In his dream, the neighbor dipped his face against the curve where Justin’s neck met his shoulder and kissed him there, and his beard was soft and scratchy at the same time and Justin whimpered and moaned as he melted into the sensation.
“That’s it,” the neighbor crooned. “I’ve got you.”
Justin learned back, pushing his ass against the hardness of the neighbor’s erection. He was buzzing with sensation, every nerve in his body simultaneously numb and alight. He felt like he was drunk, or high. He wanted to turn around, to face the man, to kiss him, but a part of him knew that would break the spell, and Justin wanted to live here in this fantasy for as long as possible. He moaned, the noise made thin and thready with desperation.
“That’s it, baby,” the neighbor said his breath hot against Justin’s throat. “I’ll give you what you need.”
One hand slid down Justin’s torso, fingers skating over Justin’s abdomen and making him flinch back from the tickling sensation. The neighbor laughed, his body vibrating with the sound, and Justin moaned again and squirmed so that the neighbor’s hand dipped lower. His fingers slipped into the low-slung waistband of the sweatpants Justin wore, lower and lower and—
There was a crashing sound from the kitchen, and Justin jolted properly awake. He was hard and aching, and there was a damp patch on his sweatpants and on the sheet. Justin grimaced as he climbed out of bed, tugging his shirt down to hide the wet spot. He willed his erection away, but it took no effort at all. The hard reality of the morning—of his life now—did most of the work for him.
Scarlett was sitting up in her crib, blinking dozily at him.
“Hey,” Justin said, his voice scratchy. “You look a lot better.”
She reached out to be picked up.
There was another noise from the kitchen—a clattering this time. Justin carried Scarlett down the narrow hallway to the back of the house just in time to see Harper drop the broom for a second time as she tried to clean up the smashed glass.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Justin said.
She glared at him, and Wyatt, standing in the middle of the mess, flinched at his tone.
“You’re not in trouble,” he said, wincing as Harper dragged the broom through the mess of glass and orange juice. “But you’re both in bare feet. Just don’t move, and I’ll get my shoes on and get you out of there.”
So much for his wet dream.
Real life was back with a vengeance.
Justin went and set Scarlett back down in her crib to keep her out of the mess. He caught a glimpse of the time on the bedside clock. Shit. Harper was supposed to be ready and waiting for the school bus in ten minutes.
He ignored Scarlett’s outraged yell as he shoved his feet into his shoes and darted back into the kitchen.
He lifted both Wyatt and Harper free of the glass. “Wyatt, go sit in front of the TV or something. Harper, you need to get dressed. Did you have breakfast?”
He wrenched open the cabinets and found a box of granola bars courtesy of the food bank. He threw them, and as much wrapped food as he could find, into Harper’s backpack. How the hell had he forgotten to set his alarm last night? Jesus, it’d be a miracle if Harper didn’t miss the bus.
“Harper!” he yelled. “Hurry up!”
She was back in moments, yelling at him because she had no clean socks. Justin dug through the pile of dirty laundry and found a pair that wasn’t too grubby. Then Harper yelled at him when he tried to do her hair.
“You’re not doing it right!”
“That’s because I don’t know how!” he yelled back at her, wincing when he drew the brush back and discovered it had broken off pieces of her hair.
“I hate you!” she screamed at him, and then grabbed her backpack and bolted out the kitchen door and around the house to the front driveway. Her hair was like a dark frizzy halo around her head.
Justin didn’t follow her. He watched from the front window instead, making sure she climbed on the yellow bus when it turned up only a few seconds after she reached the end of the driveway.
He felt a rush of relief when the door of the bus shuddered closed and Harper was out of his hair for the day.
She was just…she was hurting. He knew that. Of course he did. She was hurting and some guy she didn’t even know walked into her life and tried to tell her what to do when he couldn’t even do anything right himself. He couldn’t even brush her hair without breaking it.