Give Way by Valentine Wheeler

Author:Valentine Wheeler [Wheeler, Valentine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: NineStar Press, LGBTQIA+, MM romance, men over 40, second chances, sexual discovery, interracial romance, retiree, mail carrier
Publisher: NineStar Press
Published: 2021-01-03T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Five

It took Kevin an hour to calm his heart rate and breathing down enough to go back to work. He could hear Kathy and Lucy Washington in his head, chiding him about deep breaths and blood pressure, so he forced himself to close his eyes and focus on the in and out of air through his nose. He knew it had been necessary—he couldn’t date somebody he’d known as a toddler. He couldn’t. It was weird, and wrong, and he was Ahmad’s son, Fatima’s nephew. He couldn’t date the nephew of someone he’d gone to high school with. That wasn’t right. He’d been a freshman when Ahmad had been in college, but he’d known him from a few parties at the houses of mutual friends, and he’d been at Ray and Kathy’s wedding. God, had Awais been there as a preteen? Kevin had picked Marianne up from Ahmad’s house after she’d babysat him enough times that Awais had known his name back then. Kevin suddenly recalled that he’d given Awais a toy dump truck. He’d forgotten that.

He wasn’t going to think about it. He had prided himself on not being a creep. He worked hard at it. Awais was young. Kevin was old, too old to be hitting on someone who could almost be his child. Awais didn’t need someone like him.

He swallowed hard and focused on the computer screen.

When his phone rang again, it shocked him out of the steady rhythm he’d finally managed to recapture.

He picked it up, panic turning to a smile when he saw who it was. Not Awais, calling him back. Not anybody who was likely to badger him. Nobody currently in Swanley, as much as he wished his children would move back. “Hey, Anna,” he said, moving to his armchair as he greeted his older daughter. “How are you, honey?”

“I’m great,” she said. “Did you see the plans I sent you for the museum?”

He stood up with a groan, moving to the computer. His thighs still ached, and his back had a twinge he didn’t like. It made him want to remember—no. He’d already told himself he wasn’t going to think about last night.

He pulled up his email. Sure enough, he’d received her message moments earlier. He opened the attachment.

He loved architectural drawings. Deep down, he wondered if he’d have had a better life as a city planner or architect than the one he’d worked for as a lawyer who played at city government in his free time. But Anna had lived one of those dreams, and now he got to live vicariously through her. It was one of the many benefits of children, especially adult ones who were thriving. He got to give his kids everything he never had, all the freedom and opportunity he’d had to fight and work for, putting himself through law school while helping Marianne deal with her father’s decline and being newlyweds with kids on the way. His kids could have easier lives, reach higher than he had.

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