Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
C haz blinked at Ezra’s request. He’d been avoiding talking about his own recruitment, as well as sharing his superpower the whole evening. He should have realized Ezra wouldn’t let it go. It wasn’t that Chaz’s curse was interesting. How John Smith discovered him was boring as fuck. But Ezra’s big puppy dog eyes had weakened Chaz’s resolve. And fuck Chaz for being susceptible. Why did this man tick all his buttons? He did it so easily without realizing it too. Which pissed Chaz off even more.
“You probably have the story in your records,” Chaz said. God, what he’d do for another beer. He drained his current one and tipped the bottle toward Ezra. “Drink?”
“Uh, water, please? Too much beer gives me a headache.” Ezra winced, and colour rose high on his cheeks, making him even more adorable.
“Sure, no problem.” Chaz grabbed Ezra’s beer and resisted the urge to ruffle Ezra’s soft hair. It would embarrass him, and right now, Chaz’s intent was to keep Ezra relaxed and chatty. Dinner had been perfect, but the atmosphere changed during their conversation, and now Ezra was acting odd.
Once in the house, Chaz stood at the kitchen sink, filling two glasses with water. Chaz stared at Ezra through the glass and tried to discern Ezra’s agenda. His honesty and lack of worldliness were too real to be an act, but doubt about Ezra’s sweet nature niggled in the back of Chaz’s head.
Was he being too cynical, and that was why he was looking for ways to trash this friendship before it even had a chance to become established? Chaz thought about his actions for a minute. Yes, he was that sort of asshole. He had to do better. Fate threw this man into lap, and Chaz was going to roll with it. Chaz was going to be kind, do this one last fucking job, and see what happened after. Though, once they sent the villains packing, Ezra was sure to leave for his big city office in Kitchener-Waterloo. Chaz was surly and boring. Even Wiarton was only exciting one day a year. Yeah, no chance of having Ezra stay with him, but what a dream.
Bumping the door with his butt, Chaz pasted a smile and set the glasses of water beside Ezra. “I decided to copy you with the water.”
“I didn’t mean?—”
“I know. Seemed like a good idea. Anyway, you’re curious about my joining up story? Well, let me tell you.” Chaz threw himself into the chair and began. “I was eighteen, in the height of my awesomeness. I commanded everything with very little thought. Lines meant nothing to me, and my bag held every possible wish I could think of. I mean, what could go wrong? Jesus fuck, I wasn’t supposed to say that.”
Ezra chuckled as he was supposed to, while Chaz braced himself for the chaos that usually followed. “Sounds promising.”
“Right? And it was. I met up with this guy, and he negated everything I did. God, it pissed me off. Somehow, my life went topsy-turvy. I started my internship in a negative manner. And because missions tend to go tits up around me, I was designated the cleanup guy. I could have been an awesome hero, but nope, no one trusted me with the good ones. And here I am, always retiring, but not really.”
“But what do you do?” Ezra’s voice was hushed, and the way he leaned toward Chaz made the story seem interesting, and it really wasn’t.
“Basically, I go around and make sure there isn’t any evidence of SPAM-like conditions. Certain events we can’t explain away. Like Bigfoot. Since I’m here, April is suggesting I do some reconnaissance about the situation before the big guys with powers come in and tear everything apart. I mean, they have real names.” Chaz’s resentment toward the SPAM HQ wasn’t as bitter as it had been, but he still harboured some anger about their management styles. Once he was considered a hazard and sent to the cleanup squad, all training in regard to powers became yearly evaluations. April kept tabs on him because he was good at tidying up messes with minimal effort.
“Huh, your role is pretty neat. I think you had an important place in the SPAM corporate structure.” Ezra rested his chin on his fist and sighed. “People don’t understand the nitty-gritties sometimes and how important the small jobs are. They make me grumpy.”
“Don’t be. My position helped pay for this cottage on the bay, and I’m still in my forties.” Chaz smiled. Ezra’s sympathy soothed the raw nerves, and Chaz could see the positive aspects of his job with SPAM for the first time in a long time.
In the morning, Chaz made coffee for the both of them as he waited for Ezra to wake up. He had a good night despite the stranger in his home. He had thought of inviting Ezra into his bed, but Ezra had an aura of dates and wooing surrounding him. He probably had to be wined and dined before anything physical happened. Which was fine. Chaz was sort of excited to court Ezra and discover more about him. The idea of getting to know Ezra beforehand was different than his usual ways of attracting guys.
Chaz packed a small day pack he called the bag of holding with everything he thought they might need for their trip—bottles of water, some granola bars, and other transportable snacks. He didn’t know what sort of adventure they’d have in trying to track down Bigfoot and his paparazzi, but he was a loyal follower of Boy Scouts and their "Be Prepared" mantra.
A rustling in the guest bedroom brought a smile to his face. Ezra was awake, and soon they could get this show on the road. Chaz whistled softly as he set a box of cereal and milk on the table. He wasn’t prepared for the sight of a sleepy Ezra coming around the corner wearing shorts and an anime T-shirt. His hair stuck up everywhere, and his glasses slid down his nose as he stretched. Ezra’s fist punched the beam, and he recoiled. The reaction was disgustingly adorable, and Chaz didn’t like the gooey part of his heart melting at the vision before him. He was seriously fucked now.
