Flare (4 page)

“You and water.” Kevin shook his head.

“I’m telling you, it works. I didn’t believe Summer when she first talked about how good water was at relieving stress until she proved it to me time and time again. You can’t tell me that sitting on the pier looking out didn’t help you today.”

Kevin shrugged, apparently not willing to commit to anything. Hugo stepped closer and whispered against his mouth, “Then let me help.” He trailed his fingers over Kevin’s chest, over his nipple, and down his muscled stomach. He reached for Kevin’s cock and quickly got it to harden. “There we go. Kiss me?”

Soft, almost sad kisses were pressed into Hugo’s lips, but rather than pulling away to talk—Hugo already knew words were powerless—he opened his mouth and parted Kevin’s lips with his tongue. Kevin responded, biting Hugo’s lips and tasting his mouth. Their breaths sped up and Hugo continued to tug Kevin’s cock and kiss him. With his other hand, he reached for the silicone lube that sat on a high shelf, and he quickly popped open the cap and dripped the cool gel on his fingers.

“Put your hands on the wall,” Hugo said, slicking himself and Kevin’s ass as soon as he turned and bent over. Water tumbled down Kevin’s spine, falling over his sides at the small of his back and leaving his ass dry enough that the lube wouldn’t be washed away.

Hugo stepped closer and rubbed the head of his dick against Kevin’s anxious furl, spreading the slick all around. Kevin pushed back, silently telling Hugo he was ready. Slowly, Hugo pressed in, feeling that familiar, too-tight hug that happened when he didn’t slip fingers inside Kevin first. Kevin liked the burn, reveled in it, even, and from the sounds leaving his throat, that day was no different. Saying Kevin was noisy was an understatement, and when the kids weren’t at home, he really could be as vocal as he wanted and as vocal as Hugo wanted him to be.

“Don’t hold back,” Hugo said, and he pushed in deeper. “You’re so tight,” he hissed before withdrawing and starting to thrust.

“Uh. Again.” Kevin panted, arching his back as Hugo took up a steady rhythm with his hips. The water continued to tumble, the LED lighting beside them slowly drifting through a series of subtle color changes of blues, aquas, and greens, and the steam obscured even more from Hugo’s sight. It was as if he were lost in a warm, colorful cloud with a perfect, tight ass wrapped around his cock.

Hugo reached around Kevin’s torso and palmed his chest and armpits, taking a few moments to roll Kevin’s nipples under his thumbs until they hardened, before sliding down to cup his balls and stroke his cock. The longer they fucked the hoarser Kevin became, his voice rasping as Hugo finally came, tugging Kevin through his orgasm soon after.

Collapsing to his knees, Kevin sagged so the ends of his bangs dipped into the water headed toward the drain. Hugo tried to support him, but his fucked-out state was dead weight and too much to hold, so Hugo knelt behind him, urging Kevin to lean back on his chest. He kissed and sucked at the curve of Kevin’s neck, all the while telling him how much he loved him and that they’d get through this together. When he pushed wet hair off Kevin’s forehead, Kevin leaned back and kissed Hugo’s mouth.

“You were right. The water is good, but I think you fucking me will beat out H
₂
O any day.” He laughed, and it was a good sound to Hugo’s ears.

“Yeah, not much beats fucking,” Hugo admitted. “Now, let’s get out of here and dressed again before the kids get home from their game.”

CHAPTER THREE

Dolls & Doubts

K
EVIN
TRIED
to talk to Finn that night before bed, gently asking him what had happened when he talked to Grandma and Grandpa Clarke and he got upset. It was obvious Finn was hiding something, but he was unwilling or unable to tell Kevin what it was.

That didn’t mean Finn’s subconscious wasn’t working overtime on the problem. Saturday night he woke up crying and unable to put his thoughts together at all because he’d wet the bed for the first time in weeks. On Sunday, he woke terrified, nearly screaming, and Kevin was there in a heartbeat, lifting Finn into a huge hug and carrying him to his bed so he could sleep between Hugo and Kevin. It was then that things started to become more transparent.

“She told me you didn’t want me here anymore ’cuz Mom’s dead,” he got out through sobs.

“What?” Kevin said with shock and anger. Before he said another thing, Hugo took over.

