Chapter Seven
Blaze’s place felt like home. German knew Blaze was the reason.
They existed together perfectly. Since they became an exclusive couple, they hadn’t truly experienced the living together scenario for long.
It was peaceful. Blaze needed rest and recovery.
He needed to be fed. German loved being the person who took care of him.
That meant lots of home-cooked meals, tons of pampering, and even more sex.
German felt their age gap by the middle of the second week.
Thankfully, they were on their way to Blaze’s parents’ house.
Not that German looked forward to not sleeping together.
His back hurt, and he ran on four hours of sleep a night.
Blaze looked perfectly refreshed. German missed being young.
The house came into view, and German glanced at the backseat.
The model airplane he had bought for Ben waited for him.
It was only the tenth time he checked to make sure he hadn’t forgotten it.
Honestly, he was surprised at how much he looked forward to seeing the little guy.
German knew Ben wasn’t Curtis. He couldn’t say the exact reason Ben had burrowed his way into German’s heart.
Maybe being one of the few people he spoke to made his chest swell.
Whatever the reason, he was a little excited to show him the model. German hadn’t built one in years.
When they climbed out of their rented SUV, German decided to leave it behind. He didn’t know if any of the other kids were there, and he didn’t want to risk them seeing him bring a gift to only Ben. He wasn’t trying to be an ass. German just got the feeling Ben got left out a lot. He hated that.
This time, things were a lot less hectic as they came through the door. Only Ruth sat in the family room. She looked up from her cross-stitching as they stepped inside. A bright smile lit her face. Ruth set her project aside and came to her feet. She hugged them as she greeted them.
“There’re my boys. How was the trip? I heard there was a lot of turbulence today.”
“Yeah. I hit my head on the window twice. It was a ride.” He moved toward the kitchen. “What is there to eat?”
Ruth huffed and looked German’s way. They shook their heads and followed him. “You’re in luck. I just had groceries delivered. There’re a ton of snacks in the pantry. I’m not starting dinner for a couple more hours.”
The second Blaze opened the pantry door, a golden retriever scrambled into the kitchen like he wore roller skates.
Blaze went down on one knee and accepted all the excited doggy affection. “Oh, I see how it is. The last time I was here, I didn’t see you all. Now, as soon as you hear the word snack, you’re all over me.”
Ruth chuckled. “He hung out in Dara’s room the last time you were here. You know he hates fireworks. The vet gave us medicine to keep him calm, and he couldn’t stay awake. Plus, you know Jake’s kids. They like to try to ride him and that shit pisses me off.”
Blaze kissed the dog’s cheek and looked German’s way. “This is Sir Licks A-Lot.”
A surprised bark of laughter burst from German at the name.
“We call him everything but that. So feel free to pick a name,” Ruth added.
German chuckled. They were such an apple-pie-life family.
A hint of something slowly grew inside him—like a revelation scratching at the back of his brain.
He didn’t want to look too closely at the sensation.
German couldn’t let himself feel like part of the family.
His relationship with Blaze likely wouldn’t last. Everything looked great now, but they hadn’t truly faced the hard stuff yet.
Blaze was a star and German was a worker bee.
Sooner or later, Steel would send him somewhere else.
The time they had spent apart had been hard.
He didn’t see Blaze wanting this much longer.
Blaze was on the road with all the temptations.
German would lose appeal pretty fast the moment Steel had him somewhere they couldn’t see each other.
He couldn’t compete with all the young, free-to-party guys.
German wanted more than nights at the club.
He never thought he would feel this way, but he did.
When he looked at Blaze, German saw someone he could love.
In fact, he worried he was already more than halfway there.
A small sound, like something scooting across the floor behind him, had German glancing that way. Ben was on his hands and knees, inching into the room as if he didn’t want to be seen.
Ruth focused on Ben too. “Oh, baby. Get off that floor. The dog has been in here all day, running in and out.”
Ben dutifully pushed to his feet, but he kept his chin down.
German’s heart twisted.
Blaze piped in like he, too, felt bad for the kid. “Hey, bud. Where’s your mom?”
Ben moved close to German’s leg and held on to his pants. He whispered something German couldn’t hear.
