Title: One of Those Days
Author: PJ
OC: Link & Wes, and a visit from Ken and Wes’s
parents
Implement: Hand
Wes
slammed the heavy front door shut. Out
of habit he reached for the row of switches on the block wall and flipped them. Light flowed across the ceiling. He stormed past Ken’s office, never noticing
the big man at the desk. If he had noticed
him, Wes would have seen Ken come to the office door, filling the opening as he
followed his shop manager’s movements.
When
he reached the bank of lockers, Wes jerked the metal door to his locker open, shoved
his black denim jacket in then slammed that door too. The clang echoed around
the shop. He didn't feel
his boss's questioning eyes follow him as he moved to the band saw. Picking up the piece of cherry he had been
working on the day before, Wes fed it into the revolving blade with a bit too
much force and jammed it. “Fuck!” he gasped
when his thumb slipped and clipped the blade.
He grabbed the closest shop towel and clamped it over the cut, applying
as much pressure he could while chastising himself.
“Turn
it off!” Ken growled as he stalked
across the concrete floor.
Wes
jumped at the roar and whirled around to see Ken bearing down on him. “Shit, what are you still doing here?” he
demanded. “Why isn’t your truck out
front?”
Ken
reached past him and flipped the switch on the saw. “Let me see your hand and then we can talk about
why I’m in my own shop,” Ken barked after the blade stopped spinning.
Wes
didn’t produce his hand, instead he told Ken, “My hand’s fine. I only nicked it.”
“Wes,”
the big man said in a tone that wasn’t loud but was starting to break through
Wes’s anger, “let me see your hand.”
Still
not ready to relinquish his injured thumb, the smaller man sucked in a mouthful
of air, trying to calm down. He knew he
was treading on thin ice. Finally he met
Ken’s eyes. He saw anger but he also saw
concern. Releasing the breath, Wes tried
to convince the other man he was ok again, “Look, Ken, it’s really fine. I’ll get a Band-Aid and get back to work.”
Ken
snapped his fingers and held out his hand.
He didn’t say anything, just waited for Wes to follow his order.
Slowly
Wes pulled his thumb out of the blue towel and placed it in his boss’s massive
hand. It seemed so small resting on
Ken’s hand. Wes had never paid attention
to the size of those hands before. Looking
at the large calloused hands his mind went back to that afternoon he
accidentally witnessed Ken belting Jess’s ass with Jess’s own belt. Now he had to wonder if Ken's hands wouldn't
hurt every bit as bad as that belt must have.
He knew he would never find out because Ken would never spank him. But he still thought Jess must have one tough
ass to have those hands walloping him.
His
thumb had stopped bleeding by the time Wes let Ken see it. “Let’s get this cleaned and bandaged and then
we can talk about what has you so upset,” he instructed the obviously distressed
man before him.
“I’m
not upset.” Wes flushed bright red, but let Ken guide him to the shop sink. While Wes washed the thumb in question with
medicated soap, Ken retrieved the first aid kit.
“You
won’t need stitches,” Ken said while examining the cut. “You’re lucky you didn’t cut your damn thumb
off, bud.” he grunted as he bandaged the cut.
“I better never see you operate any power tool when you’re upset or
angry again. Understand?”
Wes
started to challenge the statement that he was angry, but thought better of it
when he saw Ken’s tightly pursed white lips.
When
he didn’t get an answer, Ken repeated the question, “I asked if you understood,
Wesley?”
“Yes
sir, I understand,” Wes spit out.
"Good,
now, let's go into my office. I think
you need some time to calm down before you head home.
“Look,
Ken, I’m sorry,” Wes apologized, his anger losing steam fast. “It won’t happen again. I don’t need to go home. We have things that need to be finished
today.”
“I
consider you a friend and as your friend as well as your employer, I’m not
going to take a chance that you might hurt yourself again,” Ken said and
steered the smaller man into his office, keeping his hand on Wes’s
shoulder. “We can talk if you want to or
I can call Link for you. But you are
going to have to calm down before you touch any of the power tools.”
Once
in the office, Ken nodded toward the brown leather chair across from his
desk. That old chair was so large Wes
always felt like a 10 year old when he sat in it and today was no
different. “I’m really sorry, Ken. I guess I just let my feelings get the better
of me this morning,” he admitted. “I
know better than to let other people rile me like that.”
