Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Tanner was pretty sure Lance was doing his very best not to let uncertainty and awkwardness grow between them. Since finishing their shower, Lance took every opportunity to brush up against him and smile at him like he’d hung the moon while they packed their bags. When Tanner said he was ready to go, Lance hugged him and kissed his cheek. His fucking cheek! Rendered speechless, he’d blushed and smiled.
“Thank you. For being here. Seriously,” Lance told him when he looked up again.
All Tanner could do was just nod.
Once they’d checked out and headed towards the hospital, Tanner had expected Lance to begin pulling back, both emotionally and physically. He’d expected him to say something about acting chill, like they were nothing more than drinking buddies, like they had never been intimate. Instead, Lance chatted away about what a pain in the ass it was having to move Parker’s shit in hot weather, smiling affectionately and holding his hand or squeezing his thigh.
As Tanner pulled into the hospital parking lot, he glanced at Lance, waiting for him to say something— anything— that had to do with how they should behave in front of Parker. But the man looked back at Tanner like he hadn’t the faintest clue what he was waiting for.
It appeared that Tanner needed to step up and take the lead on this.
“Listen,” he began, licking his lips. His mouth was dry. He was so goddamned nervous he felt like he might throw up. He’d never been nervous around Lance before. Not even when he’d leaned in for that first kiss. Sitting here with him now, thinking about their new level of intimacy, he was afraid that he might say the wrong thing, causing Lance to walk away in anger. It was ridiculous, since nothing about Lance said he was the type to walk out at the first sign of trouble, but he couldn’t help being afraid of bungling the situation.
“Last night, and this morning, it’s been—” he swallowed hard, looking down at their hands resting side by side on the center console. They had similar hands. Wide. Strong. Working man’s hands. For some reason, that thought made him smile and relax slightly. “It’s been fucking amazing.” He glanced up to find Lance looking wary and tense. Although he relaxed slightly after Tanner’s comment, he didn’t speak, waiting for Tanner to continue. “But it’s really new. Like—so fucking new we haven’t talked about it, so maybe, in front of your brother—”
Lance started laughing before Tanner could finish. Tanner’s jaw dropped in surprise at this unexpected reaction.
“Dude, if you’re worried that I’m about to kiss you in front of my brother, you can chill. First rule of having siblings, never let them know anything unless you’re ready to be grilled and roasted about it,” Lance said, still laughing and shaking his head. He grabbed Tanner’s hand then, giving it a firm squeeze. “For the record, I think it was fucking amazing too, but—we still need to like—talk about it. Really talk,” he stated emphatically.
Tanner smiled and nodded. Every time he got shit all tangled up in his head and felt overwhelmed, Lance came riding to the rescue, like a knight in shining armor, and saved his ass. Basically, Tanner had his very own Mr. Fix-it.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Lance promised with a wink. “Now, let’s go spring Parker!” He jumped out of the truck, leaving Tanner trailing behind, slightly speechless, but mostly enamored.
Tapping his fingers impatiently on the bed rails, Parker looked ready to jump and run out the door.
“Thank fucking God!” he greeted them, sitting up and then wincing as pain radiated from his broken ribs. Tanner could relate. The crash that had crushed his leg had also broken a few ribs. Those had healed long ago, but he remembered how painful it had been.
“So, I guess that means you don’t want to extend your stay for another few days?” Lance asked with a chuckle.
“Fuck no, bro! Powdered eggs and soggy toast are not my thing. Blech!” Parker winced when he tried to shake his head.
“Damn, His Majesty is a little picky,” Tanner elbowed Lance, who laughed and nodded.
Parker frowned and shot them a double bird.
“Parker, I’d like you to meet Tanner. He’s a good friend of mine. He’s the reason I made it here in one piece when I thought you were roadkill.”
“Ah!” Parker said with a quick wink. “You really do a shit job of choosing friends, Tanner. But thanks for driving him. He was probably a hot mess.”
Tanner hesitated as he considered the best response. Torn between his strong feelings for Lance and telling the truth, he decided to go for a laugh.
“You know, once he got over himself and stopped screaming like a little girl, he wasn’t too bad to have along for the drive up,” Tanner replied with a shrug.
Lance punched him in the arm.
“If you’re both done with your comedy routine, I have your discharge papers.” Lance waved the folder that they picked up at the nurse’s station.