German didn’t hesitate. He plucked Ben from the ground and held him. “What’s that? I couldn’t hear you way down there.”
Ben twisted his hands and kept his gaze locked on the floor.
“She’s sleeping. She won’t wake up.” German’s gaze shot to Ruth.
He didn’t know if that statement should worry him, but it sounded like maybe someone should check.
Apparently, he was right. Ruth and Blaze ran from the room. German did his best to distract Ben.
He kept his voice bright. “Did the word ‘snack’ bring you in here the way it did Sir Licks A-Lot?”
Ben smiled. “I call him Stinky.”
German laughed. “Does he smell bad a lot?”
Ben bounced a little in his arms. He leaned close like he had a secret. “He farts all the time.”
German burst out laughing. “Oh. I almost forgot. I brought something for us to do. Do you want to go with me to get it?”
As he made his way through the living room, German picked up his pace as he heard Ruth on the phone with emergency services.
He made sure Ben was out the door. The doors unlocked as he approached the rental.
German kept up the bright commentary. “I know you like to draw planes, but have you ever put one together?”
“No.” He sounded excited.
German grabbed the model kit from the backseat.
“This has everything we need to build it. The glue gets pretty smelly. What do you say we go to the backyard and put this together out there?” He passed the box to Ben so that he could close the car door.
“Is there a way to get back there without going through the house?”
Ben hugged the box to his chest and nodded. “Over there.” He pointed toward the garage and German spotted a gate.
German followed Ben’s directions, trying not to panic at the possibility of Ben’s only parent being dead inside. He didn’t know how to handle this, but he knew he couldn’t let Ben witness anything.
They made their way to the patio table. He set Ben in a chair and then pulled another one close to him. “Do you like music?”
Ben nodded. “Uncle Justin plays music. He’s on the TV sometimes. Mommy and I watch him on YouTube.” The way he attempted to say YouTube was adorable. “She says that’s how she knows I can be whatever I want. If his goofy ass can do it, anyone can do anything.”
A bark of laughter burst from German. “Is that what she says? Well, maybe you can find your favorite song of Uncle Justin’s to play for us.
” He unlocked his phone and passed it to Ben.
While he opened the box, German prayed Ben was as quick with YouTube as he was with his art program because that ambulance was on its way.
The music started, and Ben turned the sound up to maximum volume.
German’s throat swelled. He realized Ben knew exactly what German was doing.
This obviously wasn’t the first time he had been through this.
German’s heart broke for him. Ben was way too little to be so grown.
They put their heads together and pulled things from the box. Time ticked by and they got lost in their project. Putting the plane together ended up distracting German right along with Ben. It was almost complete when Blaze appeared.
Blaze kissed the tops of their heads. “Hey, guys. You’ve been really busy. This looks so cool. Does it come with paints too?”
German spoke on their behalf since Ben didn’t make a sound. “It does, but we’ve decided we don’t like those. We plan to go shopping tomorrow and pick out better colors. These are way too drab.”
“That’s cool.” Blaze pulled out a chair and joined them. “Hey. You two are listening to our new album.”
German smiled. “You’re keeping us inspired. Dara says if your goofy ass can become a star, then any dream can come true.”
A soft chuckle rumbled from Blaze. It sounded sad.
German’s hopes weren’t high. Blaze cleared his throat.
“Speaking of Dara, she got really sick, and she’s gonna be in the hospital for a little bit.
But you don’t have to worry, Ben. She’ll be fine and back to insulting me in a few days.
Of course, you’ll be too busy to notice.
German and I will be here, and we have lots of cool stuff planned. Okay?”
Ben didn’t look at anyone. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “It’s okay. She gets sick a lot.”
Blaze looked at German. “Was that meant for me?” He looked back at Ben. “Did you just talk to me? You never talk to me. Has German become a bad influence on you? Are you going to turn into my sister? She never shuts up.”
Ben smiled. “You’re silly.”
German’s heart melted. Life had been so unfair to Ben. He wished Dara would wake the fuck up. German didn’t want to be angry with her. Addiction was a disease. But this poor kid deserved better. German had never felt so helpless in his life.