Love Me Chapter 19
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None of the characters are based on real people nor are they meant to resemble any living or dead people.
This story contains some adult language as well as sex, or some hints of sex. I cannot promise that there will be sex in each chapter, but if you find my writing to be offensive or distasteful in any way, you're visiting the wrong website and need to move on.
Copyright © 2013-2019
Love Me
Chapter 19
New Home, New Neighbors
Jared, Caden, and Riley are all home, and when all of a sudden, Smoke starts showing signs that he needs to use the bathroom. Both Jared and Caden are busy, so Caden suggests that Riley take Smoke for a walk. Riley is a bit unsure of taking Smoke out by himself. He's worried about falling down during the walk. He can't help but worry what might happen if Smoke takes off running. He puts his trust in the dog. Opening the door, he walks out along with the dog. He closes the door behind him and walks to the end of the sidewalk. Once they are clear of their path, Riley and Smoke head north along the sidewalk. As they pass the house next door, someone in the house is watching them. Her name is Gwen Miller, and she is seventy-six. She lives there with her husband, Douglas, who is seventy-seven. The couple have three kids, but they only get to see one of them regularly because the others live a few states away. There aren't a lot of teens on her street, so she is excited to see a new face on the road. She is also kind of worried that perhaps, this new face could potentially cause a problem. Still, this kid seems nice, and the dog seems to be well behaved. She has to meet this kid and his parents. All too soon, Riley and Smoke pass Gwen's house on their walk. Riley is actually feeling really confident now. In a few minutes, Riley and Smoke turn around and head back home.
***
A few minutes later, after coming back inside the house, there is a knock on the door. Riley is in the kitchen getting a drink while Jared answers the door. Jared directs Ryan to the kitchen. When Riley sees Ryan walking into the kitchen, he smiles and walks over to him after setting down his glass. Riley wraps his arms around Ryan in a big hug.
"Hi handsome, how are you?"
Ryan says as he looks at Riley.
"I...I...I am not the...the handsome one."
Riley says as he breaks the hug with Ryan. They just laugh. Caden and Jared can't hear what is going on in the kitchen.
"Want to just hang out today?"
Ryan gives his boyfriend a few seconds to respond.
"Sure."
Ryan knew that Riley would want to hang out. He knows because apart from the guys at school, Riley rarely gets company, and is always looking for friends to come over to visit. The guys walk out to the living room to play some games.
***
Jared sets about making lunch for everyone. In no time, Jared, with some help from Caden gets lunch finished. Jared walks into the living room and tells Riley and Ryan to come eat. Lunch today is tuna burgers. Jared's mom use to make these for her kids, and it's quickly become a favorite in this household as well. The burgers are easy to make so, it's not really that bad. There is also peas and lime-ade. The lime-ade is another household favorite. Jared likes to eat out, but he prefers to cook and eat at home. After lunch, Riley takes Ryan upstairs to see his den and office.
"Do...do...you...like it?"
Ryan has already seen the office, but Riley doesn't remember any of it. A month after meeting Riley, Ryan grew accustomed to Riley's memory, and he doesn't get upset when he forgets things. It wouldn't do any good to get upset. Ryan looks around the room, and he loves what he sees, and just like he did the first time he saw it.
"It looks really nice, Riley. I love it. You do your homework, spend time on your hobbies, and do your therapy all in one room. Pretty cool man."
Ryan loves checking out the room all over again. After checking out the room a little bit more, the guys head out to the backyard.
***
Ryan and Riley are out in the backyard playing catch and unknown to them, they are being watched. Gwen is watching the guys as they toss the ball back and forth. This might give her a chance to meet the guys and find out when the kids' parents would be home. Being a little older, it takes her a little longer to get outside. Ryan and Riley are sitting on the deck just talking quietly when Gwen stepped out on the back porch, where she watched the boys for a little bit before walking down the stops and moving towards her fence.
"Excuse me, excuse me."
