16. Chapter 16

It was another slow day, so I stocked paint supplies at the hardware store, whistling and smiling like a fool, thinking about Blaze. What a dramatic turn our relationship had taken in such a short time. We weren’t exactly boyfriends, not that we’d really defined it, yet we were committed to each other, and he was mine. After our long talk on the roof and Blaze trusting me enough to let out all his pain, we became more that night and grew closer.

It didn’t take much for me to imagine we were more than just the sex. We were definitely no longer hookups, although I couldn’t exactly define what we were. Whatever it was, I liked it, and for the first time, commitment didn’t make my eye twitch, even if it was with my enemy. Could I still call him my enemy? Time would tell, I supposed.

“Well, you’re in a good mood,” Barry said .

I looked at him and smiled as I filled a bin full of wooden disposable paintbrushes. “I am.”

“Hot date tonight?” I waggled my brows, making him laugh. “Well, lucky you.”

Barry had no idea I was gay, and I didn’t advertise it at work, so I was grateful he didn’t ask me about the ‘girl’ in my life.

“I’d be lucky to get my wife’s attention.”

“Take her on a date,” I suggested. “Remind her of the man she married.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe. It has been a while. Thanks, Jaxon.”

“Welcome.”

He walked off to do whatever he did around here when my phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it, continuing to stock and organize. I’d call them back later.

They hung up, but my phone buzzed again. Shit, I hope Blaze wasn’t calling things off tonight.

I dug my phone out of my pocket and saw that Alpha was calling. If he was calling, it had to be important. He may have had to reschedule things at work.

“Hey, Alpha,” I answered.

“Ajax… Look, I want to give you a heads-up. There’s… been an accident.”

My heart stopped for a moment before it raced. “Who?” I demanded, gripping the hell out of my phone.

“Nacho.”

“Oh, god. Is he…”

“He’s fine… sort of.”

“What the fuck does ‘ sort of ’ mean, dammit?” I hissed, trying to keep my voice down.

“Apparently, Pippin and Nacho had an argument. Pippin ran off to skate, and Nacho took off after him. It’s been raining, and… the car didn’t see him and hit Nacho.”

I leaned against the paint counter, my legs weak. “God, please tell me he’s going to be okay.”

“He’s going to be okay. He’s got a broken leg, a concussion, and some bruises and abrasions, but he’ll be fine.”

“Okay. Thank fuck. ”

“I’m here with him now. Stone and Stix are off to get Pippin to bring him to the hospital if they can.”

“What do you mean?”

Alpha sighed on the other line. “Let’s just say Pippin has issues with… hospitals and shit. I’m not supposed to say anything, dammit, but Pippin needs help, and he needs all our support right now. Nacho, too. But… especially Pippin.”

No one knew Pippin’s story other than he’d been in foster care with Nacho, and they’d both run away, living on the streets for two years. Other than that, we were all clueless about Pippin before that or what landed him in foster care. Nacho was raised in foster care since he was an infant.

“What do you need me to do?” I asked. In times like these, we all came together as a family.

“For now, just go to the bar, open up for the night tonight, and I’ll be there when I can. After Nacho is released from the hospital, I need all of you over at their apartment to help out when you can. Don’t kill yourselves, but… just make sure Nacho is getting his meds and shit.”

I read between the lines. Pippin struggled with ADHD, and he blanked out a lot. He could forget things and got easily distracted unless he was bartending, which he was brilliant at. Nacho had always taken care of him, keeping Pippin going in one direction, but now the roles reversed, and Pippin needed to take care of Nacho.

“You got it. Tell Nacho I hope he gets better, and I’ll see him soon.”

“Thanks, Ajax. I knew I could count on you.”

As soon as I hung up, Blaze called.

“Hey,” I said when I answered.

“I, ah, heard what happened. Cueball and I were at the skatepark, and I’d been kind of pissy with him because he was… well, it doesn’t matter. Anyway, we were there with Pippin when it all went down. The dude nearly passed out when he found out Nacho had been hit by a car and was sent to the hospital.”

I stood and paced. “You were there?”

“Yeah, man. Pippin had been really stressed, told Cueball all kinds of crazy shit about his past. But Cueball is fucking good about getting out your secrets. Hell, if he told someone to kill a person, they’d probably do it in a heartbeat. Anyway, Pippin is… I thought you and I had it bad… Fuck me. It was some conversion therapy, Ajax. They hurt him badly when he was a kid.”

I suddenly needed to sit, so I dropped to the floor and ran a hand through my hair.

“You there?” he asked.

“Yeah… Jesus fuck. Poor Pippin.”

“No, shit. He said he ran away from home when the therapy didn’t ‘ take ,’ and they dumped him in foster care, where he met Nacho. Anyway, we barely got him home, and he refused to go to the hospital. He’s got some phobia or something.”

That explained what Alpha meant earlier. I had no idea it was that bad.

“I’m… sorry,” Blaze said, snapping me out of it.

“Thanks for calling me.”

“It’s okay if you can’t meet up. Just… call me when you’re free.”

“Thanks,” I said again, appreciating him more for his patience, which he wasn’t exactly known for. Hell, neither was I.

Right now, my priority was with my friends.

I hefted the bag in my arm and knocked on the door. It took a while before Pippin answered it. He looked like shit, with his red hair a wreck and all stressed out, his green eyes wide and a bit wild. When was the last time he’d slept? Hell, I could ask myself the same question.

“Ah, hey, Ajax.”

