Sweet Topping CV3 (15 page)

SWEET TOPPING

Carol Lynne

81

“My brother,” Kyle whispered. “I surprised him the morning of Valentine’s Day.” He went on to explain everything, from the break-ins to the night of his accident and Kevin’s guilt over it. When he was finished, he held his breath, waiting for Gill’s reaction.

“Does Ryan know?”

“No, and I hope he never figures it out. Kevin’s a good kid. He did what he thought he needed to. I don’t want to see him get into any trouble over it. He’s planning to move to Sheridan, maybe go back to school. He wants to be close to me.”

“And your folks? What’ll they say if he takes off to follow you?”

“Sadly, I don’t think they would care.” The words hurt, but Kyle knew they were true.

He’d always been their favourite, though he’d never deserved such an honour.

Poor Kevin had always been overshadowed by Kyle’s accomplishments growing up.

Kyle was the Homecoming King in high school and one of the most popular guys at Pepperdine University. Kevin was a lot taller and thicker than Kyle. He’d tried to get his brother interested in basketball, but no matter how hard the two of them practiced, Kevin just didn’t have the athletic ability.

“Kevin was a good brother, still is,” Kyle said more to himself than to Gill.

Gill reached across the table and took Kyle’s hand. “I won’t tell anyone, and I won’t hold it against him.”

All the tension seemed to leave his body at once and Kyle bowed his head. “Thank you.”

Working on Nate’s car, Gill whistled the song stuck in his head.

“Well someone’s in a better mood,” Hal said walking into the garage.

Coming out from under the hood, Gill smiled. “Why wouldn’t I be? I’ve slept with Kyle in my arms for the last three nights, and his therapy starts in an hour.” Hal leaned his hip against the black Mercedes convertible and Gill shook his head. “You trying to get me killed? Nate notices every smudge on this beauty.” Rolling his eyes, Hal stood up straight. “I take it you haven’t met Matt Jeffries yet.”

“No, but Kyle’s spoken with him several times on the phone, why?” Hal shrugged. “Nothing.”

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Carol Lynne

82

Gill narrowed his eyes at his friend. “What? You wouldn’t have brought it up if it was nothing.”

“I ran into him at church. He’s, uh, hot.”

“And? More than half the guys in Cattle Valley are hot. Doesn’t mean anything to me, or are you worried about Casey falling for a member of his congregation?” Gill teased.

“Hell no. Casey thinks I’m the sexiest thing that ever walked.”

“I didn’t know his eyesight was that bad,” Gill commented straight faced.

“Asshole. Casey loves me. I don’t have to worry about him straying.”

“And you think I do?” Gill asked, suddenly he felt offended by his old friend.

“No, that’s not what I was saying. God, Gill, lighten up. I just figured it would be weird for you to have a guy like that touching all over Kyle. I was trying to get you riled, not pissed off.”

Gill gave Hal a short nod, letting him know he understood.

“Dinner later in the week?” Hal asked.

“Sure, I’ll talk it over with Kyle and give you a call.”

“Seriously, dude, I didn’t mean anything by what I said. It was all in good fun.”

“Yeah, it was a lot of fun.” Gill gave Hal a half-smile. “Get out of here and let me get back to work. I promised Nate I’d have this finished this afternoon.” An hour later, Gill stared at the clock. He just couldn’t shake the seed Hal had planted.

He knew he trusted Kyle, but he didn’t know Matt. What if the hot therapist decided to take advantage of his position?

Pulling out his cell phone, he called Danny Withers to see if he could come in and run the register.

“Hi. You must be Kyle,” the buff, tanned man held out his hand.

“What gave me away?” Kyle joked, looking down at his chair.

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Carol Lynne

83

Matt laughed and gestured towards the back of The Gym. “Rio has us set up in one of the spare rooms.”

Kyle breathed a sigh of relief. He’d been nervous about working out in front of an entire gym full of athletes. “Thanks. I tend to get a little noisy at times.” Matt nodded and gave Kyle a sympathetic smile. “I know it can be painful, but I’ll try not to hurt you too much. We just need to get those muscles loosened up again.” Wheeling himself into the adjacent room, Kyle looked at the equipment. “I have a Flexiciser at home. I try to do at least twenty minutes a day on it.”

“Great. I’d like to see it sometime. I’ve heard about them but haven’t seen one yet. You might want to put in an extra ten minutes a day on it. Maybe it will speed things along.”

