Snakes Among Sweet Flowers (27 page)

“What?” Cam was incredulous. “Do you know what year this is?”

“Daddy.” Jackson reached over and touched his father’s arm. “You taught me to fight my own battles. Right? Let me fight this one, okay?”

Walter nodded and looked over the seat again at Cam. “I really am sorry.”

“It’s gonna be okay.” Cam hoped he was right.

WHEN CAM
stepped in his front door, Tommasina came running to greet him, meowing and rubbing up against his legs. He knelt down and scrubbed her head, then looked around at his home and smiled. The ramshackle old house was really important to him and so was his pet.

“Come on, girl. Let’s get you and those babies some food.” Cam stood and headed for the kitchen where he filled her bowls. “You hungry, Sheriff?”

“Nah. Mostly I’m just worn-out. You?” Jackson stood in the doorway to the kitchen, filling the space nicely. Tired or not, the man looked good in Cam’s house.

“Yeah, just tired.” Cam pushed Jackson back so he could pass, then took his hand and grinned. It felt weird but right. He’d never held hands with a man before. Cam would have thought it was too mushy before that minute. But this was different, right? “Come on,” Cam encouraged as he pulled Jackson toward the stairs that led to his bedroom. And this was another first. Cam had always imagined this decision as a hard one, one that took a bunch of deliberation, but in reality, it had been easy. It just felt right.

They clomped up the stairs and Cam paused at the top, eager for Jackson’s reaction.

“Oh wow,” Jackson exclaimed. He let go of Cam’s hand and walked over to the bed, running his hand over the metalwork of the footboard. “This is beautiful, Cam.”

Cam grinned with pride. He almost admitted getting it at a garage sale but then decided against it.

Jackson wandered over to the big open windows and stared out at Cam’s overgrown backyard.

“We still haven’t really cleared it.” Cam felt a need to take up for his inaction, although things had been a little hectic in the past few weeks.

Seeing Jackson in his space kinda made Cam’s heart do this extra-beat thing. It made him wonder at his sudden feelings. Was it because of his cry in the hospital? Because he’d felt vulnerable and now he’d opened himself for all these other feelings? Or was it because of the death he’d seen? Did that sort of thing make a man ready to let someone into his private space? Cam wasn’t sure. Maybe he’d change back in a day or so and would have to tell Jackson to beat it. Who knew?

“So…,” Jackson started as he turned to Cam. “Want to get comfortable and maybe talk about things?”

Cam raised a brow. “And by talk about things, you mean…? Is that some euphemism?”

Jackson chuckled. “Yeah, probably. I mean, I do need to talk, but….”

Cam canted his head toward the bathroom. “A shower first? I’m feeling grungy.”

“Who first?” Jackson appeared to be serious.

“Um…. Do you really think I’m going to sit out here while you get naked in my bathroom?” Cam grinned.

Jackson laughed. “Yeah, no, I guess not. I’ve never showered with anyone before,” he admitted while taking off his shirt. “I mean, in gym and after games, but not like this.”

“Yeah, not like this,” Cam agreed as he began stripping off too. “I don’t remember ever being so eager for the showers in prison.”

They both chuckled. “I’ll need something to cover this,” Jackson said, holding up his right arm to display the cast still surrounding it.

Cam nodded and stepped into the bathroom, where he opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a roll of small trash bags. After carefully securing the plastic over Jackson’s cast, Cam turned to set the temperature of the water.

Cam was feeling a little nervous but wasn’t sure why. He’d always been confident when it came to sex, but this was out of his depth for sure. It didn’t help that Jackson seemed fidgety too.

Cam pulled back the shower curtain. “After you, sir. Front or back?”

“Uh. Is this answer more significant than where I stand in the shower?” Jackson teased with his brows raised.

“Nah. Get in.” Once they were both under the warm spray, Cam added, “We can switch out, anyway. And
that
was more significant.” He grinned at Jackson.

“Agreed.” Jackson grinned back.

They both started soaping themselves, but it didn’t take long for that to change. Cam watched Jackson run his one big hand over golden skin covered in a light dusting of blond hair, but Cam itched to touch and it seemed the same was true for Jackson.

After running his hands down Jackson’s thick chest, Cam lowered to his knees and took Jackson’s heavy set of balls into his mouth one after the other, sucking and licking each in turn.