Ken
pulled a couple of bottles water from his office fridge and tossed one to the
younger man. “First, I want you to tell
me why you came here as upset as you were?” Ken asked.
“I
needed to work off some of my steam and thought you would be gone already,” Wes
answered. “I thought I could calm down
by the time you got back.”
“Where’s
Link?” Ken asked. “Why didn’t you go to
him?”
“He’s
out on a call,” Wes said, hoping that would be enough explanation for his boss.
“And
you couldn’t call him?”
“NO!”
Wes shot back a little too loud.
“Wes,”
Ken cautioned, “this is a conversation, not a yelling match.”
Wes
could feel the heat crawl up his neck and spread across his face.
“Sorry.”
“He’s
your partner. He needs to know when
you’re this upset,” Ken reminded Wes.
“Maybe, I should ask if you’re angry with Link. Is that what this is about?”
“I’m
not mad at Link. I could never be mad at
him,” Wes said defensively. “But I can’t
tell him either.”
“It’s
not hard to see something is bothering you, bud,” Ken said patiently. “If you want to tell me what happened I’ll see
if I can help.”
“I
don’t want you to tell Link.”
“I
won’t if you don’t want me too, Wes.”
Then Ken added, “Unless you are in danger.”
Wes
laughed, “No, I’m not in danger.” Then
he became serious, “I stopped at Tiny’s Diner this morning for breakfast.” Feeling the need to justify why he didn’t eat
at home Wes shrugged his shoulders and added, “Link was gone and I didn’t feel
like eating alone at home.”
Ken
slowly sipped his water and waited for Wes to continue.
“Anyway,
there were a couple of guys, fishermen, in the next booth. They were pissed and complaining about
someone when I first sat down but I couldn’t really hear everything they were
saying,” Wes remembered. “After I
ordered my food, they got louder. They
were pissed about some big dumb ranger.
A big dumb fag ranger with a beard and a ponytail, my big dumb ranger,”
he possessively spat out.
Giving
Wes plenty of time to tell his story, Ken leaned back in his chair and waited
for the agitated young man to continue.
“They
were mad at him,” Wes finally continued, “because he ticketed them early this
morning for fishing without licenses. He
took their poles and their strings of fish too.”
“That’s
how it happens, Wes,” Ken explained. “They
broke the law but blamed it all on Link because he caught them. They would have blamed him whether he was gay
or straight. It wouldn’t have mattered.”
“Maybe,
but they didn’t have a right to say he should be fired because he’s gay. They got real loud and started joking that he
played for the other team and he shouldn’t be allowed to be a ranger.” Wes stopped and stared out the window. Finally he spoke in a quiet voice, “That’s
just not fair.”
“What
did you do, bud?” Ken asked softly.
“The
longer they talked the madder I got and at one point I started to get up to
confront them but Judy, you know the waitress that always takes our order? She put her hand on my shoulder and shook her
head at me,” Wes said hanging his head. “So
I just sat there and let them cut Link down.”
“Sounds
like Judy saved you a whole pack of trouble, bud,” Ken softly said.
“You don’t understand,
Ken,” Wes snapped, “I didn’t do anything. I just sat there. I didn’t even defend him. Hell, Jess would have decked those guys.”
“Wes,
you are not Jess. What he might do has
no bearing on what you should do. Everyone
has choices to make when things like that happen. You can take it for what it is; pure ignorance,
or you can engage them and probably end up in deep trouble or hurt," Ken
calmly said to the young man. “No one
can tell you which is right for you, only you can do that. Each situation is different but I can tell
you, I'm proud of your choice today.”
“That’s
only because they weren’t cutting down your partner,” Wes spit back under his
breath or so he thought.
“Wes,”
Ken’s tone deepened. When the younger
man looked up, Ken continued, “Do you think Link would have been upset over
what those guys were saying? Do you
think he would have challenged them?”
Wes
was quiet for a couple of minutes then answered Ken, “No, he wouldn’t have let
them bother him.”
“No,
he wouldn’t,” Ken agreed. “Now, how do
you think he would have felt if you had gotten into a fight with them? Or worse, got arrested for fighting or got
hurt?”
“He
wouldn’t have liked it.”
“Not
only that, bud, he loves you and if you’d been hurt it would have hurt him
too,” Ken told the young man.
‘Yeah,”
Wes softly agreed, “I know.”
“Jess
is a big man and can handle himself,” Ken began.
Wes
glared at Ken. “I can handle myself
too!” he challenged the older man.
