Chapter 20
After breakfast, I spent a few hours lounging in front of the television with Leo while the guys cleaned up the kitchen and retired to their rooms to study. They knew what was coming, the long week of studies followed by away games. I sat on the couch next to Leo. It was late afternoon and about time we said our goodbyes. Twining my fingers in his, I said, “So, keep in touch this week and maybe we can meet for lunch or something?” My heart already hurt, and he was still sitting next to me.
“Of course.” He lifted our hands to kiss my knuckles, his gaze meeting mine. “I’m going to miss you, Archer.”
“I’ll miss you, too.” I skimmed my fingers over his high cheek bone, setting his stunning face to memory. “When the season is over, you’re not going to be able to get rid of me.” I forced a smile.
“Is that a promise?” Leaning in, he pressed a lingering kiss on my lips. “By the way, first thing I’m doing Monday morning, is making an appointment for an STD test.”
Nodding, I said, “Good.” Shit, next time I saw him, we’d be able to go bareback. My dick twitched. “You have to leave me with that, don’t ya.”
“With what?” He shifted his head over the couch cushion.
“The thought of us having sex, sans condom.” I leaned over and palmed his plumping cock through my sweats. “I see you’re feeling the same way I am about it.”
He snuck his lower lip under his teeth, then freed it. “Yeah. That’s all I’m going to be thinking about.” He adjusted himself. “I should um, go put my clothes back on from last night. If I go home in yours, it might make Remy look bad.”
“Yeah.” My heart twinged and I breathed through it. He was coming out on his own time. At least he’d told his best friend. And he loved me.
“So.” He slapped his hands to his thighs and stood up. “I better let you study and get ready for your week.”
I hopped up to stand next to him. “Yep.” There wasn’t much else to say. We’d had the best night ever and he’d spent a lazy day with me. What more could I ask for?
“I’ll be right back.” He sauntered down the hallway, toward my bedroom.
Fuck, I didn’t want him to leave. If I could kidnap him, I would. I paced around the main room, swinging my arms. Finally, he reappeared in his jeans and shirt from last night.
“Okay, walk me out?” With a smile whispering over his lips, he strode to my front door.
I ambled to him, then threw my arms around his neck, my heart aching. “Bye, Leo. I love you.” I nuzzled into his neck, breathing him in.
“Love you, too, Archer.” He gave me a fierce hug. “You need anything, anything at all, you call me.” Freeing me, he planted his hands on my cheeks and kissed me hard. “Fuck, I love you and I’m going to miss you so much.” He stepped away from me and opened my door.
“Me, too.” Fuck, don’t go. I cleared my throat and held my hands tightly together to keep from grabbing him and making him stay longer.
“Bye.” He strolled down my walkway and to his waiting Infiniti sedan.
I drew a deep, ragged inhale. I had to get a grip. I had shit to do, and he’d be there when it was over.
The week was almost done,and I was getting my morning workout in with the guys. Tomorrow we’d fly out to Lake Placid and our game against Cornell. They were good this year, so everyone was fired up about it.
Jonah lay on a bench below me and pressed a bar up with plenty of barbells on the ends, his arms trembling.
Spotting him, I stood at his head and barely touched the bar. Last thing we needed was him pulling a pectoral muscle.
“Dude, don’t you touch the fucking bar. I can handle this.” Sweat dribbled down his forehead and he lifted his chest a bit.
“Then handle it and quit shaking like a fucking baby.” I chuckled. That’d get him worked up.
“Who’s a baby?” Mason strolled by us, wiping the sweat from his face with a white towel.
“No one.” Setting the bar on the holder. He swayed under it and sat up. “I could have done a few more reps if you hadn’t fucked with me.”
“Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes. “Boehm, we don’t need you injured before the game even starts.” We’d all need to be our best this weekend and then we’d be free for a week. Fuck, I was not looking forward to seeing Dad.
“Quiet, Carlson.” Jonah grabbed Mason’s towel and wiped his armpits.
“Fuck, man, that’s gross.” Mason fake gagged and walked off. “Get your own damn towel next time.”
