By the Numbers Page 6

  "It's not dumb." Deuce shrugged. "I like you. You like me. I'm not expecting anything momentous to happen, but I find that closing doors just because something might not be brilliant is a good way of missing out on a lot of good things."

  It made sense, in theory. Almost enough sense for Trey to lean forward again for more soft kisses, but that damn voice in his head spoke up. You need to think about what you're doing.

  "I like you," he agreed. He did, a lot. Deuce was cute and funny and smart. "And I don't want to close the door on it." Also true. "But maybe we should live together for a while before we jump into that." It sounded weird to say it that way. Living together before the relationship happened was not usually the way it worked.

  "Isn't that sort of backward?" Deuce said with a slow smile. He didn't seem pissed, though, and he wasn't saying no. He also wasn't backing away or letting Trey go. He was kind of... paused. Paused was okay.

  "Yeah, pretty much." Trey gave him a sheepish smile. "The truth is, I've never lived with anyone other than Holly and Lacey. And I don't know how Lacey will react to having you here, even though she's a pretty mellow kid and takes stuff in stride. What do you think?"

  "I think trial runs are a good thing." Deuce nodded. "I think we should see how it goes, sure. Like I said, I don't have a certain set of expectations. I'm sure as hell not going to pressure you into something, either. That's not really my style." His smile took out any sting.

  Trey nodded as well. Deuce was right, but a small part of Trey felt as if he wanted to be pressured into something. Sometimes it was just easier to let someone else decide things. That was one reason he'd never be captain at work: too many choices, too many decisions. Way easier to do what he was told, and less drama, too.

  "Okay," he agreed. "See how it goes."

  Deuce leaned forward and kissed him again, just once. "How about dessert now, then? Something else to put in my mouth."

  "That is not the way to un-pressure me." Trey grinned and accepted the kiss, returning one of his own. "But okay." He got up and took a moment to adjust, not looking back to see if Deuce had to do the same. Trey would never get off the couch if he saw that.

  The chocolate-raspberry parfaits were in the fridge where he'd left them. Trey grabbed two spoons and took both glasses back to the living room. "Here you go," he announced, setting Deuce's chilled glass in front of him. "It's chocolate angel food cake, vanilla custard, and fresh raspberries. Totally easy."

  Deuce's eyes went wide. "You fend off sex on the couch with sex in a glass dish. Interesting deflection technique." He picked up his glass and spoon and tasted, and this time the sound wasn't at all soft and quiet. "Oh, my God." Deuce groaned and rolled his eyes. "I'm moving in. You won't ever get rid of me, sorry."

  Trey had to chuckle. "Seriously? This isn't even homemade. Store-bought everything. I don't do much baking, except for cookies for Lacey once in a while. We have this at work sometimes, so you'll definitely have to come down for dinner." He took a bite of his own dessert and discovered the raspberries were quite sweet.

  "Doesn't matter. Twinkies are good to me." Deuce kept eating. "I have to bike miles and miles because of it -- it's not just the nachos. I work hard at being able to eat like this once in a while. During the week I'm mostly a steamed vegetable guy with a bit of lean meat, but the weekends are all about indulging."

  There were so many ways to interpret Deuce's meaning of the word "indulge", so Trey decided to just take it at face value. "Cool. Plenty of healthy recipes and stuff I can show you when you move in. And not so healthy." The creamy fettuccine alfredo he made sometimes was one of them.

  Dessert was finished amid more gentle teases and joking, and Deuce remained true to his word and didn't make any sort of move. Disappointing, but a relief at the same time. Trey was too weirded out by the way things were moving.

  "I work tomorrow," he said, scooping up the last of his parfait. "Come by if you want to. Or text me or something."

  "Really? I'd love that. I have some errands to do, but I'll see if you're around in the late afternoon, if that's cool." Deuce looked as pleased as he sounded.

  "Afternoons are always better. Mornings are busy with chores and stuff. Give me a call before you come by, okay?"

  "Sure." Deuce nodded and got up, taking both glasses with him. "I'm going to head home, I think. Mostly because I'm slightly drunk and the puppies need to be let out. If I get too cozy, I'll wind up kissing you some more and there will be an unholy mess to deal with when I get there."