“We want you here,” Hugo reassured. “We
definitely
want you here with us. Do you remember why Grandma said we didn’t want you around?” Hugo spoke in such a tender, quiet way, as if he were talking to a startled animal.

“She said you guys wanted to be alone and not have me and Brooke here getting in the way.” Finn sniffed and took the tissue Hugo offered him to wipe his nose.

“That’s not true at all,” Kevin protested and kissed the top of Finn’s strawberry-blond head as if that would somehow communicate his intentions better than his words. “You’re not in our way. You’re my son. We love you.”

“What they said isn’t true,” Hugo said, looking at Kevin with fear in his eyes. But when Hugo’s gaze returned to Finn’s, his eyes looked warm and comforting. “We want you here, and your mom wanted you with us. We’ll do everything to keep you here.”

“Even if she makes me talk about the doll?” Finn asked.

“Doll?” Kevin asked, and he could feel confusion wrinkling his entire face. What the hell had Tasha done?

“She… she had this doll and started talking to me about where Hugo touches me.” Finn buried his chin in his chest, and his voice softened as if he didn’t want to share this information. “She made me point to the places, so I showed her my back and arms and head. Stuff like that.”

“And then what?” Hugo asked.

“She touched the doll’s privates and butt and asked if you ever touched me there, so I told her about how you put me to sleep sometimes when I can’t sleep. Like after bad dreams,” he said, daring to peek up but quickly looking back down at the sheets.

“Like this?” Hugo asked while demonstrating the soothing technique. Finn nodded, but looked sheepish still.

Kevin closed his eyes in disgust. He knew exactly where Tasha’s thoughts had gone, and they were about as far from reality as they could be. What Hugo did on those difficult nights Finn had, struggling to sleep because of fears and worries and missing his mom, was simply slide his hand back and forth over Finn’s lower back, rubbing and patting in a steady rhythm until he fell asleep. The placement was low enough that it could easily be misread as his butt on a doll stand-in. It was the pattern Erin, herself, had established when Brooke was a baby to soothe her, and it had been transferred over to Finn. Rub, rub, pat, pat. Nothing else. There was nothing sexual about this touch. It was something parents all around the world had done for ages and ages to calm their children, yet now Tasha suspected Hugo was molesting Finn because, and only because, he was a gay man. At least that was Kevin’s suspicion.

“It’s okay, Pickle, you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re safe. You’re snugged in right between us. Now sleep. We’ll talk about this tomorrow, okay?” Kevin was livid, but the last thing he wanted to do was make the situation worse in the middle of the night.

Finn settled in, snuggling in close to Hugo’s armpit and pulling Kevin’s own hand over his hip and encouraging him to rub him in the pattern he’d been used to his entire life. It was preposterous that Tasha and Kyle would do this, suggesting such things, planting thoughts, and construing such nastiness out of innocent comfort that Kevin, Hugo, Erin, and even Russell gave their grandchildren. And if the Clarkes had genuine suspicions, they should’ve left that type of questioning up to professionals, not taken it on themselves.

Moments later, Finn drifted back to sleep, a peaceful sleep, thankfully. Hugo and Kevin, however, stared at each other from their respective pillows and both looked sad.

“I’m sorry,” Kevin said. “I’m so, so sorry about this. We’ll get this all sorted out in therapy. He sees Lori soon, right?”

“Tuesday, like usual.”

No more words seemed to come to either of them, so they both watched Finn, only glancing at each other every now and then.

It was a long time until Hugo finally fell off to sleep.

It took Kevin even longer.

F
IRST
THING
in the morning, Kevin called Mark and spent long minutes telling him about the previous night’s conversation as well as what Russell had relayed. He told him about everything Erin had included in her journals, her conversations, and even invited him to look over the Facebook group Erin had used during her illness, where she’d written out her wishes very clearly. She wanted Kevin and Hugo to parent her kids, they were doing so with her blessing, and she’d even asked for the support of her friends to make sure the kids were well taken care of. There were many Likes on her post as well as comments. None came from the Clarkes, Kevin noticed. Kevin promised Mark he’d get him more pages of the journals Erin made later that day, packing them in his briefcase as he spoke and then quickly heading back to the computer to invite Mark to the Facebook group so he could see for himself what he’d been describing.

