Chapter 24 The Babysitters Game
The Babysitters Game
Taylor waited by the front door like an excited kid who was having a play date.
Well, that’s basically what was happening.
Pancek and Gretchen were heading out to dinner as a last hurrah before the baby was supposed to come.
Taylor decided to invite Fletcher to come over, claiming he needed some reinforcements.
It wasn’t the first time that Taylor had watched the kids for them.
They were actually really easy to look after.
But Taylor jumped at the opportunity for Fletcher to come and spend the night. He was actually really giddy about it.
It wasn’t like he could really have Fletcher casually come over to spend the night.
He didn’t want to risk anything with Pancek or the rest of the team.
But it wasn’t out of the ordinary for Taylor to have some of his friends stop by.
Douglas and Sánchez had come over tons of times to hang out and play video games.
So maybe Fletcher would come over under the guise of hanging out and playing video games while they watched the kids.
And maybe he would just happen to fall asleep on the pullout couch downstairs in Taylor’s room.
Nothing suspicious or gay about that at all.
Taylor didn’t even know if he was gay. Fletcher was the only guy he’d ever been attracted to.
He also hadn’t had the slightest clue about Fletcher either.
The fact that he had slept with probably enough women to populate a small town didn’t exactly set off Taylor’s gaydar.
It’s not like either of them were wanting to label things either.
Taylor didn’t even know if they were exclusive.
Probably, he guessed. But they still needed to have that conversation.
Taylor was also in a better mood about the Jesse issue.
He had finally gotten a hold of a neighbor who told them that Jesse had been staying there.
He found out that Jacob had taken away his phone and his car, so he basically had no way of getting anywhere.
Taylor called the school to let them know Jesse would be back in school and briefly filled them in on the situation, trying to only tell them the necessary parts.
He opened a new phone line on his phone plan and had a new phone delivered to Jesse, so now he was in contact with his brother again and he was able to sleep better at night.
Taylor blamed himself for a lot of it. He shouldn’t have trusted Mandy to take care of him.
To protect him from Jacob. He knew Jesse was a strong kid.
Stronger than he was. Stronger than Jacob.
But some nights he still worried about him.
About the possibility of Jacob drinking too much one night and trying to take a hit on Jesse. Or worse.
The important thing was that Taylor knew his brother was safe.
He still worried about the rest of his family.
Mandy, the kids, Grandad. They were all still in that house with him.
But Mandy refused help and Grandad was declining quicker by the day.
It was only a matter of time before he passed away, and Mandy and Jacob didn’t have his benefits to fall back on.
The whole idea of it made him sick. But Jesse was safe.
He would be eighteen in a few weeks. He would get Jesse out and have him come to Seattle to be with him.
He would be safe here with the Panceks. Gretchen and Pancek had already insisted.
Jesse just needed to hold on for a few more weeks.
His and Taylor’s birthdays were only two days apart.
Taylor would fly to Sacramento on his 20th birthday and leave on Jesse’s eighteenth.
With Jesse. He felt good about this. He really did.
He told Jesse he had the plane tickets already bought, and Gretchen had already started working on converting the office in the basement into a temporary bedroom for him.
It would all be okay. So why the hell was Taylor still spiraling?
He needed this night with Fletcher. They had hotel rooms, but even then they couldn’t risk it with their teammates so close by. Taylor needed Fletcher. He really fucking needed this.
“Hey sweetie, would you mind fastening these straps for me?” Gretchen asked. She sat on the couch and held her foot out. She was looking heavily pregnant. Gorgeous, yes. But very fucking pregnant. She was due to pop any day now.
Taylor smiled as he sat down on the coffee table and helped her with her heels. “You look stunning tonight. You know, I think I get the whole pregnancy glow thing,” Taylor told her.
Gretchen rolled her eyes. “Yeah right. I’m fat and I can’t even put on my own goddamn shoes.” She looked down and rubbed her stomach. “I already know he’s going to have a big head like his papa. God, I am not excited for the delivery.”
Taylor shrugged. “Yeah, but then you’ll have a little baby,” he beamed.
“I expect you to keep up the excitement when you’ll be changing your baby brother’s diapers,” she laughed. They both eyed Marina as she walked downstairs.
“Well luckily my sweet little sister Marina has that covered,” he smirked.
