Page 8 of Steady Stroke
“While that can be an uncomfortable thing, a decent person makes sure that the sick one is okay before leaving.”
Not sure I’d call Tom a decent person.
Either way, Lincoln owned his responsibility for the bad communication with his hookup. He knew better than to jump into bed with someone before all parties knew what was going to happen. He’d been so damned horny and lonely, and he’d let the beer go to his head.
A tiny voice deep down inside of him that sounded a lot like Dominic told him that Tom should have stopped when Lincoln told him to, but Lincoln told that voice to shut up. Otherwise the whole thing hurt too much.
“Honey.” Zelda rested her warm palm against his cheek. “Did something happen that you want to tell me about?”
“No.” He absolutely did not want to relive last night, and not with a woman he thought of as his mother. “Just want a shower and some sleep.” An awful thought hit him. “You didn’t call Dom, did you?”
“No, and neither did Roxy.”
“Good.”
She frowned. “You don’t want to call him and talk this out?”
He wanted Dominic more than anyone else, ever, but he wasn’t going to show that weakness to a woman who’d done more than enough for him for two lifetimes. “Don’t need to talk out a migraine. He’s got his shows to worry about.”
“What about the boy you were with?”
“Don’t want to call him either.”
Her lips twitched, and her hand dropped back to her lap. “I meant, don’t you want to talk that out with Dom?”
So Dom can crow about how I finally went out and got laid, and then feel sorry for me when he hears how it ended? No fucking thank you.
“Maybe later,” he said. “Not today.”
“You know, you spent so many years watching out for my boy, being careful of his feelings, and protecting him. It’s okay to let him look out for you for a little while, especially when he’s able to be the stable rock. You boys aren’t the same young men you were a year ago.”
Lincoln knew that without having to be told. A year ago, XYZ was on the verge of a breakthrough into an actual record deal. Lincoln was happy, healthy, and so proud of Dominic for beginning to work through some painful emotional baggage. Now Dominic had a thriving career, and a steady boyfriend, and he got to travel the country, while Lincoln drifted through his days like a ghost. Waiting for the next scrap of attention he received from his best friend.
“You’re used to being the one holding Dominic together,” Zelda continued. “Maybe it’s time to let him return the favor.”
“Hard to do when he’s always on the road.” He hadn’t meant to let that slip. He never wanted to guilt Dominic for having a life.
“I know it is, honey, but that’s part of being an adult.”
“Isn’t part of being an adult owning your choices?”
“It sure is. It’s also about knowing when it’s time to ask for help.”
“I don’t need help. All I really need is a shower.”
She held his gaze a beat, then nodded. “You got a robe?”
“No.”
“Be right back then.”
Lincoln used her brief disappearance to scoot closer to the edge of the bed. His backside was still a little tender and plenty gross after spending all night letting things dry. Zelda returnedwith a towel, then left again. By the time Lincoln eased onto shaky legs and wrapped the towel around his waist, water was flowing through the pipes.
Such a mom.
She wasn’t in the bathroom when he finally got there, thank God, so he shut the door, let the towel drop, and stepped into the tub. The hot spray hit him in the groin first, and he shuffled forward so it could jet across his chest and face. Turned so the water could run down his back to his ass.
“Stop.”
