Chapter Forty- Three #3
say. So he headed back to the cab of the truck and poked around.
There wasn’t much to take. Then he stood and stared at the
officer.
“You going to call for a ride?” Parker
prompted.
“I haven’t got a phone.”
There was another long pause before Parker
said, “I guess you’d better start walking, then.”
If the cop hadn’t been there Lucas probably
could have talked the tow truck driver into giving him a lift. But
if the driver was on police business he’d be following police
rules, and Parker obviously wasn’t going to stretch things for
Lucas’s benefit.
It wasn’t that far and it wasn’t that cold.
It wouldn’t be fun, but Lucas wasn’t going to die because he had to
walk a few miles in the rain. “Do I give you the key?” he
asked.
Parker squinted at him and stepped a little
closer. “What’s going on with you, Cain?” He looked like he was
genuinely trying to figure it out. “Shouldn’t you be swearing at me
and calling me a pig? Raving about your rights and private property
and how the truck had better come back without a scratch on it?
Calling your friends and getting them to come start a riot to
defend you?”
Lucas had no answers to any of that. He just
looked at the rain splashing into the puddles and asked again, “Do
I give you the key?”
Parker huffed out a sigh. “Yeah. Give me the
key.” He waited while Lucas separated the car key from the few
others on his key chain then took it wordlessly.
Lucas turned to start walking, and Parker
said, “There’s a path just past that bunch of trees. It cuts behind
a field, comes out by the mall. Shortcut.”
What was that? Charity? Lucas had become so
pathetic that the cop who thought he was scum was starting to feel
bad for him? He didn’t turn around or acknowledge that he’d heard
the suggestion, but when he got past the trees, he found the path
and took it. He was already cold and wet. He didn’t need to add
“stupid” to his list of problems.
Besides, he wanted to get to Mark’s as soon
as possible. He wanted to strip out of his wet clothes, wrap
himself around Mark’s body, and take comfort. Sean’s loss was
devastating, but there were still good things in the world, and
Mark would help Lucas remember that. And he wanted to remind
himself that he had come a long way and while his life might not be
completely shiny, it did have a few spots that glowed pretty
bright. Constable Parker was right about him, but he was also
wrong. Mark would remind Lucas of all of that.
There was no answer when Lucas hit the buzzer
at Mark’s apartment. He checked his watch. It was still early, just
a bit past two o’clock. Mark had said maybe he’d go out to the farm
and see if Alex wanted to spend some time with him, and he went to
the hospital pretty much every day. Lucas thought about the walk
across town to the halfway house. It was a small town, less than
five minutes door to door by car. At least another hour in the
pouring rain by foot. And that hour would end with Lucas in the
wrong place, far away from Mark. He pulled out the apartment key.
He’d used it before but that was when Mark had known he was coming.
This was something different. More intimate.
He used the key. Inside the building,
sloshing up the stairs in his soaked and dripping clothes, then
inside Mark’s apartment, and he sagged against the door. He felt
better just being in Mark’s space, even without the man himself
there.
It was strange how wet clothes could somehow
feel colder when they were being taken off. Lucas was shivering by
the time he’d worked his way out of his dripping sweatshirt. He
looked at the puddle already forming on the ground at his feet and
tried to figure out some damage control. He wanted a shower. Water
had made him cold, so now it was water’s job to make him warm
again. Seemed only fair. He could put his clothes in Mark’s little
dryer, or maybe in the washer first, at least for a spin cycle to
get the worst of the water out. Maybe Mark would be home by the
time Lucas got out of the shower and there would be a benefit to
his nudity. If he wasn’t, Lucas could just wear a towel until his
clothes were ready. He thought briefly about borrowing some
clothes, but that seemed like another extra intimacy, and one that
Lucas hadn’t been invited to practice. A towel would be fine.
So the clothes went in the washer and Lucas
went in the shower. The water burned at first but after the first
moments it felt perfect. Lucas grinned as he thought of a parallel
experience and he felt the first stirrings of interest in his
groin. He’d only bottomed once with Mark and he was pretty sure it
was going to continue being a rare event. He’d enjoyed himself but
Mark had seemed almost shy the whole time. Adorably shy and unsure,
with Lucas practically walking him through it all step by step.
Just one more boost to Lucas’s ego, courtesy of Mark Webber. The
memory had him half-hard but he consciously decided not to do
anything about it. Mark would be home soon, and it would be much
more satisfying to wait.
He stepped out of the shower and used a towel
to dry off before he wrapped it around his waist. His clothes were
nowhere near dry yet so he pulled a can of Coke out of the fridge
and flopped down on the couch. He wanted Mark, but in the meantime,
he’d settle for watching TV without five other ex-cons looking over
his shoulder and critiquing his choices.
He was still flipping channels looking for
something worth watching when he heard the apartment door open. A
moment later, Mark’s familiar body appeared from the hallway, but
next to him…
Fuck. Lucas sprang off the couch. Thankfully
his towel came with him although he had to make a quick grab to
keep it from slipping.
Mark’s mother looked like she’d just seen a
monster devour a baby. She was staring at Lucas, her eyes wide, her
mouth open and sputtering. It would have been funny, something old
Lucas would have laughed about, except for the reason she was so
shocked. And except for the almost-matching expression on Mark’s
face as all three of them stood frozen and stared at each
other.
Lucas was the first to move. He needed
clothes. He crossed the room in two strides and yanked the drier
door open, swept the contents out with one arm while his other was
still holding up his towel, and took one step toward the bedroom
before reconsidering and heading for the bathroom instead. He had
no idea what Mark’s cover story was going to be but it probably
wouldn’t be good for Lucas to look like he was a frequent visitor
to the man’s bedroom.
Lucas had his jeans and underwear on when he
heard the front door slam. He didn’t let it slow him down. He
finished dressing as quickly as his still-damp clothes would allow
and forced himself to open the bathroom door. The apartment seemed
empty. Mark’s mother must have left and Mark had obviously followed
her. Jesus. Lucas had really screwed this up.
He stuck his feet into his soaked shoes. He
thought about taking the back stairs down, sneaking away through
the alley, but what if Mark and his mother were downstairs
somewhere just waiting to be sure he was gone before they returned?
He’d have to make it clear that he was leaving, so he forced
himself to march out the front door and down the street that was
becoming so familiar to him. He wondered if he’d ever have a reason
to walk on it again.