4. Knight in Shining Armor
KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR
Jake found himself increasingly unsteady on his feet as he stood there on the sidewalk, shivering in the cold while Robbie talked in circles to the cops. Finally, Robbie turned around, smiled encouragingly at Jake, and began to walk back over, catching Jake before he collapsed to the ground.
“You’re good for the night,” he said, “but you’re going to have to head to the station tomorrow morning and talk to them.”
“I’m good?” Jake asked meekly.
“I’m free to take you home and let you sleep it off.”
“Thanks, Robbie. You’re the best.” Jake smiled at Robbie, whose own smile faded.
“You wouldn’t be saying that if your bloodstream wasn’t half vodka right now.”
“How did you…”
“I can smell it on your breath.” He put his arm under Jake and practically lifted him up, helping him to glide over the dangerously firm concrete. “You’re heavy,” he groaned.
“I am not,” Jake protested weakly.
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Do you think Aunt Isabel’s gonna be mad?”
“Probably, or at least as mad as she gets. I’ll try to talk to her before I put you to bed, but you need to keep your mouth shut.”
“Thanks for saving me,” Jake mumbled, still smiling like a fool. “You’re my knight in shining armor.”
“Let’s not be too glib.” Robbie rolled his eyes.
“You are.”
“Ugh, you’re the worst kind of drunk, aren’t you?”
Jake didn’t respond. He was too caught up in Robbie’s eyes: his sparkling blue eyes. Why he’d been so hard on Robbie in the grocery store, he couldn’t remember.
“I know men like you, Jake,” Robbie continued, “and while you’re obviously in no condition to receive a thrashing from me, be aware that I have no interest in being around you more than I have to. You’ll agree with me once you’ve sobered up again.”
They reached the front of Isabel’s house. All the lights were off, but Jake pointed toward the door and tried his best to step up onto the first porch step.
“The door’s o–open,” he said. “She said she’d leave it un… un…”
“Unlocked.”
“Yeah.”
“She’s nicer than you deserve.”
“Yeah.” Jake gazed up at Robbie, the stars lighting up the sky enough to catch the glint in his eyes. He was perfect.
Before Robbie could open the door, Jake straightened up and pressed his lips against Robbie’s. Robbie stood there for a moment, eyes fully opened, stunned into silence. Then he broke away, wiping his mouth.
“No, Jake,” he said firmly.
“But—”
“No. You’re in no condition to be doing anything of the sort. I can taste the alcohol on my lips.”
Jake pulled his mouth into a pout. “You’re no fun,” he said.
“I’m sure you’ll be saying much worse things about me in the morning. I know I’m thinking those things about you right now.”
“You’re mean.”
“Uh-huh.”
He opened the door and helped Jake over the threshold, letting him lean against the wall while he looked through the dark house. “Isabel? It’s Robbie. I hope you don’t mind, but I helped Jake get home.”
Isabel’s bedroom door opened, and she emerged in a floral patterned nightgown, her hair plaited loosely into a single braid that hung over one shoulder. “Robbie? Is Jake okay?”
“He… had a little too much to drink. He’s fine, just a bit unsteady on his feet. Sorry to wake you, but I wanted to make sure you were aware of what happened.”
The way Isabel looked at him, Jake was pretty sure he didn’t look fine. He tried to grin at her, but his cheek was hurting more now than before, and he had to let the smile go.
“Jacob Wynn, you—” She shook her head in disappointment. “You need to be more careful. Get to bed right now.”
“I’ll help him if it’s all right,” Robbie offered.
Isabel’s face relaxed a bit. “Yes, please. Thank you, Robbie.”
Robbie grabbed Jake by the arm again. “I’m just trying to keep this fool from getting himself jailed—or worse.”
Isabel shook her head again as Jake passed by. His face burned with shame, and he kept his head down, unable to look at even Robbie anymore.
When they got into his room, Robbie pulled back the blankets on the bed to make way for Jake. Before Jake could collapse into it, he reached into the back pocket of Jake’s jeans and pulled out his phone, which made Jake giggle.
“Get in with me?” he offered, smiling wearily as he sank into bed.
Robbie clenched his jaw, took a deep breath, and relaxed it again. “Jake, please stop that. Go to sleep so you can forget this all happened. Mier knows I’d like to do that right now.”
“There’s plenty of room.”
There wasn’t, but Robbie’s cheeks reddened slightly anyway. “Go to sleep, you fucking idiot. I need to go explain exactly what happened to Isabel and get home myself.”
