He was learning the shape of Ty’s smile under his lips when the sound of something breaking sent him halfway to a flashback.
He stepped away from Ty and put his shoulders against the wall, chest heaving. For a moment he kept his eyes closed and concentrated on grounding himself in the present. He could hear his own breathing andthe hard edges of voices—Ty’s and someone else familiar, though Ollie couldn’t process the words. The scent of buttercream frosting reached his nose. The coolness of the wall at his back seeped through his shirt.
Then a hand curled around his own, and Ollie snapped back into his body.
“—do you think you’re doing?” his mother said, and Ollie wished he could snap back out of it, but no. His place was between Ty and the world, not on the sidelines with his head in the sand. “Ollie, you’re not—”
Ollie squeezed Ty’s fingers and shot him what he hoped was a reassuring look. “Not going to have this conversation with you at this volume while pretending Ty isn’t standing right here?” he suggested.
His mother sputtered. She’d dropped a plate of cake—that was what had shattered, and the frosting had splattered onto her pedicured toes. Why was she using a real plate? Cassie had specifically bought paper ones for the party. They had little baseballs on them.
“You can hardly blame me for beingsurprised—”
That was a bit rich. “Can’t I?” Ollie countered. “Dad had no trouble jumping to all kinds of conclusions the other day at brunch. I’d have thought he’d have shared them with you.”
Fuck, he hadn’t meant to say that in front of Ty. He didn’t deserve to have to hear that Ollie’s father had implied he might be a pedophile. Life had been cruel enough to him already.
She frowned. “Is this why you’ve been avoiding my calls?”
And… Ollie’s mother wasn’t that good of an actor. She really had no idea why Ollie had been avoiding the two of them as a pair.
He didn’t know whether that made him angrier or… something else. Sadder? More tired? All of the above.
He didn’t have the energy to have that conversation nowandthe one he wanted to have with Ty later, so he said, “We’re going to go get some water for the flowers Ty brought for Cassie, and then we’re going to give Mel her gift and eat some cake. Meanwhile maybe you can ask Dad why I haven’t spoken to you in weeks.” He paused. “Oh, and your grandson is fine, by the way, after multiple beestings that landed him in the hospital yesterday. But thanks to Ty, he’s out there running around with the other kids. Like he should be.”
Let her stew in that for a while. Ollie grabbed the vase in his free hand and tugged Ty toward the kitchen. “Come on. You like cake, right?”
Chapter 15
TY THOUGHTkids were nuts at school, but at Mel’s birthday party, he experienced a whole new level of elementary-aged, sugar-enabled shenanigans.
They didn’t see Ollie’s parents again after they presented Cassie with the flowers, and Ty didn’t dare ask. If he didn’t know details, he didn’t have to feel guilty about driving a wedge between Ollie and his family.
Though frankly if his mom was that upset about Ollie kissing a man, Ollie was better off without her.
A kid’s birthday party wasn’t exactly the best time to talk, but for once in his life, Ty didn’t feel the need to push. No one had ever stood up for him the way Ollie had. That said plenty.
And if the wordsit’s more than enough—it’s everythingrang pleasantly in his head all afternoon while he ate cake and hot dogs and never strayed out of Ollie’s orbit, well, Ty could hardly be blamed.
Early in the afternoon, Theo ran out of steam in a spectacular fashion that almost resulted in a meltdown over the last strawberry cupcake. Ty figured he had earned some grace by virtue of having spent most of the previous day in the hospital. Ollie staved off tears by offering, “Okay, bud, tell you what. I think I’ve had enough of people’s company for the day. Why don’t we head home and put onMoneyball, and maybe if we’re lucky, Ty will make us pasta for dinner?”
The last thing Ty wanted was more carbohydrates, but pasta was easy, and he could make a salad too.
Theo’s lip wobbled a moment, but he got it under control before any mortifying tears could fall at his younger cousin’s party. He looked hesitantly at Ty, like he didn’t want to ask for anything from someone he was still mad at, or maybe he was embarrassed about giving him the cold shoulder all day.
“O-kay,” he said finally as he pressed half his face against Ollie’s stomach, “but I want extra parmesan.”
Ollie caught Ty’s eye and gave him a slight smile.
“I think we can manage that,” Ty agreed.
They drove home separately, so Ty took the opportunity to stop for more cheese, just in case, and a bag of baby spinach. When he walked in the side door, the house was quiet—noMoneyballon the TV and no Theo anywhere. He put the groceries in the fridge and meandered into the games room.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” Ty dropped next to Ollie on the sofa, then thoughtfuck itand leaned right into him. Ollie slid an arm around his shoulder like he’d been handed a script. Ty might never get up. “Theo pass out?”
“Carried him inside like a sack of potatoes,” Ollie confirmed. He tugged a little until Ty was more or less using him as a body pillow.Hello, Ty thought, as his dick decided it liked where things seemed to be going.
