Chapter 9
9
Zach
“So…. when are you going to tell Mom and Dad about you and Kincaid?” Krista asked, the question echoing around his car as he pulled to a stop at the red light.
“Don’t make me regret calling you for my drive home,” he joked, even as his chest tightened. His sister meant well, but she was the only one in his family who knew he and Kincaid were a couple for a reason. Eventually, he was going to have to tell his parents or lose Kincaid; he knew that, yet he kept pushing that day off.
“I don’t think they’re going to react as badly as you think they will.” She’d been supportive when he told her he had a boyfriend and delighted to meet Kincaid, but she was also far more progressive than either of his parents.
“Uh-huh. You mean like how when Uncle Mark told us that Jaime had come out as gay, Dad said he was happy to Uncle Mark, then as soon as he hung up the phone, he started shaking his head and talking about how hard that was going to be on everyone?”
Krista was silent for a long moment, which was not her normal modus operandi.
“I forgot about that,” she finally admitted.
Zach hadn’t. It had happened a week after he and Kincaid had started dating, and it was burned into his brain.
At the time, he’d told himself there was no point in telling his parents anyway because it wasn’t like he was sure it was going to stick.
That wasn’t the case anymore, but it didn’t make telling his parents any easier. They’d hung up a pride flag that June, but his dad still talked about his brother with pity for having a lesbian daughter.
“Remember how Mom asked Jaime and her girlfriend how they’re going to choose which of them is biologically related to the baby, and she didn’t stop to question whether or not Jaime and Leslie even want a baby? And when Jaime reminded her that they’d only been dating for a month, she said that she’d read online that that’s like a year in lesbian relationships?” It had all happened so fast, it had taken Zach and Krista that long to recover from their shock to intervene, much to his cousin and her girlfriend’s relief.
His mom had come back and apologized after a long talk with Krista, which Jaime and Leslie had been gracious enough to accept, but still. He could only imagine what kind of questions his mom would have for Kincaid if she found out he was more than Zach’s roommate.
“Okay, but Mom is going to do that regardless of who your partner is. Remember how when you were with Jill and I was single, she asked me when I was giving her a grandchild, and I told her to bother you since you actually were with someone, and I didn’t have a boyfriend? And she told me that I don’t need a boyfriend to give her a grandchild?”
Zach laughed as the light turned green.
“I’d forgotten about that,” he admitted. Sometimes, the things that came out of his mom’s mouth… No wonder he and Krista remembered different, slightly horrifying things. There was so much to choose from.
“Yeah, being straight isn’t going to stop the invasive questions,” she said dryly. “Trust me.”
“You have a point. But I feel like they’re a lot more invasive to anyone she doesn’t understand.”
“Well, you’re not wrong there.” Krista sighed. The car was silent as Zach made the final turn onto his street. “You do need to tell them, though. Mom’s been talking about trying her hand at matchmaking. Apparently, one of her friends has a very nice, newly single daughter who’s only a few years older than you.”
Groaning, Zach pulled into the left side of the driveway, making sure to leave room between his car and the garage door in case Amy decided she wanted to go out. He and Kincaid had insisted she put her car in the garage, in large part because neither of them wanted Noelle or Jeremy to drive by and see it there. Just in case they decided to come harass her some more.
If she took the garage spot, they’d never know whether she was home if they were watching. He wouldn’t put it past them. Assholes.
“I’ll tell them. Soon. I’m just waiting for the right moment.” It was the same thing he’d said to Kincaid multiple times now. Though Kincaid hadn’t asked again in the past couple of weeks.
Either he was leaving it entirely up to Zach, or he’d given up. Zach really, really hoped it was the former. Though, this week, it was understandable why Kincaid hadn’t asked. Maybe having Amy move in with them was enough of a distraction that he’d set the matter aside for now, which would give Zach a little more breathing room.
“Sometimes, you have to make the right moment.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m home now, so I’m hanging up. Talk later, bossy pants.”
“Good luck, kid.”
