14. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

U lises checked the time on his phone before going back to the dating app. He waited just outside the gate for Izzy. Answering the third guy's message gave him something to do while he waited.

Izzy was late. It was wearing on his nerves, driving him mad.

The guy's message didn't help. It was a little forward.

ABillionReasons787: You're the perfect boy for me. Do you live in the Duchester area?

At first, Ulises wasn't going to respond to him. How did he get to know someone who thought he was perfect even though they had never met? And asking him where he lived put him on alert. It would have been okay after a message exchange but it was the first message he'd sent.

Then he'd sent a series of messages after Ulises didn't respond right away. They made demands. It was as if the guy had forgotten he was a complete stranger.

ABillionReasons787: Are you going to keep me waiting?

ABillionReasons787: Answer me.

ABillionReasons787: Now, boy.

And so it went until Ulises thought telling him to fuck off was the best. But then he second-guessed himself, like he always did.

Maybe he should ask Easton what he thought since he was going into the office for an exam anyway. He could also wait until he got to Easton and Gavin's house later, since he was staying with them.

With the plan in place, he dialed Izzy's number instead of answering the message.

Izzy answered on the first ring. "I'll be there in less than a minute."

"You're late, Izzy."

"By a couple of minutes. I'll get you there on time. I promise."

Izzy pulled up a second later so Ulises ended the call. He got into Izzy's truck and fastened the seatbelt. "Drive, Jeeves."

Izzy chuckled. "You're spunky today."

"I'm spunky every day."

"You're sassy every day. Sometimes your spunk gets zapped out of you."

"I don't think you need to be telling sex jokes. Not to me."

Izzy snorted. "It wasn't intentional, but I wish it were. I meant sometimes you don't feel good, so it zaps your energy."

Ulises could feel the heat rising on his face. "Oh. That's…um…true."

There was silence in the truck, but it was comfortable, which was surprising. Not much should comfort him about Izzy but after a day of cleaning, the scary billionreasons787 guy, and the dizzy spells he'd been having, all he wanted to do was take a nap.

He shut his eyes and leaned his head against the seat. It didn't take long for him to fall into a haze. He wasn't in deep but he'd get there in just a few more minutes.

He felt Izzy touch his thigh and heard him say something, although he didn't take in what it was. He wasn't aware of putting his hand on top of Izzy's until the car stopped moving.

Ulises pulled away and stiffened.

Izzy shut the engine off. "We're here, baby."

"Stop calling me that." Ulises took off his seatbelt and got out of the truck. "Thanks for the ride."

Izzy fell in line beside him. "I'll stop calling you Baby if you stop icing me out."

"I'll stop icing you out when you just let me live my life." Ulises stopped at the door to the community center and met Izzy's gaze. "We want different things, Izzy. You made that very clear. So whatever this…" Ulises waved his hand between them. "is, doesn't have to happen."

Izzy cursed. "I thought we were friends."

It was such a ridiculous statement it was almost funny. "It doesn’t erase our history."

"We should have never fucked." Izzy shook his head. "It was a damned mistake."

Ulises' gut twisted. "Right. Well, you don't owe me anything. We can just forget about all of it. Even at the club. It's no big deal."

Ulises’ phone dinged, indicating he had a message from the dating app. He grabbed his phone just to give himself something else to focus on. He needed to take his mind off Izzy. If he thought about the conversation any longer, he'd start crying. And no way did he want to do it in front of Izzy.

As soon as he saw the message, the tears threatened to come anyway.

Ulises groaned and leaned against the side of the center. He shut his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm just fucking great. You can go now."

Izzy wrapped his arm around Ulises. "Are you dizzy?"

"No." He was overwhelmed, pissed that he let himself care about a guy who didn't give a shit about him. And worried he might have attracted a weirdo.

Izzy grabbed the phone from his hand with a growl.

Ulises protested but it fell on deaf ears. "Izzy. Damn it."

His vision blurred. He leaned into Izzy when he wasn’t sure if he would stay upright.

"I've got you, baby." Izzy picked him up and carried him inside. He leaned his head on Izzy's shoulder. "You're taking on too much."

That was probably true. Not that he'd give Izzy the satisfaction of agreeing.

"You should take a break from cleaning."

"It's not that." His job was great. Add in the training and maybe it made him a little tired. He probably needed to not do so much in one day, which meant he'd need more rides. Ulises groaned. "Seryn is paying me more even though I'm doing the same job. It's just taking a little longer. He's very understanding. He makes me take breaks and his chef makes me food."

The sweets were great. He still dreamed about the orange roll.

"Let's see what the doctor says."

" You aren't going in the exam room with me."

"Watch me."

Gods, he was insufferable.

"Stop. Please. I need you to back off. You said the same thing to me and I listened. Why won't you?"

"I wish I could."

"What does that even mean?"

When they got to Easton’s office, Izzy put Ulises on his feet, but he held onto Ulises, making sure he wasn't wobbly.