Gwen calls out to the boys as they are talking amongst themselves."
"I wonder what she wants?"
Ryan says to Riley before they get up to find out.
"I...I...don't...know."
Riley says in response to his boyfriend. Ryan helps his boyfriend up from where they are sitting. The guys reach the fence and wait to see what she wants.
"Hi, I am Gwen Miller, and I just wanted to say hello. Are you living here now?"
She seems to be speaking only to Ryan, but she doesn't know that Riley lives here.
"Actually, I don't live here. I'm visiting with my boyfriend, Riley."
When Ryan says Riley's name, Ryan makes sure to point to his boyfriend.
"Sorry I didn't know. So you live here?"
Riley hears what the elderly lady had to say, but it takes him time to process what exactly was said.
"I'm sorry, did you hear me?"
Gwen asks, unsure if Riley heard her.
"Yes, I...I...heard you. Yes, I live here. My...my...name...Riley."
Riley's best friend and boyfriend smiles and takes his hand.
"I hope your enjoying living here. Are your parents at home?"
Gwen says to Riley. Knowing how Riley feels about his mom and dad, Ryan quietly whispers to his boyfriend, "Squeeze my hand if you want me to answer her?" and sure enough, Riley silently responds.
"This is a little sensitive for Riley, his mom and dad are in jail. He lives here with his older brother and the older brother's boyfriend."
She seems shocked by the revelation given by Ryan.
"Oh my, I am sorry. I hope I didn't offend you, Riley. Is your brother or his boyfriend home?"
Riley doesn't want Gwen to think that she hurt his feelings, so he smiles and reaches out his arm to her.
"You...are okay. I...just don't like...talking about...them. My dad...my dad, he..did this...to me. My...brother...is home. Did you want...want to see him?"
She shakes his hand and then releases his grip.
"I'll come over later when my husband comes home. Thanks for talking to me. Have fun with the rest of your day."
Gwen says to Riley.
"I hope...your day...is good. Bye!"
She smiles and heads back towards the house. The guys also go into their house.
***
Ryan looks at his phone and realizes that he has to go home, so he says goodbye to Riley. Riley won't let him walk away without getting a kiss. Jared sees the kiss and smiles. Riley is bored, so he goes upstairs to grab his sketchpad and his pencil. He knows that his drawings aren't as lovely as they were before the attack but, he doesn't want to give up the hobby, so he heads outdoors to sketch the backyard. Instead of drawing the entire backyard, he focuses on one of the trees and draws it. Once it's drawn, he heads into the house so he can show it to Caden and Jared. Caden looks at it and smiles. It seems that this drawing is more like Riley's old drawings, there are still signs that his hands are affected by the brain injury, so maybe there is hope for Riley at some future date.
"Riley, it looks really nice. I can actually see the tree."
Riley knows it looks better, but hearing it from Caden makes him feel good about it. Riley finds Jared up in his den, making some adjustments to a piece of furniture. He proudly walks up to his brother's boyfriend and showed off his drawing of the tree. Jared looks at the picture and smiles as he's looking it over, and he too sees the improvements.
"Awesome dude, I love it. Do you want me to frame it?"
Riley slowly processes what is said.
"No, this one...this one is for Ryan."
Riley replies to his brother's boyfriend.
"I can still frame it for him if you want me too."
Jared again offers his services to Caden's little brother.
"Okay, I...I...I would like it."
Jared disappears for a little while with Riley's sketchbook, and when he reappears there is a perfectly framed picture in his hands. Jared carefully sets it on Riley's desk and then leaves the room.
***
It's now dinner time, and Jared and Caden have prepared Lamb Stew, and Riley is practically drooling. As they are eating, the guys are talking about the day when Caden looks over at his brother.
"What do you think about the house, Riley?"
Riley takes a few seconds to gather his thoughts.
"I love it, the...the yard is big. Room for Smoke to run around. I love my room and my den. Thanks, Jared, thanks, Caden."
