious or gay about that at all.
Taylor didn’t even know if he was gay. Fletcher was the only guy he’d ever been attracted to. He also hadn’t had the slightest clue about Fletcher either. The fact that he had slept with probably enough women to populate a small town didn’t exactly set off Taylor’s gaydar. It’s not like either of them were wanting to label things either. Taylor didn’t even know if they were exclusive. Probably, he guessed. But they still needed to have that conversation.
Taylor was also in a better mood about the Jesse issue. He had finally gotten a hold of a neighbor who told them that Jesse had been staying there. He found out that Jacob had taken away his phone and his car, so he basically had no way of getting anywhere. Taylor called the school to let them know Jesse would be back in school and briefly filled them in on the situation, trying to only tell them the necessary parts.
He opened a new phone line on his phone plan and had a new phone delivered to Jesse, so now he was in contact with his brother again and he was able to sleep better at night.
Taylor blamed himself for a lot of it. He shouldn’t have trusted Mandy to take care of him. To protect him from Jacob. He knew Jesse was a strong kid. Stronger than he was. Stronger than Jacob. But some nights he still worried about him. About the possibility of Jacob drinking too much one night and trying to take a hit on Jesse. Or worse.
The important thing was that Taylor knew his brother was safe. He still worried about the rest of his family. Mandy, the kids, Grandad. They were all still in that house with him. But Mandy refused help and Grandad was declining quicker by theday. It was only a matter of time before he passed away, and Mandy and Jacob didn’t have his benefits to fall back on. The whole idea of it made him sick. But Jesse was safe. He would be eighteen in a few weeks. He would get Jesse out and have him come to Seattle to be with him. He would be safe here with the Panceks. Gretchen and Pancek had already insisted.
Jesse just needed to hold on for a few more weeks. His and Taylor’s birthdays were only two days apart. Taylor would fly to Sacramento on his 20th birthday and leave on Jesse’s eighteenth. With Jesse. He felt good about this. He really did. He told Jesse he had the plane tickets already bought, and Gretchen had already started working on converting the office in the basement into a temporary bedroom for him. It would all be okay. So why the hell was Taylor still spiraling?
He needed this night with Fletcher. They had hotel rooms, but even then they couldn’t risk it with their teammates so close by. TaylorneededFletcher. He really fucking needed this.
“Hey sweetie, would you mind fastening these straps for me?” Gretchen asked. She sat on the couch and held her foot out. She was looking heavily pregnant. Gorgeous, yes. But very fucking pregnant. She was due to pop any day now.
Taylor smiled as he sat down on the coffee table and helped her with her heels. “You look stunning tonight. You know, I think I get the whole pregnancy glow thing,” Taylor told her.
Gretchen rolled her eyes. “Yeah right. I’m fat and I can’t even put on my own goddamn shoes.” She looked down and rubbed her stomach. “I already know he’s going to have a big head like his papa. God, I amnotexcited for the delivery.”
Taylor shrugged. “Yeah, but then you’ll have a little baby,” he beamed.
“I expect you to keep up the excitement when you’ll bechanging your baby brother’s diapers,” she laughed. They both eyed Marina as she walked downstairs.
“Well luckily mysweet little sisterMarina has that covered,” he smirked.
Marina made a disgusted face. “I’m not changing any diapers,” she gagged. “Hey, when will Armstrong be here? I’m so excited for him to come over,” she said. Taylor thought it was the sweetest thing ever that Marina had a huge crush on Fletcher. And the girl wasn’t shy about it either…
“You should go wait on the front porch for him.” Taylor looked down at his watch to read a text. Perfect timing. “He just told me he’s here.”
Marina jumped up in excitement as she ran to the front door to wait outside. Taylor wished he could show the same excitement. But he couldn’t. For obvious reasons.
A minute later, Marina came inside with a smiling Fletcher, who had an obnoxiously red backpack slung over his shoulder. The team had gotten them from one of their sponsors and management asked them to wear them out. Fletcher, being the goody two-shoes he was, had been carrying it around everywhere.
“Wow, Mommy Gretch. You look hot.” Fletcher said.
“Save it, Armstrong,” she warned.
Taylor heard little footsteps running down the stairs, which obviously belonged to Caleb. “Armstrong! You’re here! Let’s play!”
Fletcher smiled as Caleb ran up to him and jumped on Fletcher. “Okay, bud. Just a minute, okay?”
