Chapter Eleven
Brad sat in front of Royce's garage waiting for Luis to get off work. He was ten minutes early, but he had finished with all he could get done up to the time Luis's day was done, but he wanted to start Jaron's floor this evening. Nothing like drowning himself in work to take his mind off his nonexistent love life. He thought about calling Kendrick, but he didn't know where he stood anymore. The last thing Kendrick needed was pressure from him.
It had been a week, though, and Brad was slowly going crazy. He'd never liked someone as much as Kendrick. His openness was refreshing, and Brad wanted more of it.
But God, the way they had left things felt like a wound that wouldn't ever close. One fucking conversation was all he needed, just to know where he stood, but getting it was tricky.
Brad rolled the window down and shut off the truck engine when he saw Royce come out of the office. He knew Royce, not well, they weren't friends, but they'd been friendly over the years. He'd been good to Luis.
Brad knew Luis had a thing for Royce but had said little whenever someone talked about him because mostly it was Luis venting about how Royce was a sexy asshole, blah, blah. An opinion wasn't needed, not that he had one. And as far as Brad knew, Royce didn't reciprocate the feelings, or if he did, he hadn't acted on them. Since Luis was an adult, Brad didn't see the need to stick his nose in.
Brad didn't figure Royce came out to talk to him about Luis, anyway. Or at least, he never had before.
Royce stood about a foot away, the car door separating them. Royce was one of those no-nonsense types. He let people know where they stood. And he was more apt to get right to the point than create small talk. "I got a couple of different issues. One is Luis. I caught him searching for remedies for depression on my office computer. I know he's been down lately. Not sure how to help other than to let you know."
Brad nodded. "I'm aware." He didn't know what to do about it either.
"Should I be walking on eggshells or what?" The way Royce said it, he meant every word. He might've appeared gruff, but he cared about people. He would've given his last dollar to someone in need. Or in Luis's case, tiptoe around him, if that was what he needed.
"I don't know, man." Brad sighed. "I think I'll have a conversation with him soon. He won't go much longer without help."
"Let me know what I can do to help." Royce gripped the open window frame. "Next thing, is about Kendrick."
Brad nodded again and swallowed the lump in his throat. He figured the conversation would go one of two ways. He would get the big brother talk or Royce would do the hard thing and talk about Kendrick's PTSD.
"He told me he freaked out." Should have known Royce would do the difficult thing. He always did when he thought something was his responsibility. Brad had always looked up to him for that.
"He did, yes. A heated conversation about Caden's boyfriend spending the night didn't sit right."
"He told me all of it."
"I guess it's me asking you what I can do to help."
"Nothing much. He's never really dated before. That fucker who abused him doesn't count. That wasn't dating. It was grooming. And that isn't my past to share so I'll stop there."
As much as Brad wanted to know the name of the man who'd hurt Kendrick so he could kill him, he appreciated Royce's attitude. "All he told me was an ex-boyfriend abused him."
"Right. Well, all I'll say is that you did nothing wrong, and he knows that. You should do something with that information."
"What?"
Royce shrugged. "I don't know. I just know you're a good guy when you're sober and he likes you a lot. Maybe it doesn't have to be more complicated than that."
Brad was a good guy when he was sober? He guessed that was one way to put it. A simplistic view of a bigger problem than just alcohol abuse, but maybe Royce was right, and the details didn't matter as much as they had before. Learning from his past meant the details faded, even if they weren't erased, until all that matter was doing his best every day. "Maybe."
Royce patted the window frame. "I just want to say that Kendrick is worth giving another chance. Don't let the thing the other night scare you away."
Brad snapped his gaze to Royce. "Is that what he thinks? That I don't want to spend time with him anymore?"
Royce shrugged. "He's insecure. Comes with the territory, but he's an open book. He'll tell you what he wants at some point. Just have to give it time."
"It's been seven days and three hours. Do you want the minutes too?"
Royce chuckled, which Brad was pretty sure he'd never heard before. "No. But I hear you. I'll shut up and let you two work it out yourselves."
"I appreciate the advice. Really."
Royce hardly ever smiled either, but he worked one up for Brad. "Well, I have to go in and make sure Kyler isn't driving Luis crazy and vice versa. Just know that if you hurt Kendrick, I'll make it look like an accident."
"Understood." Did that mean Royce thought Brad wasn't good enough for Kendrick? Hell, even Brad knew he wasn't.
Royce was right about one thing. Kendrick spoke his mind, but most of the time that came off as vulnerability. The fuckers of the world took advantage of that and even though Brad wouldn't, he had to question if maybe his past sins were too big for someone like Kendrick.
Brad eyed Kendrick's phone number, which he had programmed into his phone. God, just fucking press the call button already.
Brad took a deep breath and pressed the talk button. He wanted to end the call, but he had the material for Kendrick's roof and could use that as an excuse to see him. Just one glimpse to make sure Kendrick felt okay would satisfy.
And then that soft, beautiful voice said, "Hello?"
"Hi. I'm calling to ask if you still want me to fix your roof."
"Oh." Was that disappointment? "Yes. Please."
"I can come by tomorrow morning, if that works for you. It should take me a day. The water damage will take a bit longer." He would stretch it out as long as he possibly could, but he wouldn't lie. The work was a simple patch. The damage in the apartment would take longer because he had to replace drywall and maybe even more, depending on what he found behind the wall.
"Water damage?"
"Yeah. To the apartment wall." Brad sighed. He didn't want to talk about roof and wall repairs. "Look, Kendrick. I didn't just call because of the roof. I'd like to see you again."
"I…I'm not sure." The shakiness in Kendrick's voice, more than the words, made Brad's stomach ache.
Kendrick could have ripped out Brad's heart with his bare hands, and it would have hurt less. "I understand. I'll be by soon." He didn't wait for Kendrick to reject him again, but just pressed the end call button and threw the phone onto the passenger's seat beside him.
Luis came out of the garage's side door. He scowled all the way to the truck and practically threw Brad's phone at him when he sat. Without a word, he pulled his seatbelt around himself and then stared out of the window, glaring at the closed garage bay doors.
"Wanna talk about it?" Brad started the truck engine. Tension swirled inside the cab. If Brad didn't channel it into a productive conversation, they would end up arguing. Neither of them needed to put their emotions on the other.
Brad didn't know where Luis needed to put his feelings, but Brad knew where his lay. Every ounce of wanting went toward Kendrick. Brad hadn't known that a sweet little bar owner could bring him to his knees with one little half-rejection, but fuck it hurt more than he thought it should have.
"No." Luis's sigh came out like a half-growl. "He's a fucking asshole."
Okay, so they were talking about it. "I assume we're talking about Royce."
"Who the fuck else." There hadn't been anyone else in Luis's adult life who he had shown even a bit of interest in, and maybe that was part of the problem. Maybe dating other people would help him.
"Right." Since he should also heed that advice, he kept his opinions to himself.
"He kissed me. Like hard. With his tongue. And then he says something about how young I am." Luis shook his head. "So I'm too young to date, but not for him to stick his tongue down my throat. Like I'm some cheap piece of ass."
Brad took a few deep breaths and fought the urge to turn around. Punching Royce in the face might not solve Luis's problem, but it would make Brad feel better. Instead, he said, "I doubt Royce meant to make you feel that way."
"Duh. I know that. But it doesn't change the fact it did."
"Did you tell him that?"
"No. And I don't want to talk about it, anyway."
Luis leaned his forehead against the window, looking out. "What's wrong with you? Kendrick?"
"Yeah. And ditto."
Didn't that put them in the same sinking boat.