Ken
calmly replied, “I know you can, Wes. I’m
just letting you know I would not be happy if Jess were to confront someone
over words, ignorant words.”
Both
men were quiet; Wes thinking and Ken giving him the time he needed. Finally the younger man looked over at his
friend and boss. “Thanks, Ken,” Wes
replied. “It sure didn’t feel good
listening to them cut Link down and threaten his job. I wanted to jump in the middle of them. But I did know the right thing to do with a
little help from Judy.” He grinned to
himself and then told Ken, "Tiny kicked those fishermen out of the diner. He told them not to come back. After they left he came over and sat at my
table. He said he was sorry I had to
hear that crap. Then he told me they
don't encourage that kind of talk there.”
Ken
tossed his empty water bottle at the recycle bin in the corner of the room. He stood and walked around his desk to stand
in front of Wes. Holding out his hand to
him, Ken pulled Wes to his feet and into a hug.
“How about you clean up your work area and head out. Maybe, you and that man of yours can catch a late
breakfast,” Ken firmly suggested. “I’d
wager you didn’t eat much the first time.”
Wes
laughed. “No, I sorta lost my appetite,”
he admitted. Then more seriously he
added, “Thanks, Ken, and thanks for not firing me. Y…you aren’t going to fire
me, are you? I’m really sorry.”
“I
wouldn’t fire you, bud, but if I ever find you using power tools in the state
you were in today, I’ll suspend your ass for a week and call Link. Am I clear on that?”
Wes
raised his head and looked Ken square in the eyes. “Yes sir, crystal clear.”
“Good,
now get busy and then go find your man and talk to him,” Ken told his younger
friend. “And Wes,” he added, “if Link
thinks you’ve calmed down after you talk to him, you can work this afternoon.”
Wes
grinned. “I’ll see you later then,” he assured his boss. “Thanks Ken.”
lwlwlwlwlwlwlwlw
Link
grabbed his cell phone at the first chirp of Wes’s ring tone. “Hey, babe…no, I’m back at the office…just a
couple of illegal fisherman…Sure, I can meet you...A late breakfast sounds
good…where…oh, OK…give me about 15 minutes…love you too, babe.” He was a little surprised when Wes wanted to
meet up because he should have been at the shop. Link gladly accepted the invitation thinking
his partner had something on his mind and needed to talk.
Link
pulled into the space next to Wes’s new truck. Wes had loved his old truck. It had served its owner well. After all it was the truck that brought Wes
safely to California and into Link’s life.
But Wes beamed with pride every time he drove his new truck. Wes had insisted they pick it out together. Link smiled at the memory of his young man,
he was like a little kid getting a new bike.
The ranger locked his truck and
walked into the restaurant. He wondered
why Wes wanted to meet here instead of Tiny’s.
The big man found his lover in a booth toward the back. “Hey, babe,” Link said and leaned down for a
discreet kiss. Then he slid into the
booth across from Wes, noticing the bandaged thumb. Taking the hand in his, Link cocked his
eyebrow at his lover, waiting for an explanation.
“Oh,”
Wes said, trying hard to keep his voice calm.
“I nicked it this morning. It’s
nothing.”
The
eyebrow stayed up and Link didn’t say a word.
“Re...really,
it’s just a nick,” Wes stammered,
reaching up to rub his shoulder. “Ken
just got carried away with the bandage,” he laughed at the size of the bandage.
“What
happened, babe?” Link voiced the
question this time.
“I
was using the band saw and the blade bound up and my hand slipped. It really is just a nick. Look, I’ll show you,” Wes pulled his hand
back and started to remove the bandage.
“No,
that’s ok,” Link relented. “I’ll look at
it tonight. I’m up for the breakfast I didn’t
get to eat this morning, how about you?”
“Sounds
good,” Wes answered. “I didn’t eat much
this morning either.”
“Let’s
order and you can tell me all about your morning while we wait for our food.”
“Not
much to tell, T-man,” Wes commented trying to dismiss the interrogation.
Link
gently tapped the bandaged hand. “Babe,
I’ve seen you work. The only way you
would have jammed that blade is if you weren’t paying attention,” he pointed
out to his partner, “and that’s not like you.
So, I’m thinking your mind was somewhere else.”
Wes
waited while the waiter placed the food they had ordered on the table and
returned to the front of the restaurant.
“Yeah, I guess I need to talk to you about that,” he admitted.
