Chapter Thirty
Maddox
Riding my motorcycle to Seattle, I considered turning around about a dozen times. The more I let myself become a part of Gunner’s and Malcolm’s lives, the more opportunity I was going to have to fail them.
But then I thought of the phone call they made to me and how earnest they sounded when they asked me to come back to the city. They said they needed to see me, and the second I heard that need, I realized I wouldn’t be able to say no.
It was early in the evening, and when I pulled my bike up to the edge of Discovery Park, I saw the guys waiting together. There was a chill in the air, and Malcolm must have felt cold because he had Gunner’s leather jacket on over a light blue sweater. Gunner was only wearing his regular T-shirt, but with his arm around his guy, he looked plenty warm.
I situated my motorcycle in its spot, then ran a hand through my hair, getting it to lie right again. I was the oldest person in this situation, but I still felt nervous as all hell walking up to them.
“Maddox!” Malcolm said, waving at me. “Over here!”
I gave them both a quick embrace, throwing one arm over each of their shoulders.
“Thanks for coming out,” Gunner said. “Malcolm and I weren’t sure you’d make it.”
I nodded, squinting at them. The sun was lowering to the treeline, and for a Saturday, the park seemed quiet. “You called,” I said, “I came.”
Malcolm cleared his throat. “I know there’s a lot we need to talk about and a lot we need to clear up. But before we get to any of that, I just wanted to say thank you for taking care of my apartment. The construction crew has disappeared, and I’ve had better sleep this week than I have in months.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” I said. I had assumed the papers that I sent along anonymously did the trick, although I hadn’t figured out a way to confirm. “If you do have any more troubles, don’t be shy about letting me know.”
“And I need to say thank you, too,” Gunner added.
I cocked an eyebrow. “What are you thanking me for? I could have gotten you killed.”
“No,” Gunner corrected, placing his fist on his hip. “I could have gotten myself killed. I could have gotten all of us killed. But even when I fucked up, you didn’t yell at me. You were mad as hell, don’t get me wrong, but you kept your cool, and you never tried to make me feel bad. So—thank you.”
I sucked in a deep breath of air. “Sure,” I said. “There are enough bad feelings in the world as it is.”
Then I saw the look in Gunner’s eyes. He was nervous, vulnerable even.
“Come here,” I said, extending my arms again.
The guys stepped into my embrace, and this time I held them a little longer. “I’m just glad you’re safe,” I said, my voice coming out a little raspy with the sentiment.
“There’s one other thing,” Malcolm said, stepping back. “We figured out what to do with the cash.”
My chest tightened, anxiety that they would have tried to return it gripping me. “You didn’t go back to the building, did you?”
“Naw,” Gunner said, “even I’m not that impulsive.”
“You figured out a way to make my apartment good again,” Malcolm jumped in, “but not all of the tenants were able to last as long as I did. The woman in the apartment next to me left a month ago. She was a single mom with two kids, and the noise was just more than they could handle.”
I felt a smile warming my face. “Go on.”
Gunner shrugged. “Malcolm told me about it, and so we gave them the money. We wrapped it up in an envelope, wrote a nice anonymous note, and delivered it to their new address.”
“I looked it up in the library system,” Malcolm admitted. “It was kind of against the rules, but I figured it was worth it.”
I breathed a big sigh of relief. “I’m really glad to hear that,” I said. “That’s a smart way to make something good come out of a bad situation.”
“Thanks,” they both said at the same time and then laughed.
I glanced behind them. A few different trails wound through the trees in the massive park. “So why’d you bring me here, then?”
Gunner linked his arm with mine, and Malcolm stepped to my other side, grabbing my hand. I smiled to myself as they started walking me down the path, guiding me toward the trees.
