"It's where we keep the napkins for the ladies. And other unmentionables," the older man said in a near whisper.
I must've looked as confused as I felt because the kid said, "Grandpa's talking about tampons and condoms."
"Kenny!" the older man yelled.
"What?" the kid asked. "They don't call them napkins and unmentionables anymore, Grandpa Merv. I suppose you could call them rubbers—"
I tuned out the arguing pair as I considered what Gideon had said. He’d specifically told me aisle seven was where the creams were, but he’d obviously lied about that. The question was, why? I supposed he could have been embarrassed about buying feminine products for a woman in his life. But my gut was telling me that hadn’t been the section of aisle seven he’d been looking at.
Which left the condom section.
All the pleasure I'd experienced during the foray into town with Gideon got sucked out at once and I felt a little dizzy as I realized what Gideon's perusal of aisle seven really meant. The knowledge that he was having sex with someone shouldn't have been a surprise, and maybe it wasn't exactly. But it was damn disappointing, even though it probably shouldn't have been.
So much for not letting my emotions get too wrapped up in the sexy man who’d come to my rescue more than once already.
The man I was now firmly entrenched in the friend zone with.
Great.
Chapter Twelve
Gideon
"You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good," Lex murmured. "Just a little tired."
I knew he was lying. I just didn't know if I should call him on it. When we’d been checking out, he'd been smiling and his cheeks had been flushed with color, proof of his excitement. He’d clearly seen his journey through the grocery store as a win, but something had happened from the time I'd gone to get the antibiotic cream to when I’d gotten back and all the items had been bagged up.
I’d thought maybe Kenny had said something to upset Lex, but when he’d said goodbye to Lex, I hadn't heard anything to hint that there had been any kind of confrontation between them. Merv had been standing nearby as well, but I hadn't seen any evidence of him saying something to Lex either because Lex had bid him farewell too.
Which left me as the culprit.
I tried to think back to anything I'd said or done that might have upset him. "Lex, I only went to get the cream because I knew it would be faster. I didn't mean to insinuate that you couldn't do it."
I glanced at Lex as I drove, but he didn't look at me when he responded. "I'm not upset about the cream. Honestly, Gideon, I'm just tired. I guess besides being just really bad, Merv's coffee must've been decaf."
I knew he was trying to lighten the mood, but his voice was so flat that there was no way he could've pulled it off. "Yeah, that's probably what it is," I said.
Unlike the drive into town, the drive home was done in absolute silence. When we got back to Lex's cabin, I helped him inside and then unloaded the groceries. "Is there some way you want them sorted?" I asked.
I half expected him to tell me he didn't need my help, but to my surprise he just said, "No, it doesn't really matter." Then he turned his back on me and disappeared into the living room, leaving me to put the groceries away. I worked quickly to organize them in both the refrigerator and the cabinets, making a mental note to myself to research how blind people handled situations like these. I assumed maybe they used labels with braille on them to keep track of where things were, but surely there were some people out there who were in the early stages like Lex and had figured out workarounds so they could still live somewhat independently.
By the time I was finished, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. Did he expect me to leave? My eyes fell on the one item I hadn't put away.
The antibiotic cream.
I grabbed it and went to the living room. Lex was lying down on the couch, which was covered with blankets and pillows. Was he still sleeping down here?
Lex's eyes were closed, but I could tell from his breathing that he wasn't asleep.
"You want me to fix you something to eat?" I asked. I really wanted to know what his blood sugar was, but it was none of my business. He’d been living for a long time with his disease and knew how to take care of himself. I gathered from his comments about having four overprotective older brothers that he wasn't looking for someone else to monitor everything he put it in his mouth or the different numbers that gave him a picture of what his body needed at any given time.
"No, thank you. Thanks for the ride."
It was definitely a dismissal. I couldn't help but be a little bit frustrated by his behavior. This was why I didn't like having friends. They were just too much goddamn work. Or I simply wasn't someone that people found it easy to be friends with.
"Lex, would you mind if I took a look at your feet? I'm sure they’re fine, but I know how dangerous it can be if a cut—"
"Fine," Lex interrupted as he sat up. He began pulling his socks off and then he was ripping at the bandages around his feet. His moves were jerky and rushed.
So he was definitely pissed about something.
When his feet were bare, he stuck them out so they were resting on the coffee table in front of the couch. I moved closer to him and sat down on the table, then eased his feet onto my lap. I hoped and prayed that there wouldn't be those little zaps of electricity when I touched his skin, but even with his feet, the sensation was still there. I'd never been a feet man, but Lex's were gorgeous. How far gone was I that I thought feet could be good looking?
I carefully lifted one foot up so I could examine it more closely. I thought I heard Lex inhale sharply, but I couldn't be sure. I looked at him and saw that he was staring straight ahead. His face was pulled into a mask of unreadable emotion. I looked back down at the bottom of his foot and ran my thumb along the healing cut on the ball. I was relieved to not see any signs of infection. I knew I should reach for the wound cream and dress his foot, but it was like my mind and body had separated and my body was doing whatever the hell it felt like. My fingers traced a line up the inside of his foot until I was able to close them around his ankle. Lex was tense but quiet. When I looked up again, I saw him watching me.
Though I knew he technically wasn't really watching me.
His skin was warm and soft. My fingers were just centimeters from where the body hair on his leg started. I itched to touch it but knew I had no excuse to. As it was, I was being a bit too free with my examination of his foot. "This one looks good," I somehow grated out. I had to be careful with where I placed Lex's foot on my lap because my cock was hardening at an all-too-alarming rate.
I worked quickly to bandage his foot and then I was checking the other. There were only tiny cuts on his other foot but I still liberally covered them with cream and bandaged them. When there was no excuse to hang on to Lex's foot any longer, I eased it back onto the floor. "They both look good. Everything is healing really well."
"Thank you," Lex said, his voice sounding rough. I waited for him to say anything else, something that would give me an excuse to linger, but there was nothing.