Once I had a roof and four walls, I started applying for jobs. I found a couple that were short-lived and paid more in emotional and physical damage than money. I mean, who knew there was such a thing as a pigeon deterrent specialist? Seemed easy at the time. It was not, in fact, easy, and the pigeons won.
Right after I got fired as a front desk attendant at a gym, I went to the homeless shelter, feeling down on my luck. What was the big deal anyway? I called the StairMaster Satan’s staircaseone time.That hardly qualified me for immediate dismissal. How was I supposed to know my boss was super religious? After my boss handed me the pay he owed, he told me he’d pray for me. Although, thinking back, the picture of Jesus hanging in the breakroom made so much more sense.
I volunteered at the homeless shelter now that I had a home and a revolving door of bad jobs. Sometimes it felt like a lot to work, take care of myself, and volunteer, but I reminded myself I was lucky. I’d gotten off the street because someone who will not be named helped me. And before him, the homeless shelter had been my sanctuary. Well, there and the library. I wanted to help other people like me, and if I couldn’t help them (Let’s face it. I was sort of a one-man crisis), then I could at least be there for them. Sometimes kindness went a long way.
After hearing my bad news, the shelter advocate told me he’d just heard of an opening for a cable company service rep. Apparently, you didn’t even have to know anything about cable. You just had to be willing to answer the phone and let people yell at you for their bill being too high or tell them to turn off the internet and then turn it on again.
And the best part? You could do it from home.
Hello, dream job.
I applied right away, and they called me for an interview. I guess it was a little more involved than I thought, but they give you a script and manual for troubleshooting so you basically just have to follow directions.
Oh, and they gave me a laptop to use at home!
I did have to dip into my emergency fund to get headphones and also a Wi-Fi signal booster, but that seemed like a worthy investment into my new career.
After six months working there, I came to the conclusion that this was not the dream job I thought it was. But I kept it anyway. I liked working from home. It was quiet (except when someone was yelling at me), and I didn’t need a uniform or fancy clothes. Some days, I worked in just underwear. Working the night shift was my favorite because there were less calls and I had more time to read.
Overall, I’d built a nice life for myself. Sure, sometimes it was a little lonely and, sure, sometimes thoughts ofhimcrept in, but I couldn’t complain. Volunteering at the shelter reminded me of that every day.
And then Haz moved in across the hall.
We didn’t really talk too much at first, but now we were best friends. I was a little worried when Haz’s new boyfriend—who was kinda scary—tried to shoot my face off. Thankfully, Kieran wasn’t as bad as I first thought. He was grumpy and kinda mean and his eye did this weird twitching thing a lot, but he’d let me spend the night after Ghost got shot. Not only that, but he and Haz slept on the couch so Ghost could have the bed to rest comfortably. But the most important thing was that he seemed to really love Haz.
I wish someone loved me.
So yeah, that about sums it up. Sorry for the long explanation. I tend to ramble when I get nervous, and right about now, I’m fizzier than a shaken soda.
Now that you know everything, you can understand whythis was bad.I mean, I worked hard to get to where I was now. How dare he show up out of the blue, take a bullet for me, say things likeI’d never accept death when life has you,and then make me sleep against his droolworthy naked chest.
He smells even better than I remember.
How dare my heart act like it hadn’t even missed me? As if it would rather be with him.
It was the ultimate betrayal.
Obviously, I couldn’t stay here. With him. I just really hoped I didn’t have to give up my only friend. How did Haz know Hiro anyway? He’d said before he was Kieran’s friend. But how did they know each other? And what even happened yesterday at the Neon Reef?
One minute, I was walking into the fish store where Haz worked for pizza and friend time, and the next, bullets were literally flying.
All of this was just making my head hurt worse. I reached up to gingerly finger the temple where the pain seemed to throb the most and winced. Maybe I could ask Haz for some pain meds on my way out.
No.No pills. They just led to trouble.
I definitely needed to leave, though. Better to be the one doing the leaving than the one left behind.
Been there. Done that. Technically, I had the T-shirt to prove it. A hoodie too.
My body protested when I eased away from Hiro and sat up in the center of the bed. It was a really nice bed, by the way. Probably the nicest I’d ever slept in. I didn’t even know sheets could be this soft.
The second I was upright, chills raced over my arms and back as a shiver jolted down my spine. The air in the room wasn’t nearly as warm as Hiro. The urge to curl up against him once more actually had me swaying toward him, but I forced myself back, crossing my legs under me. Frankly, sitting crisscross like this hurt. My hips ached and my knees felt too much pressure, yet my body always defaulted to this position. Like every single day, my brain forgot the pain until it was forced to remember. Still, I didn’t unfold my legs. I could sit like this for a few minutes before it became unbearable.
Rubbing my palm up and down one arm, I looked down at Hiro. The room was dim because all the windows were covered, but it was daylight, so it wasn’t pitch black. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but I didn’t bother looking for a clock. Not when I had something so much more interesting to eyeball.
Sure, I’d seen him naked once before. But it had been dark that night, and I’d been feverish. The second he put his hands on me, sight became secondary anyway, overruled by the way he made my body hum.
The blankets stopped at his waist, leaving his entire upper body exposed. My eyes went directly to the bandage covering the place where the doctor had extracted a bullet from the outer part of his shoulder. Doc said it wasn’t anything too serious, but all I could think about was how much he’d bled and the sweat dotting his brow before the pain meds kicked in.
