tarotgal

Part 3

“How long have we been together?” David asked during breakfast the next morning. The hotel’s breakfast bar was incredible, with made-to-order omelets, fresh baked goods, and separate hot and cold sections. They’d been up late breaking in both the hotel beds, so getting dragged down to breakfast early in the morning was the last thing David had been up for. Lucas had been too excited about his full day ahead at the conference to stay still, however. So they were there for breakfast the moment the place opened in the morning.

“Mmm…” Lucas swallowed his mouthful. “About five years now?” He stabbed a sausage link with a fork and devoured it in two bites. “Why?”

“Just wondering why I’m not more used to seeing you eat like you’ve been starved for a week. You know that’s your fourth helping?”

“Hey, I had a killer sunrise workout class. Gotta replenish those calories,” he insisted.

Twenty minutes later, they left breakfast with a tip on the table and Lucas’ tongue colored pink from the Pepto Bismol he’d chewed to settle his stomach. “Too much good food. I regret nothing,” he moaned as David chuckled and steered him in the direction of the elevator. “Wait!” Lucas straightened and craned his neck as they passed by the hotel’s little convenience store. His eyes narrowed. “I think that’s the guy I met in the exercise club yesterday.”

David turned, searching with his eyes, though he had no recognition to depend on, only the description Lucas had given him yesterday. “The one who works at the gay gym in England?”

“Mmhm, Troy.” Lucas didn’t look any surer, but he took David’s hand. David noticed how, when they held hands, Lucas’ finger absentmindedly stroked the smooth soft gold wedding ring on his finger. “C’mon. I want to introduce you.”

David let himself get pulled over, marveling at how Lucas could so quickly go from dramatically dying from a little tummy ache to energetic and eager.

The man he’d heard about was standing in the back corner of the store, studying whatever was on the wall there and looking like that choice was causing him some pain. He punched something into his phone then listened; probably trying to make a call. “Yeah,” Lucas whispered. “That’s definitely him. This is great! I’d hoped I might run into him again some—”

“hehttttCHuhhh!”

Both David and Lucas froze in place. David felt Lucas squeeze his hand. They watched as Troy fished around in the front kangaroo pouch of his hoodie, pulled out a tissue, and snuffled into it for a second. Then his eyes shut and his body hunched forward again.

“huhhTIHshhhh! Hehhpshooo!”

“Damn,” David heard Lucas whisper. Then, the obvious, “I think he’s sick.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” David’s mouth was dry. He itched to go over and offer his services. He felt a rush of heat and desire envelop his body, and he held tight to his husband’s hand as the only thing that held him back.

Lucas stepped and turned, putting himself in David’s line of sight, positioning himself in-between David at the sick, sneezing stranger. He gripped David’s other hand with his and squeezed both tightly. “You should go help him out.”

“What?” David’s voice came out as a squeak he regretted the instant he heard it.

“He seemed like a good guy is all.” Was that all, though? “He looks so miserable. I think he needs help. Who better to help him?” Lucas swung their arms a little, out to the side then inwards again.

“Luc…” David felt more than hot now. His body was burning up from the inside out, lava rushing through his veins. Lucas knew what he was asking. Five years together and their fair share of bumps in the road had taught them plenty. So Lucas wouldn’t be asking if he didn’t really mean it. “I don’t know if I…”

“hahh-DDDSHuhhhhh!”

David chewed hard on his lower lip, holding back the ‘God bless you’ he longed to call out. There was so much he longed to say. And even more he longed to do.

Then they heard the man swear and make a sound that was part frustration, part sob. Startled, Lucas dropped one of David’s hands and moved to the side. They both watched Troy stuff his cell phone into his back pocket, sniffle, and scrub his sleeve at his face. Lucas gave his husband’s hand one more squeeze. “At least let’s go see if we can do anything to help?”