Jackson leaned back against the tile wall, groaning out his desire, his hips pushing forward and his engorged cock bobbing against Cam’s cheek.

Once Cam had had his fill of Jackson’s heavy balls, he leaned back and gave the thick cock above it the attention it deserved. He sucked and swirled his tongue along the shaft, then up to the head and across the slit. Cam kept Jackson’s sac in his hand, massaging as he serviced the sexy man standing in front of him.

Jackson dragged his fingers against Cam’s shorn head, not finding any purchase against the barely there black stubble. Cam hummed his pleasure at the feel and redoubled his efforts, swallowing and taking Jackson’s cock as deep as he could. The thickness pushed at the walls of his throat, making his own cock swell in excitement. Cam slid his lips along spit-slicked flesh, traced the throbbing vein that ran the length, then delved into the slit at the tip to discover every last drop of precum.

“Fuck. Cam, I’m gonna….” Jackson thudded his head against the tile and arched his back as Cam drank down thick spurts of cum. Cam reached between his legs and only had to give his cock a few pumps to join Jackson in his release.

The water was already starting to cool, so Cam stood and they both made sure the other was rinsed, then they dried themselves and headed back into the bedroom. Cam pulled back the covers and slid in, then invited Jackson to join him.

Jackson lay down on his back and got comfortable, while Cam was positioned on his side next to him. Jackson put his hands behind his head and turned to look at Cam. “I’ve never had a boyfriend before. I mean, I thought I did once, but… well, I never had one that anyone knew about.”

Cam nodded. “Me neither.”

“Is that where this is going?” Jackson asked, a little insecurity seeping into his expression.

“Yeah, I think it is, Sheriff. But that’s uncharted territory for me, you know?” Cam definitely didn’t want Jackson to think he had all this stuff figured out.

Jackson turned his head to stare at the ceiling. “So I guess that means I’m coming out.”

“You okay with that?” Cam asked softly.

Jackson nodded. “It feels right.”

Cam agreed and they both grew quiet, lost in their own thoughts.

After a while, Jackson mumbled, “Your bed is real comfortable.”

Cam grinned. At some point, they both drifted off to sleep.

RAZOR-SHARP CLAWS
dug into his scalp, and Cam swatted them away angrily. Instead of easing up, the pain grew more intense, and suddenly everything hurt as Tommasina used his torso as a scratching pole. Struggling to get free, he moaned in frustration when he realized he couldn’t go anywhere. He was stuck in muck, back in the Watsons’ front yard with Harold struggling on the ground with Junior. Tommasina squalled and ran away. He knew what came next, but now he had a chance to change the outcome. Cam ran toward the pair, but his feet felt mired. So many people milled around the yard for some reason: the kids zoomed by on their bikes, Ida and Charles tried to stop him for a chat. Cam pulled away while apologizing, stumbling closer to Harold. Cam had to stop him. His heart beat a mile a minute as he pushed by another townsperson who held a casserole and asked him if he was gay. Then the police officers all pulled their guns and aimed them at him. Walter yelled for him to halt, and Cam couldn’t make his mouth form the words to tell the man about Harold.

When he kept running instead of obeying their commands, the officers opened fire and Cam felt his body become riddled by bullets, striking him all over until he was only able to drag himself forward just enough to grab at Harold’s leg. But when he looked up into Harold’s eyes, he knew he was still too late. There was an evil glow of victory from Harold and a sad acquiescence from Junior just before the reverberating crack of each bone in turn.
Pop, pop, pop.

Cam gasped and jerked awake, sitting straight up in the bed. He groaned with the exertion on bruised and aching muscles. At the answering groan next to him, he turned to find Jackson holding his ribs and struggling to sit, most likely jerking awake due to Cam’s sudden movements.

“You okay?” Jackson asked, reaching to rub Cam’s back.

Cam was still breathing hard. It felt like he had run miles instead of sleeping in his nice, soft bed. He nodded but couldn’t work up the energy to speak. He was still too busy trying to separate what was real from what had been a dream, and felt a thick cloud of misery hanging over his head at the sudden realization brought on by the dream. This was all his fault. Not that he hadn’t already known he’d brought this evil to the town, but it seemed more concrete now, more absolute.

