Winning Big

Chapter Ten

Remi

Heading to the hospital after his shift had become familiar for Remi. He knew he could count on Eric or Dane to get Dom, but Remi liked to be the one that checked in with the nurses and cared for the boy.

Remi parked in the temporary parking spot for those picking up patients. This time of night there weren’t too many people around. Dom always scheduled his dialysis treatments for the late shift so he could work mornings if needed.

They had a lot to discuss, and Remi was doing his best to hide his nerves. Dom had approached him about an arrangement. An arrangement was not going to work. Remi already couldn’t see his future without Dom. They belonged together. Remi felt that fact down to his bones.

His phone rang before Remi turned off the truck. He smiled seeing the caller ID.

“Hi, Mom,” he greeted, his cell connected to the Bluetooth of his truck.

“Are you driving? Should I call you back? You’re not at work, are you?”

“It’s fine, Mom,” Remi assured her. He wondered if she’d always been this anxious or was this his fault as well. He would always carry the guilt of everything that he’d put his parents through. “I just pulled into a parking spot.”

“Oh good. If it’s not a good time, I can call you back.”

“I love talking to you, Mom,” Remi told her. “How are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m fine. Your father found a box of your stuff when he was cleaning out the garage today. I wasjust checking to see if you wanted it.”

Remi couldn't think of anything he needed that had been left behind when he’d moved away. “What is it?”

His mom sighed. “Your old trophies and—”

“No, Mom,” Remi said quickly. His heart gave a painful squeeze. “I don’t want any of that. You can just throw it away.”

His mom made a small sound. “It seems like such a waste. You were so good. Always bringing home straight A’s and first-place trophies.”

What was Remi supposed to do about it? It wasn’t like he planned to hang anything that he’d had back from his childhood or teenage years. Especially not since that would be a reminder how why and how his life had gone so off course. He took a deep breath before he could respond.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I don’t want any of that. Just toss it, please.”

“If you’re sure.” She didn’t sound like she agreed.

“I’m sure.” Remi fisted his hands when he noticed how bad his fingers shook. He’d hadn’t been prepared for this conversation. It was like his mother didn’t think when she brought up things from his past. Didn’t understand that all this could be triggering for him. She was the one constantly questioning if he was still clean even though he had been for decades now, but she still insisted on looking at his athletic career in his younger days as something to be proud of.

“You could have gone so far. You had real talent,” she told him.

Remi could feel the tears that were threatening to escape. Everything had been going so well. He’d finally made progress with Dom. Why did his mother have to do this now? “I’m happy with my career, Mom. I’m helping people.”

“I guess being a cop is admirable,” she said.

“I’m more than a cop,” he reminded her. “I’m a lieutenant. I worked hard to get where I am. And more importantly I’ve helped a lot of people.”

She sniffed. “With their drug problems.”

Remi liked to tell himself that she just didn’t understand. She’d spent her entire life in the small town that he’d been born in. His mom had never faced the obstacles that Remi had faced. He tried not to blame her.

“Yes, Mom. I help out other sons and daughters, parents and aunts, and uncles. Whoever needs it.”

“Well, I was just calling to see what you wanted me to do with this box.”

Remi sighed. His mom was closing herself off. She did it often. Not wanting to talk or even remember how Remi was. The guilt nearly consumed him. Remi had made her this way. Sometimes it felt like it didn’t matter how much good he did when his parents would be living with his decisions their whole life too. “Thanks for asking.”

“I’ll talk to you later this week then.”

“I’ll call you on Thursday like always. Bye, Mom.”

“Bye, honey!”

“Fuck!” he yelled, hitting the steering wheel. Luckily, Remi was used to his mom and had no intention of ever returning to drugs. His mom had been in denial about his drug problem before she just hadn’t known what to do with him. Remi’s father had been the one to push him into rehab after rehab.

When Remi had first gone into the streets, his mom had kept giving him money. It wasn’t until his father found out and cut that off that Remi had hit rock bottom. Remi had needed it though. The money hadn’t helped. It had just been giving Remi excuses to keep using.

Tough love.

Boundaries.

His father had been right. Remi would have kept using.

He’d thanked his father. They’d spoken about how even though it was the cop that Remi had reached out to for help, it was made possible due to his father.