“I’m
all ears, babe,” Link said around the first bite of his Denver omelet.
“I
stopped at Tiny’s for breakfast this morning,” Wes started, “and I ran into
your illegal fishermen.”
“Oh?”
Link questioned, raising his eyebrow. “What
happened, Babe?”
“They
were mad at a big dumb ranger,” Wes answered.
“Seems this ranger took their poles and fish and ticketed them for
fishing without licenses.”
Link
laughed, "I bet they had nothing but nice things to say about me."
Wes's
jaw dropped. "What? Nice?
Link!” He lowered his voice to a
whisper, “They called you a fag!"
Link
watched Wes for a few seconds then the older man agreed, “I am a fag,” he
laughed. Then seeing the serious look on
his lover’s face he continued, “Wes, I try not to give that word any more power
than its simple definition. It’s just a
word that means I am a homosexual. I’m attracted
to other men. One man in
particular. I'm not about to let them
hurt me with a word, and you shouldn't either.”
“I
know and I don’t care what they call me, T-man, but they were attacking you,” Wes
told the man across from him.
“Babe,
those two have been calling me names since we were in elementary school,” Link
said, “but they don’t do it to my face anymore.”
“Why
not?” Wes asked. “What happened?”
“I
was small so I tried to stay away from them.”
Link answered. “Then later in
high school I had a harder time staying out of their way.” He stopped, shaking his head. “Then one day after school Ronny caught up to
me and started in with the names. I lost
it and punched him in the face for calling me a queer.”
Wes
was engrossed in the story his lover was telling him. “What happened?” he asked again.
“It
shocked Ronny that I was attacking him.
Hell, it shocked me.” Link
laughed. “Then all of a sudden I was
jerked off him. He took off with blood
on his face.”
“Who
pulled you off him?”
“Ken,”
Link groaned. “We were close to a project
he was doing and he heard Ronny harassing me.
He came out to see what was going on just in time to see me throw the
punch. Needless, to say he wasn’t happy
and hauled me home. My dad impressed
upon my backside that I should just ignore them.”
“Well,
I couldn’t ignore him this morning, it pissed me off,” Wes stated. “I didn’t think…” he stopped and suddenly
became overly interested in his breakfast and pushed the French toast around on
his plate drawing squiggly lines through the cinnamon pecan syrup.
“Babe,
what didn’t you think?” Link asked quietly.
“I
just thought moving out here, I wouldn’t have to deal with that crap anymore,”
he said. “I thought I’d put it behind
me.” He rubbed his scar.
“Maybe
you need to talk about whatever happened, sweetheart. It seems it’s come back to haunt you,” Link
observed.
“Yeah,
maybe,” Wes sighed. “I guess there are
jerks like your fisherman everywhere. We
had a few back home that used to give Tim a bad time,” he started to
explain. “His free spirit got him in trouble
more than once.”
“Yeah,
that sounds like Tim alright,” Link agreed.
“Those
guys got carried away with their harassment one night.” Wes paused, seeming to gather his thoughts
then said, “They were leaving for boot camp the next morning so I guess they
thought they needed to torment him one last time.”
Link
waited for his partner to continue in his own time.
“They
jumped him. And he got hurt,” Wes
stopped again.
“What
happened, babe?” Link asked.
Wes
chuckled, but it was a sinister sound, “They hadn’t counted on Tim being with a
couple of friends. Let’s just say, at
least one of them got on the bus the next morning with damages.”
The
older man nodded his understanding. “How
bad was Timmy hurt?” he asked. “Were you
hurt?”
“I
was ok but Tim gut a few cuts and bruised a few ribs,” Wes answered. “Tim wouldn’t let me tell anyone how it
happened. He figured they were out of
our hair so why bother. We made up some
story that his parents bought.” Wes’s
French toast circled the plate again.
“Anyway, I guess that’s why I reacted the way I did this morning.”
Link
asked, “Sweetheart, what else happened at the diner?”
“Nothing,”
Wes mumbled, looking down at his plate.
Nudging
Wes’s boot under the table, Link simply said, “Wes.”
“Nothing
happened,” Wes said again, “but only because Judy was there. She kept her hand on my shoulder when I
started to get up.”
“I’m
glad she was there then, babe,” Link stated.
“Tiny
kicked those guys out of the diner and even told me he was sorry about the
things they said,” Wes told his partner.
