Chapter 70

Brett held out his hand to help Rylan up but the offer was declined with a shake of Rylan’s head.

Don’t fuss. Brett was constantly trying to work out in his head where the line was between supportive and helpful and overbearing and hovering. He quickly retrieved Rylan’s cane and handed it off to him.

“I’ll uh…” Brett rubbed at the back of his head, “…meet you downstairs? How about pizza?” He waved at the bathroom. “There is a small closet right inside the door, plenty of towels and washcloths.”

Rylan smiled gratefully and made his way to the bathroom door. “I’ll yell if I need help.”

Brett nodded and slipped out of the bedroom and headed to the kitchen. By the time he’d ordered delivery pizza and got some beers from the extra refrigerator in the basement, Rylan had joined him in the den, freshly showered. The way little droplets of water still clung to his hair gave Brett a warm feeling he couldn’t help but demonstrate to Rylan with a soft, chaste kiss and a gentle hug.