“Heck yeah, let’s hit the road!”
A nurse’s aide walked in, pushing a wheelchair, quoting a hospital rule that Parker could not exit the building unless it was in a wheelchair. Parker protested vigorously, his manly pride at stake, but was forced to surrender when she threatened to un-discharge his manly ass if he didn’t sit down and shut up.
Once they got Parker situated in the back seat of the truck, they headed towards Parker’s dormitory.
“You know the way to my dorm?” Parker asked as he stretched out on the bench seat, trying to get comfortable.
“It’s in the GPS,” Lance confirmed.
“I already texted a few of the guys who live on campus. I’d finished packing most of my stuff last weekend, so it should be easy to grab my shit and get back on the road again.” He hesitantly added, “So, is Tanner going to be helping with the move today?”
Tanner glanced at Parker in the rearview mirror, who looked back at him nervously.
“If that’s alright,” Tanner replied before Lance could say anything.
“Yes, of course,” Parker replied, a bit too quickly. “I just—you also seem injured, so I don’t want to—” he broke off, looking uncomfortable. “I wouldn’t want to make things worse.”
Tanner snorted.
“My leg is healed, actually. I’ve just got a limp,” Tanner informed him calmly, with a casual shrug.
Parker’s expression changed from embarrassed to sympathetic.
“Football accident?”
“Nah, I never played. I was in an accident,” he replied, and Parker’s eyes narrowed speculatively. He turned to Lance for clarification, but Lance didn’t offer any details. Parker obviously expected his brother to fill him in.
Stopping at a red light, Tanner glanced over at Lance, who was kicked back and looking chill. No help from that quarter then. Might as well bite the bullet.
“Your brother sold me a desk. We kind of hit it off when he brought it over to my condo. We watched your game the other night. That was some impressive shit you pulled out there on the field.”
Parker’s puzzled expression quickly morphed into one of extreme smugness.
“Our team made Ohio look like junior varsity 2 nd string in that game,” Parker proudly boasted.
“Just to keep the record straight, your team did get sacked four times though,” Lance pointed out as a reality check for his overly confident brother.
“Hey now! It’s not my fault that our offensive line kept letting those bastards through! I caught what I got sent!” he yelled, sitting up suddenly, having forgotten about his cracked ribs. “Shit! Jesus that hurts!” he groaned.
“Settle down, princess. We’re almost there.” Lance chuckled at his brother’s antics.
“You’re one to talk! You sprained your ankle one summer and refused to even try walking on it for a fucking month,” Parker reminded him with a mocking laugh.
“Oh, contraire, Mr. Know It All! It wasn’t sprained. It was broken. Except no one believed me when it happened, and I had to hop around without a cast for a full fucking month before I finally got an X-ray,” Lance replied.
Their dynamic reminded Tanner of babysitting his nieces. The relentless back-and-forth bickering that was entertaining right up until things escalated to screams and tears. He could only hope neither of the brothers would throw a hissy fit. He wasn’t sure he was up for that.
Tanner heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the sign for Parker’s dorm and found a visitor’s parking spot close to the main door. They piled out of the truck and Parker greeted his friends who’d already gathered some things at the curb to make loading easier.
Tanner helped out some, but his left arm was still weak from being in a sling for so long and his leg was achy and stiff. He carried some lightweight stuff like a desk lamp and school supplies, while the frat boys and Lance handled all the rest. By 12:00 p.m., they were done. Parker hugged and backslapped his pals and wished them all a great summer break.
Lance looked on with pride as his brother said his goodbyes. Tanner had to admit it was almost cute how much he cared.
“He’s a good kid,” Tanner observed.
“He is. A great kid,” Lance confirmed with a nod.
Waiting in the truck with Lance while Parker wrapped up his goodbyes, Tanner ached with the need to touch Lance. While Tanner couldn’t exactly lean over for a kiss—the frat boys would have surely noticed—he still wanted to, quite badly. Lance must have felt the same because he reached over and grabbed Tanner’s hand.
Surprised, Tanner looked down at their joined hands and then up at Lance with raised brows.
“Thank you,” Lance said sincerely with a sweet smile.
“’Course,” he said, clearing his throat and fighting a tightness in his throat because that special smile packed a wallop.
“Your leg okay? We’ve been running around all day, and I haven’t really thought about—” Lance looked concerned.