Robbie left Jake alone, and before he knew it, the room faded out around him. Muffled voices came from the hallway where Robbie and Isabel talked. And then there was nothing at all except a black void and a deep, dull ache.
Jake struggled to open his eyes against the light streaming into the room.
He had forgotten to close the curtains before he climbed into bed, and yet he couldn’t even remember doing that much.
But he was in bed, with the blankets tucked around him like a little cocoon protecting him from the outside world.
When he finally got his eyes fully open, he saw that the curtains were, in fact, drawn shut. It was just the light of midday breaching through the fabric that was killing him. Robbie must have closed them before he left last night.
Robbie.
Last night.
Jake lifted the blankets. He was fully dressed, and his clothes reeked of smoke and alcohol, just like the bar he’d been at. He closed his eyes again, sinking back into bed with a pitiful groan.
Everything hurt, from his head to his teeth to his stomach to his feet. He couldn’t move. He had to, but he couldn’t.
With the most effort he’d ever put forth, Jake stumbled out of his room and into the bathroom.
It was mercifully empty, and he turned the shower on before he’d gotten a single piece of clothing off, stepping in while he was still in his T-shirt and underwear.
It was too difficult to get undressed all the way.
Every time he lifted his arms above his head, he felt like his body was going to collapse in on itself.
Warm water cascaded down his head and shoulders, soaking through his T-shirt. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath of the steamy air to clear his lungs. How he’d made it out of that bar last night, he had no idea.
Robbie.
Brief, patchy memories once again came flooding back. Robbie had helped him home, of course, and Robbie had tucked him into bed. Robbie had saved him from getting pummeled by a guy twice his size in the bar and prevented him from getting carted away by the cops to sober up in a holding cell.
“Damn that Robbie,” he muttered, sputtering as water entered his numb mouth.
And then he remembered the kiss on the front steps. Everything after that was a blur, save for what he could put together out of sheer assumption. Had they…
He turned the shower off and stepped out, dripping water across the floor.
His shirt and underwear clung to his skin, making him shiver as the water cooled.
He dried off as best he could with a towel before slinking back to his bedroom.
He grabbed his phone off the nightstand and squinted while he struggled to turn the brightness down.
He had only one way of contacting Robbie, but he needed to know right now. Something as crucial as this couldn’t wait. He opened MatchdUp, selected the chat button, and pulled up their brief conversation from earlier in the week. His clumsy thumbs typed out the only message he could manage.
Did we fuck?
It didn’t take long for Robbie to respond.
No.
Jake let out a long, slow exhale. “Oh, thank Christ.”
Another message popped up.
Call me. We need to talk.
Jake’s heart thumped like a bass drum. With shaking hands, he copied the number Robbie had just sent him and dialed it, lifting his phone to his ear. It rang once, and then Robbie answered.
“Did you just wake up?”
Jake rubbed his forehead tenderly. “Yeah.”
“How’s that eye? Black, I’m assuming.”
“I haven’t even looked at it yet, but it feels pretty bruised. Why did you want me to call you?”
“To remind you that you need to get your ass down to the police station, since you clearly can’t keep your life in order on your own. I got you a night at home, but you’re not off the hook yet.”
Jake sat down on the edge of the bed. “I just can’t understand who called them,” he said. “We had it under control.”
“No, Nick had it under control. You were only making it worse. But it was probably one of the patrons who was afraid you were going to turn the whole bar into a crime scene. People get scared, Jake. You can hardly blame them for that.”
Jake combed his fingers through his wet hair. “I’m not going to jail, am I?”
Robbie snorted. “I doubt it. You’ll probably get hit with some community service hours, which honestly might be for the best. You’re never getting let into The Cove again though, I can tell you that much.”
“It’s not worth it anyway. That place is a dump. Their vodka was shit.”
“It must not have been too bad for you to drink so much of it.”
Jake rolled his eyes, immediately regretting the motion. “Can you just shut the fuck up and mind your own business? Thanks for helping me out last night, but I don’t owe you anything. Just leave me alone.”
“Fine.”
Robbie hung up, leaving Jake sitting on his end with a dead line. He set his phone down a few seconds later, dropping his head into his hands as he ran his palms across his sore face.
Isabel offered to take him to the police station, but Jake declined, preferring to face his shame alone.
It was bad enough that he had to walk into the station with a bruise that covered almost half his face, and it was even worse that he was going to have to try to explain what happened when he couldn’t even remember most of the parts that didn’t involve Robbie.
He walked out of the station with a folder of documents to take to the Eventide town hall so he could begin his community service as soon as possible.