Chapter 23

 

Opening his eyes to early morning sunshine and birds singing out in the garden, Rico realized that he didn't spend a sleepless night after all. Tired from that fuck, Rico actually fell asleep last night.

As he stumbled toward the bathroom still groggy, he felt like he would never be awake enough to make sense of what happened last night. What the hell was that? If someone told him he dreamed that Mitch fucked him, he would be inclined to believe them.

Last night, caught up in the frenzy of lust, he couldn't think, didn't want to ask any questions. He just went with it.

Whatever it was, it happened. It was amazing. Then Mitch went upstairs in case Sammy needed him. He kissed Rico and told him he was great, but was Mitch going to have second thoughts about it today?

 

Feeling more awake now, Rico went down the hallway and toward the kitchen. From the bottom of the stairs, he could hear Mitch and Sammy upstairs. It sounded like Mitch was helping her get ready. Rico heard him tell Sammy, "Brush your teeth then you can play with the kittens."

Since he was the first in the kitchen, Rico got the coffee going and wondered if he should start breakfast. Rummaging around, he found a box of pancake mix. By the time Mitch joined him there, Rico had the frying pan out.

On seeing Mitch, he almost dropped it. Trying to get his breathing under control, Rico only allowed himself to look at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Good morning," Mitch said and went to get some juice from the fridge.

From the sound of it Sammy was still tromping around upstairs. "Morning," Rico said. "I thought Sammy might like some pancakes."

"Sure," Mitch said but he sounded kind of off, and he wouldn't face him.

Rico was just about to get the mixing bowl when he stopped. Maybe the reason Mitch sounded odd was because he didn't want him here.

Since Mitch walked into the kitchen, all Rico wanted to do was pounce on him and climb all over that gorgeous man. But it seemed like Mitch didn't even want to lay eyes on him this morning. Maybe the two of them were right back where they started, and last night meant nothing.

Rico turned to eye Mitch. "If you don't want me here," he started to say.

"Did I say I didn't?" Mitch asked him but stayed turned away.

"You don't need to. I like to leave before I'm kicked out," Rico told him harshly.

For a little while there was only a heavy silence between them as Rico watched Mitch's back tense. Suddenly Mitch wheeled on him. "You don't get to turn my whole world upside down and just walk away," Mitch said, his words abrupt and angry.

Rico was startled both by his growly attitude and what he said. His eyes narrowed as he wondered what the hell Mitch was telling him.

"You don't want this thing between us to be over? You wouldn't be relieved?" he questioned Mitch, or maybe accused him.

Rico didn't know what to believe, and the worst thing he could do now was get his hopes up. Or maybe the worst thing he could do was push Mitch away. Or maybe the best.

Rico covered his face with his hands. He felt like his head was going to explode. "Why did you have to do this?" he asked in an anguished voice. He was asking himself, blaming himself for falling for Mitch. Blaming Mitch for being impossible to resist.

But Mitch misunderstood him. In a voice so rough it was painful to hear, he asked Rico, "Do you regret what we did last night? Is that what you're saying?"

"Of course not," Rico said and let his hands fall to his sides as he frowned at Mitch.

"Then you still think that I would cheat on you." Mitch shook his head. "You don't know me at all, do you?"

"Cheat," Rico said slowly absorbing the word. He did say cheat. Did that mean he took what was going on between them seriously? As Mitch glared at him with hurt and anger in his eyes, Rico realized that he shouldn't let him think that. "No. I don't think you would cheat on me. Not if I meant anything to you," Rico said slowly.

Laced with a mixture of fear and hope, his voice was so faint he thought the pounding of his heart might drown it out. His head was still crowded with too many questions. What did he mean to Mitch? He had no idea. Rico was sure of him as a person but not as a lover.

"You mean a lot to me," Mitch said, his voice almost as faint as Rico's had been. From that he knew that Mitch found it hard to admit that. It was easier for him to speak out of anger and frustration than to simply say that Rico meant something to him.

Where did that leave them? Rico didn't know. While he was trying to figure it out, Mitch stepped toward him, cupped his face with both hands and kissed him.

Rico leaned into that kiss, locked his arms around Mitch tight. After last night, he wanted to fall into him, hold on and never let go.

Mitch seduced him so easily, melted away more of his doubts with every swipe of his tongue. Rico was such a fool for him. There he was getting carried away again, letting the way Mitch kissed him take over his whole body and his mind.

 

They pulled apart just in time to avoid being caught by Sammy. She was running into the kitchen looking very unhappy.

"Daddy, fix Miss Lulu," she said mournfully while holding up a doll sewn together from a patchwork of flowery fabrics with hair braided from yellow knitting yarn.

"What happened to her?" Mitch asked as he leaned down to examine the doll.

"She has an ouchy on her tummy," Sammy said. She pointed to a worn spot on the doll's middle that had turned into a hole. "Fix her, Daddy."

"I can duck tape it," Mitch offered. Rico wasn't sure he was serious, but either way, that wasn't acceptable to Sammy.