“It’s fine,” Tanner interrupted him quickly, not wanting Lance to worry.
Lance shook his head. “Fine, coming from you, might mean anything from slightly sore to excruciating.”
“I don’t want you to worry about it.”
“Ha!” Lance exclaimed with a quick laugh. “I worried way before I ever thought of putting my mouth on you. I’m not about to stop now that I got a taste.” Lance’s candid remarks made Tanner blush like a goddamned debutante. He didn’t have a good answer to that. Lance’s declaration was too much, and at the very same time, it was—breathtakingly perfect.
Whether he knew he’d stumped Tanner, or he was just amused by his own reply, Lance gave him one of his trademark winks, the sight of which never failed to do something to Tanner’s insides. With a final quick squeeze, Lance let go of his hand as the back door of the truck opened.
“You ladies ready to hit the road?” Parker asked as he eased his aching body onto the seat.
“Put your seatbelt on,” Lance ordered, as if Parker was still a kid, which never failed to elicit an annoyed response. Today was no exception. So began the two-hour road trip from hell as the two brothers bickered non-stop all the way home.
*****
They made the trip in record time. Of course, Tanner had the pedal to the metal the entire way. He cut the normal travel time by a good half hour. Lance smiled to himself thinking once a crazy pilot, always a crazy pilot.
As they rolled up to the house, Tanner gave an admiring whistle.
“Damn! Nice house.”
Classic colonial style and reminiscent of those built in the early 1900s, it was gorgeous. Painted white with pale blue for the trim and shutters, flower beds everywhere, well-trimmed hedges, and a perfectly manicured lawn. Lance’s mother had done well for herself over the years. He felt both proud and bitter as he looked at the house. Proud because she’d made something of herself. Bitter because he’d never really been a part of this second stage of her life.
As they pulled up, the garage door lifted, and an older, attractive man in shorts and a polo shirt waved enthusiastically.
“That’s my stepfather, Jeff Delaney,” Lance informed Tanner. “He’s a good guy. Probably wants to help us move Parker’s stuff.”
“He looks ready for a round of golf. Are you sure we should ask him to help unload the truck?”
“Odds are he just got back from the course, actually,” Parker replied with a laugh.
Jeff opened the door to the back seat, greeting Parker affectionately, “Hey, buddy, how you doin’?”
“I’m hanging in there,” Parker replied with a pained laugh as he moved slowly and carefully towards the open door.
Lance jumped out and greeted his stepfather with a warm smile. “Hey, Jeff, you doing alright?”
“I’m doing great, thanks! And thank you so much for picking Parker up! I told your mother I’d go after my meeting but—well, that doesn’t matter, I suppose. I’m just glad you could make it. Really appreciate the help!” He pounded Lance’s back and gave him a big hug.
“No problem, Jeff. Always happy to help. Mom and Jeremy inside?”
“Jeremy’s not here right now but he’ll be back by dinnertime. Your mom is baking up a storm. She says feeding a college football player is a full-time job,” he said with a laugh.
“Sure is,” Lance agreed, remembering his own days of training and always being hungry during football season.
Tanner limped around the front of the truck. Obviously in pain from the long drive, he was moving slower than usual, but he cleared his expression of any signs of discomfort as Jeff turned to face him.
“Jeff, this is my good friend Tanner. He’s the poor soul who drove me to the hospital and then offered to help move Parker out of his dorm,” Lance said.
“It’s great to meet you, Tanner! Thank you for helping out. It’s good of you to go to this much trouble for us.” Jeff extended his hand to Tanner.
“It’s nice to meet you, sir. It’s been my pleasure to help,” Tanner replied with a smile as they shook hands.
“Lance, why don’t you go give your mother a hug while I help the precious cargo get out of the back seat. Then we’ll get to moving Parker’s stuff,” Jeff proposed, nodding towards the house.
“Alright, we’ll be right back,” he told his stepfather, who then began chatting with Parker about the best way to get out without straining his ribs.
“Want me to wait here?” Tanner asked, hanging back as Lance turned towards the house.
“Come meet my mom,” he answered.
For a moment it looked as if Lance might reach for Tanner’s hand and pull him along. Tanner hesitated, thinking it wasn’t exactly the best time to be introduced to her, but Lance gestured for him to follow. Any handholding would have to wait for later.
