Kept Man: Firsts and Forever Stories

He tried to pull up a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll be okay. I just need to figure out how to put him behind me and move on with my life.”

“I wish I knew what to tell you.” I was pretty much the last person who should be doling out relationship advice.

We ended up spending all afternoon together, and I got to meet his brother Casey when he came home from his shift at the hospital. The tall brunet reminded me of Seth with his football player’s build and upbeat personality, and he immediately treated me like he’d known me for years.

As soon as Casey got home, George talked the three of us into a game of Gin Rummy. I had no idea how to play, but they were happy to show me. It turned out to be a lot of fun.

Eden got home around five-thirty, and Seth’s face lit up. He’d brought groceries, and the two men put the food away while they talked about what to make for dinner. Seth checked out Eden when his back was turned, but then I noticed Eden doing the same thing when Seth wasn’t looking. Maybe the hot cop wasn’t so straight after all.

They invited me to join them for dinner, but I didn’t want to wear out my welcome so I made an excuse and took off. I decided to go back to Micah’s house, because by now he would have had enough time to either sober up or pass out.

When I got there, I let myself in with my keys and went to look for him. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt so I started with the kitchen, then stopped off in a couple of other rooms before checking the bar. I found his phone in the booth he’d been occupying when I left.

Next, I went room by room and floor by floor. Even if he still didn’t want company, I needed to know he was okay before I went to my room. It was surprising when I didn’t find him on the first three floors. There was very little that would draw him to the fourth floor.

Except for one thing.

My heart raced as I took the last flight of stairs two at a time, then ran down the hallway. One of the windows with roof access was open, and there was an empty bottle of whiskey on the sill. He wouldn’t be that careless, would he? It was dangerous up there even when he was sober, but climbing onto the roof when he was drunk would be totally irresponsible.

I couldn’t make myself look over the edge of the roof when I climbed out the window, because I was terrified of what I might see in the side yard. Instead, I focused on making it safely up the slope. When I reached the peak, I spotted him sunbathing in the spot where we’d been on the Fourth of July and yelled, “Damn it, Micah!”

The fact that he was naked wasn’t going to distract me from my mission of totally chewing him out. He got to his feet with a startled expression as I climbed down the other side of the slope, and I demanded, “What the hell were you thinking?”

“What did I do?”

“You climbed onto the roof when you were drunk and home alone!”

“I was careful.”

“No! You don’t get to act like this isn’t a big deal!”

He tilted his head, watching me closely as he said, “You’re really upset.”

“Of course I am! Do you know how scared I was when I saw the open window and the empty bottle of booze? You could have fallen and died!”

Despite myself, I burst into tears. He gathered me in an embrace and held on tight as he murmured, “Baby, please don’t cry. I’m so sorry I worried you.”

“Promise me you’ll never do that again.”

He stroked my hair as I buried my face in his shoulder. “I promise, Jasper. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He kissed my forehead and my cheek, and after a few moments he said, “Come and sit down.”

I let him guide me to the formerly dark red blanket, which was sun-bleached after spending the last few weeks on the roof. We sat down side-by-side, and he tucked his right foot under his left leg, hiding the anklet. It surprised me that he was still self-conscious about it.

As he wiped away my tears, he said, “I’m glad you’re back. I feel like I chased you away earlier, and I want to apologize for that.”

“You didn’t chase me away. You just wanted some time to yourself.”

“What I actually wanted was to get drunk before lunch, and I was too embarrassed to let you see me like that.”

“Are you still upset about your meeting with Boseman?”