  Trey took the glasses from him. "I got these. You better get home to the mess. Before it becomes unholy, I mean. Thanks for coming over tonight. And for the wine and... everything."

  "Thank you." Deuce smiled at him and looked around before walking to the door. "Thanks for supper, for suggesting I move in, all of it. I'll call you tomorrow."

  Trey followed, still holding the dessert glasses. "Sounds good." Before his better judgment could catch up, he leaned in and gave Deuce a fast kiss. "Night."

  "Good night, Trey." Deuce gave him a huge smile and left, whistling softly to himself.

  The door closed with a soft click, and Trey resisted the impulse to look out the front window. Instead, he went to the kitchen and left the glasses soaking with the rest of the dinner dishes. He'd wash them in the morning before work.

  He turned lights off as he went down the hall and spent a moment peeking his head into Lacey's room. The house was always more welcoming when she was there to break the stillness. Trey supposed that Deuce would do the same thing when he moved in. It might be nice to come home to a place that actually had people in it instead of silent rooms.

  Trey brushed his teeth in the bathroom and checked himself in the mirror for whisker growth. He rubbed his chin as he entered his own bedroom and debated shaving tonight, then discarded the idea in favor of an early bedtime. He'd shave for work in the morning. That was one thing he loved about having four days off in a row: no need to shave. Otherwise, he was expected to be clean-shaven for each shift or run the risk of his breathing apparatus mask not fitting correctly over his face.

  Clothes got discarded in a heap, and he crawled in between crisp cotton sheets. Trey's housekeeper was totally worth what he paid her to come in and clean once a week. He'd have to remind himself to let Deuce know that Wednesdays were clean-house day.

  Thoughts of Deuce made Trey focus on the evening they'd just shared. It had been easy and comfortable, and the kissing had just sort of happened, despite that little voice that had advised against it. But man, it had been nice.

  So nice, in fact, that Trey's cock began firming up just from the reminder. Deuce had smelled good, and he had strong hands. Trey had a thing for hands. He couldn't help getting turned on by the rough skin and light dusting of hair that most guys had, but Deuce's hands had the extra bonus of long fingers.

  God, he got even harder at the thought. Under the warm cover of his blankets, Trey touched himself lightly and closed his eyes. He was too wound up to sleep, anyway. Taking the edge off would help.

  The lube was always in his bedside drawer. He retrieved it and used a few slick drops that became warm as soon as they came in contact with his skin. His left hand dropped instinctively to fondle his balls as his other hand stroked his shaft and coated it well with the slippery stuff. A tiny drop of his own liquid added to the smoothness.

  Trey planted both feet flat on the bed and arched up into the tunnel of his hand. The memory of Deuce's mouth on his was like a ghost in the room, something Trey could almost feel if he concentrated hard enough. The reminder of what Deuce's tongue had done was enough to make Trey groan out loud.

  The rhythmic strokes turned into hurried thrusts, despite Trey's best intentions to draw things out. Everything was tingling and tight, and his balls were aching for release, so Trey gave in to the fact that this was not going to be a long jerk-off session. Sometimes they just weren't.

  He let himself think about sparklin
g hazel eyes and a crooked smile, and how Deuce's body had felt next to Trey's on the couch. His dick throbbed in his hand and Trey gave a soft grunt in surprise when his come splashed over his fingers and onto his stomach. The orgasm uncurled from his belly and made Trey shake and curl his toes into the sheets.

  After, when he'd cleaned up and was once again looking at the ceiling, Trey wondered one more time if he'd made the right choice for himself, for Lacey, and for Deuce. Things had the potential to go really, really wrong. Trey had made plenty of wrong decisions in his life.

  He didn't want this to be one of them.

  Seven

  Deuce put the last box of things in his car and looked at Pete. "How come there's always one box of random crap, no matter what? Almost everything I own is in storage or had to be tossed because of smoke damage, and I still have a box of crap."

  "It's the way of the universe, man." Pete grinned at him and then winced as his puppy bit his ankle. "You need to leave before I change my mind."