Remi called on Thursday because that was the time that his father didn’t golf or work in his garage on his house projects. Remi’s father was always there to talk to on Thursday, which usually let Remi off from having to hear his mom talk about the ‘good times’.

His phone beeped and he jolted.

Shit! Dom! Remi needed to get upstairs to his boy. He fumbled for the door handle but his seatbelt was still on. Fuck! His truck was still on! Remi needed to calm down.

Okay, he had this. Remi was in control. He was not going to let Dom down. Dom. Just thinking about the sweet young man that awaited him upstairs finally had his racing heart calming.

Remi turned off the truck then exited the vehicle. He pocketed the keys before heading toward the front doors. Everything was under control.

* * * * *

Dom

Something was wrong. Remi was acting like his usual charming self as he joked with the nurses and got Dom out of treatment, but something was up. With an arm around his back, Remi urged Dom to the truck, as Dom watched his Daddy forcing a smile.

Remi opened the door for him. Dom grabbed his arm before he could walk away. He needed to know.

“What’s wrong? Did we forget something?’ Remi asked.

“No.” He had to clear his throat. Doubt swamped him. Had Remi spent the day trying to figure out a way to let Dom down? To tell him that Remi didn’t want to be his Daddy? Dom had been so sure about them but now what if he’d been wrong?

“Baby?” Remi looked at him in confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

“What?” Remi started but he shook his head. “Get in the truck, baby.”

“No. I don’t think I want to.”

“Why not?” Remi asked.

“I don’t want you to break up with me.” Dom barked out a laugh. “Can we break up after one weekend together?”

Remi dropped the bag. He cupped Dom’s face before kissing him hard.

Dom grabbed the front of Remi’s button-down shirt and held on as Remi fucked his mouth with his tongue. This…this was good, right, had he been wrong?

Drawing back, Remi smiled at him. “Hi, baby.”

“Hi?”

“I’m sorry. I had a bad phone call right before I picked you up. Let’s get in the truck, where you’ll be warm, and we’ll talk. I’m not breaking up with you. I swear.”

“Okay.” Dom trusted him. Remi held the door open. Dom got comfortable in his seat and Remi leaned over and buckled him in.

“I’m sorry I worried you.”

“You’ll tell me though?”

“Yes.” Remi pressed a quick kiss to his mouth.

“Thanks.”

Remi closed his door carefully before he moved around the truck. He opened the back door and set Dom’s bag on the seat before he climbed into the driver’s seat. He started the vehicle but didn’t put it in gear. Instead Remi turned in his seat toward Dom.

“My mom called as I was pulling in to get you,” Remi explained.

“Okay,” Dom said, realizing that he didn’t know much about Remi’s family or his parents. Like, did he have siblings? Those seemed like important things to know about his boyfriend. Were they boyfriends?

“I need to tell you something,” Remi said. He looked away to stare out the front windshield. “I hope you won’t look at me any different.”

Dom reached over to grab his hand. “Is this about your parents?”

“No, about my past,” Remi replied.

“We all have a past,” Dom pointed out.

“Mine is not pretty,” Remi told him.

“There is no judgment here.” Dom meant it.

Remi turned back to him. “When I was in high school, I was injured badly. I was an athlete and tore my ACL. They gave me pain meds.”

Dom was not going to like this story. He could just tell by the look on Remi’s face.

“My doctor and coaches worked with me, but it wasn’t long before I reinjured myself. And I got more meds.”

Hoping to give him support, Dom squeezed the hand that Remi was holding tight.

“Eventually the pain meds ran out, but I was addicted. I'd been abusing them. Taking too many. It felt good not to hurt. The high. I became a drug addict.”

“I’m sorry.” Dom didn’t know what else to say. He was still not scared away though. Remi had some issues? Well, Dom was a poster boy for issues. Dom wasn’t making light of what Remi had been through but obviously Remi had beat his addiction.

“I turned to street drugs. My parents didn’t even notice until I started missing school to get high all the time. My father tried to get me help. I went to rehab. Several rehabs. My grades were suffering. I was suffering.”

“Did rehab work?”

“I didn’t want it to work,” Remi said. “I liked being high. Even when I woke up in places that I had no memory of how I got there. Or who I was with.”

That would be terrifying.

