Chapter 9
“I’ll help you shower and then I’ll get you into bed,” Seamus said as soon as they entered his house.
Very slowly, DJ turned to the side and looked at him, trying to gauge whether he was serious.
The worried but guileless expression on his face indicated that he was. “Seamus?” DJ said patiently.
“Yes?”
“If I’m going to live here without one of us being uncomfortable, I need you to think about what you’re saying to me.
” His husband was sweet, generous, caring, fun to be around, interesting, and hot as fucking hell.
DJ was already half in love with him, so it was a struggle not to jump him even without the inadvertent sexual innuendos.
“What’d I say?”
“I worked a full shift today. I’m perfectly capable of cleaning myself.
An act that requires me to take all my clothes off and lather my entire naked body.
” He looked at Seamus expectantly, hoping that spelling out the steps involved in a shower would make him snap out of his anxiety-fueled daze and realize the implications of what he’d been suggesting.
Instead, Seamus just stared at him. A thirty-six-year-old man who had spent his entire adult life working in bar shouldn't be that adorably clueless and DJ didn’t have the energy to explain it any further.
“I’d love to wear my own clothes tonight.
Would you mind getting them while I take a shower?
” He felt bad asking Seamus to bring in his things, but realistically, there was no way he’d let DJ do it anyway, and at least this way, he’d have a task to occupy himself while DJ got cleaned up.
Without that distraction, there was a solid chance he’d insist on washing DJ’s back and an even higher chance that, if he did that, DJ would bend over and ask him to be really damn thorough.
“Of course!” He turned around and rushed toward his front door. “I’ll be right back.”
With a sigh and a shake of his head, DJ went to the spare room, undressed in the adjoining bathroom, brushed his teeth using the same toothbrush he had the previous night, and got into the shower.
Operating on autopilot, he made quick work of washing his hair and his body.
Once he was done, he intended to get out, but the hot water felt incredible on his aching body, so he allowed himself a few more minutes to enjoy it.
Now that nobody was watching, he didn’t need to prop himself up and pretend he was fine, so he relaxed his tense muscles.
He hadn’t expected the chain reaction that followed, but apparently letting go in one way resulted in all his defenses crumbling and the next thing he knew, he was huddled on the tile floor, arms around his shins and face on his knees, sobbing harder than he had since his parents died.
He must have lost awareness of his surroundings because he didn’t notice Seamus entering the room, the water turning off, or a towel being draped over him.
Once he was lifted off the floor and cradled against Seamus’s chest for the second time that night, he realized what was going on, but even then, he couldn’t stop crying, let alone protest.
“Shhh.” Seamus pressed his lips to DJ’s forehead. “You’re okay. I’m here now.” He carried him into the bedroom, managed to keep holding him while also pulling down the blanket, and then he gently laid him in the bed. “I’m going to fix this.”
“You can’t fix it,” DJ said through his tears. “I’ve tried. No matter how much I pay him, he says I owe more. I can’t understand how the interest rate works or how to keep up with it.” He shook his head. “It’s impossible.”
“You’re right,” Seamus said calmly. “He’s making it impossible because that’s his goal.”
He sniffled and took in a few shaky breaths, body trembling. “What do you mean?”
“Jesus, you’re freezing.” Seamus stood, yanked off his shirt, and shoved his jeans down. “Scoot over.”
He dragged his gaze up and down his husband’s broad, thick body. “I’m naked and you’re gorgeous and…” All he wanted in that moment was to be wrapped back in those strong, warm arms. “Fuck it.” He moved to the side to make room for Seamus, and once he got in and pulled DJ close, he went willingly.
“You’re warm.” He wrapped his arm around Seamus’s waist and rested his head on his hairy chest.
“Good.” Seamus pulled the blanket up to his neck and then held him tight. “I’ve got you.”
“What did you mean about him making it impossible?”
“I mean he’s a thief not a money lender.”
“He leant my grandfather money. When I was in high school, he’d come by the house sometimes and collect it. I know my grandfather owed him.”
“DJ, an unwritten, unsecured deal with some unlicensed guy off the street isn’t an enforceable loan.
