7. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

U lises hated crying in front of people. It wasn't as though Easton was a stranger. They'd become friends over the course of Ulises' medical treatment. As he sat on the examination table, he could feel the emotion building in his chest. On the walk over he had almost convinced himself he was better off without Izzy. His heart needed to get with the program. When it did, he’d finally start believing it.

Who needed a guy whose only objective in life was to get off as much as possible? All fucking with no emotion attached.

That had been the last straw. Ulises thought he could be like Izzy and have a little fun. No emotion. All he needed was a temporary daddy to fill his hole and once it was done, he could go on his merry way.

It turned out that way was fraught with emotional potholes and Ulises had sunk deep enough for the emotion to threaten to spill the second Easton stopped fiddling with the syringe and vial. As soon as Easton started talking he'd burst into tears. He could feel it build in his chest.

Easton's office was a big room inside Wingspan's community center. Counters and cabinets lined the walls.

Easton's back was to Ulises. He wrote in a chart with one hand and held a syringe in the other. Ulises had been to enough appointments to know Easton kept track of the dosage and Ulises’ reaction to it. He’d already measured Ulises’ lump, not that there was that much to measure anymore.

"I’m upping your dose but not by much. I think we can get the tumor licked if we increase your dosage by a little." Easton said it more to himself than to Ulises. "I'll want to see you again at the end of the week, but it's just to check the size of the tumor…" Easton turned and met his gaze. "What's wrong?"

Ulises shook his head. He had a lie built up about how nothing was wrong, and he was fine, perfectly happy with the trajectory of his love life. But what came out was a hiccup as the emotion formed a lump in his throat. Breathing around it wasn’t impossible, but it wasn't easy either. He could feel his chin wobble.

Easton was a club boy just like Ulises. The difference was he was mated and to alpha of Wingspan no less. Ulises had grown so close to them over the course of his treatments he counted them as family. And he knew they felt the same. So it didn't surprise him when Easton set the syringe on the counter and hugged Ulises. "He's an asshole."

"How…" Was all he could get out, but Easton seemed to know Ulises was asking how he knew Izzy was the cause.

"Who else would break your heart but Izzy?" Maybe Ulises had had higher expectations than he should have. He'd still set the bar kind of low and hoped Izzy would like him for more than he'd liked all the other guys he fucked. Ulises didn’t judge Izzy. But maybe, in the very back of his mind, he wanted to be the last and only one.

Everyone who knew they were fucking, which was pretty much the entire Dragon Skulls family, expected Izzy to throw Ulises to the wayside. And they had all been right.

When would Ulises learn that he couldn’t have sex with randos and expect not to catch feelings? Ulises didn’t have it in him to be easy and casual.

Ulises had to calm down before speaking. It took several minutes and a few tissues to get there. "It's more than just him breaking things off." Ulises touched the lump on his neck. "He said he was doing me a favor."

Easton's expression hardened. "Your health problems don't detract from how gorgeous you are. If he can't see that then he's not only a shallow asshole but he's also a grade-A idiot."

Ulises smiled despite his tears. "Probably."

"No ‘probably’ about it. He's going to know all that about himself because I plan on telling him the next time I see him."

Oh gods. No thanks. The last thing he needed was Izzy knowing how much he'd hurt Ulises.

"As much as I love you wanting to defend me, I would much rather just forget he even happened." Maybe he needed to just forget about dating for a while. Or maybe he needed to go on a legitimate date with someone. Dinner with a single kiss at the end of the night. Maybe his problem was jumping into bed with the first guy who’d paid him attention in a long time.

Ulises touched his neck again. "The tumor has been a deterrent for a lot of guys. Even Izzy hadn’t ever made advances until it wasn’t visible anymore."

"Then all guys are idiots." Easton's face lit up. "What about branching out? You only go to the club to find dates. Maybe you should look elsewhere."

Ulises wasn't sure he was ready to date, and then to find a guy who wanted a boy and was into the lifestyle was even more difficult. Not to mention one who would overlook Ulises' health problems. And then there was the fact he was a warlock. And one who sort of sucked at magic. Finding someone compatible seemed impossible. But what if Easton was right? What if it was the type of guy he was exposed to?

He’d never know until he tried. He shrugged. "What do you have in mind?"

Easton snorted. "Don't sound so thrilled." He picked up the syringe and then an alcohol pad.

"Sorry. I'm just apprehensive. Izzy broke it off like an hour ago. I don’t know how ready I am to meet anyone new.." Ulises tilted his head to the side, giving Easton room.

"You weren’t dating though, right?" Easton rubbed the swab over the lump.

"It was just fucking." What could a couple of dinners hurt? It wasn't a rebound fuck.

"Maybe you should also try one of those dating apps. We can take pictures of you. Maybe over by the lake." Easton injected the medication directly into his lump.

He’d been poked so often in the last few months he didn’t feel the needle enter his skin anymore.

Ulises crinkled his nose at the thought of using an app. He and technology didn't mix very well. He didn’t used his cellphone for anything besides taking a call from Seryn, who was his boss and his magic mentor. He texted Easton because they were best friends, but not often. With the weekly appointments, they usually gabbed long after they finished.

"I don't know about the dating app thing. Meeting someone online is kind of scary." And besides that, what if no one liked his profile.

Easton waved off Ulises apprehension. "I'll set up the app on your phone. My brother is really good at taking pictures."

What could it hurt? "All right. As long as you’re sure it won’t bring out the crazy stalkers."

"I can’t guarantee anything but I can help vet people if you want.” Easton hugged Ulises again. “What are you doing later tomorrow?"

Ulises shrugged. "I have a book boyfriend I wouldn't mind getting back to. Other than that nothing."

Easton smiled. "I'll find out what Jarrell is doing and maybe we can take pictures later."

"What about my tumor?" What if it were visible in a photo and guys were turned off by it? "I think I changed my mind."

"How about we take a bunch of pictures. You can decide which ones to use. If you don't like any of them or don’t want to create a profile, we won't. You can also take it down whenever you want."

He'd always avoided taking photos of himself because his lump had been very noticeable before, but it wasn’t visible when he saw his reflection in the mirror. He had to feel around for it on his neck to even know it was there. "Let's do it."