“You’re going to get me hard again,” Wes said.

“That a bad thing?” When Wes didn’t answer, he said, “I love exploring someone else’s body. I can tell when your breathing picks up, where you like to be touched. Feel little scars on your skin and I know a story lives in them. Don’t know why.” He leaned forward and licked Wes’s nipple. “I find that sexy as hell.”

Wes reached over; grabbing Braden’s head and tilting it up so Braden could look at him. Damn it. He wanted to play again, but he had a feeling Wes wouldn’t let him.

“This can’t be something serious. Jessie is all that matters right now.”

Braden pulled his head out of Wes’s hold and bit Wes’s finger. “I like to bite, too. And if you’re being real, be completely real. I know Jessie is all that matters, but don’t pretend that’s the only reason you don’t get serious. And I didn’t ask you to be serious, anyway. We’re friends. We’re attracted to each other. We like spending time together. We like fucking every once in a while. In what world is that not the perfect kind of relationship there is? Friends with benefits, except I hate that saying. Friends who fuck? Friends who respect each other and like to get it on? Banging the babysitter?”

He knew he’d gone too far when Wes stiffened again.

Open mouth, insert foot.

“I’m kidding. I have a big mouth. Put your dick in it so I stop talking.”

Unfortunately for Braden, Wes didn’t listen. “She likes you. She’s lost too much already. This can’t affect her in any way, or it stops right now. Jessie comes first.”

Braden leaned up so he could look Wes in the eyes, so the man could see how serious he was. “First of all, I want you to know I get it. She’s a great kid and I would never hurt her. We’re grown men. We like sex. We like sex together. To her I’ll just be the guy her uncle is friends with, and who watches her once a week. It’s not like either of us are looking for anything more than that, so it’s all good. And second...those words that just came out of your mouth? Fucking remember them. When you feel like you’re not doing a good job or you’re upset because you don’t think you’re what she needs, remember what you just said. Remember how you always put her first. Remember that you would sacrifice anything for her. And remember that Chelle knew that, which is why she wanted you to have her. I respect the hell out of you, man. I want you to know that.”

Wes visibly bit down. His eyes held Braden in a way that they never had. Not with anger or annoyance or even desire. Maybe gratitude; and a little bit of respect, too. It hit Braden right in the chest, little twitches of something he had never felt before coming to life where it touched. The crazy thing was, though he knew he could handle what he’d just told Braden—that they would just be friends who respect each other but also like to fuck—he thought he might be willing to try more with the man, too.

“Can we shut up now so I can suck your dick before I go?”

Wes nodded, gave him a half smile. “As normal, you’re the one talking, not me.”

He was right, so Braden stopped talking, leaned over Wes and sucked him deep. Cock in his mouth was much better than a foot.

***

Wes listened to the deep-rooted gurgle in the woman’s lungs. “We’re going to give you another breathing treatment, okay?” She nodded, used to the routine. She’d been living with COPD too long not to know the drill.

He confirmed her name while he set up the nebulizer, before opening the albuterol and filling it. Once he had everything set up, he held the mouthpiece out to her, but her hands shook too much for her to hold it.

“I’ll do it for you, Mrs. Johnson.”

The woman opened her wrinkled mouth before closing it around the mouthpiece and taking deep breaths. Wes held it there until the treatment ended, listened to her lungs again, which sounded much more clear, but not how healthy lungs would sound.

He finished putting things away, made some notes, told her to have a good day, and then left the room. Each footstep he took was heavy, knowing the older woman’s breathing wasn’t getting better. It was getting worse.

Wes clocked out, washed up, and then changed, putting the paper booties back on until he left the hospital. It hadn’t been something he worried about before. Hell, he used to go home in his scrubs. But just recently he started thinking about the fact that there were too many fucking germs to take home to Jessie. It was one of the downfalls of his job.

After tossing the covers for his shoes in an outside trashcan, he went straight for his vehicle. Being Wednesday, that meant Braden would have picked Jessie up from school and taken her home, so he didn’t have to grab her up at Lydia’s.