“Hey, have you heard from your dad?” Jonah lifted his brows at me. “He should have called you back by now.”
My chest squeezed. “No, I haven’t.” I slipped my phone out of the pocket of my athletic shorts and opened the screen. Maybe he had called, and I hadn’t noticed. A text message popped up and I read it.
Leo
Hey, I’m having a slow day. Want to meet for lunch? Maybe a pizza place on Mill?
As a smile broke out over my face, I tapped a message back. I could make that work.
Archer
Hell yeah. Mellow Mushroom?
In my opinion, they had the best pizza on campus. I watched the little dots pop up.
Leo
Sure. I’ve heard of it, but never been there. Meet you at noon?
Archer
That works. See you soon. Love you.
Leo
Love you more.
Warmth bloomed in my chest. We’d been ending our texts like that all week.
Ace walked up behind me and peeked into my phone. “Love you more? Dude, you two are so cringy.” With a cackle, he strutted away, throwing a towel over his shoulder.
Shaking my head, I grinned at my phone like a lunatic. I didn’t care what they thought. All I knew, was I was in the throes of my first real love. Would it be my one and only? Only time would tell, but right now, I felt pretty fucking good about it.
Jonah stood up and grabbed my arm. “Hey, he should have called you by now.” He shook my arm. “Focus, man.” With a smirk, he ducked to catch my attention.
“Yeah, I know.” I tucked my phone into my pocket, then threaded my fingers through my damp hair. I didn’t want to dwell too much on it. “Maybe that’s a good thing. I play better when I don’t hear from him.” I gave him a pointed look. “Haven’t you noticed?”
“Yeah, but fuck.” He gave a sharp scoff. “Something’s off. I can feel it.” With a shake of his head, he strolled off. “Come over here and do some legs with me. You need it.”
“Oh, really.” I glanced into the mirror at my thick thighs. He was so full of shit. “We shouldn’t have sore legs at the game, Boehm.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t be too hard on you.” With a smirk, he ticked a brow at me.
I waltzedthrough the glass doors of the modern, rounded brick entrance of the two-story building housing the pizza place and looked around. Leo was already here, according to his text. As my gaze wound through the windows to the outdoor patio, Leo waved back at me, under the shade of a yellow umbrella.
As a smile spread over my lips, I strode out to the white, four-top patio table and fell into the chair next to him. “Hey.” I pressed a quick kiss on his lips, then took him in, his blue button down showing off his wide shoulders and thick biceps, his designer jeans hugging his lower half. My dick stood at attention. Too bad I had a class after this, and he had to go back to work. “You look great, Leo.”
“Yeah? So do you.” Beaming at me, he traced his tongue over his lips, then bit the lower one. “So, how long have you got?” He placed his hand on my thigh.
“Given I can run to class, about an hour and a half?” I hooked a brow at him. I’d show up to class sweaty if it meant spending more time with Leo.
“Good.” His gaze caught on a waiter, who stopped at our table.
We ordered some calzones and lemonade for me, while Leo ordered a Diet Coke.
“Got to keep my girlish figure somehow.” Leo chuckled, unrolling his silverware from his napkin.
“By getting a diet drink to go with your calzone?” Admiring him, I gave him my best grin. “Whatever floats your boat.” I leaned in close. “I love your body, Leo.”
“Good, because I have news.” He straightened his shoulders. “My test came back and I’m negative.” Lifting his chin, he said, “For everything.”
“Fuck…” As heat flashed my skin, my cock shot straight up my zipper to the waistband of my jeans, and I adjusted myself.
“Made you hard?” He snickered, glancing at my crotch.
“Yeah. Maybe you should have told me when we had some time to do something about it.” I glanced around us and pressed on my aching boner. Would there be any time to see him before I left for the game? I chewed the side of my lip. “Maybe we could?—”
“No, we’re waiting until you get back from your Lake Placid game. I want this to be something special.” He snatched my hand and kissed the back of it.
“Yeah, sure.” Except I might die of horniness by then.
The waiter set down our food and drinks. “Enjoy your meal.” He walked off.