“My mom kept giving me money. I don’t know if she knew or not but I could depend on her to keep me in enough money for drugs even though I wasn’t staying at home.”

“She was enabling you.”

“She didn’t know. It was my fault,” Remi said.

Dom wasn’t going to argue. Remi needed to come to the realization on his own. With the years that had already passed it might not ever happen. At least Dom knew where he could possibly help his man.

“My father eventually found out and cut the money off,” Remi said. “I was pissed. I even broke in when they were gone and stole from them.”

Dom hissed. It wasn’t a story that was really unusual.

“I took advantage of them. Stole from them. Put them through every terrible moment they’d have in their life.”

“Was there no one else to help?” Dom asked.

“The church we went to. I stole from them too.”

“No other family?”

“No, and other than the church, my parents didn’t want anyone else to know. They were ashamed of me. With good reason. Not that everyone in town probably didn’t know. I'm sure they did.”

“Yeah.”

“I eventually left town when I was constantly being picked up by the cops. I hitchhiked my way across the country until I ended up in Vegas.”

“Something must have happened to get you on the right path.”

“A cop,” Remi said. “He wouldn’t leave me alone.”

“Hmm, sounds like some cops I know.”

Remi gave a bark of laughter. “If I had drugs, then he would arrest me. If I was out, he would take me to get something to eat. He never gave me cash. He wasn’t stupid. He would give me a sleeping bag, try to get me in the shelters, and never gave up even when I gave him nothing but attitude.”

“You eventually got clean.”

“I did. I went into a program. Had months of community service, nearly a year by that time, and started working with other addicts. Once I’d been clean for a year, the cop asked me what I was going to do with my life and gave me an application for the Las Vegas Metro academy. He helped me get my record expunged and my GED. I never graduated. I lived with him and his wife for a long time. Too scared to be on my own.”

“He was your hero,” Dom commented.

“More than I can ever say.”

“Do you still see him?” Dom asked.

“Yes, he retired, and they moved to Florida but yes. He was so proud when I was promoted to lieutenant. I still call him for advice.”

“Why would you think that story would scare me away?” Dom undid his seatbelt. He climbed over the console to sit on Remi’s lap and cupped Remi’s face. “You’re even more amazing than I thought.”

“I’m not. I have a past. One that I’m not proud of.”

“And yet you go out every day to help others. To be the cop that man was for you.”

“Morgan. His name was Morgan.”

“I would love to meet him someday.”

“He wants to meet you too.”

“You told him about me?”

“Of course I did.” Remi smiled. “He thinks you sound amazing.”

Dom scoffed. “Sure. But what does this have to do with your parents?”

“I apologized to them. Tried to make amends. Offered to pay back what I stole.”

“That’s all very noble. It couldn’t be easy.”

“A part of them still thinks I’m going to go back to drugs,” Remi said. “Even after two decades of being clean and being a cop. I mean, I’ll always be an addict, but it hurts.”

“I imagine it does.”

“My mom though,” Remi said. “She doesn’t think before she speaks. She always brings up what I could have been. How athletic I was. She’d not proud of the man I am now.”

Fucking parents. Dom was so over shitty parents.

“I’m proud of you,” Dom said.

“Thank you, baby.” Remi kissed him gently. “She called when I got here. She wanted to know what to do with a box my dad found while cleaning out the garage.”

“What was in the box?”

“Old trophies and shit.”

“What would you do with that?”

“That’s what I thought. She said the same thing as always about what I could have been.”

“Well, I’m glad about the man you are today. And so are the people that you help.”

“I’m sorry you thought I was breaking up with you,” Remi said.

“Okay, that was dumb.” Dom couldn’t believe himself. “I just got worried since we’re supposed to talk tonight.”

“Oh, we’re still talking tonight,” Remi said. “To make a schedule. To ensure that we have plenty of little time and dates. So we can be boyfriends and Daddy and boy.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“Then you better get back in your seat so we can get home,” Remi ordered.

“We can’t drive like this?” Dom teased.

“If you want me to arrest myself,” Remi quipped.

His Daddy would probably do that. Dom kissed Remi before he followed directions and got back in his own seat.

“Buckle up, baby.”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“You’re going to be saying Yes Daddy later. Just you wait.”

“I’d prefer to shout it.”

“Home!” Remi barked before he started the truck.