Even if it was, it wouldn’t be enforceable against someone who had no part in taking it out, especially someone who was a child at the time it happened.
And most importantly, he’s assaulting you.
Anyone who does that isn’t doing business, they’re committing a crime.
None of what’s happening here is legal, and he won’t stop because he knows he can keep taking your money.
” He tipped DJ’s head back and met his gaze.
“I know this is hard to hear and I’m sorry to speak this way about your family, but your grandfather decided to trust a criminal and you’re paying the price. ”
At some level, he knew most of that, but he had been ignoring it because there was nothing he could do about it and admitting that meant coming to terms with the reality that he’d never, ever be free of the debt. He’d always be scrambling and working and falling further and further behind.
“If I thought offering to pay him whatever he claims he’s owed would stop this, I’d do it, but I’ve given this a lot of thought and I believe that would make things worse.”
“I don’t want you to pay my debt.”
“It’s not your debt, and like I said, I don’t want to pay it, because if I do, this guy’ll realize you have access to money and then he’ll come up with some bullshit excuse about why you owe him even more. Telling him you can pay him off won’t end this harassment, it’ll escalate it.”
All of that made sense. There was no way out. DJ squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself to take slow, even breaths.
“So what I’m going to do is call Richard Davis.”
DJ snapped his eyes open. “Sheriff Davis?”
Seamus nodded. “He’s a friend of mine.”
The sheriff had come across as a giant, emotionally unregulated jerk earlier that night, but Todd seemed to like him, and if Seamus called him a friend, then maybe he had been having an off night. DJ could understand that; it happened to everyone.
“What can the sheriff do?” DJ asked.
“I don’t know exactly, but I’ll talk to him and get his advice. He’s smart and he doesn't put up with any nonsense. There’s a man coming into our town and beating people. That’s not going to fly with Richard.”
“You think he’ll help me?”
“Absolutely.”
DJ considered that plan. “What if my grandfather’s loan shark gets mad that we got the police involved? What if it makes things worse?”
“He is assaulting you. I know it’s happened a lot just from looking at you.
You’re more injured than you’re admitting to me.
What happens if next time he hits you in the wrong spot or too hard or for too long?
One of these days, you’re not going to be able to recover.
” Seamus rolled to the side, taking DJ with him, wrapped his arms around him so they were chest to chest, and tucked him against his body. “This can’t continue.”
Tired of pretending everything was fine and carrying the burden alone, DJ leaned into his husband and buried his face into his neck. “I’m scared.”
“I know. It’s a bad situation but I’m going to make it stop. And until then, you’re not going to answer his calls, you’re not going into work because he knows to look for you there, and you’re not going out alone.”
He would have balked about being told what to do as if he was a small child and not a grown man who had been taking care of himself for most of his life, but the truth was, he appreciated having someone care about his safety and his welfare and he yearned to take a break from managing everything alone.
“Okay,” he agreed and closed his eyes. He was so tired and Seamus smelled so right.
“I didn’t think you’d give in so easily.”
“I trust you,” he slurred, already half-asleep. “Good night.”
When DJ woke up the next morning, he was surprised to find Seamus still in his bed, arm around his waist. With him being naked and Seamus in his underwear, the situation was incredibly arousing but also potentially uncomfortable so he slowly moved to the side in an effort to get out of bed before Seamus woke up.
Immediately, Seamus gripped his hip. “Go back to sleep,” he mumbled.
“I’m used to getting up early.”
“I know. You don’t rest enough. I’m fixing that problem.” His eyes were still closed.
“You can’t fix all my problems.” At that point, he was pushing back more out of reflex than anything else.
“Watch me,” Seamus rasped, immediately adding smoking hot to the list of reasons DJ needed to get out of that bed.
“I’m going to make breakfast.” He tried to wiggle away. “You said you liked that casserole yesterday.”
“I did and I put the leftovers in the fridge. We can eat them later.” He pulled DJ closer. “If you don’t stop moving, I’m going to roll on top of you and pin you to this bed until you go back to sleep.”
Now he was naked and hard in bed with his smoking hot husband; sleep was going to be impossible.
He wasn’t going to out muscle Seamus so he’d wait him out.
