Free Blood Lure by J. P. Bowie Page B

sighed and pressed his face to Jared’s chest. “You don’t want to hear about that.”
    “Yes I do.” He place a finger under Joey’s chin and tilted his face up. His eyes were teasing as he said, “And if you don’t tell me all about it, there will be no more kisses.”
    “Oh no, not that!” Joey buried his face in Jared’s chest again. “Okay,” he mumbled, “if you insist.”
    Jared tilted Joey’s face to him again, and kissed him gently. “I do.”
    “Okay. But first, can I get you something to drink?”
    “A glass of red wine if you have it.”
    “I think I do… somewhere.” He plundered the pantry again and came up with a bottle of cabernet someone must have brought him. “How’s this?”
    Jared studied the label for a moment then said, “Very nice.”
    Joey had a feeling Jared didn’t mean what he’d just said. “You sure?”
    Jared nodded so Joey searched for a bottle opener.
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    “It’s really nice that you dropped everything to come over so quickly.” He opened the bottle and poured Jared a glass of wine. “Cheers.” He handed Jared the glass.
    “Salud,” Jared said softly, smiling.
    Joey’s heart skipped at beat as he gazed into Jared’s eyes. Oh, what this man does to me …
    “Let’s sit on the couch.”
    They sat, and Jared put his arm around Joey to pull him close. “So, tell me what ails you, Joey.”
    “It’s family stuff. My father—well, it looks like he has some form of dementia.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “Thanks. It’s been really hard on my mother. He was always so big and strong, so in charge, so protective of her—and me, when I was growing up and going through bad times at school. When my friend Chris and I came out to our families, my mom and dad took it much better that Chris’s parents.
    “Dad was so… cool about it, and told me if anyone bothered me at school or anywhere, to let him know. He’d deal with it, he said. I felt so, like, really fortunate to have such a caring father. A lot of kids don’t get that kind of reaction from their folks when they come out—
    especially from their fathers. I always loved my dad, but right then, I loved him even more.
    Chris did too. He loved coming round to our house where there was no disapproval. Not that Chris’s parents were mean or anything. It just didn’t get talked about, and he had to be careful of the things he said in front of his mother. Then again, Chris and I loved listening to my dad’s crazy stories about vampires and supernatural stuff. He’d keep us totally enthralled by those stories.
    “Now, he’s well… he’s like just a shadow of that man, and can’t seem to hold a thought in his head for more than a few seconds.” Tears welled in Joey’s eyes as he spoke. “Funny thing is, when I was there over the weekend, I kept thinking he was trying to tell me something. Something that, to him, was important that I know. He said something funny…”
    “What was that?” Jared was staring at him intensely, as if he already knew what Joey was about to say.
    “Well, I dreamed about you the first night I was there, about you and me, you know, making love, and it was as if he knew. Not so much what the dream was about, but that it meant a lot to me. He said, ‘Sometimes dreams are all we have.’ And he’d look at me, start to BLOOD LURE
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    say something, then it was like the light would go out from his eyes and he would just go away .”
    Jared kissed Joey’s forehead. “What do the doctors say?”
    “There’s not much they can do. They’ve prescribed some kind of medication, but it doesn’t seem to be doing much good. My mom looks after him the best she can. She wouldn’t even consider putting him a home. They’ve been together for so long. God…” He shivered against Jared’s chest. “I never thought I’d have to face the possibility of him dying, and my mom being alone, when they’re both still quite young.”
    “No wonder