Page 60 of Laying Low

“How was that?”Anthony asked, but he sounded smug, and not at all like he was really worried.

Well, he shouldn’t really worry.“That” had beenspectacular.

“I’m sort of amazed,” Reg mumbled.“I kept thinking it was only sex, and I could have that with my own hand.”He made a negative sound.“I couldn’t do what we just did by myself.”

Anthony chuckled and rolled to kiss his shoulder.“So glad to hear it,” he murmured and then sighed.“Look, I’m falling asleep again, how about you?”

Reg grunted.“I can wake up,” he slurred, although that post-sex thing was really kicking in.

“Don’t worry about it,” Anthony said, straightening them up so he was behind Reg and the blankets were on top.“We’ve got time.Wake me up if you want to go again.”

“Can I feel you?”Reg asked, meaning “feel you up” but falling asleep as he said it.

“I’d take it as a privilege to be bothered in my sleep by you,” Anthony told him before placing a soft kiss on his shoulder and settling in for more slumber.

Visions of what that could mean sent Reg back to unconsciousness in the best of ways.

THEY WEREboth awakened by a firm knock at their door and Val calling through.

“All right, boys, I hate to do this to you, but some of us have to get a move on, and we’ve got to debrief.You awake in there?”

Anthony moved first, pulling on his sleep pants (no underwear, Reg realized, titillated) and heading for the door as he motioned for Reg to stay under the covers.

“Rude,” he said, opening the door just enough to talk to Val.

“I know it,” Val said, making no bones about peeking in to make sure Reg was okay.“Kid, you gonna live?”

“Yeah, Val,” Reg said, trying not to blush about being naked under the covers.“Sorry we’re not—”

“Don’t be,” Val interrupted.“After what you two did, you should have been able to sleep all day.But Lloyd’s here, and he’s got some info to share, and I told him you’d be down to breakfast in fifteen minutes.Ilia and Adelle are still in the hospital—”

“How’s Reynaldo?”Anthony asked, reading Reg’s mind.

“Boy’s doing okay—they’ll probably release him tomorrow.And that’s something else we’ll talk about.But get dressed—” He arched an eyebrow at Reg, who buried his face in his hands.“—and meet us downstairs.”He smirked.“That way you can carbo load for your activities today, since I don’t think you’ll be ready to leave for a few days.”

“Val,” Reg said, recovering from his embarrassment enough to be even more embarrassed.“Mom took all our clothes.All we have are pajama pants and T-shirts.”

“Well, wasn’t that subtle,” Val said with a snort.“You’ll just have to wear those downstairs.Sweaters too?”

“Sweaters too,” Anthony said dryly.Well, both their hooded sweatshirts had been pretty ragged after the night on the dock and in the boat.

“We’ll bring extras,” Val said.“It’s cold and foggy outside, because that’s life on Puget Sound.Fifteen minutes.See you then.”

And with that, he left.

“Oh my God, he’ssomuch like my dad,” Anthony muttered, shutting the door after him.

“He used to be in charge of waking us up in the morning,” Reg told him.“He was terrifying.”

“Better him than Dean,” Anthony said, shucking his pajama pants to put on his underwear and shivering a little in the chill.Reg felt that as he searched for his underwear—hereallywished for his hoodie.

Still, he was unprepared when Anthony grabbed the useless decorative throw at the bottom of the bed and yanked it off.

“What—”

“Get dressed,” Anthony said.“And I’ll go get one of the clean towels.There’s no need to freeze.”

Reg was in his T-shirt and pajamas when Anthony returned with a towel wrapped securely around his shoulders like a cape.As Reg gaped at him, Anthony wrapped the throw around Reg’s shoulders, where it settled, warm and comforting, almost like they were going to watch cartoons in their own home.