Read Online By Any Other Name by Tia Fielding - Free Book Online

hall.
     
    “Shit!” Dru hissed under his breath.
     
    “No… sorry, it’s a gut instinct. I’m sorry.” Skye raised his hands as if surrendering.
     
    “It’s not your fault,” Dru said and walked down the stairs. “I mean, we should remember not to touch you like that. It’s just that we touch each other a lot….”
     
    He was sure he heard Skye say something like “I’ve noticed” under his breath but didn’t comment on it.
     
    “So we do that to our friends too, and I really need to adjust to this thing,” Dru said as he poured himself some coffee and added milk to it.
     
    “No… it’s not right… it’s me who should be trying to get used to it. I mean, I’m supposed to be planning a life outside this house. How do I do that if I’m constantly afraid of people touching me?” Skye said sensibly as he plated their pancakes.
     
    “I suppose you’re right, but it’s not easy for you, and we should be more cautious, at least for now.” Dru frowned and then hummed in delight when he took his first bite of the best pancakes he’d ever had. “Oh wow… you get to make breakfast as often as you want. If you say you can’t cook and then come up with this… impressive.”
     
    Skye grinned briefly, the old kind of open grin that made Dru’s stomach clench for a moment in a familiar way. Then Skye lowered his eyes and concentrated on his own plate.
     
    “Did you get any sleep?” Dru asked, and Skye told him about his morning. “Great, I wasn’t going to go for a run anyway today, so I’m glad Thom showed you the route. I might do a bit of running on the treadmill or something, but I’m not really feeling doing it outside.” He shrugged.
     
    “I was thinking… would it bother you if I took my book upstairs while you work? I might actually be able to fall asleep for a few hours on the couch up there,” Skye asked in an almost shy way that somehow made Dru feel like he had in the old days. He had been asked things in that same way countless times before. When asking for anything from some of Dru’s candy to borrowing his bike to giving him a ride or going camping, that had been the way Skye expressed himself.
     
    “Sure, if you can handle tapping on the keyboard, cursing, and a little music and possible phone calls and faxes,” Dru said, having a feeling this was one of those little steps he shouldn’t be making a big deal of.
     
    “Great,” Skye said, and they continued to finish their breakfast.
     
    When they were done eating, Skye took his pills and Dru insisted on cleaning the kitchen.
     
    “Oh, I’m not sure how empty of clutter the office couch is,” Dru said as Skye went to fetch his book from the library.
     
    “It’s okay, we’ll clean a bit of your kingdom if we have to.” Skye smirked over his shoulder, and Dru’s stomach flipped a bit again.
     
    It wasn’t just that the flashes of his friend were coming through, it was also the fact that he had once been in love with this man, and Skye had grown into someone stunning. Hell, if Dru were single and he’d met someone who looked like Skye somewhere, anywhere, he’d try to make a move. His friend was that gorgeous. Of course he had noticed the scars and wondered how many more there were and whether he’d get to see those.
     
    When he got to the loft and went to turn his computer on, Skye came in from his room with a blanket and a pillow. “See, no clutter. I think Thom must have cleaned it a bit yesterday.”
     
    “Hmm, yeah, might be true. Want to have the window open for fresh air?” Dru asked and pointed at the little window at the end of the hallway. The windows of the loft itself, the same ones that lined the back wall of the living room, were permanently shut, but the little windows in the hall could be opened.
     
    “Sure, can you do it?” Skye asked as he put the pillow and blanket on the couch and tried to settle down comfortably.
     
    Dru went to open the window and inhaled the morning air.