OZZIE
I didn't sleep at all.
Every time I closed my eyes, images of Cedric curled up in the corner of his couch with tears and blood streaked across his face filled my mind. It broke my heart and infuriated me at the same time.
Knowing he was safely sleeping on my pullout helped ease my mind, but I had so many questions. So many concerns. I’d been able to piece together most of what happened last night from what I heard and saw in his apartment, but what I didn’t understand was why it had happened. Why was Cedric spending time with someone who hurt him so badly? Why did that person have a key to his apartment? It didn’t make sense, but it wasn’t my place to also interrogate him.
He’d had enough of that for a lifetime.
As soon as I heard him go into the bathroom, I got up too.
With my back to the kitchen doorway, I fried some eggs and threw some bread in the toaster. I wasn’t a big breakfast eater, but Cedric needed calories. He was on the skinny sideand couldn’t afford to miss a single meal. Maybe it was presumptuous to make breakfast for him, but I didn’t care about social constructs. I just wanted the kid to eat.
Cedric appeared in the kitchen right around the time the toast popped out of the toaster. He was wearing the same clothes from last night, and I instantly felt bad for not offering him something comfortable to sleep in. I could blame my lack of thoughtfulness on being an inexperienced host, but it was more than that.
He threw me off my game.
Normally, I was confident and strong, ready to step in and solve problems without hesitation. It was just my nature. But all that went out the window with Cedric. With him, I was quiet. Reserved. Like I wanted him to ask for help before I gave it, but he wasn’t the kind of guy to ask. Which meant I needed to get better at recognizing what he needed.
And that started with breakfast. I filled two plates with food and put them down on the table. “You hungry?”
He looked at the plates and then back at me. "You didn't have to cook for me."
“It was no trouble.” I sat down and waited for him to join me.
“Oh, well…” He sat down across from me and sighed. “Thank you.”
We ate quietly, but it wasn’t as awkward as I thought it might be. Comfortable silence actually felt like a reasonable start for Saturday morning breakfast with a stranger.
When we were done, I put everything in the dishwasher and turned around to face him. "I’ll give the super a call about your door."
“Huh?” He looked up from where he’d been staring, which was suspiciously close to where my ass had just been…and where my dick was now. "What about my door?"
"Your locks.” I cocked my head, hoping I wasn’t pushing him to talk about something he wasn’t ready to talk about. “You mentioned needing to have them changed last night."
His cheeks flushed and he nodded. "Right. Um, yeah, the sooner the better."
I grabbed my phone and called Brent, the building’s superintendent. He picked up on the third ring, grumbling about being off on the weekend unless someone was dead. I apologized for the early interruption then explained that someone had a copy of Cedric’s key and he needed the locks changed as soon as possible.
Brent sympathized with the situation but had a funeral to attend and wouldn’t be able to deal with any non-emergencies until Monday. In my opinion, a psycho ex who beat the hell out of Cedric was an emergency, but Brent didn’t agree.
“Can I change it myself?” I turned my back to Cedric, not sure I was ready to see whatever was brewing in his eyes. He was hard to read, and it was messing with me. “I’ve changed plenty of door knobs in the past. Just tell me what model I have to use.”
He was quiet for a moment then sighed. “Fine, you can try, but don’t fuck up the door frame. If I have to replace the whole door, that bill’s going to you.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” I wasn’t worried at all. The keyed mechanism was only on the knob, so it was an easy fix. “Can you send me the model I need to get?”
“I have one in my apartment. You can pick it up in ten minutes. Give me a minute to take a piss before you come barging in here.”
I grinned and shook my head. “Thanks, Brent. You’re the best.”
After I disconnected the call, I took a deep breath and turned back to Cedric. “I told him I'd do it because he can’t get to it until Monday."
"Are you sure you know how?" He finally had an expression I recognized. Awe. The kid was easy to impress.
"My dad and I remodeled most of our house when I was in high school." I was about to head out the door when I felt the familiar sensation of a letdown. If I didn’t pump before getting distracted, there was a high likelihood I’d be leaking through my shirt in the very near future. “Actually, give me about twenty minutes, and then I’ll go grab a knob from him.”
"Okay." He bit his lip, confused by my sudden change of plans. “But if you’re busy, you don’t have to do any of this. I can stay in a hotel for a few nights.”