“Tiny’s
a good man, babe, we’ve known each other a long time,” Link commented, mopping
up the last bit of eggs with his toast.
“So, that’s what you were stewing over when you cut yourself?” he asked.
“Yeah,
I guess. Ken said I was throwing a
tantrum. Maybe I was, I don’t know,” Wes
said. “After he bandaged my thumb we had
a long talk.”
“I
don’t imagine he was too happy with you using the tools while you were upset,
was he?”
“No,
and trust me I won’t do that again,” Wes promised. “That man is scary when he’s mad.”
“Are
you two ok?” Link asked.
Link’s
man was grinning at him. “We’re good,”
Wes chuckled. “We talked and then he
told me to go find you and talk to you.”
“I’m
glad you listened to him, babe,” Link said.
“Yeah,
me too, T-man, me too,” Wes admitted.
Link
slid out of the booth and stood up then he pulled Wes up too. “I need to get back to work, babe.”
“Yeah,”
Wes said and turned toward the front of the restaurant. “Thanks for talking to me, T-man.”
“Sweetheart,
you don’t need to thank me, this is what partners do, support each other,” Link
answered and followed his man to their trucks.
Once outside, he opened the driver’s door and waited for Wes to get in. “So you’re going back to the shop?” he asked
after he shut the door.
“Yeah,”
the younger man answered, “but, um, Ken said I couldn’t go back unless you said
I was calmed down.” He blushed, “I’m ok
now, Link, and I’ve got a few things to catch up on.”
Link
leaned down for a quick kiss. “You go on
back to work, babe, and I’ll see you at home tonight,” he said. “And Wesley, try to be careful.”
“Sure
thing, T-man,” Wes chuckled, as he climbed into his truck.
“Love
you, babe.”
“Love
you more,” Wes replied.
Link
walked to his animal control truck, got in and backed out of the parking
space. As he pulled onto the road he heard
the unmistakable sound of vehicles colliding behind him. Glancing in the rear view mirror he saw Wes
jump out of his truck and stalk toward the decrepit truck that Link had stopped
early that morning to issue citations to the occupants. Wondering what was going on, he pulled to the
side of the road and stopped. He turned
his head to look back toward the restaurant he’d just left. Wes was standing toe to toe with Ronny, one
of the fishermen. “Damn,” the big ranger
growled. Pulling back into traffic, Link waited at the
light so he could turn back to the restaurant.
Wes
was in the other man’s face when Link pulled his truck back into the space he
had just left. Stepping out of the truck
he could hear Wes grind out through gritted teeth, “I haven’t even had that
truck a month.”
“Calm
down, kid, it ain’t that bad,” Ronny slurred as he passed his boney fingers
over the damage his rusty bumper created to the rear of Wes’s brand new truck.
“Like
hell it isn’t,” Wes snapped, pushing the fisherman’s hand away and poking him
in the chest. “I don’t even have the
plates yet.”
“So,
maybe you shouldn’t bring your toy truck out to play if you don’t want it to
get hurt, kid,” Ronny snarled back at Wes. He stepped closer and took an unsteady swipe
at the younger man. Wes met the advance,
blocked the punch and pushed him back.
Link
had seen and heard enough. He approached
the two men just as his usually calm lover pushed the unsteady Ronny.
Link
reached out to pull his partner away. Without
looking around, Wes stepped back into the man who was grabbing him. Pushing him back, Wes jerked his arm away,
“Leave me alone,” he demanded. “It’s
none of your business.”
“Yeah,
ranger,” Ronny slurred, “stay out of this.”
Link stepped in front of his brat. “Wesley, enough,” he softly growled so only
his lover would hear him.
Wes
froze and focused on the big man suddenly looming in front of him. “Shit,” he groaned.
“Yeah,”
Link said, “shit.”
“L..Link,”
Wes stammered. “I didn’t kno…”
“Hush,
babe,” Link held his hand up to his brat.
Keeping his back to Ron, he sternly added for Wes’s ears only, “We’ll
talk about it at home.”
Link
watched as the meaning of his statements hit home and the color drained from
his brat’s face. Wes didn’t say anything;
all he did was chew on his suddenly dry bottom lip.
The
big man stepped aside. “Show me your
truck, babe.”
Wes
nodded, and led the way to the truck. The two men examined the damage. Link leaned is close, “I know it looks bad,
babe, but it can be fixed. Get the info
you need from Ron and you can get the paperwork started.”
