Chapter 18
ZEKE
Having Callum mad at me sucked. I hadn’t realized how he’d filled the empty corners of my life, until he wasn’t there.
Not just in bed, or up against a sink somewhere, breathless and laughing, his pale skin flushed with desire.
But filling the dishwasher like a drunken sailor, so I had to rearrange everything while he teased me for being picky.
Or sitting next to me on the couch, giving sharp-tongued critiques of bad movies.
Or beside me on a run, barely breathing hard, while I panted and dug deep and our sweaty shirts stuck to our chests.
Jos had gone back to hiding too, barely coming out for meals. I could’ve kissed Sully when he texted to ask if Jos wanted to check out the comic store.
~He would love you forever, I replied, recklessly committing Jos’s after school hours. ~Now?
~Thirty minutes?
~Great.
I climbed the stairs and knocked on the kid’s door. “Jos?”
“Go away.”
“Okay, but then I get to go to the comic store with Sully while you stay home and sulk.”
A second later, the door opened. Jos stuck his head out, dressed in those too-small sweats. “What did you say?”
“Sully’s offering to take you to get those protective magazine covers,” I told him.
“Oh. Okay.” A little of the pout went out of Jos’s face.
“Hey.” I had an idea. “Didn’t you say Brayden was into comics too? You think he might want to come along?”
Jos’s eyes widened. “Can I ask him?”
“Don’t see why not. Maybe Sully could pick him up along the way. He’ll be here in half an hour, though.”
“That’ll work.” Jos shut the door, then pulled it open to say, “Thank you.”
“Get changed, kid.”
Sully arrived with Hannah about forty minutes later. Jos, dressed in jeans and a good T-shirt, paced the living room. “There,” he said, pointing out the window. “He’s here.”
While Jos greeted Sully and pulled him aside to discuss which comics to bring along, Hannah caught my elbow. “Come on, let them geek out about this stuff. I need coffee.”
“Can do.” I guided her into the kitchen and put on the coffeemaker.
“Have you seen much of Callum lately?” Hannah asked. “Sully says he’s not himself, acting really grouchy. Well, Callum’s always been a bit touchy, but apparently he bodychecked a defenseman ass over skates in practice and he’s talking back to his coaches. Sully’s worried.”
I flinched. “I haven’t seen him in a few days.”
“Really? I thought he was staying with you.”
“Only while his uncle was squatting in his grandfather’s place. The asshole’s gone now, so Callum’s back where he belongs.”
She side-eyed me. “He seemed like he belonged pretty comfortably here.”
“He was babysitting Jos, but now I’m off, and then I’ll be second shift, getting home before midnight. Jos is fine without him.”
“And are you?” She blew out a breath. “Sorry, that was nosy. But Callum was different around you, softer, happier. Even when you weren’t in sight, he had fewer sharp edges once he was staying with you. I’ve never seen him smile like that.”
“Maybe that was from spending time around Jos,” I suggested desperately.
She snorted. “Yeah. Preteen boys make everyone kinder and gentler. Listen, I’m not trying to get into your business. Or to out Callum, at all. Maybe I’m way off base. But if he’s recently moved out, and now he’s acting like a bear just out of hibernation again, maybe he misses you.”
Not trying to out him, my ass. Although I believed she meant it in a kind way. There was really no answer I could give that wouldn’t confirm her suspicions. “Cream in your coffee?”
“Milk, if you have it.”
“With a twelve-year-old? The answer is either six litres or none. Let me check.” Jos wasn’t eating like the bottomless pit I remembered being, yet, but we went through milk like you wouldn’t believe.
Sully stuck his head into the kitchen as I handed Hannah her mug. “Hey, Jos and I are ready to head out. Zeke, you want to come, or you want to hang out here and keep Hannah company?” He gave her a very unsubtle look of “go along with it.”
If hanging out with Hannah meant an hour of being not-so-subtly interrogated about Callum, even a comic store held more appeal. I was about to say so when someone knocked on the front door.
“Hold that thought.” When I pulled open the door, I froze, staring at the guy shifting from foot to foot on my doorstep. “Uh. Callum?”
“Can we talk?” he asked, then threw a look at the driveway. “Hey, is that Sully’s car?”
“Yeah, it is,” Sully said behind me. “Hannah and me were about to take Jos and a friend of his to the comic bookstore. I’d invite you and Zeke, but the car won’t fit six. Come on, Hannah.” He gestured to his girlfriend and squeezed past me.
Hannah followed him, handing me her untouched mug. “I guess I’m going to look at comics. Come on, Jos.”
I blinked as Jos scurried after them with a puzzled glance my way, and got in the back of the SUV. Callum and I watched as Sully reversed out of the driveway and headed off down the road.
