"I was at Maddox's house before I came here."
"Oh," Kent said, nodding before blinking. "And Maddox is?"
"My client. He was born with a deformity of the legs that could have been corrected with braces when he was still really young, but since his mom was in and out of jail, he was passed around between his family a lot, and he didn't get the proper care, so he has to use arm crutches to walk, and sometimes a chair. He's actually really self-reliant, but sometimes he just needs a little help with stuff at home, especially when he's tired. He doesn't have any family, and his boyfriend is a fucking prick."
Mark leaned forward across the table, his voice dropping to a somewhat terrifying growl I wouldn't have expected from a man his size. "What do you mean?"
"He treats Maddox like shit. Maddox is gold and always lets it roll off his back, but I can tell it bothers him."
"What kind of things does he do?" Mark asked, drawing Devon, his husband's attention away from the babies.
He rose slowly, watching his omega as he moved around the table.
"Easy, Da," Cashin said, cringing. "He's not physical… that I've seen. He just says these snarky-ass comments. Maddox can use his arm crutches most of the time, but when he knows there is going to be a lot of walking, or he's tired, he has to use the chair. Randall acts like everything is a big fucking ordeal if Maddox goes."
He snarled his lip slightly, and I had to admit, this was not at all the man Grant had described to me as Cashin. He was far from laid-back and easy-going at the moment. In fact, the longer he sat there, the angrier he seemed to be.
"That's why I'm late. Randall wanted to go on a hike, but when Maddox acted like he wanted to go, Randall got all pissy. Told him he wanted to actually enjoy the hike, not push Maddox's fucking chair around the whole time. Maddox said he'd use his crutches, but I knew he'd end up hurting something, trying to keep up with that dickhole, so I offered to go and push the wheelchair. Randall was a pouty little dick about it, but I didn't give a shit. I took my own car, because I thought I'd leave there and be on time, and I'm glad I did. Randall fucking left us on the trail, and met up with some of his friends, and then took the car and left."
"He tried to say he called and there wasn't a signal, but I seriously don't believe him. I don't think Maddox did either. And why the hell would you just take off without your boyfriend? He could have been hurt. Or I could have, and then Maddox would have been stuck. Maddox kept apologizing to me, because he knows I have family dinners on Saturdays, but that's not what I was pissed about."
By the time he was done, it was pretty obvious he was pissed, and I was really enjoying watching Grant's reactions to Cashin's anger. It was honestly like he'd never seen it before in his life.
"What is Randall's last name?" Mark asked, sounding truly terrifying, and I turned slightly to look up at the seething man, just as his husband wrapped his arms around him from behind, pressing his mouth to his neck.
"No, Mark."
"What?"
"No."
Chapter Seven
AUGUST
My front door opened, and I smiled to myself as I continued to put the steamed broccoli on our plates, waiting for Bates to come into the kitchen and perch himself up on the counter to watch me, like he always did when he came to my house to eat.
We'd long since stopped knocking to gain entry into each other's apartments, since we'd been dating nearly three weeks, and spent as much time as possible together, which meant most of the awkwardness that had come with us being in a new relationship had worn off, and we were starting to settle into the familiarity of spending time together.
He came up beside me, and I turned slightly, gripping his hips and helping him up onto the counter, stopping to get my kiss before going back to preparing our plates. When I was done, I scooped him off of the counter and into my arms, and then into his chair at the table, before going back for our food.
He waited until I sat down, before reaching out and petting my chest. He seemed to be fascinated by my chest hair, and since I truly enjoyed being touched by him as often as possible, I'd started taking to not wearing a shirt around the house, knowing he'd either be swinging by later, or I'd be going over to his place. One or the other, because we were seriously spending every single evening together, and cuddling up together in one bed or the other, when it came time for sleep.
Some people would probably say we were moving fast, but apparently my family had a history of moving fast, and it all felt perfectly on time for me.
"So, I have something to ask you," Bates said after a moment, dropping his hand from where he was slowly running his fingers over the hair at the center of my chest, where it was the most dense.
I frowned, not at all minding that he was asking me something, but not necessarily caring for the fact that he sounded almost nervous about it. He knew I couldn't deny him anything. What on earth did he have to be nervous about? "You can say no. I swear I won't get mad, because I know it's really soon."
I frowned slightly, tilting my head to the side, and waiting. "Okay."
He chewed on his lower lip for a moment, watching me. "Seriously, you can say no. It's not like it would be permanent, and it wouldn't really be any different than how things are now, but I definitely don't want to pressure you. I do have friends I could ask, though it probably looks like I don't. Okay, I don't have close friends, but I have people who would probably do me a favor… if I paid them. Lukas is––"
Reaching out, I grabbed him and pulled him into my lap, immediately sliding my fingers into the hair on the back of his head and pulling him in for a kiss. He sighed happily, melting into me as I allowed myself to enjoy the taste of him.
When I finally pulled back, he whimpered, leaning in to sip from my bottom lip again, while my hard dick pressed against his hip.
"I thought you were over this thing where you get nervous around me," I whispered, letting my lips drag deliciously against his.
He groaned. "Apparently not."
"I don't want you to be nervous. I want you to be happy and comfortable."
"Damn, you're really sweet." He cupped both sides of my face, running his thumbs just below my cheek bones, over the stubble of new growth.
I'd been keeping everything trimmed up for the most part, but my whiskers were pretty relentless, and it was after five, so I was sure things were prickly just above my beard, but Bates always seemed as fascinated with that as he was with my chest hair, so I definitely wasn't going to complain.
"What do you need, baby?" I asked after a long moment, watching his pretty eyes.
He sighed, dropping his head to my shoulder. "I love it when you call me that."
Is he stalling? It definitely sounds like he's stalling.
"Bates," I said warningly, even as I brought his hand to my lips, kissing it gently.
"Can I stay with you for a few days?" he blurted, jerking his head up to look at me again. "They're fixing that north wall and pulling the carpet up and putting new carpet down."
"How do you not already know the answer to that? You've been staying here, or I've been staying at your house practically all the time already."