Breathe by Sloan Parker Read Free Book Online Page A

parted, his
    chest rising with each shallow breath as he stared at Lincoln.
    Lincoln accepted the lighter, as well as the slight press of the kid"s thumb to
    his palm.
    Oh, hell . He"d never had someone come on to him in Sonny"s, not in any local
    establishment for that matter. Public propositions for gay sex didn"t go over well in
    a town the size of Edgefield.
    Had the kid heard those fuckers from earlier?
    Maybe he was toying with him. Maybe he was friends with those guys, and
    Lincoln was about to get his ass kicked out behind the bar. But it didn"t feel like the
    kid was fooling. It felt good. To be touched. To be wanted again. His hand clenched
    as he set the lighter with his smokes.
    The kid was staring at the TV again and made no attempt to move back to his
    previous stool. He played along the length of the cigarette with his fingers before he
    took another drag. His hands were a bit beat-up, rough, the hands of a man who
    worked for a living. Yet the kid treated the cigarette as if it were made of delicate
    tissue paper until his last puff. Only then did he crush the butt into the ashtray
    with the push of his thumb.
    Would fucking the kid involve the same mix of tenderness and roughness?
    Lincoln"s dick had hardened more with each play of the long fingers over the
    roll of tobacco, with each drag between the kid"s lips. Damn . He hadn"t gotten hard
    that fast in a long time. Not from one look and a touch of hands. This
    twentysomething kid brought to life needs he"d learned to bury. Would it be so bad
    to just give in? To feel again?
    He wanted a fuck, but could he let himself have even that much of a release?
    No. Too soon to feel good. To feel anything.
    At the next commercial, the kid said, “Did you know those guys from earlier?”

    Breathe

    29

    The man"s low whisper had Lincoln"s dick begging for a hand, a mouth,
    anything. Why couldn"t his body listen to his head…or his heart? “If you came in
    here to talk, I suspect you sat by the wrong person.”
    Before the kid said anything more, Lincoln downed the last of his beer,
    grabbed his smokes, and headed for the door.
    It didn"t mean anything that the kid watched him go. Did it?

    30
    Sloan Parker

    Chapter Six

    “Uncle Lincoln!” Davy shouted as he sprinted out of the kitchen.
    Lincoln held up a fist and the two tapped knuckles in greeting. “How you
    doing?”
    “Okay,” Davy said. “Just borrowed Guitar Hero from Richie. He said I could
    keep it until next week.”
    Mindless entertainment. Lincoln could go for that. He toed off his boots and
    draped his jacket over the back of the couch. “I"d like to try that one.”
    Davy walked backward in front of him as they moved toward the kitchen.
    “Yeah? I"ll go set it up.” He turned to run off, but Nancy"s words stopped him short.
    “Not now. Let your uncle have something to eat first. And you need to finish
    your homework.” She wore hospital scrubs and the same worn orthopedic shoes she
    had on the night before. Did the patrons of the all-night diner on State Road 91
    know she wore the same shoes to schlep their food around in the evenings that she
    wore to empty bedpans at the Fairlawn Retirement Home during the day? As soon
    as he had some cash for the bills, he"d talk her into quitting one of the jobs. He
    hated seeing her so tired, hated thinking how alone and scared she must"ve felt
    while he was gone.
    Davy sank into a chair at the kitchen table and picked up an open math book.
    Jessica sat beside him coloring a pony in stripes the various colors of a rainbow.
    Lincoln laughed and ruffled her hair. A fluorescent purple crayon in her hand, she
    smiled up at him, then started coloring the horse"s tail.
    Nancy handed him a plate of meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and carrots. “Kept it
    warm for you.”
    “Thanks. I"ll eat it in Davy"s room so he can study.”
    “I put all your mail on the desk. Forgot to give it to you last night.”
    He said, “Thanks,” and turned to leave.
    She put a