“Mom?” Lance called out as soon as he walked in the door. The house was just as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside. Perfectly decorated and pristine throughout. The mouth-watering smell of vanilla and sugar hit them immediately.
“Damn,” Tanner said. “I don’t know what she’s baking, but I want a dozen, right now!”
“Mom?” Lance called out again, heading for the kitchen where he found his mother wearing a blue polka-dot apron, greying blond hair in a bun as she stirred something in a bowl.
“Lance!” she exclaimed, rushing towards him and throwing her arms around him. “Oh, I’m so happy to see you!” She stepped back and cupped his face with her hands. “When I got your call this morning—” she waved her hands as if to dispel that memory. “I’m so glad you were there for him.”
“Of course,” he replied, because really, he’d always be there for his family. It was a given. Tanner limped into the room, reminding him of his presence.
He turned and urged him forward.
“Mom, this is my good friend Tanner. Tanner, this is my mother, Harriette.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Tanner said with a warm smile.
She extended her hand wearing a cool, reserved smile.
“Tanner drove me to the hospital yesterday and is helping to move Parker back in.”
“Oh—” she said, a strange expression crossing her face. “That is mighty nice of you.”
Tanner merely smiled and then asked, “Is there a bathroom I could use?”
Lance showed him the way to the hall bathroom and watched Tanner head down the hallway, his limp far more pronounced than it had been earlier that day.
“Well, he certainly is a handsome enough fellow,” his mother observed, as soon as Tanner was out of earshot.
It was a perfectly normal thing for her to say. She’d always noticed goodlooking men. But there was an edge to her voice that Lance didn’t care for. He leaned against the counter, facing her directly, one eyebrow raised indignantly.
“He’s a really nice guy. I met him a couple of weeks ago,” he said, as his opening salvo.
“And he’s the first person you thought to call?” his mother asked in an arch tone indicating both surprise and disapproval.
Lance was rendered temporarily speechless. She took advantage of his silence to continue in that vein.
“While he looks perfectly nice—I’m just saying, maybe a cripple isn’t the best choice to help with moving furniture.” She whispered the word cripple like one might talk about a disease with no cure, or being a serial killer . He didn’t think his mother was trying to be hurtful, but he saw red, nonetheless. His mouth tasted of metal as he swallowed against the urge to cuss her out. It was such wretched thing to say. And about a friend of his no less. She’d taken one look at Tanner—and had dismissed him just like that. Lance knew his mother well. He knew how she operated. There was nothing quite as important to her as appearances, and clearly, something about Tanner had ticked her off. Taking a deep breath, he spoke through clenched teeth, his hands curling tightly into fists.
“Right, well, tell you what, Mom. Next time, you drive down to pick up Parker, considering you’re his mother and all, and then you can choose who you want to help you with the furniture,” he hissed angrily. “And while we’re at it—Tanner got crippled , as you so eloquently put it, during one of his deployments overseas, so maybe you can show him some measure of the respect he deserves,” he added, not quite believing the full bite of his words. He didn’t remember ever speaking so candidly to his own mother, and yet—here he was.
He glared at her, waiting for her to retaliate. All she managed to do was to stare back at him in shock. Completely stupefied. Before she could recover, Tanner limped back into the kitchen, complimenting his mom on the loveliness of her home. With a strained smile, she straightened her shoulders, thanked them, and shooed them out of the kitchen to go help with the moving of Parker’s things. Lance was only too happy to give Tanner’s shoulder a quick nudge towards the hallway as they made their great escape.
An hour later, everything was set up in Parker’s room. By then, Parker was worn out and collapsed on the bed after taking some Tylenol and whining that he never wanted to move again.
Jeff, Lance, and Tanner headed back downstairs.
“Why don’t you guys stay for dinner?” Jeff asked. “You must be famished after the full day you’ve had!”
“Thanks, Jeff, but we should really be getting back. Tanner’s dog needs to be fed,” Lance replied, surprising himself at how easily he could lie when he needed to.
“Awe, what kind of pup you got?” Jeff asked with sincere interest.
“Black Labrador mix. A rescue! He’s a great dog!” Tanner didn’t hesitate to back up Lance’s story.
“What a great breed! Such good dogs. I had one as a kid, you know,” he said, with pride. “Well, alright then. You boys drive safe!”
“Will do,” Tanner promised.
“You’re leaving?” Lance’s mother asked, as she walked quickly towards them, holding a Tupperware container.