I bit into my calzone, the pepperoni salty and the cheese fully melted and stretching off my bite.
Leo watched me, his gaze transfixed, his lips parting. “I think I need to see you eat calzone more often.” He blinked. “Or maybe I’m just sex starved and have been thinking about going bareback with you too much.” He sucked his Coke from a straw.
“Leo, we are going to be so dirty when I get back.” I drank some of my lemonade, then ate more calzone. I might have to look up some new positions for us. My dick pulsed. Shit, we had to talk about something else. “So, how was work today?”
Leo wiped some sauce off the corner of his mouth with a napkin. “Great. You know, usually I have a shit ton of meetings to go to, but today a few of them got cancelled. Everyone’s getting the flu. Guess the season is already here.” He bit into his food.
“Yeah.” I couldn’t imagine a desk job. I hope it never came to that for me. I ate more of my meal.
“Have you heard from your dad?” Leo sipped his soda, narrowing his eyes at me.
“No, not yet.” Why the hell was everyone always asking me about Dad? I huffed a snort. “Jonah is convinced something nefarious is going on.”
“Well, could there be?” He set his food on his plate and wiped his fingers off.
“I don’t know what. I think Dad’s just being a stubborn asshole because I told him off.” I shrugged. “I’m playing the best hockey of my life since we’ve stopped talking. What do I care at this point?” I ate the last of my food.
“Archer.” Leo wound his arm over my shoulders and pulled me close. “I hope that’s all it is.” He kissed my cheek, then set his forehead on the side of my hair. “As long as you’re not bothered by it, I won’t be either.”
“Uh, Leo?” A man with red hair and a plaid skirt with combat boots strolled to us, holding a drink in his hand.
I peered at the man. Shit, he looked familiar. The singer from Knot Me. Axel’s band. Oh no…
“Oh, fuck.” Leo’s wide eyes stared at the man. “Devin. Um, I can explain.” With a broken chuckle, he sat back in his seat and scrubbed his face.
As the corner of Devin’s lips tugged up, he cocked his head and held out his palm to us. “Nothing to explain.” He dropped into the chair next to Leo and opposite me, Leo’s gaze chasing him. Looking Leo straight in the eye, Devin said, “You’re not straight.” His lips curled into a full-on smile.
“I…I’m not, actually.” Leo hung his head and puffed out a breath. “You know Archer.” He pointed at me for a beat.
“I do.” Devin held out his hand and I shook it. With a grin, Devin said, “It’s good to see you again.”
“Yeah, same.” I studied Leo. How was he going to handle this? I should let him take the lead.
“So, you two are dating?” Devin wagged a finger between us. “Axel hasn’t said anything about it.”
“That’s because Axel doesn’t know.” Leo rolled his lips, then shifted to face Devin. “I’m not out to him or my family. It’s a complicated situation.”
“Oh, I understand complicated, believe me.” Devin offered a sharp laugh. “I came from very Mormon parents and when they found out about me, well, it was a good thing I had the support of the band and Brandon.”
My gaze snapped to Devin. “You were Mormon?” I eyed him up and down. No way.
“Yeah. Not only did I have to come out as bisexual, I came out as nonbinary.” He shook his head. “They didn’t understand any of it. My dad wanted to kick my ass.” He gripped his soda tighter. “But my boyfriend, Brandon, didn’t let him.”
“How is your dad with it now?” Leo snuck his hand into mine and held it on the table.
Devin’s gaze dipped to our hands, then came back up. “He tolerates it. When he’s in town, I don’t dress like this.” He waved his hands up and down his sides, then leaned in toward Leo. “But Leo, your parents are cool with Axel. Why aren’t you out?”
With a wince, Leo said, “Because Axel is the gay son, and my dad wasn’t all the way accepting of Axel at first. Our father didn’t let Axel see that, though, but I did.”
“So, you’re afraid of what your dad will think?” Devin furrowed his brows, watching Leo.
“I’m afraid my dad’s reaction might cause a shit storm for my whole family.” Taking a deep breath, Leo glanced at me. “I’m going to come out to them all, eventually. I did tell Remy about us.”
