I felt my eyes starting to droop as I laid on the couch watching a rerun of "The Golden Girls".
A sudden pounding on the door startled me awake. I sat up and stretched and shuffled to the front door. I opened the door to find my brother-in-law, Sheppard Bannister, standing in the hallway looking pitiful, slumped over with a dejected posture. He had his hands shoved in his jeans pockets.
"Shep," I said with surprise. I glanced up at the clock and saw that it was 11:45 at night. "Is something wrong?"
"Hey, Billy. Can I crash here for the night?"
"Oh. Uh, sure."
I opened the door wide and gestured for him to come in. He picked up the duffel bag laying on the floor next to his feet. I shut and bolted the door behind him. I felt slightly embarrassed standing there in a t-shirt and briefs, but I wasn't expecting company. We stood in awkward silence for a moment.
Shep is married to my older sister, Wendy. I don't know how she landed a guy like Shep. Shep was the captain of all of his sports teams in high school. A big, brawny jock. Of course, that was more than ten years ago. He's a little softer these days, but he's still a total stud. He's got wild dark blond hair and blue eyes. Like his hair, his five o'clock shadow is thick and dark blond, as is his goatee. He's got long sideburns that reach almost to his jaw. I have always been jealous of Shep's ease at growing any style of facial hair. At 28 years, I can't even manage a proper goatee. At 6'5", Shep's eight inches taller than me. He's 32 years old, making him four years older than me. He's got a bit of a rebellious streak and he's a bit gruff, but he's mellowed some with age. He's a good guy. He's always been nothing but nice to me.
When Wendy first brought Shep home eight years ago, I was still in college. I was home for Christmas break and she brought him with her. I was immediately in lust with him, but after talking to him and getting to know him, I found that I really liked him as a person. For the life of me, I couldn't understand what he saw in Wendy. She's a shrieking harpy and a total nag. Nothing is ever good enough for her. They got married a year later and I figured if her 'bridezilla' behavior didn't scare him off, then nothing would.
"I wasn't sure where else to go," he finally said.
"Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you need, if you don't mind the futon in my office."
"Yeah. That'd be great."
I walked down the hall to the second bedroom, which I use as a computer room. I turned on the light and pulled out the futon so that it was laying flat.
"Here ya go," I said. "You know the bathroom's across the hall. Let me get you some sheets and a blanket."
"Thanks."
I walked across the hall to the bathroom and opened the linen closet. I grabbed a set of sheets and a blanket. When I returned to the computer room, Shep was sitting on the futon staring at the floor. I stood there, not knowing what to say.
"I'm leaving Wendy," he said quietly.
"I'm sorry to hear that," I said, though I wasn't really sorry.
"Thanks for letting me stay here, Billy."
I watched his eyes go glassy and he turned away from me. I set the sheets and blankets on the futon.
"Anytime, Shep. Yell if you need anything."
I left the room, shutting the door behind me. I turned off the TV in the living room and got ready for bed. I went into my own bedroom and shut the door behind me. I tossed my glasses on the nightstand and crawled into bed. I couldn't help but think about Shep. I had never seen him so depressed. I really hoped he would be okay. Maybe a good night's sleep would help.
* * *
I woke up early the next morning and showered and got dressed for work. I went to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. I got myself a bowl of Raisin Bran and sat down at the small table. When Shep walked into the kitchen, I nearly spewed my coffee all over the place.
He shuffled into the kitchen with half closed eyes. His hair was all over the place. He had on a pair of green boxer shorts. And nothing else. His chest and stomach were covered in dark blond hair, which was thickest in the middle of his chest and the line that ran down the middle of his body and disappeared into his boxer shorts. Despite having a little bit of a soft tummy, he's still in pretty good shape for a guy his age. He has various tattoos on his arms and also a large tribal spider pattern on the front of his lower left leg. The spider is really cool, but my favorite is the big cross on his left arm. I couldn't help but notice that those thin and flimsy boxers did nothing to hide the large lump that hung down the left leg.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and looked down at my cereal. I could feel that my face was warm and flushed. My dick throbbed in my briefs and I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself.
"Smelled coffee," he said. His voice was rough and scratchy and he cleared it.
"Help yourself," I said without looking up. "The mugs are in the cabinet above the pot."
He grabbed a mug and poured himself a cup and sat down at the table. He took a drink and set the mug down and stretched his arms over his head and groaned. He yawned and absentmindedly scratched at the patch of fur in the middle of his chest. It took everything I had in me to rip my eyes away from him.
"There's milk in the fridge if you want cereal," I offered.
"Thanks."
I quickly finished my cereal and made my excuses about heading in to work. I was going to embarrass myself if I hung around him any longer.
"You sure it's okay if I stay here?" he asked as I was about to leave the room. "Just for a few days. I won't wear out my welcome."
"Yeah. It's no problem. As long as you want. Here's a key."
I pulled the spare key out of the drawer and set it on the counter. I looked up into his eyes and smiled, then quickly hurried out. I walked to the parking lot and saw his red truck parked next to my Jeep.
Shep was a mechanic. He mostly worked on restoring and repairing classic cars and trucks. He drove a classic Chevy pickup truck. It was bright red and looked like he just drove it off the lot. It ran like new as well. He told me how old it was once, but I can't remember. I think it was from the 60's. Wendy was always trying to get him to sell it, but he wouldn't because he worked so hard over the years restoring it. It was his baby and he was proud of it. While I have no attachment whatsoever to my Jeep, I can understand Shep's attachment to his truck.
I ran my hand over the hood of the truck, then got in my Jeep and drove to work.
As I sat at my desk in my small gray cubicle, I found it hard to concentrate on the spreadsheets in front of me. All I could think of was Shep. If I wasn't wondering about what was going on with him and Wendy, I was daydreaming about his hunky body.
When I got home from work, I went to my bedroom and pulled off my khakis and my briefs. I had drooled into my underwear all afternoon. I tossed them into the hamper and laid out the khakis to get another day's wear out of them. I pulled on a clean pair of underwear and some sweat pants.
I decided to start dinner. I really liked cooking and it would be nice to cook for someone else besides myself. I decided on honey balsamic glazed chicken breasts with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.
Shep came home while dinner was cooking. He leaned in the kitchen doorway and watched me. He was wearing his navy blue Dickies branded pants and a matching mechanic's button-down shirt. He had a patch on his left breast that said "Midtown Auto". On the right was a rectangular patch with "Shep" embroidered in the middle of it. His pants had a couple of smears of grease on them.
"Smells good in here," he said.
