LoveHarley: I mean, I think TD is the only one without insurance, though
xVerity: I cannot believe all of you right now
LoveHarley: So, who wants to marry TD? @KnotMyProblem, you’ve got kickass insurance, don’t you? Wanna marry TD and help get his kid better?
Never had Gage wanted to escape from a conversation so badly. His heart leapt into his throat, and he stared at the screen in horror as his head pounded. This couldn’t be happening.
KnotMyProblem: Are you kidding? I’d marry TD’s fine ass in a heartbeat. Let’s commit insurance fraud together. Getting naughty in the best way. ;)
No.
Gage set his phone aside and covered his hands with his face, hiding away from the world. KnotMyProblem knew how he felt. They’d had conversations about this. Why was he pushing? It left Gage feeling cheap and objectified, like what he thought or said didn’t make a difference. The only person he wanted was Aaron.
Aaron, who was across the ocean and so busy with school that they didn’t talk much anymore.
Aaron, who’d promised to come back home to him, but who’d been offered jobs all over the world… except for in Aurora.
What KnotMyProblem had said crept back into the forefront of his mind, decaying the trust he’d had in the dream he’d shared with Aaron when they were younger, before Aaron had left for Europe. Would Aaron ever come back home? By hiding Bo from him, Gage hadn’t given Aaron a reason to return. There was their relationship, of course, but after so long spent apart, did Aaron really feel the same way? They were older now, and time had changed them. All this time, Gage had been strong for him—he’d wanted the future Aaron had promised him more than he’d wanted anything else in the world—but Bo was sick, and the salvation he needed wasn’t on his way back to America any time soon.
What was he supposed to do? Bo needed his help. He needed his helpright now.
TeenDad2: ok
Everyone started typing at once. The next few messages that arrived did so almost instantaneously.
xVerity: TD, you’ve got to be kidding.
LoveHarley: Whoa, no way??
KnotMyProblem: Shit, TD… are you serious? You really want to do this?
Gage’s stomach lurched. His heart crumpled in on itself like it was blackened with rot. His reply was only three letters long, but no three letters had ever made him feel as ill.
TeenDad2: I do.
5
Aaron
The taxi driver popped the trunk and exited the vehicle while Aaron pushed the extending handle of his suitcase down. The line of black cabs down the terminal roadway were busy—it seemed as though several flights had disembarked at the same time, and a rush of passengers looking for transportation into the city had zeroed in on the taxi stands all at once.
Aaron helped the driver load his suitcase into the trunk. He only had one. Over the course of the last few days, he’d sold most of his material possessions and arranged for the rest to be shipped to his parents’ house. His rental was only set to be finalized later today. When he was approved, his father would message him to let him know, and Aaron would head over to pick up his keys.
He hoped to do it with Gage at his side.
The trunk slammed shut. The driver returned to his seat, and Aaron took his cue to get settled in the back. Once he was seated, the car pulled away from the curb. The driver had his phone set up on a mount on the dashboard, the GPS app open. He tapped at its input screen as he drove.
“Where are you headed?” he asked, the flash of white from his eyes in the rearview mirror directed at Aaron.
Aaron took his phone from his pocket. He had Gage’s address saved. “Seventy-fifth and South Chappel.”
The driver’s finger hesitated on its way to tap the screen again. His brow furrowed, and this time, Aaron was sure he was looking at him in the rearview mirror. “Seventy-fifth and South Chappel? Are you sure you have the right address?”
“That area is residential, isn’t it?” Aaron asked. He undid the top button of his shirt and sat back in his seat, trying not to let the driver’s confusion get to him. “Apartment buildings?”
“Yeah. You got it. Just making sure. Just doesn’t look like a place a guy like you might be going, that’s all.”
Aaron frowned. “I’m going to visit someone.”