“Coffee is just about done brewing. I’ve packed some stuff for the both of us, so eat up and we can go,” Chaz said as Ezra stood at the edge of the kitchen, swaying lightly. “We can have cereal for now, but once we get closer to the point, I’ll stop for an energy break.”
“But shouldn’t we plan for an attack or something?” Ezra’s voice was rough, and his sentences were out of sync with Chaz’s, making it obvious his brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders yet.
“That’s what the drive is for. You have everything on your phone, right?”
“Yeah?” Ezra scratched his belly and stood awkwardly at the edge of the room. Chaz grabbed his shoulders to steer him toward the table with breakfast. Chaz caressed the warm shirt lightly and swallowed hard at the sensation. This was too much. Quickly, he stepped away before he made a fool of himself.
“How do you take your coffee?” Chaz shook his hands to remove the lingering sensation of Ezra.
“With coffee?”
“Ezra, do you want cream or sugar? Or how ‘bout you have your cereal first?” Chaz decided and snorted as Ezra followed his suggestion. Sleepy Ezra was a delight. Once they both had time to eat, Chaz attempted his question once more.
“Oh! Um, just a regular, I guess.” Ezra pushed his empty bowl away and sat up. He stared blankly at the kitchen before blinking. His mind was working at half capacity, which was fascinating to Chaz. “You don’t have to do that. I can make my own.”
“I’m not sure I trust you with any sort of machinery at the moment,” Chaz teased while twisting the lid tight on Ezra’s travel mug. “Here’s yours. Are you all set with your pack?”
“Maybe? Haven’t thought about it,” Now Ezra’s sleepiness had become irritating. Chaz breathed deeply before stomping off to the bedroom. The bed was neatly made, and Ezra’s backpack was unzipped on it. His button-down shirt and socks were folded and waiting to be packed. Ezra was a neat and tidy person. “What’re you doing?”
“Getting your shit together. We have a deadline, remember?” Chaz shoved everything in and zipped up the side. “Let’s move.”
“But I’m not ready.”
Chaz gave him a once-over and shrugged. Not much else could be done. “I packed double, and I have bug spray and sunscreen. “Grab your coffee, and I’ll meet you at the truck.”
The drive was silent as Ezra worked on waking up. Chaz wasn’t a complete asshole, so he remained silent and focused on his driving. The highway was empty as the cottagers and campers were still sleeping. Chaz loved this time of day, where a light fog hovered over the land and the sky was a soft pink. A quiet sense of peace surrounded him as though they were in a different world. Great, Chaz was thinking in metaphors and similes. He must be sick.
Halfway up the peninsula and just before Chaz made the decision to stop off, Ezra spoke. “How are we supposed to figure out if these guys are connected to Bigfoot?”
“Talking to them?” Chaz hadn’t given any thought to the next steps. His usual mode was to hear what was being said and then do his own thing. His perspective of the matter was always enough to convince people to listen.
“And that works?”
“Most of the time it does.”
“Huh.” Ezra grunted before returning to silence. Chaz was curious to know what was rattling around in Ezra’s brain, but the Tim Hortons rest stop was ahead, and he had to focus on his driving.
Ezra’s phone rang just as they parked. The furrow in his brow told Chaz it was the men they were supposed to meet. “Answer the phone, Ezra.”
“What do I say?”
“Ask for the meetup time and location. And if you can provide more details, that’d be great.”
“Okay.” Ezra pressed the green button and whispered hello. The one-sided conversation was odd once again, but Ezra wrote down the pertinent information. Chaz could hear how unhappy they were at Ezra being late, and he was ready to launch an attack. Ezra’s calm demeanor soothed them, and he managed to get more details. His conversation lasted a few more minutes before he set the phone on his lap.
Chaz drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for Ezra to speak. As the silence dragged, he prodded Ezra gently. “What’s the verdict?”
“There’s a farm right of way, just south of the park they want me to go to. The bush is angled, so no one from the road should see us. We’ll talk more about the details when we meet. But the gist of it is they want us to follow them and take pictures of Bigfoot.”
“What?”
“Yeah, I didn’t get their weird plan either, but I figured it was more information than what we had before, so I went with it.” Ezra tapped his phone with a finger before smiling at Chaz. “Good stuff, right?”
“I didn’t think a simple reconnaissance mission could go SPAM-style, but it did. It fucking did.” Chaz threw his head back and glared at the headliner. Calculations and decisions chased after one another through his head as he tried to sort out what Ezra had agreed to, and nothing made sense.
“I thought this would make everything easier? We could chase whomever the Bigfoot is and fuck up the pictures at the same time?” Ezra looked so sweet and earnest that Chaz couldn’t tell him this idea was one of the worst Chaz ever heard. And Chaz had been part of some doozies.
“You’re right. Anyway, bathroom break followed by more coffee now. Then we can go off and snag a Bigfoot.” The words felt wrong in his mouth, but he offered his fist to Ezra for a bump, and Ezra’s smile was bright and happy. The light in his eyes stoked the fire in Chaz’s belly, making Chaz itch to keep it burning forever.
“I’m on a mission for SPAM. How exciting!” Ezra announced gleefully. Nothing in Chaz’s life would allow him to dim that glow. Fucking emotions. Why did this beanpole of a man have to tear the lock off Chaz’s heart and make him wish to be a nicer person? It wasn’t right.
“Super exciting. Come on. There’s no line. I want to get in and out before any tourists show up.”