3. Jude
JUDE
“Thank you, Daddy! I love it! I love it! I love it so much!”
A pair of chubby arms wrapped around my waist in gratitude, and my earlier irritation that my day hadn’t gone according to plan melted away.
I hadn’t had the innocent hug of a sub in six months, not since letting the last one go.
While I’d done what was best for her, I missed this type of interaction more than I cared to admit.
Chuckling, I patted the little’s red curls before stepping back out of his embrace. As a well-known Daddy around Halo House, the unattached subs tended to gravitate toward me. A few still tried to get my attention, even though I’d made it clear that I didn’t do permanent relationships.
Occasionally, I took a misdirected youth under my wing to teach them how to navigate the world, but I always set them free afterward. Maybe a couple had developed a crush on me during the short-term arrangement, but it wasn’t from lack of reminders that our situation would only be temporary.
It was why, for the most part, I left sex out of the arrangement.
I couldn’t help being a good Daddy. It was in my blood, but I’d made a promise to myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t make the mistake of falling in love again. Nope. Did it once and had the emotional scars and prison record to prove it.
“You’re welcome, Tony.”
The words were hardly out of my mouth when Tony ran toward the rocking horse I’d just delivered to the house and scrambled onto its back. Seeing his excitement and that of the others gathered around him, I was glad I’d kept my word and brought the toy despite the time.
“You’re absolutely amazing, Jude.” Phoenix came to a stop next to me, the purple highlights in his platinum hair shimmering. His boyish good looks, petite frame, and flawless skin made him appear far younger than his almost fifty years. “I didn’t think you would make it.”
“I had a delivery that didn’t go smoothly”—I sighed—“but I didn’t want to break my promise to Tony. I know how much promises mean to him and how little he trusts.”
I inclined my head to observe Phoenix, the owner of Halo House, knowing he would understand more than anyone else how important promises were to the people he housed.
They came from a variety of circumstances, mostly youths kicked out of the homes that should have offered them a safe place to be themselves.
Instead, they’d either been thrown out by family members for coming out, or they’d been treated so horribly that they’d run away.
Tony was one of the teen runaways who’d chosen to distance himself from his parents.
He’d overheard them making plans to send him to a conversion camp after he came out to them as trans and gay.
The years he’d spent on the streets before a police officer had brought him to Halo House had scarred him.
Three years ago, he would never have been caught dead within a hundred feet of me, much less hug me.
Although he’d come a long way, he had trust issues and multiple diagnoses that made him feel safer in little space.
He was also the angel—what we referred to them as rather than tenants or guests—who’d lived the longest at Halo House. Most angels were in and out in less than a year. Tony was in year five, but he’d started seeing a caregiver recently, so that might change.
“Are you hungry?” Phoenix asked. “Because we have leftovers from dinner. Shannon and Dean cooked.”
“I didn’t have time to eat, but I should get going.”
“Let me at least make you a plate.”
I nodded and followed Phoenix, the squeals of happiness behind me making me smile. In the kitchen, Phoenix flittered around, taking huge containers of food out of the fridge.
“You’re coming tomorrow night, aren’t you?” he asked.
Tomorrow he was throwing an engagement party for my last little, Kim, and her fiancé. Given that my duty to Kim had ended when I’d helped her secure an apartment so she could go off on her own, I hadn’t planned to attend.
“I don’t think I will,” I said.
Phoenix frowned. “Of course you’re coming. Kim’s now another Halo success story because you took her under your wing.”
“I’m happy for her, but our contract ended. She now has a Daddy who will continue to help her grow, and she knows that if she needs anything, she can always call me.”
“You know, if you’d shown her the slightest interest, she would have been yours, right?”
“Hmm.”
He sauntered over to the counter, his movements fluid, hinting at the dancer he’d been when younger.
I was almost a foot taller, but he didn’t ask for help in reaching for the glass Tupperware in the wall-mounted cupboards.
Once upon a time, I would have offered to help, but after almost a decade of friendship, I knew better.
The long, kimono-style sleeves of his wrap flowed back from his stretch, revealing the gnarled skin tissue adorning both arms from the fire he’d escaped over three decades ago. My chest tightened briefly with anger before I remembered the asshole responsible for hurting him was behind bars.
I watched Phoenix quickly scoop food into the containers, then smacked the corners of the lids in place. He handed them to me. “Here you go. There’s always too much food in this house.”
Because he made sure he had enough in case of emergencies. Not everyone who made their way to Halo House stayed for shelter. Some showed up for a hot meal or a shower. Phoenix didn’t turn anyone away, even when he should have sometimes.
