Page 42 of Laying Low

“Do you like cheese?”Reg asked.

Ilia nodded.“I like everything,” he said cheerfully.“If it is food, I will eat it.Is there food at the end of this tour?”

“Ooh,” Reynaldo said.“I couldusesome cheese.”

“I could also use some ice cream,” Anthony said on Reg’s other side.“They’ve got a café downstairs, and I’m not ready for dinner yet, but ice cream,thatdream I can have.”

Reg stared at him stupidly and smiled.Something about Anthony in general made him smile—he couldn’t even say what at this point.Two nights in a row with that strong body sleeping at his back, assuring him that nothing bad was going to happen on his watch, had pretty much cemented not only Reg’s attraction to the man, but hiscomfort.He’d always known he’d be slow to bond with somebody intimately—he had a hard time being comfortable with strangers in the same room, much less another human in his bed.

But Anthony had put in the work, the four months of getting to know him, the quiet touching, the gentle, noninsistent presence.The day before, as Reg had been hauling Reynaldo out of the surf, he’d been cold, shaking, and scared.Anthony’s warm hand on his elbow to steady him had made the rest of the rescue seem like basic logic, one step and then the other.

And his arm, wrapped around Reg’s middle, had been theonlything that allowed Reg to sleep.

Without warning, a wave of longing—as intense as the sleeper wave on the beach that had nearly dragged him and Reynaldo out to sea—swept over him, and Reg felt an acute sense ofwant.

Physical want.

A desire to touch Anthonymore.

Oh.So this is why people write songs and do stupid things for love.

He thought it logically, but only because his stomach was clenched and his entire physical being wasillogicalwith need.

Anthony, who was laughing at his own joke about ice cream—and enjoying how excited the boys got about things like cheese snacks and ice cream and maybe some crackers as well—suddenly caught Reg’s gaze.

He gave the boys a wink over Reg’s shoulder, and while Reg tried to pull himself together—he was achaperonefor sweet hell’s sake!—Anthony leaned into his space, captured his chin with two callused fingers, and held Reg’s face in place for a kiss, not lewd butdeep,thoughtful, and possessive.

Just enough to quiet the screaming in Reg’s stomach and to let him breathe while they continued to be responsible adults in charge of two impressionable teenagers.

“Later,” Anthony whispered in his ear, and Reg nodded before they both took a step back and checked to see if the boys had taken off to give them privacy.

As.If.

Part of it was basic safety, Reg thought primly.He and Anthony had come up with the idea to tour the cheese factory after the splendid scenery along the Oregon coast had begun to pall a little with the forced six hours of driving.

Coos Bay had been lovely—foggy and mysterious as they’d pulled up to park at the boardwalk, and then the fog had burned away to reveal the dazzle of the water by the pier.The rock formations of the Oregon coast had been on full display as they’d pulled out, full of fish and chips (and some apples and oranges as well—Reg had insisted that everybody have some fruit, or, he said, they’d never poop again), and resumed their tour of the jagged shores of the Pacific Ocean.

But you can only sell great scenery for so long to active teenaged bodies, and Anthony had been driving when Reg suggested the tour of the cheese factory.

They’d perked up almost immediately and had been practically angelic as they’d toured the place.In fact they’d reminded Reg of why he volunteered with Adelle in the first place.

Kids reallycouldbe the best.Curious, funny, excited about learning new things.They’d been fascinated by the cheese-making process,reallyexcited about the free samples, and super grateful that they lived close enough to farm and pastureland to get their milk and dairy products fresh.

Reg hadn’t pointed out that this journey might take them out of the “cheese belt”—he figured Canada had lots of cows too, right?

Keeping his heart from aching for the two of them had become a full-time fight, and he wouldn’t be able to do it without Anthony’s steadying presence.

And God, did Reg miss his phone.

More specifically, he missed hisfamilyon the other end of the phone.He wanted to text them so badly.Val’s unflappable advice, Sal’s sass, Prock’s unfailing support—even Laure’s nagging and Dean’s sarcasm.He was used to them being his Greek chorus, the sound of his day.

And Chance, his sunshiny little brother, was his best friend.

Now he had to navigate this frightening situation with the teenagers and the strange new situation with Anthony, without any help or backup.

He’d felt lonely for most of his life, but his siblings had been the only reason he’d never feltalone.And while he found that Anthony’s cheerful fearlessness seemed to assuage his loneliness, that didn’t mean he missed his siblings any less.

Reg was fixed on this very subject as they took the stairs down to the lobby and found the restaurant, and he only came out of it when he reached for his wallet to pay for their ice cream—and the several pounds of cheese “snack packs” the boys had asked to buy.