Page 59 of Controlled Burn

“So out of the goodness of your heart, you decided to take him home yourself.”

“Yeah, I did. To his home. I gave him a ride and dropped him off. Alone. But then I stopped by the library to check in on him and to let him know he could always call me if he had any problems.” I was walking a fine line here. Caleb wasn’t ready to discuss being a boy with his dad, so I was being as honest with him as I could without saying too much. “Then we got to talking, and we really clicked. But, honestly, Robert, as soon as I realized it was more than—” I paused, trying to decide what to say—“friendly, I insisted we tell you.”

“So you want me to believe you told me before you touched him?”

“I didn’t say that.” I’d never lied to Robert, and I didn’t want to start now.

“Right, of course not. Do you love him?”

“I didn’t say that either. I said this was different. But it’s still early days. What I came to tell you is I have never felt this way about anyone before.”

“Not even Jonathan?”

Ouch. That was the problem with arguing with your best friend. They knew where all the bones were buried, and they knew how to twist the knife.

“What Caleb and I have is different from what Jonathan and I shared.” Truth. I hadn’t even realized what it meant to be a Daddy when Jonathan and I were together, and no part of him was a boy. We were destined to go our separate ways, even if I hadn’t seen that then. “Caleb and I are a better fit. Jonathan and I wanted different things in life, and neither of us was good at compromise.”

“You said that was it for you, that you were done with relationships, and now I’m supposed to trust my son to you, knowing that for ten years you haven’t spent more than a weekend with a single partner, male or female.”

“You said the same thing. You said that after what happened with Debbie, you were never getting married again. Never settling down. Hell, what was it you said to me? Oh, right, that you enjoyed your hobbies too much to settle down.”

“Hobbies? Really? Never getting married again, huh? So am I just wasting my time here, Robby?” Del asked from the back door.

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath. “That was before I met you, sugar,” he said with an almost pleading tone.

She let out a sigh and made a show of rolling her eyes before she turned and stalked back into the house without another word.

“Well, fuck.”

I stood up. “Look, I’m gonna let you go talk to her. I said my piece. I just want to be clear. I love you like a brother, but I’m not giving Caleb up just because you don’t like it.”

Caleb

“I can’t believe you bailed on lunch today.” Giles said.

“We eat lunch together every day. This was one day.”

“So you say.” He squinted his eyes at me. “But one turns into two and two into three, and the next thing I know, I’m sitting alone at the sandwich shop across the street every day while you’re off getting sexed up by the hot firefighter.”

“You’re ridiculous, and I wasn’t getting sexed up. We ate at Sweet Madeline’s.”

“If you say so. Not that I blame you. I would be that man’s sex kitten any day of the week.”

I picked up the piece of paper on the desk in front of me and balled it up before throwing it at his head. “Get back to work.”

He chuckled, but he went on his way. Keith had taken me to lunch today since he was off and didn’t have anything planned. I knew part of that was my fault because, normally, he and my dad would’ve been doing something.

Hopefully, he and my dad would work things out, and they could go back to… well, to doing whatever it was they usually did all day. Regardless, today’s lunch had been fun, and we had plans for tonight. It would be the first time we went out together as a couple.

After work, I rushed home to get changed. I’d just finished a quick shower and put on some casual but nice clothes when the doorbell rang. I was nervous for some silly reason. It was just ice cream, and it wasn’t like we hadn’t already seen each other naked. I think it was because this was the first time we were doing something together as a real couple, not as two men playing Daddy/boy.

When I opened the door, he was standing there looking positively lickable in a tight-fitting black t-shirt and snug pair of blue jeans. I ran my eyes over the gorgeous man in front of me and let out a sigh. I was tempted to suggest we stay in. I had ice cream in the freezer if he really wanted some. But I really was excited about going with him, and if I played my cards right, I might still get to lick him later on.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“I am. I’m excited. You make this ice cream shop sound like something special.”

“I think so. They make all their own ice cream, and the sundae bar is fantastic. They also make malts and floats. They have pretty much anything you want ice cream related.”