“No, but I like him,” Micah said, then seemed to realize maybe he shouldn’t have. He shot a look at me, as if he thought I could help smooth this situation out. If there was a god anywhere in the universe, a pit would open up under my feet so I could fling myself in it.
“What do you mean?” Alexander asked, but he was looming over Micah, and I didn’t like it. I went over and shoved them apart, almost knocking Micah off his chair but putting some distance between them.
“Maybe I should’ve told you this a while ago.” Micah took off his glasses and stared at them. They were reading glasses, so he must’ve forgotten to take them off before he’d left the house.
“Maybe now isn’t the time, Hanii,” I said.
“What’s going on?” Alexander crowded into my space and his brow furrowed.
Milo waved his hands as if he was giving air traffic signals.
My head hurt and pulsed like it was going to fall off my body and roll away.
“I’m dating Yukio,” Micah said, and the way his voice didn’t waver made me feel amazing. He gave me a small, pained smile. “I’m sorry you had to find out I’m gay this way. I should’ve talked to you. I know you might not find it a very good quality in a person—”
“What?” Alexander stared at me, then a horrible expression took over his face. “You fucker.”
It was instinct to duck. I didn’t even think about it, so when he connected with Micah, my gut twisted. All I could do was watch him hit the floor because when I tried to dive for him, Alexander grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me away.
The truce was probably the shortest one on record.
I didn’t remember much of the fight because I was so fucking furious at what had happened, but less than an hour later Alexander and I were both sitting in jail. I was one-hundred-percent certain that neither one of us was going to have a starting position on the basketball team this year.
And worst of all, I wasn’t sure Micah would ever talk to me again.
The basketball I couldn’t give less of a shit about. As I knocked my head back against the wall in the holding cell at the Lakeside police station, all I could do was worry about my boyfriend. I didn’t care whose father he was or how old he was, I just wanted to be with him, and I had no idea how I would fucking fix any of this.
12
MICAH
I was confused.Everything had happened so fast, and by the time I realized what was going on, Yukio and Alex were carted off to jail by the police.
Now... I didn’t know what to do. I’d called Candy, but she wasn’t interested in helping.
“He’s your son, too, Micah. Work something out.”
What kind of mother didn’t care that her oldest son was behind bars? For how quickly Alex always defended her, I’d thought they’d have a better relationship. Yet, she had no interest in anything to do with him anymore, not since she’d started a new family. Sometimes I wondered if her attitude was my fault.
I didn’t have many friends to consult with, but one name did pop up in my head, and I called Brandt. He was a lawyer. As soon as I’d told him what had happened, he’d told me to sit tight and that he and a friend were coming to help me.
It was strange to be seated on a plastic chair in a police station waiting room because I’d never had a reason to be in one, and I didn’t like it. The lights were too bright, there was too much yelling from an intoxicated man who was being restrained by two officers, and the smell of something burning upset my nose. To top it off, my cheek hurt where Alex had accidentally punched me. The fact that he wasn’taimingfor me didn’t help matters, either, because he’d been trying to hit Yukio, which was all very alarming.
Why? What had Yukio done to him? If there was anyone Alex should’ve been angry at, it was me. Now he knew the reason me and his mom had split.
I groaned and scrubbed my palms over my face, wincing when I knocked my throbbing cheek. My shoulders trembled, but I held in the urge to scream or cry or something along those lines.
Someone touched my arm. “Are you okay, sir?”
I cringed away from the hand and shook my head. With a deep breath, I raised my chin to stare up at the cop standing above me. He looked familiar, but I was stressed and couldn’t recall his name, if I’d ever known it. “Please don’t touch me.”
Instead of reacting badly like I’d expected, the blond police officer crouched beside me. He didn’t reach out again, but his expression softened as he stared at me in concern. “I’m Officer Paxton. Can I do something to help?” It took me a moment to realize he had a British accent. “You look horrible, mate. Do you need the hospital?”
I groaned and rubbed my face again, this time on the opposite side of where Alex had punched me. “I’m fine. I’m waiting for friends. My son and boyfriend are locked up. Can you help?”
He gave me a sad smile. “Sorry, sir. I can’t do that. I wasn’t the officer who threw them in the cells.”
I curled in on myself, stomach churning with anxiety. I rubbed my belly, dropping my head forward.
