Chapter 4

Chapter Four

KYLEN

"Oh. It's Howard. Howard's here."

Kylen fought the urge to correct his grandmother. He wasn't even sure she knew a Howard. Maybe he was one of the nurses. Or some fling she had back in the fifties, which was something he did not want to think about.

Beside him, his sister scoffed. "Gran…"

"Just let her have it," he told her.

Grace gave him a flat look. "It's not healthy to let her think whatever she wants."

He fought back a small wave of rage. His sister meant well. He knew that. All of his family always meant well. But this was the longest any of them had even stuck around since his grandmother had gotten diagnosed. Somehow, he'd become the official carer for her in spite of the fact that he made the least amount of money and had the least amount of time.

But Grace would stay for a week, then go home and pat herself on the back and make inspirational posts on Facebook about what a good job she was doing taking care of her ailing grandma. And everyone would praise her, and no one would bother looking deeper into the reality of their situation.

He didn't really care though. The only thing that mattered was that his grandmother was safe, which was what he was working on now. He was able to get another two weeks of leave before he had to fly again, but then he was tapped out.

If he didn't want to lose his house, he had to work. He was starting to feel the strain. If it wasn't for Dani's best friend, who was willing to babysit Flora while he was in the air, he would have been completely screwed.

"What's that face?" Grace demanded.

He ignored her and walked over to his grandmother's bed, kissing her forehead. "Hi, Gran."

"I'm not a gran yet, Howard," she said with a small giggle. Her voice was hoarse from being intubated, and her left pupil was still a little dilated.

He wanted to maim the fucking neglectful nurse who'd been on filming a TikTok in her car instead of watching her. The woman had been let go, but apart from a half-assed apology, they weren't getting anything from the company except an email saying that his grandmother was no longer a good fit for their services and that they were working with the insurance to have her transferred.

He was shit out of luck until he heard back from someone.

"Who's Howard?" he asked.

Gran looked up at him with a small smile. "The man I'm going to marry."

She'd married Bruno, a car salesman. He didn't remember his granddad much. He died when Kylen was six. He had one odd memory of him though—in suspenders smoking a cigar, looking terrifying to a small child. He didn't think he would have been close to the man had he lived longer.

"Hello, hello, gorgeous. It's—oh. You have visitors!"

Kylen looked up at a very attractive man with windswept, dark blond hair and scrubs covered in flowers. He looked like he'd stepped right off the pages of GQ . He gave Kylen a long once-over, then a passing glance at Grace before setting the tray he was holding down on the little side table.

"I'm Kylen. Her grandson."

"I see your granny passed on all the good genes to you," the nurse said with a wink. He extended his hand, and Kylen immediately took note of the ring on his left hand. His heart sank, but only a little. He wasn't actually interested, but it would have been nice to flirt and have it reciprocated. "My name's Frey." He tapped his badge after letting Kylen's hand go.

"This is my boyfriend," Gran said, smiling at Frey.

Frey smiled and lifted her hand, kissing her knuckles. "We're going to run away together. She says Prague is nice this time of year."

Kylen couldn't help a grin, but behind them, Grace scoffed. "She's never been to Prague."

"Well, I hear it's a lovely time of year to go," Frey said without missing a beat. "I am glad you're here though. I was just assigned this lovely woman this morning. It's my second day."

"They're letting you care for her on your second day of work?" Grace demanded.

"Shut up, Please just…shut up," Kylen snapped at her. He looked at Frey. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Trust me, I've heard worse. And," he added without bothering to look back at Grace, "it's my second day here . I've been a nurse for over a decade. I just got a transfer. Better hours so my husband doesn't want to divorce me. Though," Frey said with a small sigh, "it looks like I have to leave him."

"My grandson is a homo," Gran said.

Kylen's face burst into a white-hot blush. "Oh my God."

Frey doubled over with laughter. "Is he now? Well, we love a good homo around here, honey, so he's in good company." She smiled, then closed her eyes, and Frey leaned toward him. "Is she being homophobic, or is she serious?"

"Well. Both," Kylen admitted. "But she's one of the few people in my family who actually acknowledged my sexuality when I came out, so I guess that's something?"

"You have a child," Grace snapped. "You can't still think that about yourself."

Frey turned his head, and Kylen noticed his very sharp smile. "I have a child too. And I'm as homo as they come, honey. I mean, considering I get butt-fucked by my husband at least four times a week. Five if he's had a good day at work."

Grace glared at him, then turned on her heel and stormed out.

"She might report you," Kylen said in a small voice.

Frey seemed entirely unbothered. "She can do whatever she wants. They fucking love me here at this hospital." He began to check Gran's IV, then a few other wires, before tucking her back under her blankets. "And again, I've heard worse. I used to work in orthopedic surgery, and most of my patients there were old and crotchety and usually pretty fucking homophobic. And racist."

Kylen grimaced. "That sounds rough."