Marina made a disgusted face. “I’m not changing any diapers,” she gagged. “Hey, when will Armstrong be here? I’m so excited for him to come over,” she said. Taylor thought it was the sweetest thing ever that Marina had a huge crush on Fletcher. And the girl wasn’t shy about it either…
“You should go wait on the front porch for him.” Taylor looked down at his watch to read a text. Perfect timing. “He just told me he’s here.”
Marina jumped up in excitement as she ran to the front door to wait outside. Taylor wished he could show the same excitement. But he couldn’t. For obvious reasons.
A minute later, Marina came inside with a smiling Fletcher, who had an obnoxiously red backpack slung over his shoulder.
The team had gotten them from one of their sponsors and management asked them to wear them out.
Fletcher, being the goody two-shoes he was, had been carrying it around everywhere.
“Wow, Mommy Gretch. You look hot.” Fletcher said.
“Save it, Armstrong,” she warned.
Taylor heard little footsteps running down the stairs, which obviously belonged to Caleb. “Armstrong! You’re here! Let’s play!”
Fletcher smiled as Caleb ran up to him and jumped on Fletcher. “Okay, bud. Just a minute, okay?”
Fletcher took his shoes off and walked over to sit on the couch. And both Marina and Caleb fought over who got to sit next to him. Fletcher scooted down so they both could sit on either side of him.
“What if I wanted to sit next to him?” Taylor pretended to pout.
“You can just sit on his lap or something,” Marina answered. Taylor snorted. Been there, done that, kiddo.
Pancek came down the stairs in a fancy suit as he was messing with his cuff links. “You about ready to leave, babe?” he asked his wife. Taylor stood up to give Gretchen a hand up off the couch. She let out a groan as she stood to her feet.
“This fucker is sitting right on my bladder. I think I need you to come help me, so I don’t pee on this dress,” Gretchen told her husband. Caleb and Marina both laughed as if it were the funniest thing ever.
Taylor took a moment to take in Fletcher’s appearance. His sandy brown curls were pushed back in a relaxed style. He wore a plain white tee and some dark wash jeans. Simple but really fucking attractive. Taylor couldn’t wait to peel those clothes right off him.
His eyes met Fletcher’s who gave him a flirtatious look. Taylor’s heart started to beat a little quicker. He would never not react this way when he saw Fletcher. He was well past pretending he wasn’t attracted to him. Really fucking attracted to him.
“So, we ordered a few pizzas. They should be here soon. Money is on the table,” Gretchen said to Marina. She turned to Caleb. “You’re still grounded from video games. That includes the iPad. We will know if you try to sneak behind Taylor’s back to play them,” she warned sternly.
“And you,” she turned to look at Taylor. “There are beers out in the garage fridge. Those are fair game. But if you touch my special imported German beers there will be hell to pay.”
Taylor snorted. “It’s not like you can exactly drink them.”
Gretchen narrowed her eyes at him. “No touching, Piers.” Taylor raised his hands in surrender.
After their parents left, Caleb and Marina both hopped up from the couch and pulled Fletcher up to stand.
“Let’s go play with Papa’s golf game,” they both beckoned.
Fletcher shot Taylor a look that screamed “please save me,” but Taylor laughed and shook his head as he followed them into the den where Pancek had a golf simulator.
After the kids ate dinner, Taylor turned a movie on in the living room for them all to watch.
Caleb asked for Harry Potter and Marina protested, but when Fletcher also voted for Harry Potter she was suddenly very excited to watch it.
As the kids sat on either side of Fletcher, Taylor walked over to the kitchen and made a few bowls of popcorn.
He handed two bowls to Caleb and Marina and took his own bowl over to the other end of the couch and put it down on the coffee table. “Umm, where’s my popcorn?” Fletcher complained.
“Patience. I need to go grab the gluten-free stuff from downstairs,” Taylor answered.
“Okay, I’ll come with you.” Fletcher hopped up from the couch and grabbed his red backpack before following Taylor downstairs to the basement.
“So this is all yours?” Fletcher asked.
Taylor nodded. “Yep, all mine. We’re fixing up the other room down here for my brother Jesse. He’s going to come stay with us until he starts college in the fall.”
“Wait, what? Why’s your brother coming to stay?”
Taylor looked at him and frowned. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later, maybe.”