“We are—” Lance agreed. “Dog to feed, work to do,” he said with a casual wave. “But I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Oh—” she replied, with a searching look at Lance and Tanner. “Then I guess—” she added, clearly disappointed. “Here,” she said, handing Lance the Tupperware container. “Here’s some snickerdoodles for the road,” she said, with a sad, repentant gaze. He nodded, and as he hugged her, she whispered very softly, “Thanks for helping your brother.”
It wasn’t an apology, but he hadn’t expected one.
She stepped back and turned to Tanner. “Thank you for coming and for all of your help today,” she said to Tanner with a much warmer smile than she’d shown him earlier. Tanner thanked her for the cookies and then they headed out the door.
They didn’t speak until Tanner was backing Big Blue down the driveway.
“Your mother isn’t very fond of me, is she?”
“I—” he hesitated. “You noticed?”
“I’m a smart guy,” Tanner said, shrugging.
“That you are—handsome too,” Lance responded with a wink. “Have I told you that, lately?”
“Hmmm—can’t recall, no,” Tanner replied, playing right along as he kept his eyes on the road.
“Well, you are. Smart, and kind, and handsome, with a pretty decent di—”
“Alright, alright,” Tanner interrupted him as his face heated. He extended his right hand in Lance’s direction.
Lance smiled, taking it into his own, and interlacing their fingers. Lance squeezed his hand. Tanner barked out a laugh and then squeezed back. When Lance met his gaze, he looked amused and there was a spark of sexual heat that Tanner couldn’t help reacting to.
“I was asking for a cookie, but this is nice too,” he said, before lifting Lance’s hand to his mouth and pressing a warm kiss to his knuckles. It was really cheesy, and Lance certainly did not blush as he rolled his eyes and pulled his hand away.
Tanner laughed as he put both hands back on the wheel while Lance popped open the container. He pulled out a cookie and handed it over. Tanner polished it off in two bites. Amazing what all that wonderful fat and sugar could do to revive a person.
“Sweet baby Jesus! If she keeps baking these, she can call me a cripple any day of the week and twice on Sunday,” Tanner remarked, reaching into the open container for another cookie.
“Oh, shit! You heard that?”
“Every glorious word,” Tanner confirmed, with a nod. “You butt dialed me while I was in the can,” he said, chuckling.
In total disbelief, Lance reached for his phone to pull up his call history, wondering how he could have been so careless.
“So much for being smart,— ” Lance muttered in protest. “I’m sorry you had to hear that. I’m not sure why she said that—she’s not usually like that, I swear.”
“I look like an ex-con, Lance. Of course, she doesn’t like me.”
“No, you don’t!” Lance denied vehemently. Tanner shot him a quick look of sardonic amusement before returning his attention to the road.
“Trust me on this. The tattoos, the scars, not to mention the duffle-sized bags under my eyes. Moms have a sixth sense for shit like that. They see me and immediately think—hide your daughters.”
“That’s ridiculous!” But as he studied Tanner’s profile, he had to acknowledge that Tanner did look a bit rough around the edges. He wasn’t anywhere close to looking like an ex-con, but he certainly did have a bad boy aura that was hard to miss.
He was very handsome, which was one thing he and his mother could agree on, but he was also—striking and had presence. He didn’t blend into a crowd like Lance did. Tanner would always stand out, for better or worse. With that long, wavy hair he ran his hands through all the time, leaving it perpetually messy. Sharp, defined jaw covered by a short scruffy beard. A variety of scars running through his eyebrows, down his neck, under his chin, and then, of course, there were all those lovely, colorful tattoos. Most of them were hidden under his shirt, but some were visible along his collarbones, and down his biceps. Lance had noticed all these things before and admired them. He'd—well, he’d been jealous of them, really. They made him so distinctive. So unlike Lance. Once he’d gotten over his jealousy of Tanner’s uniqueness, he’d moved on to wanting to claim Tanner for himself, revel in their many differences, and worship every inch of his body.
Jesus, he was a goner. He had it so bad. He smiled to himself, then snickered.
“I can see your boner from here—stop looking at me like you want to eat me,” Tanner chastised mockingly.
“Just focus on the goddamned road,” Lance replied, clearing his throat and looking away. Tanner snorted and reclaimed Lance’s hand, gently interlacing their fingers again.