Summer would be here soon, when he’d have headed down to the river with all the other farm kids to swim after they’d finished chores. And where he’d first realized he found a shirtless Billy Tucker far more interesting than the guy’s bikini-clad sister.
The door opened behind him. “It’s getting late. You coming in?”
Damn. He’d been out here brooding and probably worrying poor Bo half to death. Things were a whole lot easier when he hadn’t given a shit about other people’s opinions.
A whole lot lonelier too.
“Yeah, I’m a-coming.”
He held the door open to let Moose out and followed Bo in the house and into their darkened room. Flickering came from the bathroom. A sweet scent teased his nose, and light from a dozen candles caught the mirror, all shiny surfaces, and the half-filled Jacuzzi tub.
Bo said nothing, but he tugged at Lucky’s shirt until Lucky raised his arms and let his partner undress him. Lucky reached for his jeans zipper.
Bo lightly tapped his hand away. “Allow me.”
Lucky raised his feet, first one, then the other, for shoe and sock removal, nothing playful or sexual about Bo getting him naked.
“Get in,” Bo ordered.
Lucky avoided the candles on the tub rim and sank into warm water to watch the show. Bo opened his shirt one button at a time, but his movements weren’t sultry like a trained stripper. The pain in his eyes grew nearly unbearable—not pain for himself, but the pain of not knowing how to help someone.
When Bo finally unveiled his amazing body and slid into the tub, Lucky was half hard, and content to stay that way for now. Instead of sitting opposite, Bo settled by Lucky’s side.
He mapped Lucky’s face with lips and fingers, exploring every feature. Lucky savored the tracing and arched into the soothing touch of the scrubber and bath gel.
Water sluiced from Bo’s body and candlelight glinted on the droplets clinging to his skin as he rose and held out a hand to Lucky. He pulled two fluffy towels from the cabinet and toweled them both dry.
Lucky’s semi-erection withered, and if Bo expected sex, he gave no sign. He pulled the covers over them and held Lucky close. “You want to talk about it?”
“I don’t know where to start.”
Bo raked his lips over Lucky’s forehead. “Why not start in the middle and work your way from there? I know you’re worried about donating for your father, but what else is eating at you? Maybe I can help you figure things out.”
“It’s just… so much to take into account, and you know making serious decisions ain’t my strong suit. I’m a doer, but this time I can’t run in, guns blazing, take out some two-bit drug dealer, and save the day.”
Bo pulled Lucky’s head more firmly to his chest. “No. And I know it has to hurt. I remember when my mother died. I wondered if she’d have done something different if I’d been with her. Some kind of motherly instinct to protect me might have saved her.”
Lucky shook off unpleasant images of a young Bo being thrown from a car. “Or maybe you’d have died too.”
“But at least I’d know if I could’ve changed things.”
Lucky stayed quiet, soaking in the comfort of Bo’s arms around him, the gentle thudding of Bo’s heart pounding against his ear. “I hate to say this, but I’m glad you don’t know. I need you here.”
“Yeah. I might not have ever met you.”
Lucky forced a chuckle. “Might’ve been a good thing for you.”
Bo didn’t join in the laugh. “No, not meeting you would have been the worst thing to ever happen to me.”
Now wasn’t the time to get mushy, not with Lucky’s heart already hurting. “The doctor says the operation is fairly safe, but there’s still a chance I could die.”
“Yeah, mine told me the same thing, if I’d been eligible to donate. But there’s a chance I could choke on my morning tea too. Until then, I plan to keep on living.”
Taking a deep breath to buy time didn’t soften Lucky’s bad news. “And then there’s the financial part. Charlotte tells me Dad’s ‘bout maxed out his insurance, and like hell am I gonna let Mama have to worry about selling the farm to pay his bills, but this could cost us one helluva lot of money. Money we ain’t got.”
Bo turned Lucky until their eyes met. “We’re talking about your father. Isn’t he worth any amount?”
Lucky shrugged as best he could, pressed tightly to Bo. “Yeah, but he’s my responsibility, not yours.”