“Well, I won’t say a word.” Devin patted Leo on the forearm. “It’s important you come out on your own terms. I didn’t have that luxury and it sucked.” He pressed his lips together, then smiled. “Hey, it looks like you’re done here. Want to come to the bakery and pick out some dessert? It’s on me.”
I tapped on my phone, resting on the table. I still had thirty minutes to get to my next class. “I have time. What do you think, Leo?” Devin seemed like a really nice guy.
Leo squeezed my hand. “Yes, let’s do that. I haven’t been in there yet and Axel raves about the place.”
“Let’s get the check and head over.” I flagged down our waiter.
We strolledto the bakery on Mill Avenue with Devin, chatting about the band’s show in Vegas and getting updates on everyone. The sun shone through fluffy clouds in the sky and students bustled all around us between their classes.
I looked up at a sign on an older, brick building, reading, Queer Confections in a rainbow of colors. “Here it is.” As we all stopped, I opened the door and let Leo and Devin step inside first, then I followed them in. There were gay couples and students seated on the colorful velvet couches strewn across the room and skateboard graffiti art on the walls. “What’s with the skater art?”
Devin led us up the center of the room, toward the glass bakery counter. “The owner is a skater. He used to work at a grocery store bakery, but then opened up this place after he met his partner, who became a multimillionaire after winning the lottery.”
“No shit?” My gaze cut to a man in white with a baker’s cap, standing behind the counter, his dirty blond, shoulder-length hair pulled into a ponytail.
“Yeah, this is Dana, one of the owners.” Devin stopped at the counter.
“Hi. And who do we have here?” Dana’s gaze roamed from me to Leo.
“This is Axel’s brother, Leo, and his um…” Devin scratched his head. “His friend Archer. Archer’s a hockey player for ASU.”
“Yeah? Cool, man. I love hockey.” Dana gave us a wide smile and nodded.
“I told them I’d give them something on me.” Devin hooked a brow.
“Oh, well…” Hopping on his toes, Dana held up his finger. “I have just the thing. Something new I’ve been working on. You like bourbon?”
Sneaking a glance at Leo, I lifted my brows. “Hell yes.” I grabbed for Leo’s hand, then pulled back. This guy obviously knows Axel.
“Be right back.” Dana bound though a doorway into a back room, then returned with two plates, each holding a puffy pastry looking similar to a danish. He sat them down on the counter. “Here. It has a bourbon filling with honey, orange and a hint of cherry. Sort of like an old fashioned.” He beamed at us.
“Sounds delicious, Dana.” Leo picked up a pastry and took a bite, then let out a deep moan. “Oh my God.”
Hot damn, he sounded like he did when we had sex. My dick perked up. I plucked my pastry off the plate and bit into it. An explosion of butter with a mixture of the bourbon and the fruits danced on my tastebuds. With a groan, I shut my eyes for a beat, savoring every second of it. “Damn, this is almost better than sex.” I shot a look at Leo, his pupils blown. Could Dana tell we were together?
Dana threw us a satisfied grin and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, these are gonna sell.”
“Everything you make sells.” Devin tagged Dana’s shoulder. “We’re thinking of starting a third bakery over on the west side and looking to start selling at some smaller coffee shops.”
“Wow, you all have done really well here.” Leo took another bite of his pastry. “I remember the first time Axel told me about this place.”
“Yeah, it was when he was hounding me to try out for the band.” With a small grin, Devin nodded. “So much has happened since then.”
Dana planted his hand on Devin’s shoulder. “Our little Devin grew up and made us proud.”
I ate more of my pastry, and it melted on my tongue. Fuck, this was good. “You know what? Can I have five more of these?” I set my backpack on the counter and unzipped the pocket holding my wallet. “I’ll buy them. I want to bring them back for the guys at the house.”
“Archer lives with five other queer hockey players.” Leo grabbed a napkin from a holder on the counter and wiped crumbs from his lips.
“Seriously? So we have a queer contingent on our college hockey team,” Dana said. “I’m not going to let you pay for these. And—” he held up his index finger “—I’m going to look into making a sizeable donation to the team.”
