Seth cocked that smile. “Glad you approve. Am I in time for some juicy, greasy food?”
Lindsey nodded, took a deep breath, and managed to get out, “Right on time.”
Jazz jumped up, startling Chiron. The horse shied and the boy instantly soothed him. “Sorry, guy, I forgot myself. I’ll be more careful in the future.”
Lindsey smiled. “Good lesson. I told you, you’re a natural.”
Seth walked out of the stall and Jazz followed him, talking like a Chatty Cathy. “Guess what? Lindsey says he’s going to give me riding lessons. That is so dope.”
Lindsey followed them. The boy waved his arms wildly and bounced as he walked.
“And then I can learn to play polo and maybe even get to take care of Chiron and—” His steps faltered; he stumbled and fell to the brushed-dirt pathway.
“Jazz!”
By the time Lindsey reached the boy, Seth was already cradling his head on the ground. Jazz’s eyes were open but his color had drained from his face. “What happened? How do you feel?”
Jazz shook his head but frowned and stopped doing it. “Sorry. Feel like such a derp.”
Lindsey put a hand on the kid’s head. Even though he looked icy, his head felt hot. “Those weren’t exactly the feelings I meant.”
With Seth’s help, Jazz sat up. “It’s happened a couple times. The doc says it’s blood sugar. I’m growing so fast it’s hard to keep enough food in me.”
Seth grinned. “Hey, we can fix that in a hurry.”
Lindsey nodded and helped get Jazz back on his feet. The boy seemed better. Color flooded his face, and he started walking beside Seth toward the car park.
Blood sugar. How many times had Lindsey heard that when he was growing up? Hmm.
By the time he caught up, Jazz was dancing in the parking lot because Seth had invited him to ride the Ninja. “Can I, Lindsey? Is it okay?”
He didn’t even want to think about how happy it made him to have Jazz ask. Like he was the boy’s dad or something. “I don’t know. You just passed out. If you get woozy on the motorcycle, it could be dangerous.”
Jazz dug in his jeans pocket. “Wait. See.” He pulled out a mangled and ratty granola bar, ripped the wrapper, and sucked the pieces sticking to the inside. He chewed and swallowed. “See, all better.” He took another bite and grinned with his mouth full.
Lindsey laughed. “Okay, I’m convinced. You’re riding with the police. What could be safer? Put on the helmet.” Seth fastened the extra helmet under Jazz’s chin. Clearly, he’d planned for this moment. That made Lindsey weirdly happy too. They might be too young to be Jazz’s parents, but the kid needed some men to guide him. Well, one man, one werewolf.
He hopped in the Tesla and followed the two-men-on-a-bike all the way to the hamburger joint Jazz had picked from a list. Inside, they scooted into a back booth. They ordered burgers and fries with a milk shake for Jazz and iced tea for him and Seth.
Jazz’s leg kept bouncing. Lindsey reached over and grabbed it. “We need to teach you to calm down. You’ll wear yourself out.”
“Sorry. I’m just so hungry.”
“Got it.” Lindsey flagged a waitress. “Will you bring us some rolls and butter or anything we can have fast? What about some of the cheese they use for the burgers.” He slipped a twenty from his pocket. “For your extra trouble. Please hurry.”
“Oh, thank you. I’ll get it right away.”
“Thanks, Linds.” Jazz pressed his palms together and held them between his bouncing knees.
This was all too damned familiar.
The waitress hurried back with both bread and cheese. Lindsey grabbed it and spread the cheese on the bread, squirted on a little mustard, and handed it to Jazz. The boy pushed it into his mouth, trying to smile and look polite at the same time. As he chewed, he sighed. It took three bites to consume the impromptu sandwich.
Seth chuckled. “Man, you wolfed that down.”
Interesting choice of words.
Jazz nodded. “Sorry. I get so hungry, I feel like I’m falling apart. Especially when I’m excited.”
Lindsey put a hand on his arm. “You have no need to be sorry, about this or any of the other things you keep apologizing for. If you do something to offend someone, Seth or I will tell you. Until then, no need to be sorry.”
“Oh, sorry.” He clapped a hand over his mouth, but his eyes crinkled.
“I know just how the starvation thing feels. I was the same way growing up.” Exactly the same way.
“Really? None of the other guys seem quite like me. Must be the blood sugar thing.”
The waitress arrived with their food, and Jazz’s eyes lit up like he hadn’t just eaten a cheese and mustard sandwich and an antique granola bar. He’d ordered his burger rare, and the blood ran on the edges of the plate. He tried really hard to keep his hands in his lap while Lindsey and Seth got their food.
The second Lindsey picked up a fry, Jazz grabbed the burger and ripped a huge bite from it. A couple of little murmuring sounds escaped his throat as he chewed.
Lindsey looked at Seth, who raised both eyebrows. Yes, that kind of hunger must seem weird to a human. Not to a wolf.
Once Jazz slowed down, Seth said, “So you’re excited about the riding lessons?”
“More than, man. I can’t wait to tell the other guys that this great polo champion is going to pay for me to have lessons. They don’t know shit—I mean, they don’t know anything about polo, but they sure like horses well enough.”
Seth gazed at Lindsey. “Might be good to have your grandfather do the arrangements with the boy’s school. The state can be pretty weird about gay men and kids.”
Lindsey nodded. “As if we were more inclined to be pedophiles than all the straight men out there abusing children. Still, it’s a good idea.”
Jazz waved a french fry. “So what’s it like to be gay?” He glanced between Lindsey and Seth.
Lindsey wiped his mouth with the edge of his paper napkin. “It’s hard to say. I’ve never been anything else. My family’s rich, and they’ve protected me to some degree. I’m a decent fighter, so I didn’t get abused as many boys do. What about you, Seth?”
“I’ve kind of been both. I didn’t come out until college, so I know how differently people treat you when they know you’re gay. It’s crap.” He paused and frowned. “As if God created them but not you. As if you’re the work of the devil. There are places in the world where it’s perfectly legal to kill gay people. Imagine if you woke up one day and discovered it was okay to kill you because you have dark-brown hair. You’d run out and dye your hair blond and be desperate for no one to see the roots. Yeah. It’s crap being blamed for something you just are.” He looked up like he had just remembered they were there. “Sorry.”
Jazz laughed. “Lindsey says you’re not supposed to say that.”
Seth crooked his half smile. “Yeah.”
Lindsey winced. Poor kid. If he is homo-curious, that should kill his desire to come out! “There are good things about being gay.”
Jazz shoved the last bite in his mouth. “Yeah? What?”
“Want another burger?”