Against his better judgement, David found himself nodding. The volcano that had erupted inside him wasn’t going to stop until he knew this man was okay. And he had Lucas’ blessing and encouragement. “I’ll do it, but only on one condition,” David managed to whisper. “You stay with me the whole time.”

Lucas frowned. “You don’t think I trust you?”

David shook his head. “The problem is, I think you do, and I don’t want to let you down. I couldn’t live with myself if I violated your trust and broke your heart again. You mean everything to me.”

And that’s when Lucas kissed him. Right then and there in the middle of the hotel convenience store. Any hotel employee or guest or anyone from the conference could have been walking by just then to see. But Lucas didn’t care and so David tried not to feel self-conscious at the PDA. When Lucas pulled away, David ran his tongue over his lips. “Stay with me, baby? Please?”

With a nod, Lucas answered, “All right.”

“You promise?” David needed to hear those exact words.

“Yeah, I promise. Whatever you want.” He placed one more kiss on David’s lips and delivered a barely audible “I love you.”

“Love you, too,” David whispered. “Now introduce me to this poor, sick Adonis already.”

Lucas nodded and dropped David’s hand. He walked the rest of the way across the small convenience store with David following behind him. And when he got close enough and hadn’t yet been noticed, he spoke up to get the man’s attention. “Um, Troy?”

Troy’s head snapped to the side, eyes wide. It took a second for the recognition to hit. “Oh!” He rubbed his sleeve over his face. “Ah, shite… the guy frob the weight bedch yesterday… sorry… cad’t rebeber…”

“Lucas,” Lucas supplied.

“Shite. That’s it. Lucas. Of course. Hi.” He looked like he was about to volunteer more but held back.

“You don’t look so good this morning. It wasn’t just jetlag, I take it?”

Troy shook his head. “Yeah, no. Think I caught a cold. And I…” he trailed off again. He started to say something and stopped. Then he gestured to the wall in front of him, covered in small, overpriced medicines and gave a shrug.

David thought he understood, and he put a hand on Lucas’ back to remind him he was right there. He was there to help.

Lucas moved a little to the side, nearly colliding with a rack of souvenir keychains. “I wanted to introduce you to my husband, David.” He put an arm around David and ushered him forward a step.

David raised a hand and helloed awkwardly. “Having trouble figuring out what to take for your cold? Maybe I can help. I’m a pharmacist. Um, I think you call us chemists on your side of the pond?”

David was unprepared for the incredible relief that filled Troy’s face. “Thadk God,” he exhaled. “I dod’t ofted get sick add the last tibe I did I had this bedicide that helbed, but I cad’t fide it here. Add I tried callig sobeode I dow, but I cad’t get through add…” He shook his head. “Do you dow the closest blace that sells Lebsib?”

An expert at deciphering the speech patterns of people with stuffed-up noses at his pharmacy counter, David didn’t need any further explanation. “I do,” he said. “England.”

Troy looked like he might break down at any second, and David resisted the urge to throw his arms around him and comfort him. “Hey, it’s all right.” David only needed to scan the wall for a second before finding the instantly recognizable TheraFlu packets. He pulled those down and handed them over. “This is the US equivalent to Lemsip. Should make you feel a lot better. One packet every four hours, but don’t take any more than that. Set your cell phone’s alarm to remind you and don’t take any until that alarm goes. Got it?”

Troy nodded. Then he plunged his hand into his kangaroo pocket, withdrew a tissue, held it to his nose, and turned away just in time. “hehttttTSHooo! ehh-hehh… hehhh…” He paused, waiting, then shook his head. “Wedt away. I hate whed it sniff does that. Ohh hold…” He waited again, eyes closed. Then he seemed to give up and just blew his nose.

This time, David felt Lucas’ hand on his back, grounding him, reminding him, making that fire burning within him flare up with intensity. “God bless you,” David said. And when Troy gave him an appreciative smile, he felt tingles all over.

Sniffing, Troy took a look at the medicine he’d been handed, squinting at the fine print on the back. “I’ve got a headache. Does this… work on that, too? Or should I take something else?”

