Chapter Seven
James
“So, he just randomly sent you a bunch of letters?”
“Yeah. I just got mail from him one day, so I answered it. It just kinda went from there.”
“How many did he send?” Jack almost finished asking the entire question before stuffing his ham and cheese sandwich onto his mouth and biting off half of it.
I shrugged and took a swig from my can of Coke. “Two or three a month.”
Jack’s eyes widened. “Fuck that’s more than I wrote to you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Yeah, I know.”
Jack stared at me for a moment while he chewed. “I just can’t believe it.”
“What?” I grunted before stuffing a few barbecue chips into my mouth.
“Of all the things in the world, it never crossed my mind that you would be into dudes. Were you always…”
“No, Jack, it must have been all the hot prison twinks in the showers that did it. And I'm not really into dudes. Not in the way you're thinking, anyway. I like little twinks. Like Avery.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“I wasn’t ready to tell anybody. And, by the time I was ready, I was behind bars so it didn’t really matter.”
“That’s so crazy.”
“I mean, I guess,” I replied, tipping the empty chip bag up to let the crumbs in the bottom flow into my mouth. “At least I don’t have to worry about knocking my girlfriend up.”
“So funny,” Jack deadpanned.
I crinkled the empty bag up into a ball and tossed it overhand into the bin across the room.
“Nice shot.”
Jack and I both turned to see a police officer standing at the entranceway of the open garage.
We exchanged a glance and then Jack spoke. “The front entrance is around the building. If you check in with the desk they can get you taken care of.”
“I’m not here for car maintenance, but thank you,” the cop replied. His tone was anything but thankful. “I’m just wondering why my fiancé was here for nearly two hours last night.”
Jack glanced over at me again. “Are you sure he was here? How do you know?”
The guy pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it over to show us the screen, which displayed an app called Life360. “I always know where he is. It said he was here from a little after six to nearly seven-thirty.”
Fiancé? Six o’clock? There’s no way he was talking about…
“What’s your fiancé’s name?”
“Avery Thompson.”
I instantly felt like my blood had turned into frozen sludge and my heart was having a hell of a time keeping up.
“Yeah, a guy named Avery came in last night for an oil change. He was my last customer of the day.”
“Well, if he comes back, you just let him know I’ll be taking care of his car from now on. No need to trouble you fine gentleman,” he said.
Anger began to rise like bile in my stomach. “Right, that’s why every light on his dashboard is on, and his tire pressure was all fucked up, right? Looks like you’ve been taking real good care of him.”
“JR!”
I barely registered Jack’s muffled attempts to get me to shut up.
The cop frowned and cocked an eyebrow before taking a few steps further into the garage.
I got up from the stool I was sitting on and stood to my full height.
I hadn’t done anything wrong, and, as far as I knew, badmouthing a cop wasn’t against the law.
He seemed to hesitate when he got a good look at me and stopped walking. “And just who might you be?”
I shrugged. “Nobody.”
“You sure do have a lot of opinions, Nobody,” he spat.
“Is that an opinion?”
“What?” he sneered.
“Making sure your partner is safe and taken care of, and that the car they’re in is suitable for them to drive. That’s an opinion?” I looked over at Jack. “How often do you check Jenna’s tire pressure?”
“Weekly, same with the fluids,” he responded instantly.
“Hmm… when was the last time you even looked at Avery’s car, officer?”
His stance changed slightly as he looked between the two of us, “You’ll do well to mind your own business. And stay away from Avery. He doesn’t need any help from people like you.”
Three seconds after he’d turned and walked away, Jack jumped up and hurried across the garage to make sure he was out of earshot.
“Bro, what the fuck? When were you gonna tell me homegirl—I mean,” Jack shook his head.
“Sorry… homeboy was married? And to a fucking pig? Are you serious? Bro, we can’t have the cops sniffing around here like that, JR!
Seriously, how could you think this was a good…
” Jack stopped mid-sentence. “You didn’t know. Oh, fuck.”
I tossed the towel I had slung over my shoulder down onto the counter, “I’m gonna get some air. I’ll see ya at home.” I made a beeline for the car before any more of my emotions had a chance to surface in public.
How could this be happening? That prick had to be a fucking liar, right?
Avery isn’t engaged to some cop. That was…
not possible. I have hundreds of letters from that man, and never once did he ever mention even being interested in anyone else except for me.