Ron
had moved closer to the pair. The tipsy
fisherman sneered, “is that boy your bitch, ranger? You gunna butt in and handle this for him?”
Out
of the corner of his eye Link saw Wes step away from the truck toward
Ronny. “Wes,” Link said softly but with
meaning. Link turned back to the other
man, “Ron, Wes is my partner but I won’t be handling anything for him. He’s perfectly capable dealing with this
situation.”
Wes
looked at his partner with pride in his eyes, and then turned to the other
man. “Ron, do you have insurance?” Wes
asked.
“Yeah,”
Ronny spit out, “I got insurance.”
“Good,
give me your information, please.”
“Why?”
Ronny snarled, “It wasn’t my fault.”
“How
the hell do you figure that?” Wes
demanded. “I didn’t even have my truck
started yet?”
Link
cleared his throat.
Wes
met his partner’s eyes. Taking strength
from those eyes Wes turned back to Ronny.
“Get the papers, Ron.”
Ronny
got the insurance papers. Wes copied the
information into the note book Link handed him.
After returning the papers to Link’s former schoolmate he waited until
Ronny started his rusty old truck and slowly backed out of the space. As the truck moved toward the street Link
waved his arm at the patrol car waiting at the curb. It was plain the man had been drinking so
Link had radioed the police department when he first pulled back in to the
parking lot. The officer hit his siren
the second the truck entered the street.
Link
wrapped his arm protectively over the smaller man’s shoulder. “You ok, babe?” he asked his lover.
“Yeah,
I’m ok,” Wes answered. “My truck isn’t.”
“Sweetheart,
I know how much you love your truck, but she isn’t damaged beyond repair,” Link
tried to explain. “We can get her fixed
good as new.”
“It
won’t be the same, Link. It’ll never be
the same,” Wes said defeated.
Link
pulled his lover to him, his hand rubbing Wes’s neck. “Honey, I know you don’t think so but it will
be ok,” he said. “But first you need to
file the report with our insurance company and get the process started.”
“Yeah,”
Wes agreed, “I’ll do it from the shop.”
“No,
you aren’t going back to work, babe. You
can do it from home.”
Wes
just looked at his partner.
Link
was ready when Wes started to argue. “Hush now.
You’re going home, babe,” his voice was not leaving any room for doubt. “We have a few things to talk about and I
don’t want you to have to wait until tonight.”
Link
watched as Wes’s face showed he understood Link’s meaning. All Wes could say was, “Ok.”
“I’ll
call Ken and let him know you aren’t coming back today,” Link softly said. “You go straight home and file the
report. I’ll be there in about an hour.”
“I’m
sorry,” Wes whispered.
“It’ll
be ok, sweetheart,” Link said as he kissed the honey colored curls on his lover’s
head. “Just remember, I love you.”
“I
love you more, T-man,” Wes said as his goofy grin started to turn up at the
corners of his mouth.
lwlwlwlwlwlwlwlw
Wes
closed his cell phone and tossed it on the table. He gathered his notes into a pile to go over
later that night. It had taken a good 45
minutes to file the report with their insurance company. At least Ron was insured with a reputable
company. Wes’s agent assured him
everything would be taken care of and that they wouldn’t close the file until
he was satisfied. Wes wondered how long
Ronny would have this insurance once they learned he had been drinking when he
hit his truck.
He
sat there staring at the patterns in the wood as he held his head in his hands. ‘How could he have lost his temper so many
times?’ he thought as his fingers tightened in his hair. ‘Why did he let that guy get under his skin? Link was right, it was just a truck. It could be fixed. No truck was worth getting hurt over or
causing Link any grief.’
Wes
rubbed his hand across his forehead brushing back his curls. Too fidgety to stay seated he moved out of the
kitchen. Hesitating at the mirror he’d
made for Link, he traced his finger across the etching of the raccoon. “Guess you weren’t watching out for me
today?” he whispered.
Wes
heard a step behind him and turned to see Link filling the opening from the
kitchen. “The little guy can only do so
much, babe. The rest is up to you,” he
told his partner.
“Yeah,”
Wes softy agreed. He couldn’t look at
his lover’s face. His eyes were focused
on his hands. Wes loved those large
rough hands. They were strong but also
gentle and comforting. He loved feeling
those hands on his body. He craved the
roughness when Link rubbed his back and the softness when Link caressed his
manhood. Link’s thumbs were hooked in
his front pockets while his fingers rested against those hard upper
thighs. Wes knew in a matter of minutes
he would hate those hands. He reached up
and rubbed his scar.
