Chapter Thirty
Two days later, Franco fought to stay upright as the skates threatened to land him on his rear again. He’d windmilled his arms so much he could have generated electricity for half of Denver. Rico, on the other hand, seemed to be quite skilled at this, despite how he’d characterized his abilities earlier. There hadn’t been any skating rinks close to home growing up, so Franco had never really learned. Rico must have gone skating with Gina a lot since the summer.
Which only made Franco doubly determined to master this talent fast. Besides, skating around on his own this afternoon wasn’t a lot of fun.
“Zio Franco, watch this!” Gina skated to the center of the floor and executed a spin that would be the envy of any Olympian.
“Good job! But don’t expect that degree of difficulty from me anytime soon.”
I just want to stay upright.
Gina skated ahead of him, and Rico skated up to his side. “Want some pointers?”
The man seemed to be as at home in skates as in sneakers. He’d been skating circles around Franco all afternoon.
“I’ll manage. Just need a few more circuits, and I’ll be as good as you.” Not really, but he didn’t like being so inept at something as juvenile as roller skating.
“Where there’s a will…” Rico slapped him on the ass as he skated off after Gina, leaving Franco feeling both frustrated and at a loss on how to get closer to Rico while wearing these things. Not that he could catch up to him on skates, even if he wanted to. Maybe he should have accepted Rico’s offer for instruction. At least then the two of them might have been able to touch more openly without embarrassing Gina or upsetting anyone. Although Becky’s moms were here, and there was at least one other gay couple.
But Rico hadn’t had the talk with Gina yet about their budding relationship, so better to wait before being too demonstrative in public.
When would Rico finally tell her? What was he waiting for?
Still, there might be chance touches and encounters that wouldn’t set off anyone’s alarms. Skating pointers, for instance. It would take him a while to sort out this thing on his own.
Always a fast learner, though, Franco was gliding more steadily around the rink in no time.
“You’re doing great!” Rico shouted as he whizzed past him then slowed down, spun around to face him, and skated backwards.
“Show-off!”
Rico’s infectious grin melted him, though. “You’ll be up to speed in no time, Sir.” Franco glanced around but there wasn’t anyone within hearing distance. Rico seemed to be pushing the boundaries today. Franco needed to go with the flow, whatever Rico had planned. Or perhaps he was merely being spontaneous. Their relationship had moved to a new level after the edging scene Friday morning.
“You’re already doing a lot better than you were ten minutes ago.” Obviously, he’d been keeping an eye on Franco. Rico leaned closer to add, “And you’re not leaving much to the imagination in those skintight jeans. Freaking hot, Stud Muffin!”
Franco rolled his eyes but couldn’t keep the grin off his face. Leave it to Rico to get him all hot and bothered in a public arena with a remark like that. But he willed himself not to embarrass Gina—or himself.
“You told me to wear something nonrestrictive that moves with me.” He’d chosen a solid red T-shirt and jeans.
Rico wore his Guncle shirt, proud to proclaim himself publicly as Gina’s gay uncle. Franco gave Rico the once-over. “I will say that those neon shorts are hawt and very revealing.”
Rico winked at him, spun around, and skated off. Franco was certain he’d wiggled his butt to taunt him further. Neither of them were displaying their junk in a lewd way, but Franco view of his boi’s ass as he skated away left little to the imagination. Pulling out his phone, he snapped a few photos. Something to enjoy in the privacy of his bedroom tonight as he tried to alleviate some of his ongoing sexual frustration.
More determined than ever, he intended to find private time for them to be together. Soon.
In the meantime, not wanting to be left in Rico’s dust, Franco picked up the pace. Remembering that they were actually here for Gina, he snapped a few photos and videos of her too, searching the rink until he found her skating and giggling with two other girls. Did they already know each other or had they met here for the first time? Hard to tell with Gina. She latched onto people really quickly, as had been obvious the first night he met her.
Franco snapped more photos as the trio approached, but they skated past him, oblivious to his existence. Probably some classmates. Good to see her having fun. He didn’t know how often she’d been hanging out with her friends lately but was happy to see her doing so today.
Franco’s attention returned to the task at hand, and he skated forward.
“Get the lead out, Sir!” Rico taunted as he zoomed up behind him.
Brat.
“You’re going to pay for that.”
“Promises, promises,” Rico countered. “I’m quaking in my skates.”
