Maybe now was his chance to fix it. Ty cleared his throat. “Hey, buddy.”
For a few seconds he thought Theo was going to ignore him. Then he climbed up on one of the barstools. “Where’s my dad?”
“He’s out cutting the grass.” Ty contemplated the fridge, trying to keep his cool. Theo speaking to him voluntarily was progress he didn’t want to call attention to. “What do you think he’d want for breakfast?”
Theo was quiet for a minute. Ty didn’t know if the kid had spotted his trap and was deciding whether to fall into it or if he was actually considering Ollie’s breakfast preferences until he said, “Pancakes.”
Ollie was definitely more of a bacon and eggs guy.
“I can do pancakes,” Ty said as he reached for the egg carton. “Are you hungry?”
A beat. Then, “Yeah,” said cautiously, like he wasn’t sure he was allowed.
“Well, that’s a relief. I don’t know how to make pancakes for two.” He set the milk jug on the counter and took out the butter.
Theo was quiet for another minute.
Then, to Ty’s horror, came a telltale sniff.
He froze with the broken eggshells still in his hand. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t be the one to bridge the distance between them, not when Theo was still mad at him, but he couldn’t just sit here and let himcry—
“Please don’t be mad at me,” Theo wailed.
Ty dropped the eggshells in the sink and turned around. “I’m not mad,” he promised. “Theo, I was never mad at you. I was worried.”
Theo’s face had gone a blotchy red, stained with tear tracks. “But I was mean to you.”
What could he say to that? It was true. Ty was pretty sure he shouldn’t discourage Theo from taking responsibility for his mistakes. “You did hurt my feelings,” he said as gently as he could. Theo cried harder. “But I understand you were scared.”
For a second he thought maybe that was the wrong thing to say—Theo’s face screwed up even further, like he was about to blurt that he hadn’t beenscared—but then he nodded miserably and wiped his nose on his arm. “I’m sorry.”
“Apology accepted—oof.” Ty exhaled hard as Theo launched himself off the stool and wrapped his arms around his waist. He could feel tears and snot seeping through the fabric of his shirt, but it seemed like it would be cruel to complain about it, so he just settled his arms around Theo’s shoulders and hugged him back. “I’m glad we made up. Do you want to help make pancakes?”
He and Theo had three full stacks warming in the oven by the time Ollie came in from yardwork, shoulders red from the sun and the rest of him glistening in a way that was way too pornographic for nine in the morning while under child supervision. “Smells good in here,” Ollie commented, glancing back and forth between Ty and Theo with his eyebrows slightly raised.
Ty nodded that yes, they’d made up, and Ollie smiled.
Ty needed him to put a shirt on stat before he caused a cardiac arrest.
“Ty and I made pancakes,” Theo announced unnecessarily. “And we waited for you.”
“You did?” A slightly evil light went on in Ollie’s eyes as he advanced toward Theo with his arms wide open. “That’s so nice of you. You deserve a—”
“Noooo,” Theo squawked, but he realized far too late.
“—great big hug,” Ollie finished. He scooped Theo against his chest.
“Gross!” Theo fought against the hug, laughing and squirming. “Let me go! Dad, you’re all sweaty!”
“I’m just trying to thank you,” Ollie said innocently.
Then his eyes went to Ty—far too late for Ty to escape. He didn’t have time to take a step back before Ollie grabbed him in his free hand and reeled him in too.
At some point in the struggle, Ollie had let go of Theo, or else Theo had escaped, and now Ollie had Ty in his clutches. Ty should probably try to get away. He should probably find this kind of gross. But Ollie smelled like freshly mown grass and clean sweat, and his skin was slick under Ty’s fingers. The upshot of it all was that now Ty was desperately horny and thinking about Ollie fucking him behind the garage after breakfast.
“Thank me by showering,” he yelped, trying to push away as Theo giggled, oblivious.
Ollie must’ve noticed Ty’s semi, because when he let go, the light in his eyes had darkened into the kind of promise they’d be waiting hours to keep.
