“I freaked out in the terminal of the airport,” he said, eyes on his hands. “Lizzie tried to bring me out of it, but she couldn’t.” Mason sighed. “That was really fun explaining to the TSA.”
He bit his lower lip, his teeth worrying at it.
“I started a new counselor, who was helping me work on it. Agoraphobia, I mean,” he said, glancing at me. “I’m not afraid of big open spaces. I just… I don’t do well with crowds.” He sighed. “I’ve been getting better, but this was supposed to be my first quasi-solo role…” he hesitated. “Lizzie was going to come with me, but her mom got sick at the last minute,” he paused, suddenly seeming to notice I was still holding his hand, and a red tinge crept up his formerly pale features. “She thought… She thought I could handle it.”
He pulled his hand loose, then grabbed his other arm with it.
“I guess she was wrong,” he was looking anywhere but at me.
The defeat I saw written on his face tugged at my chest. This man had survived things that would have broken most other people. There was no way I was letting him feel like shit for no reason.
“Mason,” I said softly. “You can do this. Iknowyou can. Just take it one person at a time.”
Mason snorted at me.
“How? What makesyouso certain I can do this?” he asked, annoyance at my optimism sneaking into his voice.“Idon’t even think I can do this!”
“I have faith in you,” I said simply.
“Why?” he asked, his voice cracking slightly. “You’ve known me less than twenty-four hours, and in that time all I’ve done is be a total freak. I barely handled the flight here. I couldn’t even manage to get to the store on my own. I couldn’t walk into a hotel room without spazzing out.Fuck!” he yelled in frustration, his palm slamming down on the dashboard.“Whydid I think I was going to be able to dothis? All I do is writestupidstories and drawstupidpictures.” Tears threatened to spill from his eyes.
“That doesn’t sound likeyoutalking… that sounds like…” I hesitated, thinking it sounded like Ricky, but not ready yet to acknowledge our history. “That sounds like someone who is small, nasty and mean. Someone envious of your talent and abilities. Someone may have put those thoughts in your head, but they aren’t yours.”
I touched his chin and tipped his head back until he was looking directly at me. His bright blue eyes were gorgeous. Somehow being a bit red from the tears he was holding back made the blue deepen and the gold ring around his pupils extra prominent in the morning sun.God, he was beautiful! I shifted in the seat, my cock thickeninguncomfortably. I cursed myself, because dammit, this was not aboutthat! I tried desperately to rein in my libido as I looked into his eyes.
I leaned toward him, hoping to distract him so he wouldn’t see the bulge forming in my pants, and my hand slid around the back of his neck and did something I’d been wanting to for a while… I brought our foreheads together until they were touching. I could feel his breath coming hot and fast against my skin and felt the leap of his pulse under my touch. I wanted desperately to brush my lips against his, but I knew I hadn’t earned that right.
My eyes were drawn to his lips, and I noticed how dry and chapped they looked, like he had been worrying them with his teeth. Mason glanced down at my lips, and I saw his tongue dart out to wet his own.Fuck, he was killing me. The air was electric, the car suddenly too hot despite the air conditioning still blasting from the vents.
“You…” I finally continued. “You are anythingbutsmall. You are kind. You are compassionate. You inspire people to do good. You help people see the best side of themselves. You inspire them tobethe best side of themselves. You… You are a Hero.”
We sat there a few minutes, eyes locked on each other. I felt the muscles in his neck clench tight at first, as his eyes seemed to search my face for something. After a time, I saw a change in his expression. Some resolve seemed to coalesce in his eyes and he nodded. I released the hold on the back of his neck, my hand tingling where I’d held him
“Now just go in there, take it one person at a time. Find out their stories. Once you know most people, it’s kind of hard to be afraid of them.”
I turned back in my seat, put the car in drive and pulled around to a side alley that led to the back of the store.
I parked in the employee parking area and we went in the back door of Twin Peeks. The funny logo the boys had made stamped on the back door. It was two boys, their heads together, their eyes peeking out from behind the comic they held in their hands. It was so much like a picture we had of the boys when they were young that I figured they must have used it as a model.
I helped Mason get his things into the store. I thought for a minutethat Sonny and Hicks were going to jump up and down like schoolgirls when we walked in, but they managed to play it cool. Just barely. When Mason shook their hands, I thought I heard Sonny squeal.
They had planned on putting Mason at the front of the store, but I convinced them it made more sense to have him sit in a private area in the back which we normally reserved for card gaming.
We set Mason up with a table, a pile of prints for him to autograph and stacks of his books to sell. Behind him was a huge print of the cover of his latest graphic novel. I took the guys aside and told them in no uncertain terms that we were limiting the number of people who could be in the store at any one time. They seemed a little confused at me taking the role of security, but years of obedience to their oldest brother had been ingrained in them. They knew better than to argue with me.
When they finally unlocked the door and started letting people into the store, Mason tensed, but when I saw who the first customer was, I couldn’t have planned this better myself. She was one of our few employees and regular customers, Jeri.
Jeri was a fifteen-year-old trans girl. She was about five feet four with straight blue hair that was only just starting to grow out of a super short boy cut. The twins had sort of adopted her when they’d met at an LGBTQ support group at the downtown library.
Jeri had discovered comics and become engrossed in the stories, spending so much time at the store, we’d talked her into taking a part-time position as we prepared for the Grand Opening of the new location. She had come out to her parents as trans only a little earlier in the summer. Her boyfriend, Tobi, was behind her in the line.
Jeri had been terribly afraid of coming out to her parents. We’d known her family for years. Her mom and dad had managed one of the original dojo locations for my moms. While her family were religious, they had never come across as cruel or prejudiced. They had always been friendly and kind to my parents and my brothers and sisters. The twins and I had helped Jeri have “The Talk” with her parents where she came out as trans, and then helped connect them to resources in the area to support both them and their daughter duringthis challenging time. They had handled the news much better than anyone, especially Jeri, had expected, more confused about terminology and what it actually meant to be trans, than anything else. They had hugged their daughter and let her know that they loved and supported her no matter what gender she identified as. I knew Jeri was really lucky. So often it seemed that our parents, and hers, were the exceptions in accepting their children.
Jeri walked through the doors and came to a stop as she saw Mason. Her eyes went wide and she froze in the doorway. I’d known she had a serious case of hero worship when it came to Mason, but I’d never seen her this uncertain or unsure of herself.
I couldn’t have found a better person to get Mason out of his own head. He saw her freeze outside the door to the alcove where his table was located. As soon as Mason saw Jeri, he smiled. Jeri was very slim, just starting that gangly phase of adolescence that let you begin to glimpse the person they would become in five or ten years.
“Hi!” Mason said, sending a small, shy wave her way.