David tried to think of Troy as just another customer at his pharmacy. He always felt warm and caring when he helped them, but this was different. At the pharmacy, he had to be professional, and that had never been a problem for him. He’d always needed some sort of emotional connection for his caregiving kink to kick in. But here and now… he had his husband touching him and encouraging him and he had no counter between him and Troy. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “Can I feel your forehead for fever?” He needed consent before touching. He needed all the consent.

Troy looked at him for a moment then nodded. “Sure.”

David’s breath quickened. He felt Lucas’ hand on his back, rubbing in a comforting circle. What was happening here? He turned to Lucas, the same question in his eyes. He didn’t have to restate it, but he did so anyway, though softer. “Can I feel his forehead for fever?”

Lucas’ fingers flexed against David’s back. “Yes, you can,” he replied pointedly.

Only then did David raise his hand. It trembled slightly; though he hoped no one would notice, he was certain they had. He pressed the back of his palm against Troy’s forehead and let it rest there for a few seconds. Troy closed his eyes; the touch must have felt good to him, and David’s heart raced with excitement. Then he moved his hand to Troy’s cheek. The man didn’t have a fever or, if he did, it was so mild that a little acetaminophen would take care of it. “You don’t feel hot to the touch; that’s a good sign that this is just a head cold. There’s acetaminophen in the TheraFlu. Don’t take any painkillers on top of it, okay? It should take care of your headache unless it’s a really bad one.”

“It’s dot so bad.”

“Glad to hear that.” David’s breath caught. He’d almost instinctively followed that with ‘baby.’ What the hell was wrong with him? Scared of what he was doing, he took a couple steps back, which ended up being lucky because that sneeze that had been playing with Troy earlier selected that very moment to finally strike.

“HEHTChuhhhh!” And Troy hadn’t had time to get his tissues out.

“Oh! God bless you.” David bit the inside of his cheek.

“Bless you,” Lucas echoed. “You got enough tissues there, man?”

Troy put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small wad of tissues he’d clearly liberated from the tissue box in his hotel room. “Cabe dowd for bedicide add to see if they had ady tissues here, but there are just these little backs, add I dod’t thidk they’ll last lodg.” He gestured to a few travel-sized packs of tissues that held maybe twelve tissues apiece. David looked at Lucas, and Lucas looked back, knowingly.

It was Lucas who spoke. “Well, that’s not going to be enough. The way I see it, we’ve got three options.” He held up his hand with one finger pointing into the air. “One, I could call a Lyft and head over on my own to the closest grocery store or pharmacy, load up on supplies, and meet you back here. However, I did make a certain promise this morning to the man I married, and I’m not going to break that. So, two…” He held up a second finger. “We could all take a trip to the store, which seems awkward and unnecessary and maybe a bit exhausting for the one of us who looks dead on his feet already.” Troy rubbed his sleeve across his face in an obvious attempt to hide the flush in his cheeks. Lucas put up one more finger. “Or, three… and this is the one I’m a bit partial to… we use the handy dandy interwebs to order everything you need from a local store and get it delivered to us right here at the hotel.”

Troy rubbed his sleeve under his nose, sniffling. “You dod’t hab to do ady of that.”

David narrowed his eyes. “If you’d rather go back to staring at the wall of outrageously priced medicine and sniffling into a wad of hotel room tissues, you’re welcome to. Otherwise, you let us take care of you a little. I do this for a living, baby.” And there it was. It had slipped out before he could stop it, and now there was no taking it back. Slightly mortified, he looked over at Lucas, ready to apologize, ready to let his anxiety spiral out of control.

But Lucas was glowing, a kind smile on his face. “And he’s damn good at it, too. Trust me on this. Let us get you what you need so we’re not worrying about you all day, okay?”