Franco hoped they wouldn’t have to wait until next Sunday to have some alone time together. He needed to touch Rico again in the worst way.
Suddenly, Franco became aware that Rico was no longer skating beside him. He turned back to see a stricken look on his face. Rico had stopped cold a few feet back and appeared to be frantically searching the rink. “I need to get to Gina.”
What was wrong? “She just skated by with her friends.” When Franco spotted her at the far end of the rink, he pointed in that direction.
As if in slow motion, her speed decreased until she came to a stop. Rico cut across the middle of the rink and headed toward her. Her friends seemed to be as confused as Franco. Suddenly, the music registered in Franco’s head.
“You gotta be bad. You gotta be bold. You gotta be wiser.”
Michelle’s song.
Franco propelled himself toward the small group, uncertain that he’d be able to come up with the right words when he reached them but wanting to be there for both Gina and Rico. They’d talked with Gina about watching for signs the night Michelle had died. If this wasn’t one, Franco didn’t know what would be. That song certainly wasn’t a current top hit.
Or had Rico asked the DJ to play it? Even if he had, as long as it helped Gina make a solid connection with her mother…
Rico kneeled in front of Gina, who went into his arms and held on tightly. Franco couldn’t tell if she was crying or merely needed that physical contact with him.
Franco skated to a shaky stop next to them seconds later and placed a supportive hand on Gina’s upper back, stroking her comfortingly. “Remember when we talked about signs, Gina?” Franco asked.
She broke away slightly and looked up at him through her tear-filled eyes. Gina nodded, then a smile spread across her face. “Mama’s sending me a sign!”
“I think so, yes,” Rico agreed.
“She used to love to come here with me.”
“I’m glad she joined us today,” Franco said reassuringly.
Gina looked from Franco to Rico then up at the ceiling, where she probably pictured her mama in Heaven, and whispered, “Mama, I still miss you!”
Rico wrapped her in a big hug and met Franco’s gaze over her shoulder. He had tears in his eyes. Hell, all three of them did. Rico mouthed a thank you that confused Franco.
Later that night, as Rico tucked Gina into bed, Gina still talking about her visit from her mama, Franco excused himself to return to the living room. When Rico joined him, Franco handed him a cocktail to help him unwind.
“Thanks for doing that,” Rico said after taking a sip of his drink.
“I figured you could use one tonight.”
Rico shook his head. “No, I mean thanks for requesting that the DJ play Michelle’s song.”
Franco’s brow wrinkled as he narrowed his eyelids. “You think I had something to do with it?”
Rico cocked his head. “Didn’t you?”
“Of course not. That was all on Michelle.”
“Holy crap! When the music started playing, my first thought was that I needed to get to Gina and be with her, not knowing how she’d handle hearing it. My next thought was that you’d made it happen.” Rico ran his fingers through his hair and took a long drink from his glass. “At first, I was even a little pissed that you hadn’t given me a heads-up.”
“I wouldn’t do that to either of you.”
“Sorry. But what an amazing moment for us, despite my suspicions. Maybe there’s something to all this signs-from-the-afterlife stuff after all.”
Franco grinned. “I guess we both need to buy into what we’ve been telling Gina all along and have faith in Michelle to come through with the signs. It can take a while for spirits on the other side to make something like that happen, but when it does—”
“Where’d you learn about all this?”
Franco shrugged. “Books mostly.” After Papa died, Franco had tried to find out everything he could about what souls could see and do from the other side. He needed to know if Papa could see who Franco was—possibly for the first time in his life.
“Maybe I can borrow some of them so I can figure this out more.” Rico glanced toward the ceiling. “Thanks, Michelle. You made our day…week…even month.”
Franco set his glass on a coaster and waggled his fingers in Rico’s direction to beckon him closer. “You need a massage. You’re beyond tense.”
Rico grinned at him. “I thought you’d never offer.”
Franco wished they had time to dive deeper into this relationship, but these quiet times meant a lot to him too.
“Take off your shirt and sit.”
Rico did as instructed, displaying his firm pecs and hard nipples, and taking Franco’s breath away for a moment. He longed to touch them, kiss them, bite them. Seemingly oblivious to the effect he had on him, Rico turned away from him and sat down facing backward on a dining chair.