He stilled, relaxed his body, and took slow deep breaths, hoping Seamus would be lulled back to sleep.
Whether his efforts worked or not, DJ would never know because, when he opened his eyes to check, he was in bed alone and, according to his phone, it was one in the afternoon.
“Shit!” He scrambled to a sitting position and then winced in pain when his body protested the fast movement. “Fuck.”
“What’s wrong?” Seamus’s voice reached him seconds before he entered the room.
“I overslept!” He dragged his fingers through his hair and tried to get his bearings. “I never oversleep.”
“You didn’t oversleep.”
“It’s one o’clock!”
“You don’t have anywhere to be.”
He considered that and then flopped back down. “I don’t have anywhere to be,” he repeated. When was the last time he could say that? He honestly couldn’t remember.
“How do you feel?” Seamus sat beside him and ran his gaze over his body. “Turn over so I can see your back.”
He slowly flipped over, no longer bothering with protests. They were a waste of time when he would ultimately give in anyway.
Seamus sucked in air and then huffed, “God.” Barely making contact, he ghosted his palm over DJ’s back. “I hate that he did this to you.”
There wasn’t anything he could say that would improve the situation so DJ stayed silent and let himself enjoy the care he was receiving.
“What do you want to eat? I’ll bring it to you.”
Smiling, he turned back over and placed his hand on Seamus’s. “I don’t need breakfast in bed. I’ll go out there and eat in a little bit.”
“Okay.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, just sharing space. It was nice. DJ had never done that with anyone. For that matter, he hadn’t ever spent the night with anyone. Quick hookups were the only thing he’d had time for and even those had been few and far between.
“Why did you choose Hope?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I know why you left Claddagh, but why Hope? Did you know someone out here?”
“No.” Seamus shook his head. “We grew up on the East Coast and I wanted something totally different. ‘Go west, young man.’ That sort of thing.”
DJ nodded. “But why Hope?”
“Well”—Seamus flipped his hand over and rubbed his fingertips back and forth over DJ’s wrist—“as much as I wanted to leave home, I liked living in a small town, so I researched places in Arizona that were around the same size as Claddagh. When I came across Hope, my gut told me it was right, so I moved here.”
“That’s it? You found a random small town out West and moved there sight unseen?”
“Yep. And I’m glad I did. My gut has never steered me wrong.”
“That’s kind of crazy. Especially for someone in the community.”
“I’m a trailblazer.” Seamus grinned. “But it all worked out.”
“To be a trailblazer, someone has to follow your trail. I’m the only person in Hope from Claddagh and I was probably already here when you came. You were eighteen, right?”
“Yes. A couple of months shy of my nineteenth birthday. It was good timing because by the time I bought the building and set up the bar, I was old enough to serve drinks.”
“I got here right before you. They let us wait for the school year to end before making us move.”
“Huh.”
“What?”
“That’s weird, right? That we both ended up on the opposite side of the country in the same small town at the same time?”
“My sister called it fate.” DJ grinned.
Seamus laughed. “My parents said the same thing. I thought someone was scamming them.”
“That probably seemed more likely than them finding you a groom from the community out here.”
“It really did.”
“I laughed when Kaira said it to me too and she told me blood is thicker than water so fate made sure I’d have someone from the community to marry even if I wasn’t in Claddagh.”
“I heard that idiom a lot growing up,” Seamus said.
“The full saying is the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. It means that when we share experiences, tribulations, and trials with people, when we bleed with them, we form bonds that are stronger than those that come just from a shared lineage, the water of the womb. Kind of the opposite of how they mean it.”
“That’s interesting. I’ve never heard that.”
“They never tell us the whole thing because their point is that we need to stick together and marry our blood.”
DJ considered what Seamus said. “When you think about it, the community has both blood and water though. The people in it have a shared heritage, but they also have shared experiences. They have both.”
“Hmm.” Seamus furrowed his brow in thought. “You’re right. I hadn’t thought of it that way. Maybe that’s why the community is so insular, so tight, so committed.” He gazed into DJ’s eyes. “Blood and water joined together.”
Suddenly, his sister’s insistence that fate led him to Seamus didn’t seem so far-fetched.