Troy glanced at the boxes of medicines hanging neatly on pins in front of him on the wall. He gave a nod and sniffed. “Guess it could’t hurt. I dod’t dow all your brads.”

The lobby was starting to fill up now, as checkout time slowly approached and people trickled downstairs for breakfast or with their luggage. But the three of them managed to find a little seating area in a far corner where they could scoot the chairs together and crowd around Lucas’ phone. Honestly, going to the business center might have been a better idea, but the hot, fluttery tingles in David’s body told him this should stay intimate and private among them if it could.

After a bit of searching, they found that there was a grocery store called Daily Shop nearby that offered delivery service, only they didn’t seem to have a website. Another search turned up a nearby Walmart. “It’ll do,” Lucas decided, and began filling up his virtual shopping cart with things. David found himself scooting right up, inching off his chair and onto Lucas’ to get as close as he could get. “Go for the bigger size,” he remarked about the package of tissues and “Get two, just to be sure. Maybe different flavors,” he said about the TheraFlu. Then he commandeered the phone and added a few things. Lucas took it back and added a few more.

“Let be give you by credit card,” Troy said, leaning forward to get his wallet from his back pocket.

“Uh-uh. Our treat,” Lucas insisted, refusing to even look at it.

Troy sniffed. “What?”

David knew that ‘what?’ feeling. He’d had a moment like that not long ago when Lucas had suggested they help Troy. He didn’t completely understand what Lucas was up to now, but he agreed that Troy certainly wasn’t going to pay for these groceries. “Don’t worry. We’ve got this. If you feel up to it in a couple days, you can treat us to a meal or something.”

“Add sniff! Add if I dod’t?”

As Lucas navigated through the website checkout process and entered the hotel in as the delivery address, David smiled at Troy. “If you don’t feel better, then we didn’t do a very good job picking the right tissues and medicine, and you won’t owe us anything.”

“Thed… thadks,” he said with a timid smile. Troy’s head dipped and shoulders rose and, damn, David loved this sheepish look on him and being the one to have caused it. And before he could process this feeling, it was further complicated by Lucas leaning over and kissing his cheek. He was so hot right now, he might actually combust.

“I’m going to go get us all some water,” David declared, getting up. “I’ll be right back.”

Troy smiled with gratitude, and David wondered which bit of that he was grateful for—having water or David not being gone long. Maybe both?

Once away from the two men, David’s insides began to cool a little, but he could hardly relax. He didn’t understand what was going on here. He and Lucas had plenty of friends—straight and gay. And sometimes they got sick and David recommended some OTC something they should try. Sometimes David cooked a casserole or made a healthy shake and they drove it over to a sick friend’s house. But that was it. This didn’t feel like those times in a different setting. This felt intense and meaningful and… hot. They’d never discussed opening their relationship; the thought had never even crossed David’s mind. Until just now.

The three glasses pressed together in a triangle, his hands wrapped around them, he headed back to their cluster of seats. When he got there, the two men were deep into a conversation about different ways to use resistance bands. David had a mental image of Lucas on their bed, a band at his wrists holding them behind his back, and another band around his thighs, providing a sort of swinging seat for David’s ass as he thrust in and out. The heat came rushing back to him in a wave of tingles, but David kept all this to himself.

He also noticed Troy had pulled out the tissues again and was sniffling more often. Poor baby had a really tickly nose, and it was bothering him, but he was trying to keep up with the discussion and pretend it wasn’t so bad. David wanted to tell him it was all right to sneeze, that his cold wasn’t going to get any better if he kept sniffing and pushing that thick congestion right back into his sinuses.

But Troy’s nose seemed to reach the same conclusion and presented him with a sneeze he apparently couldn’t hold back. “heeee-yehhhh…hold ehhh-hehhhh… hold od a secod. I ehhhh I gotta hehhhhh hnnnng hnn HUH!” Tissues bunched at his face, he was as ready as he could be. “EHHTchooo! hehERSHoooo!”

