Chapter 8 #3
That’s…I’d say unexpected, but it isn’t. Easton doesn’t hate a lot of things. The guy is sunshine personified, but he detests injustice, and I know that no matter what kind of relationship he’s got with Rune, he’d fight for him like that.
“I’m glad he did. You deserve to be here.”
He grins at me. “You don’t have to be nice. I already like you.”
I flush a little. I know I’m not hated at the station, but it’s still kind of a novelty to be actively liked. “I mean it though. You do deserve it. You’re intimidating as fuck and a total badass. I think that’s why Easton’s so obsessed with you.”
His face goes stormy. “He’s obsessed with pissing me off and making my job both harder and more expensive.”
There are other reasons Easton seems to constantly seek his attention, but I don’t give away his secrets.
Those are Easton’s business, and he still won’t admit how he feels anyway.
His crush is visible from space, but he’s in his happy, ignorant bubble, and I’ll let him stay there until he’s ready to come out on his own.
“Anyway,” I say, not wanting to make Easton pissed at me, “until recently, I kind of thought I’d stay here forever.”
His eyes go wide. “Did you put in your notice?”
“No. Nothing that drastic. I just…I don’t know.” I bite my lip as I try to find the right words for how I’m feeling. “My mom’s doing better, my sisters are all grown up, and even the baby’s got her own job now. No one really needs me anymore.”
“Are you going to try the whole culinary school thing?”
I almost choke on my laughter. “Dude. It was expensive when I was eighteen and trying to apply. Now…” I trail off.
I’ve looked into it. I haunt the local school’s website from time to time, but the tuition has gone up almost two hundred percent since I first looked into it, and I don’t want to spend the rest of my life paying off that debt.
Especially because culinary school doesn’t mean that you graduate and step into some high-paying, high-profile head chef position. You get kicked back onto the line and have to work your way up.
I’m not old old, but I’m also not young anymore either. And I don’t know if I have it in me to start over.
Rune grimaces. “Sorry. Tender subject?”
“It’s fine.” It isn’t, but I’m not going to wallow in self-pity. I have other things to obsess over. Like the fact that I touched Leo’s dick and made him come. But I have no plans to tell Rune that, so I swallow back everything I want to say and turn my attention to the ducks.
They look ready to move on, so I reach into the bag and toss out the rest of the feed, then stand up and stretch my back. My knees are kind of aching from the time I spent on the floor between Leo’s legs, and fuck, I do not need to be thinking about that again.
Pushing my sleeves up toward my elbows, I shove my hands into my pockets and kick at a few bits of broken cement. “Want me to walk you back to work?”
Rune shakes his head. His eyes are on his phone, and he looks…I’d say unhappy, but that doesn’t quite cover it. “I have a ride.” His tone is dark, and he glances off to the side like he’s searching for someone.
I’m worried now. The only person who ever makes Rune look upset is Easton, and that’s not even in a soul-crushing way. Easton just irritates the shit out of him.
Right now, Rune looks like he wants to crawl into a hole—a feeling I’m a little too familiar with.
“I’ll walk you to the parking lot,” I say.
For a moment, I think he’s going to argue, but then his shoulders sag, and he nods. “Yeah. Thanks.”
We don’t speak again. The cement trail drops off at the curb, and a few hundred feet away, I can see a massive black truck parked across two spaces. There’s a guy waiting by the hood, tossing his keys into the air and catching them with a flourish like we’re meant to be impressed.
He looks like the picture you’d see if you googled middle age douchebag trying to reclaim his youth. He’s wearing a white backward cap, a polo, tight jeans, and aviators. All the things I love, but somehow, he manages to douche them right up.
I can also see age on his face. The guy has to be at least fifty if his greying temples are any indication. That wouldn’t be a problem, but the way he’s staring at Rune like he wants to grab him by the neck and force him to his knees, and not in a good way, makes my stomach churn.
“Hey,” I call after Rune. He freezes and turns. “Call me if you need to.”
His shoulders sag. “Thanks. I’m okay though.”
“Call me,” I emphasize. “If you need to.”
His lips twitch, and then he nods. “Yeah. But whatever you think this is, I promise it’s not.”
I think it’s something horrible. Abuse or coercion or…I don’t know. Some kind of emotional manipulation. But I know pushing him isn’t going to solve anything, and he must know that’s what I’m thinking, so it has to be something else.
I just don’t know what else it could be.
It’s taken my mind off Leo, which is great until I watch Rune drive off into the distance. And then I’m alone with my thoughts again…
And the second I close my eyes, the ghost of his body is right back under mine, and I don’t know how the fuck I’m supposed to let go.