“Interesting,” Mark said as he listened to Kevin narrate what had happened the last months of Erin’s life. “From what you’ve said, I’m wondering if Erin’s parents are just misreading things because of their own grief or if this is truly being done with malicious intent.”

“No matter their intentions, they’re
completely
misreading what’s really happening,” he said, absently giving Hugo a kiss good-bye and heading toward the garage with phone still in hand. “I’m sure some of this is coming from their church community. Erin called it their cult because the beliefs of the people there were so extreme. The place is a tight, close-knit community, and anything outside of male/female and making-tons-of-babies relationships isn’t understood. Not even divorce.”

“I’m guessing they weren’t very supportive of your separation then,” Mark said.

“Not at all. Erin had kept them at a distance since I met her for a lot of different reasons, religion being one. And they have friends who add fuel to the fire if all the church rhetoric ends up not burning hot enough. Right now I think they’re coming from a place of fear because of the lies they’ve been told about gays. They equate homosexuality with pedophilia. At least that’s what we heard over Christmas. Not to mention the other lies they believe.”

“Okay. Good to know what I’m up against.”

“We all thought they understood after Erin took the time to explain everything in December. Hugo and I gave them privacy because Erin insisted on it. Now they’re using that time away against us, according to Russell. We thought they were comfortable with the situation. I have no clue how it got from understanding to what Tasha did to Finn a few weeks ago with that doll and talking about private parts. But the fact that she’s trying to freak my kid out about being rejected by us and then trying to get him to lie isn’t cool
at all
. I don’t want to lose custody of my kids, but to lose it because of a fabrication is unthinkable.”

“To say the least,” Mark agreed with a noise that showed he understood how serious Kevin was. “Let me do some searching today. I’ll contact their lawyer and get back to you.”

N
O
MATTER
how hard Kevin tried to bury himself in his work, calling clinics, labs, and doctors on his client list to see if there were any questions they needed answered after their new fertility equipment had arrived, he was having a hard time not worrying. Even dealing with meeting upon meeting in-house didn’t help. Lunch ended up being a forced affair with Kevin choking down the café’s crusty bread with not nearly enough mayonnaise or mustard to make the dry turkey slide down easily.

There’s just no way Hugo could’ve done anything Tasha suggested. Right?

Kevin violently shook his head to force the thought away. The Hugo he knew wasn’t capable of hurting anyone, let alone violating a boy he loved as a son. Kevin felt sick for allowing the thought to slip into his head the first time, but when it kept popping up again and again, Kevin knew he’d have to ask, even if it made him want to bleach his brain after.

The moment he walked in the door and saw Hugo cooking another elaborate meal to satisfy both adult and kid tastes, he felt like shit. How could he suspect, even if only for a minute, that Hugo would do those things? Nevertheless, once the kids were asleep, Kevin poured them each a glass of wine and suggested retreating to the sunroom, where he shut the door to ensure privacy.

Hugo sat on one couch, so Kevin decided to sit on the other one so he had some physical and emotional distance. He needed it. He also needed wine, he realized, so he reached for his glass.

Kevin took a long sip—a huge gulp, really—before trying to find a way to talk. “I feel like a total dick for even asking this, but I have to.”

Hugo looked at Kevin and smiled. “Ask,” he said.

“Did you in any way imaginable touch Finn in an inappropriate manner?”

Despite Kevin’s horribly accusatory question, Hugo was the picture of calm and said, “No. Everything I’ve ever done with either Brooke or Finn, you’ve been a witness to.”

“I’m sorry,” Kevin said and went in for a second healthy gulp.

“Don’t be,” Hugo said, shaking his head. “I’m glad you asked. I expected you to ask. You
needed
to ask. But no, I’ve never done anything like that. Finn and Brooke are like my own kids. I love them as if they were, at least. Not sexually.” He shuddered as if the thought thoroughly disgusted him. “I want a man, not a boy. I want a man with hair on his chest and stubble on his jaw and a huge cock with hairy balls to boot, even if he chooses to shave them. I want you.”

“I know. I know you do,” Kevin said, and he could feel the worry etched between his brows. He believed Hugo with all his heart.