“Uh.” Callum turned back to me.
I handed him the mug. “Coffee?”
He took a sip without looking, then coughed. “There’s milk in it.”
“It was going to be for Hannah.” I pulled the door wide. “Come on in.”
“I’m not sure why I’m here.” Callum trailed inside past me despite his words.
I shut the door. “Looking for a guy who knows how to be a boyfriend?”
“Are we boyfriends? We never said.”
“We slept together, we loaded the dishwasher together, and we said we were exclusive. If it quacks like a boyfriend…”
“Is it stupid that I miss loading the dishwasher with you?”
I had to laugh, despite the anxious butterflies in my stomach. “As long as you don’t miss it more than the sex.”
“I’m having a moment, but I’m not nuts.”
“Come sit down.” When he followed me to the kitchen table, I took a close look at him. There were shadows under his eyes and bruises across the fingers gripping the coffee mug. “You look tired.”
“Not sleeping well.”
“Want to tell me about it? Or not. You can just sit there and eat cookies.”
“What cookies?”
“These.” I dug in the pantry, found the pack of his favourite chocolate chip ones, tossed them onto the table, and sat across the corner from him.
“That’s a new bag,” he noted.
“I was hoping you’d come by and eat some.”
He ripped the plastic, pulled out a cookie, and stuffed it in his mouth. Since that put a stop to him talking for a while, the ball was in my court. I’d had four days to get over being mad at him and decide to be the responsible one. “I’m sorry.”
Callum waved a hand at me, chewing faster.
“I mean it. I pushed instead of listening to you. You have to understand, I’ve always been Mr. Fixit. If something was going wrong, I wanted to be the guy with the answers, especially when Dad was deployed and after he passed. You had a problem. I wanted to fix it.”
He choked down the crumbs, sipped his coffee, and said, “Fix it your way.”
“Well, yeah.”
“Even if that wasn’t what I needed.”
Wasn’t what you wanted. But maybe that was me, not listening again. “Tell me what’s going on. How can I help?”
A flush coloured Callum’s face. “After saying that, it’s embarrassing.”
“What?”
“I think I need to go to the cops with this.”
Hallelujah. I didn’t let satisfaction reach my voice. “Go on.”
“Uncle Wayne showed up at practice on Sunday.”
“Why?”
“Just to jerk my chain, I think. To show he’s in control. He was driving Grandpa’s truck again.”
“I thought you took back the keys.”
“I left them on the hook in the kitchen. Grandpa let him come home to pack up his stuff Saturday and he must’ve taken them.”
“If your grandfather wants to report the truck stolen, we could pick him up, once we find him.”
“Yeah, but that leaves Mr. Smith out there. However.” A smirk crossed Callum’s face. “Finding him shouldn’t be too hard. After I talked with Grandpa Friday night, I put my luggage tracker tag in the truck, just in case Uncle Wayne had made a key. We can see where he goes.”
“Okay. That’s step one. Smith is step two. Ideas?”
Callum chewed on his lip, shaking his head.
I reached over without thinking and thumbed his mouth. “Don’t hurt yourself. Talk to me.”
“I’m scared the gambling cops will blow me off.
Or do something half-assed that’ll just alert him that I’m making trouble.
Or even that they won’t believe me. They’ll think that two-thousand-dollar bribe was real.
” Callum turned to me, an appeal in his blue eyes.
“You do believe I’m innocent, right? I didn’t throw anything. ”
“Babe, I believe you. Absolutely. You’re honest, a good man.
” I tried to lighten my tone. “A little hotheaded but never a cheater. Plus you’re obsessed with getting your goals-against down.
You want that NAPH spot. You wouldn’t risk that for money.
Certainly not for a measly two thousand dollars.
” A little shadow crossed his face, and I hurried to add, “Not even for a million dollars. You just wouldn’t. ”
“Right. Thank you.” He pulled at his hair, closing his eyes. “But you told me a lot of minor crime isn’t worth the time to track down. Smith said he’d get my uncle to fuck with Grandpa and the store if I defied him. Shit. I don’t know what to do.”
“Can you trust me?” I asked. “Let me get in touch with the GREC folks. The Gaming Commission. They investigate and enforce gambling wrongdoing. Someone in my chain of command must know someone there. The personal touch never hurts.”
“I don’t know.” He squeezed his eyes tighter. “I don’t know! Fuck. Shit. This wasn’t supposed to be part of playing pro. I don’t want Grandpa to get hurt.”
“Hug while you figure it out?” I pulled gently on his shoulders in offer.
“Oh my God, yes.” Callum leaned into me.