Caregiver by Rick R Reed

Author:Rick R Reed
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781613722091
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“I FEELlike I cant move.” Sullivan groaned. “It isnt fair—that

spaghetti and meatballs was the best Id ever had.” Sullivan rolled his eyes and looked over at Dan, patting his tummy, which Dan had to admit, looked distended. “I couldnt stop myself. I just couldnt stop.”

“Hey, I didnt twist your arm to eat three helpings.” “Yes, you did. You twisted it by making that damn sauce so irresistible. God! I feel like I should go in the bathroom and purge!”

“So you can eat even more?”

Sullivan was quiet. “Is there any left?”

Dan shook his head. “No. Im glad you liked it so much.”

“What made it so good?”

“Cooking the pork in the sauce; thats the big secret. My mother gets pork neck bones from the butcher and grates her own Romano. Hers is even better.”

The two men sat, post-dinner, in Sullivans living room, on the very same couch where theyd once had their little make-out session. Now the idea of making out, at least to Dan, was anathema to him, for many reasons, but foremost at the moment was simply being too full to move. On the coffee table before them were two glasses of red wine, the last of the bottle of Chianti Sullivan had opened earlier.

Dan felt a little drowsy and more than a little drunk, comfortable. What was nice about this moment was that both of them were silent, and he guessed that neither of them felt a need to fill the quiet space up with chatter. Dan had always believed that one measure of a good relationship was not in what a couple of people could find to talk about, but how comfortable they could be in their silence together.

This was nice. There was only a little background music, the stereo turned low. Dan was a shameless pop music, top-forty kind of guy, but he was glad Sullivan had taken the time to introduce him to a singer (jazz? Was that the correct genre?) named Nina Simone. Her smoky voice was warm, playful, and powerful, all at once. Dan couldnt remember ever hearing a voice quite like it.

Both of them had their shoes off, feet up on the coffee table. Outside, the day wound down into dusk. Sullivan had pulled the curtains open after dinner and the east-facing picture window now revealed an end of day that was luminous in shades of lavender and orange as the sun, behind the house, sank below the flat horizon.

It seemed natural at this relaxed moment to slide over on the couch and for Dan to rest his head on Sullivans shoulder. Just as easily, Sullivan slid his arm around Dan, his grip warm and secure. Dan could hear the steady rhythm of Sullivans heart beating. His chest felt smooth and hard beneath the soft fabric of his warm T-shirt.

Sullivan said, “He would have loved this.”

Dan didnt move. “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah. He could be loud, sarcastic, campy, but he adored quiet times, good food, candlelight. He never would have admitted it, but he was quite the romantic at heart.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.