He walked me to the front door and held it open for me. “Please show up for at least fifteen minutes,” he said, stalling me. “You never take any praise for how wonderful you’ve been in helping out our angels.”
“You know I’m happy to help. I don’t need anything.”
“Fine, I won’t push you. But are you sure you don’t want to take another sub under your wing? You’re so good with them.”
“You know I always take a break in between. It’s self-care for me, so when I do accept someone, I’m at my best and can give them the time and care they need.”
“I guess that’s what makes you the best.” He heaved a sigh. “The day you decide to settle down is the day I’ll cry myself a river.”
My lips twisted in wry amusement. “We know that’s not going to happen. Only short-term arrangements for me. I do not need the illusion of a lifetime.”
Phoenix gasped and glanced over his shoulder, as if afraid one of his wards would overhear my pessimistic view on love. “Jude, you don’t really believe there’s no happily ever after, do you?”
I raised an eyebrow. “I know you’re not talking to me about happily ever after.”
“My case is different,” he said quickly. “I had my happily ever after already with Raymond, and it was everything I could have hoped for.”
“But you’re still alive, and I know a certain cop who would love for you to give him a sign that he can ask you out.”
Color suffused his cheeks, and he glanced over into the night, frowning at the headlights of a car turning into the driveway. “Aaron and I are…friends. Without him, Halo House wouldn’t have been able to help so many members of the community. I’m grateful for his help. That’s all.”
“And speaking of the devil…”
The squad car came to a stop at the end of the driveway, and Officer Vale stepped out.
The smile on his face dimmed when his gaze shifted from the man at my side to me.
Vale and I worked closely with Halo House, and we might have been good friends if he didn’t get so territorial over Phoenix because of our closeness, but I’d known Phoenix far longer than him.
“Behave,” Phoenix said from the corner of his lips. “Lately you’ve been having too much fun goading him.”
I couldn’t stop the grin that parted my lips.
Vale didn’t approach us immediately. He went around the car, opened the passenger door, and helped someone out.
The grin on my face froze in place, and the breath whooshed right out of my lungs.
A young man with beautiful mahogany skin stepped out, one hand braced lightly against Vale’s arm.
He raised his head, and the light caught the rich texture of his skin over the sharp cut of his cheekbones and the elegant line of his throat.
He was stunning.
There was strength in him, his arms and shoulders well defined without being bulky. He had a softness to his beauty, and despite the exhausted, pained look in his eyes, his lean muscles suggested an elegance about him that didn’t suit the crumpled clothes he wore.
Vale had to coax him forward, and his eyes darted around as if he were looking to bolt any second.
Protective instincts pushed against the wall of my chest, making my arms tingle with the need to wrap around him, place his head beneath my chin, and hold him until the tension in his shoulders eased and he no longer looked so scared.
“Jude,” Vale said, coming to a stop in front of us. “How are you?”
“Good, good. You?”
I heard the mumble of his voice but didn’t hear the words because the young man chose that moment to glance up, and our gazes clashed violently.
Light brown eyes with golden flecks widened, and his full, dewy lips parted.
Decades of experience prevented me from reacting similarly, but I couldn’t seem to drag my eyes away.
His skin looked so soft and supple. He didn’t give off the vibe of a young man who was living on the streets, but those were the type Vale usually brought to Phoenix.
“Do you mind, Jude?” Vale’s voice pulled me back to whatever he said that I might have missed. “We need to talk to Phoenix privately so we can get Soren settled.”
Soren.
A pretty, delicate name for a beautiful boy.
I nodded. “I was just leaving. Phoenix, I’ll be in touch. See you tomorrow.”
“Does this mean you’ll be here then?” Phoenix asked, his voice full of hope.
“Yes. You were right, so I’ll stop by for a few minutes to show my support. Have a good night, and thanks for the dinner.”
“Drive safely!”
I waved at him as I headed for my truck, which was parked next to the squad car. I had to pause to transfer the dishes to one arm while I dug the keys from my pocket.
“—doesn’t have anywhere to stay,” I overheard Vale saying. “His roommates took everything and disappeared.”
I frowned as I unlocked the truck, having no choice but to get in, although I had the overwhelming urge to stick around and find out what had happened to Soren.
He didn’t have the look of someone disadvantaged, but I knew better than to assume as much.
One of the boys who’d passed through Halo House had been a governor’s son.
As I backed out of the driveway, I couldn’t help stealing another glance at the young man. There was something unusual about him that I couldn’t put my finger on. Whatever it was, my interest was piqued, and I couldn’t wait to hear his story.