  "Hey, if you give it back, I have to unpack the car and move back in. Trey said no more than three dogs can come with me, including his."

  Pete rolled his eyes dramatically. "I let you stay with all of them."

  "He's giving me my own bathroom. Sorry." Deuce offered his hand. "Thanks, man. I really appreciate the space. I owe you, big time."

  Pete shook his hand and then pulled him into a back thumping hug. "Get out of here. Don't be a stranger."

  In the car, two puppies started crying.

  "I better go before Q bails." Deuce got in his car, thankful that he hadn't really bought too much stuff since the fire. He could move in one trip, even with the dog crate in the back seat. "See you around." He pulled out of Pete's drive and headed the few miles to Trey's place -- his new place -- singing at the top of his lungs to keep the dogs from being upset.

  When he got there he pulled right up, not sure if he should park in the drive or on the street but wanting to be close to unload. First things were first, though and he got the leashes. Dogs needed to sniff and pee before all else.

  Trey must have been waiting for him, because he appeared as soon as Deuce opened the car door and stepped out. "Hi." Trey grinned, giving the interior of the car a once-over, likely to make sure that Deuce only had three dogs.

  "Q, yours, mine." Deuce grinned. "Plus all my worldly goods that aren't locked up at Storage Haven. Small locker." Not a lot had been spared from the smoke and water damage.

  Deuce got a sheepish grin in return. "I trusted you; it's cool." Trey opened the back door and reached for the crate that held the two puppies. Q sat in the front seat and turned her head to watch Trey. "Hi," he said to her, giving her chin a scratch. "Welcome home."

  "Out you get, Q." Deuce opened up all the doors so Q could take her pick and waved a leash at her. "This is the end of line. All passengers must exit the train at this station. There are no further stops."

  Q got out of the car and stretched, taking her time and completely ignoring the crate with her pups. Then she went to sniff the grass and promptly marked her territory.

  "Classy." Deuce rolled his eyes and clipped on one of the leashes. "Got two more leashes here, do you want to let them out here or in the back?"

  "Here, I guess. And it's okay if they pee. I told my lawn guy I was getting dogs, and he's got some stuff, I dunno." Trey set the crate down and opened the latch. "Just clip it on their collars?"

  "There's a D ring near the buckle." Deuce grabbed one of the puppies -- Trey's, as it turned out -- and showed him. "That's all there is to it. Mind you, sometimes they're slippery and you're halfway across the yard before you get to the D ring."

  Trey furrowed his brow and concentrated on getting the leashes attached to the dogs before they bolted. He managed to get both of them on and proudly displayed his handiwork to Deuce. "I can be a dog owner. This is easy."

  The puppies promptly took that opportunity to make a run for it, not realizing they were leashed. Their leads got tangled around Trey's legs as they went in opposite directions, and Deuce winced as Trey tried and failed to keep his balance.

  "Shit," Trey said to the sky. To his credit, he still had the leashes in one hand.

  Deuce went to him and offered a hand up. "Maybe I should take one of those. You keep Six, I'll take Q and Nameless." He did not laugh, though he did grin. Trey was adorable even flat on his back.

  Trey took the hand and pulled himself to his feet. "Good idea," he said ruefully, and handed over Deuce's puppy. Six sat down and wagged his little tail, oblivious to the fact that he'd just sent his new owner sprawling on his nice, tight ass. "Let's bring them to the backyard and they can run around there."

  "Good plan." Deuce closed up the car and maneuvered his way to the backyard with two leashes, the puppies working in a constant zigzag pattern that seemed designed to trip him. Q just walked, stepping over the puppy without any apparent effort. "So, I figure it will take me all of an hour to unload the car and unpack. Then I'll go buy some food, I guess."

  "I can help." Trey seemed to be concentrating hard on getting Six to walk in a straight line, although the puppy wasn't cooperating. "Why do they do this? Why don't they just... walk?" He stopped short as Deuce's puppy unexpectedly crossed in front of him.

  "Too many things to smell and see." Deuce smiled as the puppies stopped walking to play. "They won't actually even be ready to learn how to walk on a leash for another few weeks. But we can teach them to sit and stuff. Leash and heel is hard."