Zach chuckled as he ended the call. When they were kids, Krista had wanted to call him ‘squirt,’ just like the big sister in one of her favorite books. He’d balked, and they’d negotiated and then settled on ‘kid.’ It didn’t matter that he was now half a foot taller than her and an adult; the nickname had stuck. On days like today, it was both reassuring and made him long for a simpler time.
Walking into the house, he breathed in deep as he recognized the scent of Kincaid’s tomato sauce. Hell, yes. Whatever Kincaid was making, Zach was excited. Amy had been cooking for them all week, and she was a very good cook, but Kincaid’s tomato sauce was his favorite. He also wanted Amy to take a break. She’d been keeping herself busy all week, which he understood, but she also needed some downtime.
He was starting to worry that she was avoiding her feelings by burying herself in housework.
“Something smells good,” he said, dropping his briefcase next to the door and heading into the kitchen. Kincaid looked up from where he was standing, butterflying some chicken breasts, and grinned.
“Someone looks good.” Kincaid winked at him. Laughing, Zach rounded the peninsula counter and went in for a kiss. Because his hands were full of raw chicken and a knife, Kincaid couldn’t put his arms around him, which meant Zach’s hands were free to roam while they kissed.
“Is Amy here?” Zach murmured, keeping his voice low just in case she was.
“Taking a shower.” Kincaid leaned over to nip at Zach’s earlobe as he pulled away, though Zach left his hands on Kincaid’s hips, standing behind him.
They hadn’t had sex all week. They’d been too distracted by Amy’s presence. Zach had been too worried she might need him—them—in the middle of the night.
But the week had gone by, and she’d slept through every night without a problem since those first two. He didn’t need to feel guilty about wanting intimate time with his boyfriend.
“She’ll probably be out soon.” Kincaid refocused on the chicken, picking it up to start it through the dishes he’d prepared with egg and breadcrumbs. Yum. Chicken parmesan. “How was your day?”
“Pretty good. I talked to Krista, and she says hi.” At the very least, he could remind Kincaid about the family member who did know about their relationship. Kincaid’s quick flash of a smile made him feel even better than he had. “Want a beer?”
“No, I’m good, thanks.”
Nodding, Zach headed over to the fridge to get his own. He didn’t think Kincaid would take him up on it—he could have gotten his own if he’d wanted—but he liked to offer.
“How was your day?” he asked as he popped the top off the bottle.
“Good, though it affects this weekend.” This time, the smile that Kincaid shot him was apologetic. “I’ve gotta go out of town tomorrow. I’m going to escort Cassidy up to her new place.”
They’d been planning to spend tomorrow night with their friends, but obviously, this changed things. Cassidy was a submissive who’d left her abusive relationship, and recently, her ex had started stalking and harassing her. Proving it was him had been difficult.
“Cassidy is moving?” Amy, freshly washed and scrubbed pink from the shower, came into the room from the hall, her long hair damp and darker than usual. Her doe eyes were wide. “I hadn’t heard. Hey, Zach.”
She’d been kind of busy and preoccupied with her wedding plans, but there was no way in hell Zach was going to point that out.
“Hey, how are you doing?” he asked, walking over to envelop her in a hug. She hugged him back, then stepped away, moving around the outside of the counter to take a seat on the other side, opposite him and Kincaid.
“I’m good.” She sat down and smiled, though her smile was a little odd. Forced, but not in the way it had been, as if she was trying to hide some negative emotions. No, this was forced in a different way, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on how. She directed it at Kincaid. “That looks good.”
“Thanks.” Now, Kincaid was also awkwardly smiling.
Ah. Zach wondered if maybe who was cooking dinner had been a bit of a power struggle between the two. When a service top and a service bottom face off… who ends up serving who?
Kincaid
Sitting down to dinner with Amy and Zach while he served them felt like relief. He liked feeding people. It had been nice to be the one being fed for a few days, but he’d also been concerned about how Amy had buried herself in housework. She wasn’t pausing to take any time to feel her feelings or do something nice for herself because she was so focused on ‘paying’ him and Zach back for letting her move in.