"You're welcome, Riley, but I think we need to thank Lisa too."
Caden says to his brother.
"Should...we...call her?"
Jared knows that it's 8:00 pm and his mom is already winding down her day.
"If you're going to call my mom, you should do it tomorrow. She might already be in bed."
Riley nods his head in an agreement. After dinner, Riley and Caden start the bedtime routine, and when it's done, it's time for Jared and Caden to get ready for bed too. Neither one knowing that tomorrow would sort of change the way that they look at Riley and Ryan.
***
With breakfast done and out of the way, Jared and Caden find some time to go outside and get some work done in the yard. While outside, they are seen by Gwen from next door, and she walks out to meet them. Caden and Jared watch as the elderly lady makes her way across the sidewalk and up through the lawn.
"Can we help you?"
Caden says as he reaches out his hand to greet his neighbor. She gladly accepts his hand and then welcomes Jared in precisely the same way.
"My name is Gwen Miller, and I wanted to say hi. I actually met your brother and his boyfriend. I was going to come over yesterday to meet you, but my husband didn't come home right away. I am sorry about your brother's handicap."
She says as she looks at Jared. Jared kindly corrects her to which she replies.
"I'm sorry. My memory is a little faulty lately. I don't know what's wrong with me."
Caden smiles, letting her know that it's okay.
"It's good to have nice people living next door. There aren't very many nice people living in the neighborhood. It was nice to see your brothers being so nice to each other yesterday."
The guys could have corrected her, but there was no need, too, because they knew what she meant.
"I hope they were behaving themselves?"
Caden says with a chuckle knowing that the boys wouldn't do anything to upset anyone on purpose.
"They were absolute angels."
Gwen tells the guys as she reflects on yesterday. By tomorrow, chances are excellent that these memories will be gone. She knows too but what can she do about it.
"I need to get home before my nurse misses me. She likes to snitch on me to my husband."
Gwen chuckles a little bit just loud enough for them to hear her.
"Thanks for coming over Gwen, it was nice to meet you."
Gwen suddenly seems a little troubled.
"Would one of you walk me home? I am not steady on my feet as I use to be."
Caden steps up to the challenge and walks with Gwen and stays by her side till she is in her house. When he gets home, the guys finish their tasks outside, and right on cue Ryan shows up.
***
Ryan and Riley are in the house sitting on the couch and talking when Smoke comes up and seems to be pleading for attention.
"Smoke, out-out-side?"
Riley asks the pup as he looks at the leash hanging from the opposite wall. The dog barks and seems to dance at their feet, so Riley gets up and grabs the leash. With some help from Ryan, Riley is able to get the strap on the collar. With the leash in place, Ryan and Riley head for the front door. As Ryan opens the front door, he looks at Riley and gets ready to speak.
"You want me to take Smoke until we get to the sidewalk?"
Riley shakes his head, holding that leash is something that he can do, and he doesn't want to give that up. Ryan understands and lets Riley and Smoke get passed him so that he can close the door behind them. Ryan loves to take these little adventures with his boyfriend.
"Come on, Smoke, Ry...an want-s to walk."
Ryan chuckles a bit as he listens to Riley talking to Smoke.
"I thought it was Smoke that wanted to walk."
Now it's Riley's turn to chuckle a little as the dog turns and looks up at Riley and Ryan as if asking the guys to keep walking. They are happy to continue the walk.
"Ryan, do...do think I'm handsome?"
Ryan is a little stunned, but he still manages to smile at his boyfriend.
"Now that is a silly question, you know that I think you're handsome."
Smoke was having none of this and ran to some kid who seemed to want to play with him. It was almost too much for Riley, and Ryan immediately called Smoke back to Riley's side, and the little dog did just that. Still, there as some fear that the dog might send Riley to the ground. When the puppy came to a stop at Riley's feet, Ryan looked down at Smoke and frowned.
"You almost hurt Riley, dude."
Smoke looks up at Riley and seems to be seeking forgiveness, forgiveness that Riley is all too happy to give.