"No. No ducky tape."

"I can staple it," he said, and now he had to be kidding.

"No, Daddy. Fix her," Sammy pleaded and gave him a pitiful look.

Rico jumped in with a possible solution. "I saw a sewing kit in a cabinet in the rose room. I'll get it." He came back with the sewing kit and showed Sammy what he found inside. "Look, a patch in the shape of a sunflower. That will look nice and it will fix the hole."

"You know how to fix Miss Lulu?" Sammy said to him, but Rico wasn't sure he could do a good job sewing that on.

"I can glue the patch on there," Mitch offered.

Sammy didn't object to that. She and Rico watched him fix it, and once again he was amazed by Mitch's attention to detail. Every petal got glued down perfectly.

"Your dad really can fix anything," Rico told Sammy and she nodded, so proud of him.

Now that the doll was all fixed up, Mitch got started on the pancakes Rico was planning to make. Sammy didn't think the job was done though. She turned to Rico and held out the doll to him. "Rico, kiss Miss Lulu to help her get better."

Rico turned to Mitch. "She's making me kiss a doll, a female doll." Mitch didn't show any sympathy so Rico gave the doll a noisy kiss. "There. Now make your dad kiss her too. It's only fair."

Mitch now glared at him, but when Sammy brought the doll to him he dutifully kissed her. Since Mitch had the pancakes well in hand, Rico started to set the table.

"I guess this doll is important to you," Rico said to Sammy though be didn't see her playing with it much.

"It's from Grandma," Sammy said then she made a sad face. "My grandma is gone. Now I don't have any grandmas."

"Sorry, honey," Rico told her. "You can borrow my grandma."

"Really?" she said as she looked up at him.

"Sure. You two made a pie together and you danced in the basement. You're practically best buddies already," Rico said and Sammy smiled.

"And she gave me the big hat. I'm gonna go get it." Sammy then ran off, yelling, "Look, Natalie, Veronica, Miss Lulu is all better."

Rico went over to see how the pancakes were coming along and to hover near Mitch. "I can't believe you kissed a doll. You're racking up some serious dad points."

"That impresses you?" Mitch asked.

"Sure it does," Rico said. "The grandmother who gave her the doll...?"

"She means Ellie's mother," Mitch said. "That doll belonged to Ellie when she was a little girl. Her mother made it for her. Then Linda gave it to Sammy, but Sammy doesn't remember her. She had barely turned two when Linda died. She lost both her mother and her grandmother."

"What about your parents," Rico wondered.

"I never knew either my mom or dad. My aunt and uncle raised me, and they washed their hands of me as soon as I turned eighteen," Mitch said as he spooned pancake batter into the pan.

"That's harsh. Sorry," Rico said and lightly touched his arm.

"Growing up in my aunt and uncle's house taught me how much a kid needs warmth and to know they're loved. If my aunt and uncle cared about me, they didn't show it. It was all 'Be a man, stand on your own two feet, don't ask for anything, don't depend on anyone. Don't cry.'" Mitch smiled sadly. "But that's no way to raise a little kid. It leaves a hole inside you."

"Damn," Rico said and leaned his head on Mitch's shoulder.

Mitch reached over and tussled his hair. "It wasn't an easy lesson, but I'm glad I learned it for Sammy's sake. I wasn't ready to raise her by myself, but at least I knew what not to do."

"You're a great dad," Rico told him and threw an arm around his shoulders as he made a prediction. "I think Sammy will grow up to be independent and strong, but she'll still know she can count on you."

"Yeah?" Mitch said and he smiled. "I like that. I can see her, my Sammy feisty and strong, who knows how much her dad loves her."

"Oh man, you make me want to call up my dad to tell him he isn't so bad," Rico said with a groan.

"High praise," Mitch said. "I can't imagine that you would let any kind of disagreement stand between you and the people you care about."

Rico only blinked at him. Is that how Mitch thought of him?

"What was the fight with your dad about?" Mitch asked him.

"Dad wanted me to go into his dental practice, and I didn't know what I wanted to do, so I figured why not go into the family business. It's something to do. But then I realized it just wasn't for me. When I told my dad I didn't know what I wanted to study, but it definitely wouldn't be dentistry, he threw a fit. Said he didn't want to pay my tuition if all I was going to do was waste my time. I figured I would find a way to pay for it myself, but he was right about not wasting time. I'm not going back to school until I know what I want to do."

Mitch looked at him appraisingly. "Is there something you're good at?"

"Ouch," Rico said and pushed at his shoulder.

Mitch chuckled. "I mean is there something you're particularly good at?"

Rico shrugged. "Not really. I guess I just have to pick something boring. Like business administration or restaurant management."

"You have some experience with that second one," Mitch pointed out.

"At the café? That's purely grunt work to pay back grandma for putting up with me. But maybe I could get serious about it," Rico said. He couldn't really picture his future. All he could think about was Mitch, and when he put together thoughts of him with plans for the future, he felt this agony in his chest.