She was already literally paying for her spot in the house, so he didn’t want her going overboard trying to fulfill a debt that wasn’t owed.
“So, you have to go to Pennsylvania tomorrow?” Zach asked. He’d been kept apprised of the Cassidy situation the whole time. She’d actually decided she should probably move several months ago but then had procrastinated on taking the final step. Kincaid couldn’t blame her. She was leaving literally everyone and everything she knew, and it wasn’t really by her own choice. She was being forced to do so because of her ex’s stalking behavior.
“Yeah, Cassidy is ready to take the final step. She’s all packed up and everything.” Kincaid grimaced. “I think the final straw was earlier this week when she was grocery shopping and saw her ex there. He just stood there, staring at her, then followed her out to the parking lot and stared at her until she was in the car and driving away. She said she nearly had an accident because she was shaking so hard.”
“Why can’t the police do anything?” Amy asked indignantly. “It’s not right that he gets to harass her like this.”
“Well, for one, there’s no proof that he’s done a lot of the things that we know he did. The law is reactive, not proactive, and there’s only so much the cops can do.” He grimaced.
What he didn’t say was that some of them might even be on her ex’s side or find his actions ‘harmless’ because he wasn’t doing anything physical to Cassidy. The emotional damage or her fear wouldn’t move them. Too many of them were willing to overlook certain behaviors from men because they identified too closely with those behaviors—something that he’d learned about his ex-partner a little too late.
Besides, he’d made sure that the cops taking Cassidy’s reports were among those who were the most sympathetic, the most proactive, but there was only so much they could do. Her ex wasn’t doing anything to break the law.
“There’s no law against being in the same store as someone unless she has a restraining order, and he hasn’t done enough for her to be able to get one of those.” Zach scowled, though the fierceness of his expression melted a little when he took a bite of his chicken parmesan, which lightened Kincaid’s heart.
Sometimes, good comfort food really did help, and after hearing that Cassidy was taking the final step and that he was going to have to cancel his plans, he’d wanted comfort food. There was no way he was going to let someone else handle taking her up, though.
“Why are you the one taking her up?” Amy asked curiously, twirling spaghetti around the fork.
“She’s being protected by Black Fox Security once she gets up there. Patrick’s cousin works for them, and he helped arrange it,” he explained. “And I’m helping with the D.C. office, which isn’t open yet, but I’m here, and she needs an escort. Someone could come down, but they’re in the middle of something else right now, so I volunteered to take her up.”
Zach’s eyelashes flickered, but he didn’t protest. He knew that Kincaid would always volunteer to do the right thing, and he’d been just as worried about Cassidy as Kincaid was. Kincaid would make up for the canceled plans with him.
“Is there anything I can help with?” Amy asked, obviously concerned. “Does she need anything?”
He smiled warmly at her.
“She’s covered, but if something comes up, I’ll let you know.” Truthfully, Cassidy was completely covered, and there had already been offers of help that had been rejected. Everyone in the clubs felt protective of the sweet submissive and wanted to help her.
If only they’d been able to find a way to keep her here… but hopefully, Pittsburgh wouldn’t be a permanent move for her. Once she was away, her ex would hopefully lose interest entirely and move on with his life, then maybe she could come back home. That or maybe he’d do something stupid enough that they could actually get him locked away, but Kincaid only hoped for that under circumstances in which no one else got hurt.
Too many times, someone had to get hurt before there was anything that could really be done.
“You can keep me company since my boyfriend is abandoning me,” Zach joked, winking at Kincaid to let him know he wasn’t actually upset. Even knowing that, an odd feeling stirred in Kincaid’s chest. It felt like… jealousy.
Not that he thought Zach would ever cheat on him, but it did kind of suck knowing that he was being replaced for a night, even platonically. However, he was the one canceling plans, so it wasn’t like he had room to protest.
And Zach and Amy were close. Maybe Zach would be able to get further down to the root of what was going on with her without Kincaid there. Did it chafe a little, knowing his absence might help more than his presence did? Sure, but since he was going to be gone, anyway…
Thankfully, it was only for one night.
What could happen in one night?