“Okay.”

Matt walked over to the padded massage table. “The first thing I want to do every session is administer some electrical stimulus to the nerve endings. If you’ll get on the table, I’ll hook up the pads. Then we can get to know each other.”

“Okay.” Kyle went to the table and lifted himself out of his chair. He sat on the edge and looked at Matt. “Do you want me sitting up or laying down?” Matt rubbed his chin. “Down, I think, at least this time. I want to examine your overall muscle tone to determine a workout regime.” Matt shifted a little at Kyle’s side. “Are you wearing shorts under your sweats?”

“Yeah,” Kyle smiled.

After getting out of his pants and reclining back on the table, Kyle allowed Matt to examine his leg muscles. Funny, when Matt ran his hands over Kyle’s skin, he felt the pressure but no pleasure. Gill just had to touch Kyle lately and he got hard.

“Your tone is pretty good for someone who’s been in a chair for a couple of years. Some patients tell me they do exercises but I can tell when they’re lying by their muscle tone. You didn’t exaggerate your workout. You should be proud. A lot of people would have just given up on their legs by now.”

“I, um, I have something else I promised to tell you.” God this was going to be embarrassing. “The other night I wanted a certain muscle to move and it did.” Matt stopped studying Kyle’s legs and looked up at him. “Really? That’s fantastic. Was it a foot?”

Kyle bit his lip and shook his head. “I was, uh, making love.” SWEET TOPPING

Carol Lynne

84

“Well, that narrows it down a bit. Were you able to sustain an erection?”

“Yeah. I’ve been getting better at that since I started seeing Gill.”

“Do you mean Darshawn Gilling?” Matt asked in awe. “I heard he lived in town. He owns the Gill’s Gas and Garage, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah. We’re getting married.” Kyle said defensively.

Matt held up his hands. “Sorry, didn’t mean to sound star-struck, but I grew up watching him play. I can’t believe I’m going to be able to meet him.” Kyle felt stupid. Matt wasn’t trying to put the moves on his man. He was just a fan, like almost every boy in the nation had been at one time or another. “It’s okay. I guess a bit of the green-eyed monster escaped.”

Chuckling, Matt shook his head. “Don’t worry, I don’t poach.” Getting up, Matt went over to a roll-around cart and opened one of the drawers.

Coming back to the table loaded with supplies, he began hooking up the electrodes.

“Will this hurt?” Kyle asked.

“No, shouldn’t. It’ll feel strange at first, but the longer they’re on the less you’ll notice the actual impulses. Your muscles will contract though, so be prepared for that.” Once he was all hooked up, Matt looked into his eyes. “You ready?”

“Yep.”

Matt turned the small machine on and Kyle received his first jolt. Wow, it felt almost like a rubber band snapping against his skin.

“Okay?” Matt asked.

“Yeah.”

“So, tell me about Cattle Valley. You know, where are the best places to eat, stuff like that.”

Kyle grinned. “The best cinnamon rolls can be found at Brynn’s Bakery, downtown.”

“Nate already filled me in on your desserts. He said Ryan has a weakness when it comes to your cinnamon rolls.”

“Yep. It’s my only real power in town,” Kyle joked.

“There’s the Canoe, for dates and stuff. Fancy, but keep a tight hold on your date because the chef and owner is always after a new conquest. Then there’s Deb’s for breakfast and lunch. She runs daily specials. Brewster’s is good for a beer after work or game days.

They usually only serve munchies except on football Sundays. Then they have a buffet.” SWEET TOPPING

Carol Lynne

85

As Matt listened, he covered Kyle’s thighs with his hands, studying the contracting muscles.

“What’s going on?” Gill’s deep voice suddenly filled the room.

Kyle looked around Matt. “Hey. I’m getting my first treatment.”

“Is that what you call it?” Gill asked, stepping further into the room.

Rolling his eyes at Matt, Kyle grinned. “No sexy foreplay. Why don’t you step around Matt and see for yourself.” Kyle knew from Gill’s vantage point it looked like he was nude from the waist down.

Matt removed his hands and stood as Gill came around to stand on the other side of the table.

“Gill, this is Matt, Matt meet Darshawn Gilling.” Kyle looked up at Gill with a smug look on his face. “Matt’s a huge fan of yours.”

“Really?” Gill asked, sounding ashamed of himself.

“Well yeah,” Matt said. “I used to watch you play when I was in high school.”