"He...he didn't...mean it, did you?"
Riley scruffed up some of Smoke's fur on the top of his head. Smoke wants so much more love from his best friend. Ryan and Riley continue their walk. They are laughing and carrying on as they walk the dog. After a few more minutes, the guys and the dog start moving back home.
***
Riley and Ryan are in the backyard hanging out, and Smoke is still with them fully engaged in play. Smoke is running around the yard chasing after a ball that Ryan and Riley are taking turns throwing. When it's Riley's turn to throw the ball, Ryan puts an arm around Riley's waist. This action catches the attention of Jared as he looks out the kitchen window. Riley gets up and grabs the tug of war rope that they use to play with the dog. In the meantime, Ryan is watching Riley with the deepest of interest., and Jared isn't sure that he likes some of the glances that Riley is getting from his boyfriend. Some of his glances are questionable, and it's giving Jared a headache. He knows that Ryan finds Riley attractive, and he knows that Riley likes Ryan just the same, so maybe the looks are to be expected, but it still seems wrong. Now does he tell Caden, or does he let it go and let things fall where they will? No, he decides to talk with Ryan first. Jared slides open the patio door and sits next to Ryan. He doesn't want to scare Ryan away, so he has to do this gently and with tact.
***
Jared sits down and taps Ryan on the shoulder. Ryan turns and looks at Jared, and it's not a happy face that greets him. Concern is stamped on the adult's face.
"Ryan, I couldn't help but notice that you were giving Riley some pretty intense looks. Is there something Caden and I should know about?"
Ryan's face is beet red, and Jared knows that he caught Riley's boyfriend with his mind in the gutter.
"I...I'm sorry, Jared. I can't help it. I don't want to claim the "I'm a guy" card, but I do sometimes get these feelings downstairs for my boyfriend and, what am I supposed to do? Don't answer that."
Jared gets it he does, but he's still worried that there might be areas where Riley might be able to understand what's going on where the more physical parts of a relationship are concerned. Ryan doesn't want to hurt his guy, and Jared has witnessed what he can only describe as love in the young man's eyes.
"Are you going to stop me from seeing Riley?"
Instantly, Jared's stomach drops to his knees.
"No way, Riley would kick me out of the house, if I did that, I was just concerned is all."
Ryan will have to deal with the fact that Jared knows that there are sexual thoughts running through the teen's mind and that Riley is the source material for those thoughts.
"I know that we can trust you, so that isn't a problem at all."
"As long as Riley isn't hurt along the way, then we don't have a problem. Course, I am not Caden, so I don't know how he will react. Still, I wouldn't waste any time worrying about it."
Ryan is feeling pretty calm until Jared mentioned Caden, and then everything fell apart.
"It's all good."
Jared says as he gets up and walks back into the house to look for Caden. He wants to talk with his boyfriend, but he also wants to snuggle too.
***
Caden is sitting in the family room watching television on the couch. Caden is quick to put his arms around Jared.
"I love when we get moments like this."
Caden says as they sit back on the couch.
"I do, too, Babe."
They exchange a kiss before Jared talks about what's on his mind. There is some hope burning in Jared's heart that Caden won't get too upset with the boys.
"I hate to potentially ruin this moment, but I caught Ryan giving your brother some pretty crazy glances. I mean seriously intense stares."
Caden heard what Jared said, and yet he is still processing what was said.
"Was he flirting with Riley?"
Caden asks, trying to figure out what was going on outside.
"No, he wasn't flirting, but he was checking out Riley's assets, and I am pretty sure his thoughts were sexual in nature."
Caden figured out what Ryan was doing, and to a certain degree, it's expected but, it's still a bit crazy to think of some guy having dirty thoughts about Riley.
"I can't be angry at Ryan, he's been a saint as far as I am concerned. I think we both saw this day coming, am I right?"