Jackson appeared to read Cam’s body language well, scooting closer and wrapping an arm around Cam’s shoulders. “Hey, it’s okay. Let’s get up and have something to drink. Sound good?”

“Yeah,” Cam managed to get out. He climbed out of the big bed and looked around for his pants.

Jackson lifted his cell and checked the time. “It’s six o’clock. Ready for some dinner? I know I’m hungry.”

“Yeah,” Cam said again. He couldn’t seem to get his brain to leave that dream behind, and he kept hearing the bones cracking and seeing the light dimming in Junior’s eyes.

From downstairs came the sound of someone tapping on the front door, and Jackson pulled on his jeans. “I’ll get it,” he said. “You come on down when you’re dressed.”

Once Jackson had left the room, Cam huffed and slumped on the edge of the bed, scrubbing his face with his hand. “Shit,” he mumbled.

JACKSON PULLED
open Cam’s front door and was surprised to find Dotty Calhoun standing on the front porch with a pie and a bag of groceries in her hand. He glanced down at his bare chest and blushed but then reached out and took her bag with his uncasted hand and stepped back.

“Welcome, Dotty. What brings you by this evening?”

Dotty patted his arm as she stepped into the dark house. “I heard about all that’s happened, and I owe Camden a pie. Seemed like a good time to bring one by.” As Jackson flicked on lights, she made her way into the kitchen. “I’m glad he has someone here to look after him, turnabout and all that. How is he, Jackson? And how are you?”

Jackson sighed. “Physically, he’s fine and I’m feeling good too. But all this has done a number on him, you know?”

Dotty nodded and tsked. “Y’all eaten?” She started pulling containers out of the bag Jackson had set on the table.

“No, ma’am. I was about to heat something up.”

“Well, I needed some company, so I brought enough for all of us to eat.” Dotty smiled and opened a cabinet to pull down plates. About that time, footsteps could be heard on the stairs. “Come on down, Camden,” Dotty called. “I brought you dinner and some of my pie for dessert.”

When Cam came around the corner, Jackson soaked him in. The narrow hips barely holding up his baggy jeans, the slender but well-muscled chest and arms, tattoos peeking out from both sleeves and the neck hole of his shirt, bare feet that were long and narrow and also covered with ink. Cam’s face looked freshly washed, his blue eyes near glowing in the room, but he looked sad, and that ate at Jackson’s heart. It was all he could do not to go to him and offer comfort. Although, how did that even work? What would Dotty think? Should he care? He stood frozen in indecision.

Dotty, on the other hand, was not torn in her compulsions. She headed immediately to Cam and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Bless your heart. Come on and sit down while I fix you a plate. You too, Jackson.”

Dotty bustled around like she owned the kitchen, and Jackson and Cam did as told, both silent as she chatted.

“It’s a shame what happened to Junior, but none of us know the hour or the day. And you can’t blame yourself for what evil wrought. I heard all about it. Of course, you both know how the gossip in this town is. That’s a shame too, if you ask me. But I’m just glad you two have each other.” She placed a heaping plate in front of each of them, then brought her own plate to the table and took a seat.

Jackson glanced at Cam, who had his brows raised at what she had just said. “You mean you’re glad we’re gay?” Cam asked.

“Well, now, that’s silly. Like saying I’m glad you’re left-handed or something, right? Just glad you found someone to love. We all deserve that.” She took a bite and chewed, but as soon as she’d swallowed, she continued. “Back when I was just a girl. Well, things were different then. And my brother Lennie—you have never met a sweeter boy. I took care of him a lot while Momma worked. It was a hard time. But Lennie was different. I tried to protect him, I really did. But by the time he was about sixteen, it was obvious, and Daddy wasn’t having any of it. He took Lennie out to Milledgeville State Hospital, where he was given shocks to try to fix him.” She grew quiet and then sniffed. “I still have dreams about him. They destroyed my sweet boy and he never came back home from that horrible place. I swore I would never let anything like that happen to someone I love.”

Cam and Jackson were no longer eating, their forks hanging in midair as they stared at Dotty. Finally, Jackson shook himself and stood, stepping around the table to kneel beside Dotty and rub her back.

She sobbed. “If only he were alive today. He was such a happy boy and this is such a better time.”

Jackson patted Dotty’s shoulder and looked across the table to Cam, who appeared completely shocked by her admission. “I’m so sorry,” Jackson said.