“Yes,” I hissed. “Please tell me Clay isn’t still locked up and can?—”
“I can merge the calls; he’s out but not here with me,” he said in a calm voice that I envied as the call noise sounded, and?—
“Hey, what the fuck?” Clay asked.
“Clay,” I hissed. “Talk to Cade, center him, be there for him, please. I know you’ve been going through your own shit, and?—”
“Give him the phone, now,” Clay said, his rough voice growing urgent, and I handed the phone over.
I did so without thought, and Cade accepted it, pressing the phone to his ear.
“Hello?” he asked in a low voice, and then blinked. “Clay?”
God, the desperation in his voice, the way he clung to the phone when he heard Clay’s voice hurt…but it was tied to a sense of elation and hope. I didn’t give one flying fuck if he was getting his source of comfort and reality from someone who wasn’t me. What mattered was that he was?—
My phone was ringing?
“Hello?” I answered in confusion.
“I’m sorry,” the voice said, and I realized it must have been Isaac. “I know you’re fighting like hell to keep on top of things over there and I’m equally worried, so it seemed only right to call you while they talk.”
“I…” Cade was retreating to a corner of the room opposite, and I tucked myself back onto the bed and tried to regain control. “How did you get my number?”
“Cade has spoken to me before, and he’s…well, there’s no other way to put this; he gave me your number in case of, well…”
“In case of something like this.”
“Yes.”
“Okay,” I said, looking at Cade, hunched in the kitchenette, speaking in a low voice. “That’s okay, that’s…good.”
“Good,” Isaac said, and then shocked me. “How long have you two been fucking?”
“I’m sorry, what?” I snapped back. “What the fuck?”
His laugh surprised me further. “Well?”
“Is that important?”
“Mmm, no. Well, sort of, because Clay hasn’t figured it out yet, but I have, so he’ll have a whole freak-out when he does. But really, it was just to see how in control you are.”
“Did I pass?”
“There is no passing or failing, Walker. I just wanted to see where you’re at. And you’re thinking clearly and worried about him, that’s enough for me.”
I blinked, feeling a little of my tension fade. “You’re kind of a manipulative dick, you know that?”
“It happens,” he said with a low chuckle, and his voice dropped in concern. “One of his dreams?”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh, covering my face. “And…I’m sorry.”
“Sleep isn’t all that important to me, not compared to his well-being,” Isaac said, and the smoothness of his voice was both pleasing and irritating because right now, I didn’t want to be comforted.
“I meant,” I bit out, and then took a deep breath. “I know from what Cade has told me that Clay hasn’t been out of his…visit for very long.”
“Don’t,” he said sharply, and I drew back at the tone. “If there is anything that could benefit Clay right now, it’s the idea that someone needs him, especially his best friend. I think calling him for help is the best thing you could have done…for both of them.”
I could see the way Cade was easing up as he talked to Clay, even though I couldn’t hear the conversation, and I smiled. “They’re kind of gay together, aren’t they?”