“Babe,
look at me please,” Link said in a tone that was a bit more than a
request.
Wes
forced his eyes off of Link’s hands and looked up in to his lover’s dark
eyes. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I don’t know what happened, Link. When he hit my truck I just lost it. I couldn’t stop.”
Link
moved forward and Wes stepped into his arms. “We’ll work this out, sweetheart,” he said to
the top of Wes’s head. He nestled his beard
in the soft curls, breathing in his brat’s scent. “You could have been seriously hurt today. You let him control your reactions several
times. He was drinking and with him that
is always an unpredictable outcome,” Link sighed. “It would kill me if anything happened to
you, honey.”
“I
know and I’m sorry I worried you, Link, but I wasn’t hurt. I’m ok and no one was hurt,” Wes tried to
reason with the bigger man. “Well,
except for my truck.”
Link
broke the hug and pushed Wes back holding him at arm’s length. “You cut your hand because you were so upset
with Ron that you didn’t pay attention using the band saw.” Link paused to let that bit of information
sink in, then continued, “Tell me, Wesley, if it had been someone else that hit
your truck would you have reacted the way you did?”
Wes
searched the questioning face in front of him.
He knew Link would wait for him to find the answer. Finally, Wes looked down, “No, I probably
would have been more patient,” he conceded.
“I was already mad at what he did at Tiny’s. When he hit my truck it was the last straw.”
“Yes,
I’m sure you would have been less confrontational, honey, if it’d been anyone
else but Ronny,” Link said. Wes felt a
finger under his chin, raising it so he had to look at his lover. “Do we need to talk about why I’m going to
spank you?”
“No,”
Wes answered, “I put myself in danger and broke our main rule. I’m sorry, Link.”
Link
held out his hand for his brat to take. “Let’s
get this done and over,” he said leading the way into the living room. He sat on the sofa and pulled Wes in front of
him.
Wes
instinctively covered the front of his jeans when Link reached for his
buttons. “Let me do it, Link,” he
pleaded, even knowing his partner wouldn’t let him.
Link
didn’t say anything, just brushed the hands aside. He unbuttoned the jeans and worked them down his
partner’s toned legs. He gently directed
Wes to his right side and helped him over his lap.
Wes
tried to push himself back up, but stopped when Link softly said, “Easy, babe,
this is nothing more than what we agreed on when we first talked about this
type of a relationship.”
“Yeah,
I know, but it’s harder when it’s actually going to happen,” Wes said into the
pillow he had snagged and tucked under his chest.
“We
don’t have to do this if you aren’t ok with it babe,” Link reassured him. “We can think of something else.”
Wes
didn’t say anything. Link waited for him
finish his internal struggle and was about to let him up when he heard a muffled
voice from the pillow, “No, I need you to do this.”
Link
rubbed small circles on his brat’s bare cheeks then raised his hand and dropped
the first smack. He heard a groan from
the pillow but nothing more. “This is
for putting yourself in danger this morning, Wesley,” he told his lover.
“I
know,” Wes mumbled. “I’m sorry.”
The
hand raised and fell again and again over every inch of Wes’s ass. When it was
a rosy red Link stopped and began the slow process of calming this man that he
loved with all his heart.
lwlwlwlwlwlwlwlw
As
much as he hated having to reinforce this one rule, which luckily wasn’t very
often, Link loved the time after the spanking.
Somehow, after the pain eased and the tears slowed, Wes was able to
share some of his fears and concerns, his hopes and dreams. The big man sat back on the sofa, booted feet
on the massive coffee table. Wes’s head
lay in his lap and he was softly sniffing.
He was still bare under the soft
quilt Link had taken off the back of the sofa and placed over the man he loved. Link ran his fingers gently through Wes’s
curls, absent mindedly rerunning the events of the day in his mind. He shuddered to think what could have
happened if he hadn’t looked back when he left the restaurant. Wes stirred in his lap at the shudder. “Shhhh, babe, it’s ok,” he reassured his brat
and kept kneading the hair in his fingers.
Wes
startled at the sound of tires on the gravel driveway. “Link, who is it? Who’s here?” he demanded jumping up from the
sofa. “Ow, fuck!” he hissed when the
soft material of the quilt slid across his tormented ass.
