“It was the best time ever. We didn’t have enough money for a hotel, so we stayed out all night. We kissed and we flirted with random guys on the street, just because we could and—” He swallowed, holding back the fear. “Suddenly, my dad was there. I hadn’t seen him in almost a year. He’d been in jail for a while, and when they let him out, he didn’t come back home and we just thought—but he was there that night, and he saw us kissing, and he went crazy.”
Avery’s eyes widened. “He was your boyfriend? You told me your dad beat up some guy, but he was your boyfriend?”
Linc nodded slowly. “We were kids.”
“What did you do?”
Shame gripped Linc’s chest. “I tried to pull him off. I was bigger than him by then, but it was like he was possessed. My dad was screaming and Mickey was bleeding all over the place and there were cop cars coming up the street and—I was scared, so I ran.” And he’d been running ever since. “Mickey got out of the hospital after a week or two. I found a few stories on the internet.” The details barely qualified for regional coverage, but Linc looked everywhere and eventually found a two-paragraph summary about his father’s assault charges which mentioned Mickey was recovering. “I never talked to Mickey again. And my dad...No one ever called me. Maybe Mickey never even said I was there. All I know is my dad went to jail, and he’s been there ever since, and I—”
“It’s okay.” Avery kissed him, even though Linc barely wanted the comfort.
“I want to be good for you,” he said, a little desperately. “I don’t know how to be—”
“It’s fine if you’re not out. Not officially. We can still—”
“It’s not fine.” And he meant it. He pushed up to sit against the headboard. “You deserve more than sneaky backroom sex and a guy who won’t protect you when you need it.”
Avery joined him, resting his head on Linc’s shoulder. “I kinda liked our sneaky almost-sex at the party last night.”
Linc coughed out a thin laugh. “Red.”
“It’s okay. I’m tougher than I look. We don’t have to be anything serious. As long as we’re honest with each other.” He kissed Linc’s shoulder. Linc could cry at the sweetness. He didn’t deserve to be let off the hook so easily.
“I’m going to try, though. It won’t be like last week. No more hiding and half-truths. I’ll do better.” He would. He had to. Linc was done hiding. Here, anyway—in Seacroft.
“I know.”
“I might be bad at it.”
Avery said the same thing last night, and Linc had known he wouldn’t be. But this. Letting Avery down would kill him.
“Well, you have to be bad at something. It’s nice to know you’re human. Look at me, I’m pretty much a walking, talking—”
Linc cut him off with another kiss, pulling him back to the mattress.
They showered together, with spent dicks and wandering hands. Avery was perfect. Freckled, pink at the edges and—after a few minutes under the spray—warm and pliant. His body in Linc’s arms left him with so many ideas of things they could do in the future.
But the future was further off than he wanted to admit, because his phone was ringing from inside his jeans as they kissed and fumbled their way back to the bedroom.
“Hello?” Linc said.
“Hey, lover boy.” Vasquez’s voice was dry. “Have a good night?”
Linc grunted. Denying it would be pointless. She knew exactly what they had left her house to do. His chest tightened at the thought, but it flitted away as Avery, wearing only a T-shirt and briefs, slid in behind him on the bed, knees at his sides, arms around his shoulders.
“What do you want?”
“Oh, nothing.” He could hear the sarcastic smile in her voice. “Brian and I were wondering if you planned on coming to work this morning. That’s all.”
“Shit.” He lurched to his feet so fast Avery had to choose if he was going to tumble back to the mattress or cling to Linc’s back like a spider monkey.
He went with the spider monkey, and Linc did not mind at all.
“I’ll be right there.” He smothered a laugh as Avery nibbled at his shoulder.
“Oh God, you’re still there, aren’t you?” Vasquez sounded pained.
“I’m on my way.” He hung up before she could say anything else.