"Oh, it does," Frey said with a laugh, leaning against the table. "But I met my husband that way, so I can't really complain."

Kylen's shoulders sagged. "She's normally sweet, so at the very least, she probably won't yell at you."

"I can handle it. Don't you stress about me." Frey winked at him, then hesitated before saying, "Are you local?"

"Yeah. We've lived here a while now. My daughter just started kindergarten at Stone Elementary."

"Oh! One of my best friends is a kinder teacher there. Mr. Reed?"

Kylen smiled. "Yeah, that's hers." He hadn't met the guy, but he'd gotten the welcome letter, and he sounded nice. He'd been a little uncertain about a man teaching kindergarten, but Flora had been thrilled since the first day. "My kiddo adores him. I'm meeting him tonight at the open house thingie."

"Well, tell him you met me and that we're best friends now," Frey said. "That way, you'll get all the special privileges."

Kylen laughed as Frey pushed the rolling table closer to the bed. "I'll keep that in mind. And, uh…thanks for not taking any of that personally. Just because you deal with it all the time doesn't mean you should have to."

Frey's expression softened. "It is what it is. It's easier to be sympathetic here, you know. They can't really help it."

Kylen grimaced. "Yeah, I meant my sister."

Frey's face darkened. "Ah. I feel like I should be saying sorry to you for having to put up with that bullshit."

"It's fine. She only shows up every so often. Most of the time, it's just me ignoring her calls." Kylen rubbed the back of his neck and fought off a yawn. He was beyond exhausted .

"Listen, I have to go finish my rounds," Frey said. "Will you be here for a while?"

"Considering my other option right now is hanging with my sister, yeah. I think I'll sit," Kylen answered.

Frey smiled at him. "Cool. I'll be by with coffee and cookies. The good kind. Push the button if you need me." Then he was gone.

Kylen's stomach swooped a little. He had no idea what to make of the interaction, but Frey had set him at ease and disarmed him entirely. It was exactly what he needed. He was still reeling from being called home from work. And, if he was being honest with himself, he was reeling from the almost he had on the plane with Dallas.

He hadn't stopped thinking about the guy since he'd been called into the cockpit and had come out to find everyone gone. He'd looked for Dallas after that, but he stopped himself before heading down to baggage claim.

Kylen was crushing on him, and no good could be had from pursuing a straight man. None at all.

"Thank fuck, he's gone." He looked up at the sound of Grace's voice. "What an asshole."

"Actually, you were the asshole," Kylen said. "All of you have been major assholes since I had Flora, and it's only gotten worse since Gran got sick."

Grace's face went stony. "You can't lay claim to being gay if you fuck women, Kylen."

His jaw tensed. "I had drunken sex with a woman one time, and I didn't even enjoy it!"

"You came! How is that not enjoying it?"

He did not want to be talking about this with his sister. "Is that really the hill you want to die on? I'm a closet hetero because my horny dick in an equally horny pussy made me climax? By that logic, every lesbian who gets off with a dildo is at least bi."

"Well," Grace started.

"Oh my fucking God, do not," he said through clenched teeth. "How are you such a goddamn bigot?"

Her cheeks pinked. "I am not a bigot."

"If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…"

"You know, I might believe you if you were actually with a man, but you haven't had a relationship, like ever, Kylen. If that's not telling, I don't know what is."

He wasn't sure why, but that was the moment he snapped. Somewhere off in the voice, he heard Dallas's voice speaking to him. You know, like a Canadian boyfriend?

"I am dating someone," he blurted.

Grace snapped her jaw shut so hard he heard the click of her teeth. She cleared her throat. "Really? Who?"

"A guy. You don't know him." Fuck, he was so bad at this.

She lifted a brow. "Mhm. He lives where?"

"Here," he said, because saying Canada would give him away. "His name is Dallas."

Oh Jesus. Yeah, okay. He deserved to be publicly humiliated for that one.

Grace blinked at him. "Right. Dallas, the secret boyfriend. And how long have you two been together?"

"A year. It's serious," Kylen went on. In for a fucking penny, it seemed. If he was going to tell a lie, he was going to make it a big one. "I think we're in love."

"You think." She laughed and rolled her eyes. "You're a pathetic waste."

"And you're a bitch," he snapped back. "The only reason I tolerate you is because you're not a bitch to my daughter."

Grace looked hurt. "I'm not trying to be that way, you know. But you don't give me a lot of room to work on you here."

"Because I don't need you to work on me. I'm perfectly happy."

"With your secret long-term boyfriend named Dallas that no one has ever seen." She licked her lips. "I'm gonna go. See you tonight."

She was hurt, but so was he. He wasn't going to chase her down. He wasn't going to say sorry. His family had been stomping all over his personal boundaries for years. He was bound to crack eventually.

And if anyone wouldn't mind being used for a small, white lie, he figured Dallas might be the one.