Link
left Wes’s side to look out the picture window overlooking the front porch. “It’s your mom and dad,” he told his nervous
lover. “Go up and take a cool shower,
babe,” he instructed, “then get dressed and come back down here.”
“No,
Link, just tell them I’m not here,” Wes pleaded with Link.
“Sweetheart,
they drove all the way up here to see us.
You will come back down to talk to them.
Go on now, unless you want to explain the events of the day.” The tone
Link used didn’t leave any room for argument.
Wes
turned and took the stairs two at a time.
The
big ranger straightened the quilt and placed it over the back of the sofa. He opened the large front door to Wes’s
parents. “Mom, Dad, come on in,” he
said. “It’s always good to see you two.”
Link
stepped back to let their visitors in the cabin. Once inside they exchanged handshakes and
hugs. “I got coffee brewing in the
kitchen.”
He
started toward the kitchen but Wes’s mom stopped him. “I’ll get it. You two get comfortable,” she instructed.
Link
leaned down to kiss Liz’s cheek, “Yes mam,” he chuckled.
“Is
that boy of mine home yet?” Liz asked
heading in to the kitchen.
“Yes,”
Link answered, “he’s up showering. He
should be down soon.”
“Good,”
Conrad voiced, “we have some news to share.”
Liz
returned from the kitchen carrying a carved cherry tray loaded with cups and
the coffee pot. “Did you make this tray
Link? It’s beautiful.”
“No,
not me, mom,” Link chuckled, “that’s your son’s handwork. He does amazing work, doesn’t he?”
Conrad
laughed, “I don’t know where Wes picked up that talent. It certainly wasn’t from me.”
“I
think it was from Grandpa, Dad,” Wes remarked as he came down the stairs. “I loved spending time with him in his
shop. He taught me most everything I
know.”
Liz
hugged her son. “Oh, it’s so good to see you baby.”
“Gee,
Mom,” Wes blushed, “Do you have to call me that?”
“It’s
a mother’s right to call a grown up child her baby,” she laughed and smacked
her younger son’s butt.
She
didn’t notice the wince but Link did. He
held out his hand to Wes. “Mom and Dad
have something they want to tell us.”
Wes
gave Link a pleading look, but moved to the big man. Link sat on the sofa and Wes gingerly sat
beside him. “What’s up?” he asked his
parents.
Liz
and Conrad looked at each other, seeming to gather their nerve, then Liz
started the conversation, “We’ve filed papers with the county to be foster
parents.”
“Yeah,”
Wes said, “I know, we talked about it before.”
He looked at the smile on his mom’s face. “Did they find someone for you?”
“Well,
we found him, but the county has agreed to placing him with us,” Conrad
answered. “We wanted to talk to you
about it first though.”
“What’s
to talk about?” Wes questioned. “I think
it’s great. I always wanted a little
brother.”
Wes
was fidgeting against Link and his mom called him on it, “Son, what’s got you
squirming? Are you hurt?”
He
blushed and looked and Link. “No, mom,
he’s ok. He was working in the sun today
and got a bit of sunburn,” Link told her.
“Let
me see,” Liz said as she stood up.
Conrad
pulled her back down on the love seat.
“I think Link can handle it, Liz.”
Link
spoke up trying to change the subject, “So when do we get to meet your new son,
Mom?”
“You
already know him,” she told them.
“Remember Kevin, Ken and Jess’s charge.
He is going to live with us.”
Wes
leaned forward. “Oh,” Wes said cautiously.
“Are you sure it’ll be ok? I
mean, he’s one of the At Risk kids Ken works with.”
“I’m
sure they’ve given it a lot of thought, babe,” Link said. “Your parents don’t strike me as people who
would jump into this without exploring all the possibilities.”
“Yes,
we have,” Wes’s dad assured both men. “We’ve
been in several meetings with Social Services and we met with Ken and
Jess. Getting Ken’s blessing was easy
but Jess took a little longer.”
Wes
didn’t say anything. Link could see him
processing the information.
“Ken
and Jess are still going to be mentors.” Liz said. “We just feel that he has a much better
chance in life with a stable home life, not in a group home full of boys.”
“I
think Kevin is one lucky kid,” Wes told his parents as he blinked a tear back. “He probably doesn’t know it but you guys
will be the best thing that ever happened to him.”
Liz
stood and hugged her son. “I’m glad you
think so, baby.”
“Mommm!”
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