Jared nods his head and watches as Caden smiles. Still, regardless of the guys liking Ryan, Caden is slightly concerned with his brother's boyfriend. He knows Ryan wouldn't hurt Riley on purpose, but he still worries that Ryan could put pressure on Riley to get what he wants, and it wouldn't take too much pressure. Caden can't help the way he feels. What would he do if something did happen between Ryan and Riley? Caden needs to know how to help Riley and Ryan, so he calls a friend, Chuck, at work.
***
The friend, he works at the pediatrician who is familiar with Riley's case.
"Hey, Caden, what's up?"
Chuck asks Caden to see what's new.
"Well, I have a problem, and I need some advice involving my brother. He's in a relationship with a really, great kid around his age. Jared and I really like this kid. I don't know if I'm being overprotective older brother or not."
Chuck is a bit confused because it sounds like Caden is going around in circles.
"Caden, what exactly is the problem?"
Caden pauses to make sure all his thoughts are lined up before he opens his mouth.
"Jared caught the boyfriend staring at Riley. We are kind of under the impression that the boyfriend was having sexual thoughts about my brother. It just brings up a bunch of questions and concerns up in my head. Like are they having sex? Has the boyfriend seen my brother naked? Is this unhealthy? Do I need to worry about them? Should I put my foot down on this whole relationship?"
Chuck listened to Caden as he talked, and then immediately he replied to the questions.
"Well, those are certainly some worrisome questions, but I think that I can put you at ease. Since I know the guy that your brother is dating, I don't think you guys need to worry about them. Is it unhealthy that Ryan is having sexual thoughts about his boyfriend? Nope, I think it is perfectly healthy. As far as normal, I would say yes. I mean, don't you have thoughts about Jared from time to time that are sexual in nature? You do not have to answer that question. I would say the part about seeing Riley naked is a question you'll have to ask either Ryan or Riley. No, I think you should leave them alone. You can go ape if Ryan does something to hurt your kiddo? Does that help Caden?"
It was precisely what he needed to hear. Chuck is another one of those guys who tells it like it is.
"Thanks, Chuck, I'm going to see if I can drop this and just relax."
Caden says as he looks out the window at his brother and Ryan. When they hang up, Caden again goes to his boyfriend's side to tell him what was shared with him. They sit next to each other while Caden shares what was said to him. Jared gives him a kiss, and then they move on from the whole experience. The decision is made to simply see where things go and to be there if either Ryan or Riley need to talk.
***
An hour later, we find the teens enjoying the swimming pool. As a precaution, Caden and Jared insist that Riley wear a floatation device. They also require him to be in the pool with a strong swimmer. Ryan and Riley deserve to have time for themselves. He cannot be left out in the pool. It really does Riley good, to be in the pool moving around and working on swimming. Gwen worries about Riley being out in the pool. She relaxes a little bit when she sees Ryan come up out of the water. She doesn't mean to be in their business, but she finds herself worrying as much about them as she does her own grandchildren. A couple minutes later, she has moved on from worrying about the teens.
***
Gwen and her husband are on their way over to the house to meet with the new neighbors. Caden and Jared are excited to have Gwen and Douglas next door. The couple knocks on Caden and Jared's entry, and it doesn't take them long to answer the door. It's Caden that actually answers the door.
"Hi, do you want to come inside?"
Caden asks the couple.
"We can't stay long. My wife just wanted me to meet you guys."
Douglas says as they stand on the doorstep. Caden calls for his boyfriend to come to the door. A few minutes later, Jared enters the room and walks up to the door.
"This is my boyfriend, Jared."
Jared shakes hands with the Douglas. The teens are up in the bedroom while Riley works on a drawing.
"Are the kids busy?"
Gwen says, hoping that Riley and Ryan would show up and meet her husband.
"Riley and Ryan are upstairs. Riley is working on his artwork."
Gwen is a little disappointed that they won't be meeting the boys today, but it's okay. It doesn't have to be today. Douglas wants to get Gwen home so he can fix dinner, so they say goodbye.
***
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