My fingers, trailing in his abundant chest hair, contracted.“Jesus.”
“Yep, pretty much.”He sighed.“I served my time, and they bought me a plane ticket back to Canada with anever come backadmonishment.”
“And your parents?”
“They disowned me when it happened.Gawain wrote me a couple of times, but I only got the letters after I got out.I suppose I could’ve tried to switch my ticket to Japan, but I didn’t have a visa.I’m Canadian, so I made it through immigration with an expired passport and a warning to get my life together.I caught a ride with someone headed to Hope from the Vancouver Airport.A nice lady even dropped me off in Mission City, which was out of her way.”
“And you wound up at Fifties.”
“Yeah, about that…”
I glanced up at him, even though darkness permeated the room.
“I followed you from your store.I didn’tknowyou were going to be there.I thought maybe your parents would know where you were.That they might be nice to me since they’d loved Gawain…”
“So, you always planned on deception,” I whispered, wondering why I wasn’t angrier that this had been his plan all along.
“I’ve got enough money for two nights in a hotel.I didn’t have a plan, Mercer.I just didn’t want to wind up in a shelter.But I would’ve done it if I’d had to.”He sighed.“I want to go straight.To be a good boy.Like Gawain.”He ruffled my hair.“Like you.”
I considered what he’d said.Yes, I’d winced when he’d admitted that he hadn’t wanted to end up in a shelter.He’d used me, but thinking about it, I didn’t blame him.“You need a job?”
“Yeah.”
“I have a friend, Simeon.He’s a general contractor.He was in the other day, and we got to talking.He’s looking for a painter to help him with an enormous project.And he might be able to set you up with more work.He’s…a very quiet guy.”Actually, Simeon had a severe stutter and rarely spoke to anyone.I was one of the few.“You have to be patient with him.”
“I can be patient.”Giovani sighed.“I’ll do whatever it takes.”
I took in the tautness of his expression, his wary gaze.It all clicked.Gio had come back to the last place he’d felt safe.He was desperate and alone.And wasn’t I as well?If this wasn’t exactly fate, our meeting again after all this time, the connection I felt meant something…
I pushed up.“Did you really have a crush on me in high school?”
“Hell-fucking-yes.”He studied my expression, then grasped my chin and drew me in for a long, lingering kiss.
When I pulled back, I smiled.“And I had a crush on Gawain.”
“I knew that, too.I’m sorry I used that to my advantage.”
“I forgive you.”
He blinked and drew in a deep breath.“Really?”
“Yeah, but you’ve got a long way to go to make it up to me.”
If I had my way, it would take a lifetime.
Giovani
Eventually, my guilt over having deceived Mercer waned.Reluctantly, I accepted a loan, and we headed to the thrift store, where I stocked up on clothes that I could wear while working on construction sites with Simeon.Mercer was right—the guy barely spoke—because of a severe stutter.He’d often send me instructions the night before by phone.Eventually, though—once he understood I wouldn’t judge—he began speaking to me.And eventually, we became friends.
Deanna was suspicious of me—and I didn’t blame her.I’d offered to sleep in Korden’s old room, but Mercer wouldn’t hear of it.He decided he could do whatever he wanted, as long as he was careful, and his sister was old enough to accept that or move out sooner.With no small amount of self-preservation, she stayed.Once she got her commercial pilot’s license, though, she was leaving.
Korden and Andie were more welcoming.Both remembered Gawain and myself, them having been ten and eight the last time the Piazzi twins had graced their house.
“What are you thinking?”Mercer tapped my nose as I sat across from him at breakfast one random morning.Well, Thanksgiving morning.
“That I’m lucky.”
His smile softened.“You heard from Gawain?”