“Hey, Pip. Can I come in?”

“Oh, yeah…” he stepped aside, and I walked in. Their apartment wasn’t the nicest, like mine, but they added nice touches to make it homey with throw pillows and some curtains.

“I’m here to help,” I said.

His smile was tired as his shoulders sagged and he rubbed his neck. “Thanks. I haven’t slept much. Nate needs meds and to eat.” He started to look panicky and paced a bit. “When was the last time I fed him? Was it lunch? He had mac and cheese. Shit, that was yesterday, or… He loves mac and cheese. I mean, he loves nachos more, but I’m kind of sick of them. We went to this one place that had really good mac and cheese. They put bacon in it. It was a splurge for us, but we had to try it. I mean, you only live once, right? When was it? A few months ago, I think. It was cold out. There was snow, and we wanted to go play in it since we hadn’t done that in a long time…”

His ADHD was more pronounced today, probably from the stress. When I rested a hand on his shoulder, he stopped his rambling. “I’m here. Go take a bath or a shower or whatever, then grab a nap. I’ll watch over Nacho for a bit, okay?”

Pippin lunged at me and pulled me into a fierce hug. “Thank you!”

I hugged him back and patted his back. “You’re welcome. Go relax for a bit. Do you have your earbuds?”

He nodded.

“Good, listen to some chill music and just rest.”

“Okay.”

Alpha already gave me instructions on what I needed to do, so Pippin didn’t need to tell me what he needed help with. It would’ve taken thirty minutes just to get the answer while under this kind of stress.

Pippin wandered off as I headed back into the bedroom they both shared. Before they admitted their feelings, they lived as roommates. Now, they had one bedroom, and the other was converted into an office space.

When I stepped into their bedroom, I found Nacho resting in bed, looking through a magazine, with his broken leg propped up on a pillow. Because of the concussion, he wasn’t allowed to watch TV or use his phone. It was too stimulating.

“Knock, knock,” I said.

He looked up and gave me a tired smile. His dark curls were a wreck and looked a little tangled. I’d remind Pippin to help Nacho brush them out.

But what made him look terrible was the bruising and lacerations on his face from hitting the asphalt.

“Hey,” he said.

“How’s it going?”

“I’m bored as fuck.”

I smiled and lifted the bag. “A little present.”

He rubbed his hands, still covered in bandages from the asphalt scrapes.

I sat on the edge of the bed, dug into the bag, and pulled out a Styrofoam container.

“No way! Nachos?”

“Yep, from your favorite spot a couple of blocks away… with extra jalape?os, right?”

“Sweet!”

“I grabbed some of their pralines, too.”

“Oh, Sam will love those. But he’s so tired of nachos. Who can blame him?”

“I brought Sam a personal-sized cheese pizza, but I sent him off to chill in the bath for a bit first.”

“You’re the best, Ajax.”

I handed Nacho a plastic fork, and he dug into the tortilla chips, smothered in melted cheese and refried beans.

“How are you holding up?”

Nacho shrugged. “I get headaches and shit. I’m uncomfortable and bored, as I said, but Sam’s been really great. He’s trying so damn hard. And I’m so proud of him fighting his fears of doctors by coming to see me at the hospital.”

“I’m so sorry. I wish I’d known.”

He gave me a small smile and shrugged again. “Sam doesn’t like talking about it. He didn’t want anyone to know. I, ah… had told Alpha, and Sam found out. He was really upset with me. God, I was so scared he was going to leave me when he walked out that door the other day. As you know, I chased after him when I got hit. He’s been guilty about it ever since, and it’s useless to tell him otherwise, but I think his guilt also helped push him to meet his fears head-on.”

“Well, we all love you and Pip, no matter what you’ve all been through. Our pasts may define us, but that doesn’t make us weak or bad people. We would’ve supported Pip if he’d told us. We would’ve shown he wasn’t alone, but I get that our pasts are hard to talk about sometimes.”

That right there reminded me of Blaze and his story, and that I was the only one who knew the extent of it, except for his high school buddy. It suddenly hit me hard how much trust he had in me to tell his story.

Nacho nodded as he took a large bite of his food. “I know,” he said with his mouth full. “How about you? You keep losing weight, Ajax.”

“Yeah, I know. Eating… It’s meh. I just haven’t had much of an appetite. It’s like I’m hungry, but eating is a chore, and it all tastes… bland for some reason. But I’m trying.”

Not to mention, Blaze had been practically force-feeding me lately, but I wasn’t about to tell Nacho that.

He eyed me with those chocolatey-brown eyes of his. “And… how about Blaze?” he asked carefully.

I wanted to laugh. I was sure our friends figured it out. Hell, Cueball already knew, but I wasn’t about to open up about it unless I had Blaze’s permission. He was the secretive one. Regardless, I really didn’t know how to define us yet.

“What about him? He’s fine, I guess.”

“You two are… fighting less,” he hedged.

“Yeah, well, we can’t fight forever.”

“You sure there’s nothing going on between you two?”

“Wow, you sure are bored with all your needling questions. Eat and have a praline while I get your kitchen clean. It’s a disaster in there.”

Nacho frowned and pouted. “Fine, don’t tell me.” He waved me off, and I headed to the kitchen to do what I came here to do.

After I got their apartment sorted out and Pippin relaxed, I headed home and rubbed one out, thinking of Blaze. We had plans again, but not until this Thursday, which was five days away still. I was itching to have him under me again. I couldn’t fucking get enough.