“God bless you, baby.” It felt so nice to say, whether it confused him or not, whether it confused Troy or not. Lucas took his hand and squeezed. David squeezed back.

“Cheers, ugh, by dose… this cold…” He shook his head, not intending to finish his complaint.

“I know. It sounds rotten. But the medicine should help.” David sympathized. “Are you planning to attend the convention today?”

Troy shrugged and snuffled into his tissues again. “Hodestly, the odly thig I thidk I have edergy for right dow is to head back to by roob add get idto bed.” He gave a rueful smile. “At Go Figure, we’re kdowd to bush to failure. It’s dot eved eight-thirty yet, add I thidk by body’s already gived ub od be. Sniff! Sniff! SNIFF! Besides, I dod’t wadt to be that guy sbreadig his gerbs aroud, gettidg the whole cod sick.”

“That’s considerate of you,” Lucas told him.

David agreed. “A good, long rest will do you good. It’s the best thing you can do for your body right now. Just give it time to fight off this head cold.”

Troy gave a little chuckle. “That souds like sobethidg Barcus would say.”

And before either David or Lucas could ask who Marcus was, there was an alert on Lucas’ phone. The delivery was a minute away.

The three of them got up and shuffled to the front entrance. They went through the revolving door, easy to navigate through without luggage, and they only had to wait a few seconds before a white car pulled up behind the airport shuttle. The driver, a woman, hopped out and checked her phone. Then she liberated three bags from the backseat. There were labels on them, which she scanned to verify they were the right ones. “Lucas Green?” she asked.

“That’s me,” Lucas confirmed, holding out his photo ID so she could snap a quick picture for her records to verify delivery to the proper recipient. She handed the bags over, and Lucas immediately handed them to David. David rooted through quickly, checking to be sure everything was there. He was still going through them when the woman got back in her car and pulled away.

Everything seemed to be present and accounted for, so David made the final handoff to Troy. “TheraFlu every four hours. If you’re anything like my Luc, you’re going to push yourself to get better too quickly. Let this bug run its course, even if it means missing whole day or two of the conference. If you’re cold, use the hot water bottle here and if you’re hot, there’s a cold pack you can pop into the freezer portion of your hotel minifridge.”

“And let us know if you need anything else,” David added. “Here, let’s exchange numbers real quick.”

The bags dangled from Troy’s forearms as he entered both David’s number and Lucas’ into his cell phone. “Thadks,” he said at last, sliding his phone into his back pocket and pulling his room key out at the same time. “I’b sure I’ll be all right after sobe rest. But thadks for all this. Above add beyod, really.”

“Feel better, man,” Lucas said, reaching out and patting his arm. Lucas’ other hand tightly gripped David’s, one finger automatically sliding back and forth over the wedding ring again.

The three of them headed back into the lobby, but David and Lucas let Troy head to the bank of elevators alone. They followed him with their gaze, watching him punch the up arrow, rub his nose into his shoulder a couple times, and then head into the first elevator that arrived.

When the elevator doors slid shut and the numbers atop indicated the elevator was rising, David let out the breath he had been holding. Lucas squeezed his hand. David brought their hands up and kissed the back of Lucas’. “I know you’re probably eager to get to your convention events, but I think we need to have a talk about what the hell just happened.”

Lucas nodded at once. “Couldn’t agree more, actually. But can we do it up in our room?” He moved close, pressing his front up against David’s side and whispered directly into his ear. “You were so good to him, so concerned and caring. It was incredibly hot. You won’t believe how hard I am.”

David’s breath quickened. “It can’t be as hard as mine. I feel like I’m about to spontaneously combust here.” He turned his head, craned it, finding Lucas’ ear to whisper. “First, we get off. Then we talk.”

“Perfect,” Lucas replied, catching David’s cheek and jaw in a couple quick kisses.

Feeling those kisses against his skin on top of the erotic elation of caregiving this morning, David wasn’t sure he’d even be able to make it back to their room.