He let out a sigh when Franco began to knead his tight muscles. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed having you touch me, Sir. I don’t know how parents find time to have sex when they have little ones in the house. And anything remotely kinky is out of the question. I’m not sure I’m ready to explain that kind of relationship to Gina.”
Franco laughed. “When you’re ready to tell her about us, I guarantee there won’t be a kink component.”
“Got that right.” Rico tipped his head back and looked up at Franco, his smile quickly sobering. “God, I haven’t even thought about talking with her about all the things Michelle would have dealt with as Gina grew up, like the sex talk. And puberty. Michelle left behind a series of letters for Gina that are supposed to cover most of her big moments in life. I guess I need to look at them myself at some point so I know when to pass each one on to her, but I’m not ready yet.”
“You probably have some time before you need to pull out the one labeled when puberty hits or when she gets her period or whatever.”
“I’m so not ready for this.”
“I know Michelle wouldn’t leave you hanging out there on that topic. And I’m sure there will be another for when she starts dating and so on.”
“Oh, I already have the first date issue covered, remember?”
Franco grinned and shook his head. “Right. No dating until she’s thirty?”
“Actually, I might like your idea about waiting until she’s thirty-five better.”
Franco chuckled. “We’ll see how that goes.” He sobered. “But I’m sure you’ll figure things out when the time is right.”
“Let’s hope so.”
Franco continued to apply pressure to the knots in Rico’s neck and shoulders without saying anything further. But the more he touched Rico, the more turned on he became. They had so little time together to simply touch each other. But his frustration had been unbearable ever since the edging scene with the vibrators. Knowing Gina slept like a rock, Franco came around to the other side of the chair and faced Rico.
Just a taste. That’s all I need.
Taking Rico by the hand, he guided him up and into his arms. “I’ve been wanting to do this ever since you strutted that tight ass of yours in front of me at the rink.” Franco lowered his mouth to Rico’s and, tenderly at first, nibbled at the corners of his mouth. “Mm. You taste so good.”
Rico opened his mouth, allowing Franco to plunge his tongue inside. Heat pooled in Franco’s groin. If only he could go a lot further than this kiss. One day, he and Rico would be able to take this slowly, sensuously, and advance their relationship much further. The man kept him on the edge of self-combustion every time they came close to each other.
Stroking Rico’s back, feeling the firm muscles rippling under his boi’s hot skin, Franco gave in to the sensations. He wanted this kiss to last forever, but with Gina sleeping nearby, their time was limited, as always.
Moving his hands up to the sides of Rico’s face to hold him in place, his tongue tangled with Rico’s. After a minute or two, Franco pulled back so they could both catch their breath.
Franco’s chest rose and fell in short, rapid bursts. He grew hard, which frustrated him since they couldn’t do anything about it. “I’ll never get tired of kissing you, Sweet Cheeks.”
A mixture of love and lust shone in Rico’s eyes, probably reflective of his own.
“Good, because I’d shrivel up and die if you ever stopped, Stud Muffin.”
Wanting to take this a little slower, Franco planted a row of small nibbles along Rico’s lower lip then slid the tip of his tongue over those same spots until a giggle from the hallway made Franco jump back.
Damn!
He and Rico turned simultaneously to find Gina standing there. How long had Gina been watching? Not that they’d done or said anything that might scar her for life, unless catching her two guncles kissing passionately would do that.
She tittered again. Rico did nothing to hide his shirtless chest from her.
Preferring that Rico take the lead, Franco shrugged and gave her a smile.
“What are you doing up, Sweetie?” Rico asked, seemingly unfazed.
“I’m thirsty.”
Without another word, Rico went to the cupboard for a glass, poured some water from the tap, and handed it to her. As she drank, Rico said, “We’ll talk more about this in the morning if you have any questions, but it’s a school night and you need your sleep.”
The parental authority in his voice impressed Franco, although a part of him wished he’d seized this opportunity to tell Gina about their relationship.
After drinking half the glass, she handed it back to Rico and looked solemnly from one to the other. “Are you two going to get married?” The to each other being implied.
This definitely was a question for Rico to answer, so Franco turned toward him.
Rico smiled back at him first, leaving Franco wondering if that might happen someday, not that they were anywhere near that kind of commitment. Then Rico focused on Gina again. “We like each other—a lot—but we haven’t really started dating yet. That step has to come before someone thinks about getting married.”
“We had a date today at the skating rink, didn’t we?” she asked.