My mouth dropped open. Devin had said Dana’s partner had won the lottery. “What a nice gesture, Dana. It would be great to have this place’s name as one of our sponsors.” I ate the rest of my pastry as Leo did the same.
“Well, got to support organizations that are queer friendly.” Dana left for the back room.
“Dana and Nate are the best. They helped me so much and their friend group is something special.” Devin took our empty plates and set them on the back counter. “If there’s anything any of us can help you with, just say the word.”
Dana returned with a small, white box. “Here, bring these to your buddies and tell them to come up and see me sometime.” He waggled his brows.
“Was that a Mae West reference?” Devin held the back of his hand to his mouth and giggled.
“It was. You’re learning, young grasshopper.” Dana patted Devin on the back, then focused on me. “Okay, time to make the donuts.” With a cackle, he strutted into the back room.
“He’s kinda funny.” I opened my backpack and carefully settled the box into it, so the pastries stayed upright. I’d definitely be back in here with Leo. Maybe next time Leo would be out to his brother.
“Yeah, he loves to quote old movies and commercials he finds on YouTube. It drives some of his friends crazy, but he doesn’t care. It’s just who he is.” Devin set his hands on the counter.
“Anyways, thank you, Devin. And please, thank Dana again for us.” I flung my backpack strap over my shoulder. “We’ll be back in here for sure.”
“Good. And Leo?” Devin peered at him. “Axel will shit himself when he finds out about you, but he’ll be happy for you both.”
“I know. Thanks, Dev.” Leo patted Devin’s hand, then snatched mine and led me out of the store.
An ache started deep in my chest. It was time for me to go to class and say goodbye to Leo. I wasn’t looking forward to the goodbye.
It wasSaturday and we’d stomped on Cornell last night, but tonight wasn’t looking so good. I skidded my skates to a stop in my zone and waited, stick on the ice, while Hopkins readied for a faceoff. We were down by two with eight minutes in the last period.
I glanced at the camera turning on top of the glass. Would Leo see me?
The ref dropped the puck and Hopkins scrambled for it, but Cornell’s center slapped it away and passed to his winger. The winger hightailed around the edge of the ice and Bransky checked his ass into the boards, taking over the puck in the process.
“Fucking way to go!” I held my ground, stick ready in case he passed to me.
Bransky took a quick look around, then passed to Hopkins.
In a blur of red jersey, Cornell’s center slipped in and grabbed the puck, then made a beeline for Ace.
Ace crouched on his skates, looking bigger than ever, eyes focused on the puck. “Go ahead, come at me one more time, jackass. I got your number.”
As the Cornell center vied for an opening, the puck swishing back and forth on the blade of his stick. I watched his arm draw back.
“Oh, hell no.” I threw myself between the center and Ace and the puck launched, hitting me square in the chest. The wind whooshed out of my lungs as pain sliced through me. “Jesus fuck!” Even with pads, it always hurt like a bitch. The puck fell at my skates and fixating on their goal, I pounded it down the ice.
“Nice fucking save, Carlson.” Hopkins skated up on my right.
“Take it home.” I passed the puck to him and followed him down to Cornell’s defensive zone.
Hopkins slapped the puck, and it skidded between the Cornell goalie’s legs as he dropped to the ice. The buzzer and red light went off on the net.
“Fuck yeah!” Hopkins shook his arm in the air.
“Nice fucking shot!” I skated into him, and bear hugged him.
The rest of team were there in a heartbeat, all slapping and congratulating us. I peeked up at the camera over the glass. “That one’s for you, Leo.”
The locker roomwas somber as we all removed our gear. Fucking Cornell won tonight and all I wanted to do was to get back to the hotel room, so I could talk to Leo. God damn, I missed him something fierce. I had no idea being in love would mean you’d miss someone’s presence this badly.
As I pulled my jersey over my head and set it on the bench, Jonah padded over to me, all his gear stripped and his straight, black hair still a sweaty mop from the game. “So, think you’ll hear from your dad tonight? We lost…”
I scoffed and hung my head. “Knock it off, Boehm. I wouldn’t want to talk to him right now even if he did call.” I unfastened my pads. I was being mean, but it was the truth.
