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TK has his eyes closed as he swings in a hammock tied between two trees in the backyard of his and Carlos’ house.
He knew a hammock in Texas was not the most practical thing, especially in the height of summer. But one evening during post coital snuggles, TK had told Carlos how he had always dreamed of having a hammock. It would be a place where he could go to relax after a hard day and all his worries could float away on a breeze. It just wasn’t a very practical dream in the concrete jungle of New York.
Four days ago, Carlos had surprised TK with his hammock. Just when he thought he couldn’t love the man any more than he already did, he goes and does something like that.
Today is the first day that TK has had off since the appearance of the hammock and he plans to spend a little time resting in it, especially since Carlos is outside as well.
He is currently mowing the lawn in the front yard and TK can hear the buzzing of the motor off in the distance. The sound and slight smell of freshly mowed grass helps add to the ambience of being outdoors.
He takes in a breath and lets the sway of the hammock lull him into a light doze.
He comes awake a little bit later when the sound of the lawn mower increases as if it's getting closer.
TK peaks open one eye to see what is going on.
Carlos is now in the backyard. And sometime between the front yard and backyard, Carlos had removed his shirt.
He realizes Carlos doesn’t know yet that he’s in the hammock and, to his delight, he can stare unabashedly at the sweat glistening abs as he approaches and the toned muscles in his back as he walks away.
As Carlos reaches the edge of the yard and turns back in TK’s direction. TK’s eyes begin to take in the sight of Carlos’ chest once again until he realizes he no longer hears the buzzing of the lawn mower.
He quickly darts his eyes up to Carlos’ face and sees him smirking back at him.
He’s been caught!
“Don’t think I didn’t notice you checking me out!” Carlos shouts across the yard.
TK is so startled, he rolls to his left side to quickly get out of the hammock, only his feet get tangled in the net. Instead of the graceful exit he was expecting, he flips completely over and lands face first on the hard ground.
“Shit, TK! Are you alright?” Carlos runs over to his boyfriend and reaches down to roll him over.
“I think so,” TK responds, but he definitely feels a stinging sensation above his left eyebrow. He lightly touches his fingers to the area and pulls them away to find blood.
Carlos grabs TK’s face and angles it towards the sun so he can see better.
“It’s not a big gash, but looks like it might need a couple of stitches.”
Carlos surveys the ground until he finds what he is looking for. “Your head must have hit that exposed tree root.” TK groans.
“I’ll run inside and get a towel so you can apply some pressure to the wound. Then I’m taking you to get stitched up,” Carlos says as he heads in to do just that.
A minute later, Carlos returns with a towel, car keys, and a fresh shirt on.
“Let’s go, Tiger,” he says as he leads TK to his car.
“You’re going to be the death of me. Next time, I’m keeping my eyes closed when I’m in the hammock.” Carlos laughs at TK’s comment and heads to the hospital.
Two stitches and a few days later, TK goes out to spend some quiet time in his hammock. As he approaches, he notices the ground looks different. He crouches down to examine it.
TK chuckles to himself. Apparently his gorgeous, protective boyfriend has covered the ground underneath with playground rubber mulch.
TK carefully climbs in. As he gently sways once again in his hammock, he thinks of all the ways he can give Carlos a proper “thank you.”