Chapter 24

Cam came home to find Nolan’s things piled in his bedroom floor and spilling out into the living room.

“What in the hell are you doing?Are you moving out or something?”

Nolan raked his hands through his sweat-soaked hair and looked over at Cam from behind a heap of clothes.“Hey.No.Just some spring cleaning.”

“It’s a little late for that,don’t you think?”

“Well,maybe.But I didn’t know what else to do with myself.My car’s trashed so I can’t leave unless I take my bike and I hate riding my bike when the roads are wet.You’re gone,doing God knows what.Your dad won’t answer his phone.Toni won’t answer her phone.Ashley won’t answer her phone.I’ve already eaten all the cereal and I can’t concentrate enough to watch TV,so here I am.Spring cleaning.”

“Okay,then,”Cam said with a chuckle.“Need some help?”

“Sure.See that pile there?No,the other one.Yeah.I’m taking that all to the Catholic thrift store.Can you bag it up or something for me?”

“No problem.”Cam disappeared but came right back with some trash bags.“Hefty okay?”

Nolan nodded and got back to the task at hand.“So,where did you go,anyway?”

“Oh,nowhere in particular.I just solved one of your problems for you.”

“What?You did?”

“Yep.I had a little chat with our friend Ashley.”

“You,she’ll talk to.She hasn’t answered my calls all day.”

“She had no choice but to talk to me.I wouldn’t exactly go away.I kept banging on her door until the neighbors threatened to call the cops.”

“And what did she say when you asked her about my car?”

“She admitted to the whole thing,but she said you had it coming.‘How dare he ditch me like that?’she said.She also said that she only went out with you again out of pity and she was planning on ditching you again as soon as she could.”

“Well,I’m glad I could save her some effort,”Nolan said.

“I also got this for you.”Cam fished around in his pants pocket and pulled out some cash,dropping it on the bed.“That ought to cover the tire.”

A huge smile spread across Nolan’s face as he snatched up the money.“You are totally amazing!”

Cam beamed with pride.“It was the least I could do.I can’t stand to see you upset like that.”

Nolan blushed.“You didn’t happen to talk to Toni while you were out did you?”

“Toni?No.Why would I?”

“Well,she told me you guys had been talking a lot lately.”

“Wow.She’s going to be a shitty therapist if she keeps running her mouth about everyone’s business like that.”

“She didn’t mean it in a bad way.She was just trying to help.She didn’t give me any details.Not,really.What all did you guys talk about anyway?”

“You.”Cam tied up one full bag and shook open another.He thought for a minute and sat the empty bag down and crossed the room to where Nolan sat.He settled in next to him and took his hand.“Nolan,look at me.”

Nolan raised his head and looked Cam in the eyes.The coloring was of course different,but he could see some of Rick in him.Maybe it was the cut of his jaw or the angle of the smile.Quite possibly it was how expressive he was with his face.

Cam took his hand and once again moved the hair out of Nolan’s eyes.“I like you.I really like you a lot.I think in a lot of ways I love you and have for a long time.”

Nolan blushed and turned to look away.Cam’s warm hand guided Nolan’s face back toward him again.Nolan couldn’t help but notice how soft Cam’s hands were;how unlike his father’s they were.

“I know this is weird.I should have told you a long time ago,but I’m telling you now and that has to count for something.”

Nolan could only nod.His eyes were following the shapes Cam’s lips made when he talked.He found that a safer spot to look than Cam’s pleading eyes,his deep brown pools of need.

“Can you give it a try?Can you try to open your heart to me and see if there’s a place for me there?”

“Okay,”Nolan said,surprising even himself.

Cam exhaled and smiled at the same time.His eyes lit from within with hope.He leaned forward and gave Nolan a soft kiss.Nolan gave himself to the moment.It felt so nice to be comforted.He could taste his own sweat on Cam’s lips.The skin of Cam’s face was so soft and smooth.Not like Rick’s at all.The way Rick’s sharp stubble glided across the edges of his lips sending jolts of desire to all points south was nothing like the smooth moist pressure of Cam’s full lips.

Nolan put a hand on Cam’s chest,easing him gently back.It didn’t seem fair to kiss this man who obviously cared so deeply for him while comparing his technique to his dad’s.“Let’s slow down.We have time.”

Cam nodded and sat back,giving them both some distance to think.“Okay.We’ll go slow.”

The two men made quick work of the biggest messes in Nolan’s room and decided to leave the rest for later.Now that the air had cleared a bit,the driving force behind the clean-up was gone.Cam encouraged Nolan to sit beside him,have a few beers,and stream some vintage TV shows.

“So,what happened to‘Sexual Dynamite’?”Nolan asked a little while later,the beer making him brave.

Cam chuckled and tore his eyes away from a particularly thrilling episode of Cagney&Lacey.“What?”

“Well,you’ve always been this huge ladies’man.What happened to all that?”

“Oh,it’s still there.I love being with women.As far as romance goes,though—I just can’t seal the deal.We can have fun,we can hang out,but I just don’t get into the emotional side of it.”

Nolan nodded and tried to pay attention to the end of the chase scene.“But you feel that for me?”