“Okay, well, let me know if he calls you.” He planted his hand on my shoulder. “Let me know if you want me there when he calls. Okay?”
I shifted my gaze to meet his. He was really concerned about this. “Yeah, sure.” I patted his hand. “Thanks, buddy.”
After eatinga heavy dinner at a local Italian restaurant, I followed Jonah down the dingy hotel hallway to our room. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I slipped it out. Maybe Leo figured it would be a good time to call.
Jonah turned to me at our door. “Your dad?”
I peered at my phone. “No, the Coyotes’ coach.” With a hard swallow and my pulse quickening, I answered it. “Hello?”
Arching a brow at me, Jonah stood there, watching.
I waved at him to go inside.
“Hi Archer. This is Richard Dupont.”
“Yeah, I know. I have you in my contacts.” I twisted around and leaned my back against the wall, then gazed down the hallway.
Ace and Myles quietly opened the door to their room and ducked inside.
“You made one hell of a save tonight. That’s the sort of thing I’ve been looking for out of you,” he said. “I know you all lost and I’m sure everyone there is licking their wounds, but you all played a good game. Cornell is hard to beat this year and last night, you all killed it.”
He was talking like he was already my coach. “Yeah, Coach said the same thing.” I sighed. It hadn’t helped though. We’d wanted this game. But why was he calling again? “Have you made a decision on letting me try out at the Coyotes’ development camp?”
“Not quite yet. I need to see if you can keep your play up. It’s looking pretty promising though. You keep making saves and dominating the puck like you did this weekend, and it’s a sure thing.”
“Okay, well, thank you for being so interested in me.” I crossed my ankles. I had no idea what else to say to this guy.
“Will you be going home for the holidays?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m leaving on Friday. My finals are over on Thursday, so it gives me a day to decompress.” And see my boyfriend, who’s waiting to go bareback with me and make it special. Gotta love Leo for that.
“Well, say hello to your father for me and give him my best. I hope he’s seeing how well you’re playing.”
Fuck no, he’s not talking to me right now. “Yeah, I’ll give him your best.” I bumped off the wall and stepped toward my door. The conversation was over, right? “Talk to you soon.”
“Yes, talk to you soon. Have a good night.” He hung up the phone.
I stepped inside the hotel room, then shut the door behind me. Jonah was going to want to talk about this, but all I wanted was to hear Leo’s voice.
“Dude, you’re in.” Jonah hopped off the bed and strode to me. “You got the spot in development camp, right?”
With my head hanging, I kept my gaze on my phone. “Not yet, but it’s looking good.”
The screen lit up with a FaceTime call from Leo.
A smile stretched over my lips, and I held a finger up to Jonah. “Let me take this. It’s Leo.” I answered the phone, Leo’s stunning face filling the screen. “Hey, Leo.”
With an eyeroll, Jonah tutted and threw himself on his bed, belly down.
“Archer, babe. How are you doing?” His brows knitted.
Babe? That was new. As my heart warmed, I blew out a breath. “I’m doing all right. Cornell proved to be what we thought they were, hard to beat. But at least last night we showed them who was boss.” I forced a smile. It still didn’t quite take the sting out of tonight’s game.
“How’s your chest? When that puck hit you, I almost threw our coffee table across the room.” He tugged the edge of his lip up. “Good thing only Remy was with me. He understood. Axel would have thought I’d lost my mind.”
“I wear pads, Leo. I’m fine.” There was a little sore spot, but not enough that I was bruised. Leo didn’t need to know though. I stepped to my bed and lay on my back, resting over the pillows on the headboard. “But I’m glad in a weird way it upset you so much.”
“Uh my God. I’m not listening to this garbage.” Jonah jumped from his bed, strode to the door, and saluted me. “I’m going to go console Ace. He’s feeling like he let us all down tonight.” He walked out and the door clicked behind him.
“Poor Ace.” Leo shook his head and tsked.
