Angel stood and then bent down so that his face was still in mine. His eyes were glassy with tears. “I can’t fucking ask you to do more things for me, Casey! When will you get sick of it? Get sick of me? I can’t ask for anything else.” His obvious frustration transformed his face into a tangle of rage and pain.
“Says who?”
“Me!” He shoved me.
I shot to my feet, which had him cowering back. It wasn’t fucking fair. I hadn’t fucking touched him, he’d pushed me, and he was looking at me like I’d deck him. Inside, I was screaming.
He shook his head. “I can’t pay you back. I’ll never be able to pay you back for all the things you’ve already done.”
I slammed a fist against the sink and the dull ache in my bones barely registered. “You’re my boy. You don’t have to worry about it.”
He kicked at the water on the floor and it drenched us both. “How do you not get this?”
“How do you not fucking understandme? Are you this fucking stupid? I want to help you.”
Angel wrapped his arms around himself and let out a horrible sob.
“Hey!” Merit yelled from the middle of the living room, far too brightly. He sat his ass on the back of the couch. “Guys! Uh… the plumbing is good and fucked, right? We should get the city out here to shut off the water at the street. I can’t find a shut-off. I can’t imagine the damage that has already been done to the water bill, let alone the foundation. Is there a basement?”
Angel let out a pained laugh. “No.”
“Okay, then there’s probably a crawl space that needs to be pumped before you’re dealing with a sinkhole,” Merit said cheerfully.
“I’ll find the number and call,” Angel said, his voice a raw scrape in the room. He hung his head, and all I wanted to do was pick him up, take him out, and put him in my car while Merit and I dealt with this. I wanted him out of here, warm and safe.
“There’s an emergency number.” Merit already had his phone out. “Don’t worry. We’ll get it done.”
Angel held himself harder. He began to shake, maybe from the cold, who knew? But he still wasn’t fucking getting why this wasn’t acceptable, or he didn’t seem to be, and I was so furious my hands were stiff from how tightly I held them balled up.
“How can I help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong? This is just like your wrist. You have to tell me these things!” I jabbed an accusing finger at his cast and growled. It was wet and frayed along the fingers. He hid it underneath his other arm. “Angel!”
He turned his back on me, and I could feel myself losing it but couldn’t stop.
“Fucking look at me!”
I stomped toward Angel, and Merit sprinted over and stepped in front of me. “Casey!”
He grunted as I pushed him aside, and I growled as he hooked his arms around my waist and dragged me to a halt. “Get off me!”
Angel spun as I wrestled with Merit, took one look at me, and darted around us and back out the front door, water spraying around him as he ran. Beyond the threshold there was a yelp and a thud, and Merit and I both stilled.
“Must have slid on the ice,” Merit said through pants of air.
I hoped like hell he hadn’t hit that wrist again, though the fall alone probably didn’t do him any favors. I elbowed Merit, and he finally let go.
Angel was all I could think about as I took off at a sprint. He had scooted to the bottom of the ramp on his ass and was getting to his feet. I easily hopped the railing around the stoop directly into the yard where it wasn’t icy and made my way through the snow toward him.
“We gotta take care of this, guys!” Merit called out the front door. He blocked the light behind him and became a menacing shadowman. “Now. Shit-can your argument.”
I stopped as Angel got his feet firmly under himself and took off for the end of the driveway. He slipped again and I held my breath but this time he didn’t go down, just gracefully twisted off in a different direction to the sidewalk. Everything in me had me tensing to run after him.
“Casey, he’s going to be in deep shit if we don’t fix this. Someone’s responsible for this property and it might be him.” Merit came up to yank on my elbow. “You won’t be doing him favors by chasing him down right now.”
“Fuck, I have to go get him!” I yelled.
An old man next door, who must have been leaning against the fence between the yards, harrumphed at me and turned to head back into his house. I wanted to hop the fence and tell him to fuck off. I might have done that and more if Merit hadn’t shaken my arm again.
“I hate to say this, and you fucking know that, but maybe Creed was—”
