Dirty Laundry: A Tucker Springs Novel #3

sticky mess they’d made of the bed.
    “I’m going to go take the job with Tiny,” Denver said after they’d lain there for several minutes. “I’m going to tell him it’ll take me a while, that he can’t count on me getting through the classes fast, but that I’ll do it. And I’m going to let you help me get that grant or whatever so I can do the tests. I was trying to do it on my own, to have the papers filled out when I came to apologize to you, but I kept freaking out when I tried to go there, so this time you might have to be the one bolstering me while I do something hard.”
    “I will totally do that,” Adam promised.
    Denver stroked Adam’s belly, tracing his finger through the sticky cum lingering there. “I want a job where I can be with you more. I want to be able to help you when you need it, to be with you in the evenings when you come home from school or work or whatever you do. I want to be more than a bouncer at a bar. And I want to be able to take the stupid GED, because you’re right, I do know all that stuff. I just have to figure out how to show them so I can get the paper and move on, make sure that boogeyman is not just dead but staked and buried.” He kissed the back of Adam’s neck. “I want to be strong on the inside too. Like you.”
    Adam’s body, already turned liquid, melted all over again. He turned his head to kiss Denver’s mouth, lingering for a second before he spoke. “I want you to teach me how to fight back when people bully me. Next time Brad won’t shut up and pushes me into a panic attack, I want to know how to knock out his front teeth.”
    “Boy, you got yourself a deal.” Denver chuckled and nuzzled Adam’s hair. “Just be sure you do it when I can watch.”

It was only a little weird to wake up at Denver’s.
    Okay, it was very weird, and initially when Adam woke up, he felt his muscles tightening, his brain gearing up to go back into panic mode. But he shut his eyes again and made himself take deep breaths, grabbing the reins and, while not pulling hard, standing firm. Sometimes he couldn’t stop his wild horses from running. But he could wait until they were exhausted instead of getting ramped up with them. While he didn’t exactly get himself back to normal, by the time Denver rolled over and figured out something was wrong, he had himself talked down almost entirely from an attack, and he was well on the road to evening out.
    Happily, Denver rolled on top of him, played protect-the-fragile-egg for a few minutes until he saw that Adam was fine, and then fucked the last of the anxiety right out of him. They showered together after that, which led to more sex, and then they made breakfast together, which also led to more sex.
    It was probably the best aftermath of a serious panic attack Adam had ever known. Hell, it was pretty good aftermath for anything.
    “Denver,” Adam said, tasting the word as they sat down to plates of eggs and toast and fruit. He tilted his head and regarded his lover thoughtfully. “Is that really your name? I’ve always wondered. I mean, I thought maybe you were from there and it was your nickname, but you said you were from Arkansas.”
    He could tell there was a good story coming from the way Denver grunted and focused on his plate, looking like he didn’t want to tell it. Adam was just working up to a new angle to coax it out of him when Denver said, “Waldemar.”
    Adam blinked. “Come again?”
    Denver lifted his gaze, looking wary, and more than a little embarrassed. “My birth name was Waldemar. It was the name of some great-grandfather from Germany, and my mother loved it. I hated it. They called me Wally at home and Waldo at school, but it always sounded like an accusation. Plus nobody sexy was ever named Waldemar. I had it changed when I was eighteen.” He went back to his plate, looking like he was trying to busy himself, but he wasn’t eating, just moving things around his plate. “I always wanted to go to Denver. I hated the South, and the East and West Coasts sounded scary. Denver felt like mountains and opportunity, so I named myself after it, and later when I had a chance, I went there.” He gave up on his plate and took a swig of coffee. “Except Denver was too big and urban, too full of suburbs and stuff that wasn’t me. I did my best to make it work there, but it never did. So earlier this year I headed west and ended up in Tucker Springs.”
    He looked up at Adam at last, and Adam