“It wasn’t his fault. The puck was in our defensive zone for probably seventy percent of the game. They dominated and scored. End of story.” I blew out a ragged breath. “Let’s talk about something else. The game is over, and I’m done dwelling on it until we hit practice on Monday. I’m sure the coaches are going over the footage and coming up with drills for us to work on already.”
“Yeah, okay. So, what does your schedule look like this week?” He raked his fingers through his long, dark bangs.
“I have finals, but they’ll all be done by Thursday. I leave for Minnesota on Friday, so?—”
“So we can hook up on Thursday night?” He curled one edge of his lips. “Maybe I’ll take Friday off of work, so we can stay up all night.”
My dick twitched in my joggers. “I like that idea.” It seemed so far away from today. “Leo? I really fucking miss you.”
“Me, too. I can’t wait to hold you in my arms all night long again.” He gave me a faint grin, his gaze going far away.
“Have you thought any more about when you want to come out to your brother?” I tucked my hand behind my head, under my pillow. Maybe he’d get a chance to do it before we met up.
Pursing his lips, he said, “I’m sorry, but no. I tried, but it never seemed to be the right time. Axel and Remy are both busy studying for finals, too, right now. Plus, Axel’s band has been practicing to learn some new songs for their show in Vegas.”
“Oh.” I nodded, my heart sinking. Someday, things would be different. He was trying. I glanced at the corner of my screen, the time reading eleven. It was getting late here. “Anyways, I need to go and get some sleep. We have a long day of flights back home tomorrow.”
“Okay, sleep tight and all that. Love you, Archer. I’m really looking forward to having you home.” He kissed the screen on his phone.
With a soft chuckle, I kissed back. “Love you, too. Babe.” And every day, I loved him even more. There was no end to it. I hung up the phone and held it over my heart.
Finally,all my damned finals were over, and I could spend some time with Leo. I strode to my SUV, parked in a lot at ASU, and looked up at the gloomy sky. We were in for some rain. It was about time. It had felt like a million years ago that I’d seen rain. Funny, being from Minnesota, I never thought I’d be looking forward to clouds and rain. But living in the desert with sunshine beating down every day, it was fucking fantastic.
As I climbed inside my car and threw my backpack on my passenger seat, my phone buzzed in the side pocket of it. With a smile, I lifted it out. It had to be Leo. I glanced at the screen. Uncle Tad scrolled across it. “What the fuck?” I answered the call.
“Archer? Oh, thank God.” He breathed heavily into the phone. “When are you supposed to get here?”
“Uh, hello to you, too.” I started up the car and the call shifted to the car’s speakers. Uncle Tad was Dad’s brother. Maybe he heard about me and Dad not?—
“Sorry, but we have a situation up here,” he said. “I’m just going to be blunt. Your dad had a heart attack and he’ll be going into surgery in a few days. He needs a full-on fucking bypass.”
The air left my lungs, and I blinked a few times, then clutched at the sweatshirt over my chest. “Wh-what?” Dad was in his early fifties. Wasn’t he too young for this shit?
“He’s been having problems for a while now. The docs wanted to put a stent in, but he kept putting it off and making excuses. You know how he is.” He tsked. “When can you get here?”
“I fly out tomorrow, late afternoon.” I scanned around me at the other students, smiling and getting in their cars. Probably all happy-as-fuck to be done with finals, too, and looking forward to going home. “Is, is he all right though? Do I need to change my flight?” Fuck, and not see Leo for another week? A knot formed in my stomach as my chest squeezed.
“I don’t know. Might be a good idea. I mean, if you can.”
“Okay.” I stared at nothing. Would I lose my last parent? Over the fucking Christmas holiday? And the last time we spoke…my vision blurred, and a lump crawled up my throat. “I’ll check on flights and get back to you.” Don’t die, Dad. Don’t fucking die on me. I hung up the phone and dropped it into my lap. “Holy fucking shit.” My breath hitched and I bit back a sob. This couldn’t be happening. Just when things were looking up. I breathed in deeply. “Call Leo, Archer. Call fucking Leo.”