Easton narrowed his eyes.

Ulises held out his hand. "Give me my phone. And then you can go. Easton can take me home."

Izzy looked at Ulises’ phone. His eyes shifted as he read the messages from ABillionReasons787. He growled every word when he spoke. "Don't message this guy back."

"I wasn't planning on it." Ulises snatched his phone from Izzy's hand. "Not that it's any of your business."

Izzy growled again and sat in the middle chair of a group of three. "I'll wait for you."

"No."

"Stop arguing with me, boy." Izzy cursed under his breath and ran his hand through his hair.

Easton's eyebrows lifted. "Come on back."

Ulises followed him. He shut the door behind him.

"Okay, I seriously have a problem that has nothing to do with this." He pointed to his neck. He handed his phone over to Easton and showed him the messages. After a few seconds of watching Easton read them, he said, "Creepy, right?"

"Very. Let's block this guy." Easton pressed a few buttons and then handed the phone back to Ulises. "There. That should do it."

"I didn't know how to do that."

Easton shrugged. "I did some research before I set up your account. I wanted to learn all the ins and outs of the app."

Ulises was so relieved, he felt it in every muscle in his body. "Thank you."

"Okay, so I have good news and bad news. I'm going to give you the good news first."

Ulises sat on the exam table. "Good news first. Right?"

"The tumor is staying the same. Not growing or shrinking."

"Which means it's the medication."

"So we're going to stop the meds for a bit." Ulises was about to protest but Easton held up his hand. "The medication worked but I think your body became immune. The blurred vision and dizziness are your body's response to the medication when it stops doing its job. Which means I have to create something that will kill the rest of tumor and keep it away. I was only halfway there before."

"The bad news?"

"I don't know how long it's going to take. The tumor could grow back." Easton drew his eyebrows together. "I promise I'll work day and night if I need to."

"The fact that it shrank at all is good."

Easton shook his head. "The medication should have killed all of it."

"I've lived with it most of my life. I've seen specialist after specialist. I even went to a special hospital. You're the first person to truly help me." Ulises reached out. "You're my best friend, Easton. Not just my doctor."

Easton smiled. "Thanks, Ulises. I feel the same way about you. I just feel like a failure."

"Please. If you're a failure the rest of us in this world are total screw-ups." Ulises bounced on the exam table. "I should probably wait to tell you until we get home but I'm too excited. The chef asked me on a date today."

"Seryn's chef? The dating app guy? Also that's proof that it's a wildly small world."

"Right." He's really cute, Easton. Like really cute. Blond with pretty eyes. There's only one problem."

"Which is?"

"I don’t get Daddy vibes from him. If anything, he's a boy."

"So friend material maybe."

"Yeah, maybe." Ulises still wanted to be sure. The attraction was there. That was enough for a first date. "It's worth getting to know him, though."

Easton nodded. "I'm happy for you."

Ulises shrugged. "It's just a first date."

"But you're moving on from…" Easton pointed to the door.

"I'm trying." It didn't help that he'd caught feelings for Izzy, and they roared to life when Izzy was nearby. They wouldn't go away anytime soon. "I'm talking to another guy. He seems…promising."

"In what way?"

"Well, he told me something personal and emotional. It's…refreshing after…" It was Ulises's turn to point to the door where Izzy sat waiting for him on the other side.

Ulises was careful when he slid off the table. "I guess I'll let Izzy take me home."

"I'll be another hour or two." Easton's expression was apologetic.

"That's okay. He's not going to let it go anyway and besides, he catches me when my vision blurs so he's handy in a crisis." He meant it as a joke. Maybe not in a ha-ha-that-was-super-funny way but rather the sarcastic way, even though it was true.

Izzy wasn't known for his seriousness or his helpfulness unless it meant beating the shit out of someone who deserved it. Most of the time Izzy only wanted a good time. Ulises had found that out the hard way. He'd learned his lesson and didn't intend to go back.

Ulises gave Easton a hug. "Thanks. I know you're going to work yourself until you drop. While I wish you'd pace yourself, I still appreciate it. I also love you for it."

"Love you too. Brother."

Ulises lit up. "‘Brother’. I like that."

"Me too." Easton waved him toward the door. "Now get out of here. I have work to do."

Ulises smiled and headed out of the room. He half expected Izzy to be gone but he sat in the same chair. The second he saw Ulises he smiled. "Everything okay?"

"It's fine. Let's go, Jeeves."

Izzy rolled his eyes and let Ulises go first out of the office. "What did Easton say?"

"That my sass is contagious." Ulises smirked.

"The gods help us all."

Ulises couldn't help but chuckle. He didn't want to find Izzy charming, but he was. The good news was no one was immune so at least Ulises wasn't alone when he’d fallen in love. Izzy had left a trail of broken hearts. Ulises wished he was sorry he was one of them, but it had been the best sex of his life. He wasn't sorry he experienced that. The loveable jerk.