Page 2 of Healing Daddy

Leary lit from the inside. His eyes sparkled with happiness. “That sounds like so much fun. Will you push me on the big swing?”

How could JJ say no? “Sure.”

Leary shot to his feet. “Yay!”

Like that, there was nothing JJ wanted more in life than to have ice cream and push Leary on the big swing. Sounded like the perfect night.

In a small way, Leary had worried when he took off his pjs JJ wouldn’t treat him the same. He had no idea why. Leary was just accustomed to being invisible. At the private club where they had met, Leary had still been ignored before JJ’s friend, Cairo, had asked Leary and his friend July to play. July hadn’t been at the club since that night, as far as Leary knew, but JJ kept going back. For the first time, he felt seen in a way he never had before. With JJ, he felt a lot of things.

Leary sat on a park bench eating his ice cream while JJ waited in line at a lemonade cart to get them drinks. The light from a nearby streetlamp highlighted his tall form. JJ was so pretty. He had dark blonde hair that was all one length with messy, thick curls that brushed his collar and framed his face. Then there was his eyes. Wow. He had the lightest green eyes Leary had ever seen. They were filled with bitterness. While Leary knew JJ worked for a weapons dealer, Leary wore pajamas and played with kid’s toys. He wasn’t really in a position to judge anyone. Leary was curious as hell, though. He wanted to know everything about JJ. The problem was, while Leary wasn’t shy, he was awkward. When it came to his job, he was confident and in control. Leary just wasn’t good at the rest of life.

JJ headed his way with a cup in one hand and another tucked between his arm and torso. Leary didn’t jump to help him. He dealt with patients exactly like JJ all day long. Leary recognized the determination on JJ’s face. If he tried to help, JJ would likely shut down or explode. Leary wanted JJ to keep as much of himself as possible. That was important.

JJ passed him a cup and sat. “They only had one size.”

Leary took a sip. It was better than he expected. Lemonade carts usually made their drinks too sour for his taste. This one was perfect. Maybe it was the company. “Thank you. I would’ve paid. You didn’t have to treat me tonight.”

JJ flashed him a smile that made Leary feel warm in unexpected places. Leary melted. “I invited you. That means I pay.”

“Does that mean I pay for dinner sometime?”

JJ laughed. “Yeah, I’m probably going to pay then too.”

Leary realized he smiled from ear to ear. He loved being around JJ. “You’re just that guy, aren’t you?”

JJ lifted his shoulder in a half-shrug. “It seems so.” He took a drink and then eyed the cup. “That’s better than I expected.”

Leary burst out laughing. He had no idea why. It was the way JJ made the claim.

JJ looked his way, smiling.

Leary nearly sighed.

Then JJ made it worse. “I love your laugh. You should do that more often.”

“Why are you so nice to me?” Leary didn’t mean to blurt that out, but really. JJ had come from nowhere and adopted him.

JJ responded immediately—like the answer should’ve been obvious. “Because you’re nice and you’re my friend.”

Leary learned a whole new emotion. He was thrilled yet disappointed. Just a friend. He had known that, but he had enjoyed dreaming. That said, he wanted a friend too. He had to change the subject before he did something dumb—like cry. “You can answer this only if you want? This is the doctor in me. What happened to you?”

Something dark passed over JJ’s features, making Leary regret his question. Still, he didn’t take it back. He ate his ice cream and waited JJ out.

“Workplace accident.”

Despite his best efforts, Leary’s eyes widened. “What kind of accidents happen working for who you do?”

The bitterness in JJ’s expression was painful to see. “The kind where you get abducted and they start chopping off pieces to make a point.”

Leary’s jaw dropped. He had told himself he wouldn’t react, but there was no way he could have seen that one coming. “Holy crap. There’s no way I could endure that. I’d start crying at just the threat. Heck, I might’ve passed out before the first cut. You’re incredibly brave to still be sitting here.”

“If my colleagues hadn’t recused me, I wouldn’t be sitting here. At the time, the pain and shock clouded most everything.” Hismouth lifted in one corner with a sardonic smile. “I’m not brave. That day ruined my life. Nothing has been the same since. The only time I don’t feel sick with rage against the unfairness of life is when I’m with you.”

Leary’s throat swelled. The backs of his eyes burned with unshed tears. His voice refused to go above a whisper when he tried to speak. Leary pushed through anyway. JJ deserved a response after exposing himself like that. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.” Leary cleared his throat. He refused to fall victim to his awkwardness. “You have no idea how grateful I am that we met. For the first time in years, I haven’t felt like someone looked right through me.”

Somehow they had moved closer and leaned each other’s way. JJ's gaze moved over Leary’s face, as if searching for something only he knew. “Can we do this again? If you’d rather we just hang out at The PlayPen where you can be yourself, that’s what we’ll do. But you’re actually talking to me tonight and I really like your voice.”

Whoa. He couldn’t be real. No one as pretty as JJ had ever looked at him the way JJ did now. If Leary said no, then he might stop. “I’d like that.”