“Usually, when a couple dates,” Rico began, “they go out alone, just the two of them.” When Gina’s smile faded, he quickly added, “But we wanted to go skating with you today. Franco and I will find something totally boring to do whenever we do go out on a romantic date.”
If the words didn’t sound so comical, they might have stung a little. When that moment came, he and Rico definitely would be playing with different toys than roller skates.
I’ll show you boring when we have our first romantic date, boi.
“I have an idea!” Gina’s eyes lit up. “Becky wants me to spend the night with her Wednesday after school. You two can go on a date all by yourselves instead of having dinner with me!”
Had the kid just given them her blessing for said date? Perhaps she was more aware of what was going on between the two men than either had surmised.
Rico furrowed his brows. “How long have you been cooking this up without saying anything to me?”
She glanced away momentarily then back at Rico with a sheepish grin. “Just since the skating rink today. I told Becky no, because I didn’t want to leave you alone, but you have Zio Franco now.” That she was worried about leaving Rico alone touched his heart too.
“Let’s talk about this over breakfast,” Rico said, giving the quintessential parent’s nonanswer. “Right now, you need your sleep. Off to bed you go.”
Gina came over to Rico and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m glad you like Zio Franco, because I like him too.”
Franco’s eyes stung, surprising him. He couldn’t think of a more important endorsement. After she released Rico, Franco hunkered down, and she went into his arms for another hug. “I like you a whole lot too, honey.”
When she released him, Rico took her hand without another word and led her back to her bedroom.
The hurdles standing in their way seemed to be dropping one after another, like magic. Or perhaps it was inevitable, and they were meant to be.
I sure hope so.
Franco couldn’t imagine being with anyone else anymore.
Once again, Roger watched his videos of the last two fires he’d set. One had been perfection, the other a shit show. If the stupid Richards family had done the bare minimum and kept the batteries in their smoke detectors up to date, they never would have died.
I refuse to take responsibility for their needless deaths.
Roger had even been forced to call 911 when it became obvious the family wasn’t trying to get out of the house.
I did my part.
His heartbeat ramped up as he watched the firefighters on his phone’s screen eventually knock down the flames at the Richards house. Roger had managed to rent the garage apartment across the street the month before to scope out the place, which gave him a great vantage point to watch and record the blaze without looking suspicious.
Patricia’s fuck buddy hadn’t been assigned to the fires he’d started, unfortunately. He’d hoped for him to show up that morning to investigate before the timbers had stopped smoldering. Pity. But fire investigators weren’t assigned in any predictable way that Roger could ascertain. He scrolled through his phone camera to where the guys who did have his case had documented evidence of what had to have been the most beautiful fire he’d ever set.
Good luck trying to pin it on me.
Yeah, even now, the adrenaline pumped through his body as if watching them try to figure it out for the first time. One bonus to a fire with loss of life, they looked even more inept and the stakes ramped up as high as the flames had soared from that house the night before.
I’m too smart for them.
What would Patricia think of her motherfucking fireman if he was unable to catch the arsonist terrorizing the city? Roger would enjoy making the shithead’s life miserable in the meantime, though.
Perhaps he ought to taunt Patricia a little, anonymously of course. No way would he tip either of them off that he was the person setting these fires. He had no intention of going back to prison. Roger’d had enough of that place from when Patricia had charged him with false imprisonment before—the time her firefighter came to the rescue after Roger had set fire to their apartment building. His plan had been to go back in and rescue her himself, so Patricia would see how much she needed him.
His glory had been stolen by that asshole.
Not that anybody had pinned that blaze on him. They’d only gone after him for locking her in a cage, which was where his fucktoy belonged. Didn’t they know that’s what BDSM was all about? Taking away the little sub’s freedom, restraining her, making her suffer?
Patricia had loved every minute of it—until Victor Holmes came along and made Roger out to be some kind of monster.
No, Roger’s prison days were over. And Patricia and Holmes’s days of fucking each other would soon be over too. Roger would make that cunt and her Black bastard pay for what they’d done to him.
Enough time had passed since the Richards house fire for people to get complacent. Time to scout out his next blaze. Maybe something a little closer to home for his two primary targets, Patricia and Holmes.
Better yet, close to someone important to them. A while back, he’d seen that Giardano investigator at their apartment. Time to follow that shithead’s coworker a while.