Free Kick Start: Dangerous Ground 5 by Josh Lanyon

of tenderness. Blood crusted his nostrils and his lip was swelling. He looked both disreputable and defenseless.
    “You’d better not be laughing at me,” Taylor muttered, not opening his eyes.
    “I’m laughing with you,” Will assured him. He touched Taylor’s soft, dark hair lightly, and Taylor shivered. “What we should do is stop laughing and take you into town to get someone at Urgent Care to take a look at you. You could have a concussion.”
    “I’m fine.”
    “Sure you are.”
    “I’ve been concussed a million times. I’d know if I was concussed.”
    “A million times,” Will marveled. “Well, that explains a few things.”
    Taylor laughed.
    Will’s dad said from the doorway, “Clary says Dennis is on his own from here on out.” Both Will and Taylor jumped. Taylor sat up straight and Will scooted over, both of them moving apart as fast as if they’d been caught with their pants down.
    Bill studied them, opened his mouth, then turned away as the phone in the kitchen began to ring again.
    After a strained moment, Taylor said, “I wonder what the story is on Cousin Dennis?”
    “Why?”
    “Just the way he freaked out today.”
    Will said carefully, “People freak out for different reasons. It doesn’t always mean…”
    “True.”
    “I guess it’s reasonable somebody in Witness Protection would be jumpy.”
    “I guess.”
    “Do you have a different theory?”
    Taylor moved his head in negation.
    From the other room, Bill called, “Will, that was Jack Hardy at Mist Bend PD. They found your SUV.”
    Will rose and went into the kitchen. “That didn’t take long. Where?”
    “Parked behind the feed store on Main Street. The keys were left in the ignition. It looks like Cousin Dennis may have grabbed the CC Rider to Willow Creek.”
    “Well, he’s out of your hair anyway,” Will said.
    “Looks that way. Jack says you can pick up your vehicle anytime. Why don’t you ask Grant to give you a lift into Mist Bend?”
    Will thought it over. Cousin Dennis had clearly left of his own free will, so there wasn’t any reason for the police or sheriffs to hang onto Will’s vehicle. He wasn’t going to press charges and it wasn’t like it was a crime scene. “I’ll do that. Maybe I’ll show Taylor around town. Buy him lunch.”
    His father’s blue eyes met his. Bill’s mouth twitched. “I’d say he earned lunch,” he agreed.
    “Hey,” Will called to Taylor in the other room. “You feel like driving into town for some lunch? We can pick up my car.”
    “Sure,” Taylor called back. “I’ll just go put on a clean shirt.”
    Will went looking for Grant. He found him in the den watching Classic Global Wrestling. Grant must have seen Will out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t look away from the TV.
    “The police in Mist Bend located my SUV,” Will said. “You mind giving me and Taylor a lift into town?”
    “Sure,” Grant said. He pointed the remote at the TV and the screen flicked off.
    Will studied his brother’s profile. Not including the exchange in the kitchen, Grant had been polite but distant all morning. He had relaxed a little when their dad had started reminiscing about past fishing trips, but whatever rapport had been gained was lost the minute they got back to the house and found Taylor on the phone.
    They needed to talk. Really talk. But Will wasn’t sure what to say. What more was there to say really? Wasn’t the ball kind of in Grant’s court now? If Grant needed time to come to terms with learning Will was gay, okay. Talking wasn’t going to speed the process any. Not that Will could see. Frankly he didn’t want to talk to his kid brother about his relationship with Taylor anymore than he’d have wanted to talk about any other romantic relationship with him. The whole subject was uncomfortable.
    But…it hurt. He loved Grant. He’d been delighted when he’d realized they were going to have this unexpected time together before Grant went overseas. Now