  When Six decided once again to wrap his lead around Trey's ankle, Trey let out an exasperated snort and picked the puppy up. "You would think dogs would just know how." He gave the puppy an affectionate rub on the head and led the way around the side of the house to the latched gate. "I took care of the side door," he pointed out. And indeed, the woodwork that now covered the open spaces in the gate looked freshly cut.

  "Oh, nice." Deuce showed Q the wood. "Don't eat it." Q hadn't chewed anything in years, but it never hurt to tell her, he figured. "This will do great. Did you tell Lacey yet? About Six, I mean."

  "I said I had a surprise for her. If I told her what it was, she'd blab it to Holly, and then I'd get an earful before Lacey got here. This way, she and I can talk about how much her mom really needs to know." Trey's tone had turned grim.

  "About a dog, about a new housemate, or about me in the specific?" Deuce didn't want to get in the middle of family drama, not when things were only at the kissing stage.

  "Well, I meant just the dog. But the other thing will come into play eventually." Trey rolled his eyes and sat down on the grass in the back yard. "Don't worry, she won't harass you or anything. And we don't ever fight around Lacey. She and I just tend to have heated conversations when it's anything more than 'Lacey has ballet on Wednesday' or 'Be at the school at two on Friday for her parent conference'."

  "Breaking up is never fun." Deuce sat down too and let the dogs wander, keeping an eye on things to stop any digging. "At least you two manage the parenting part okay. Lacey's lucky to have that."

  "I guess." Trey shrugged and Deuce saw his gaze follow the puppies. "She'd be luckier to have an intact family. Or maybe a father who isn't gay. She'll have to deal with fallout from that."

  "The world is changing. Maybe in a few years it will be even less of an issue. It's not something that you can beat yourself up about -- it's not like it's a choice, after all. All you can do is continue to be a good, responsible parent." Deuce hoped he didn't sound like he was talking out his ass. What did he know about being a parent, gay or otherwise? But he knew that happy parents made happy kids, and denying himself wouldn't make Trey happy. Therefore, being a gay, out parent kind of had to be better than being a miserable person trying to be a good parent.

  Or something. It was confusing.

  "None of my business," Deuce added, feeling utterly lame. "Sorry."

  Trey turned to look at him. His blue eyes were serious but untroubled. "Sure
it is," he said. "You'll be living here. You might be witness to some of it. If we hadn't, you know, kissed and whatever, I wouldn't be talking to you about it. But we did, so now you're involved. Kind of." A worried look crept into Trey's eyes. "I guess I'm the one who should be sorry. This probably isn't what you bargained for."

  Deuce smiled at him. "I have no expectations. None. I signed up for hanging out and more kissing, and just seeing how it goes. If it goes in the direction of that, I'm okay with it. Life is life. I'm not going to run from an ex-wife, promise."

  "You haven't met her." Trey sighed. "But that's cool. I don't run or back down from her either, which she hates. She's five feet three inches of terror. Anyway, that's not for a while down the road, so don't worry about it. Lacey will be here tomorrow, though. Are you ready for that?"

  "Yep. Should I have something for her? I didn't think I should; that would be weird. But maybe a book? Kind of 'hey, we're going to be sharing space a few days a week, and I heard you like to read.' Is that dumb? Will she think I'm trying to buy her affection?" Deuce had woken up three times the night before, unsure of what to do.

  The corner of Trey's mouth turned up, and he spoke warmly. "You already have something for her." He pointed across the yard at Six, who was sniffing the edge of the brick planter. "That's plenty. Don't worry. If you take her up on her offer to play Operation at least twice, you're in."

  "They still make that?" Deuce grinned. "Man, my mom hated that sound. BUZZZZZ." The dogs all looked over. "Nameless needs a name. Any suggestions? Maybe Lacey can name him."

  "Not if you don't want a name like Prince Eric or something from the Disney movies. We can probably come up with something that fits better."

  "Chewy? Bitey? What were the seven dwarfs' names, again?" Deuce laughed. "How about Pup. Or Dog. Henry. Jack."