Obviously, when we first started writing to each other, I didn’t even have the faintest fantasy that he would wait for me.
Not for three years. Not for someone he’d never even met or seen.
But then, as the months went on, and he sent me more and more of his words, secrets, and desires, it felt like we were together on some weird level.
There’s got to be some mistake. He wouldn’t do that to me, right? That creep had his location, and knew his name. Fuck, that was the first time I’d ever heard Avery’s last name.
Avery Thompson.
On the other hand, Avery being engaged would explain why he ran away when I kissed him last night.
Fuck, that was so out of line. I don’t know what came over me!
I kissed a taken man. Avery still didn’t know who I was, either.
At this point, he probably saw me as a random creep wanting to exchange car service for sex.
I’d been waiting to taste his lips for years, and being so close to him, I kinda lost control over myself.
Looking back, I’m pretty sure he didn’t want me to.
But the way his entire body melted against me…
To make matters worse, his partner was a fucking cop. What if he tried to press charges? To make my life a living hell for stealing the love of his life?
“Fuck!” I slammed the palm of my hand against the side of the steering wheel in frustration.
I needed to talk to Avery. I needed to find out the truth.
If Avery was about to marry another man, the plans I had for the rest of my life had to completely change.
Not that I had much of one at the moment, but every time I had imagined any scenario for my future, Avery was always by my side.
He was all I had. Him and Jack. No one else I knew could even stand to look at me.
I was an embarrassment to my mother, and Jenna hated my guts, which I found terribly ironic.
I felt more alone at that moment than I ever had in prison.
At least before, I could dream about one day being with Avery.
Kissing him, holding him, making love to him.
It never entered my mind that someone else was already doing that.
I pulled off on the side of the road and wiped my stinging eyes with my knuckles. Once I had regained composure, I flipped the car around and started heading for downtown. It was time to clear things up with Avery once and for all.
The drive was quick with the lunch rush well past gone. I sat in the parking lot of June’s for a minute or so, trying to figure out what to say to him. My heart raced out of control, and my face felt hot, like my cheeks were burning.
“I’m sorry I kissed you, I didn’t know you were fucking engaged!”
“Hey, Avery, how’s your car? Do you have a fiancé?”
“Hey, Avery, so you’re probably going to think this is really funny, but my real name is James, and I’m the guy in prison you’ve been writing letters to… by the way, thanks for lying to me all this time?”
I guess I technically wasn't telling him the whole truth about who I was, either, but I felt like hiding a secret partner was worse.
Wasn’t it?
I took a deep breath and opened the car door.
The parking lot was fairly quiet. That’s probably why, as I approached the diner’s entrance, I could clearly hear raised voices around the back side of the building.
I stepped over a small hedge and found a narrow alleyway.
The voices got louder as I approached the far corner of the brick building.
“You’re being ridiculous. I was getting the oil changed,” I heard Avery say as I slowed and peeked around the corner.
“Yeah? Did those filthy grease monkeys clean your pipes out real good? Did they take turns on you? They both seemed pretty fucking defensive when I stopped by and paid them a visit.”
“I’m not fucking talking to you anymore!”
As Avery turned to walk away, the cop grabbed his arm and slammed him back against the brick wall. “Don’t you fucking walk away from me!”
Before I could even blink, I’d shoulder-rammed the cop with such force that he flew a good three feet before slamming against the pavement.
“Are you okay?” I huffed, reaching out towards a terrified-looking Avery. He was still backed up against the brick where that fucker had pinned him. Avery was shaking like a chihuahua; his bottom lip was even quivering.
“You just assaulted a police officer, asshole. You’re going to jail!”
He’d gotten to his feet and had his handcuffs in one hand as his right hand hovered over his gun holster.
“Sure, no problem,” I said, raising my hands up in the air as if I were surrendering.
“When we get there, I’ll make sure to have the arraigning judge pull the security camera footage so they can see the full incident.
” I pointed up to the security camera mounted above the back door to the diner. The one pointing straight at us.
He scoffed as if what I had said was a joke, but he stopped walking towards me.
“Just go, David.” I looked back at Avery when I heard him speak.
So, David is the pig’s name…
“Fine,” David spat. “I’ll just see you at home.”
Avery shook his head. “I’m staying at Mom and Dad’s tonight. I have to stop and check on the house anyway, and I think we both need some space.”
“Baby…”
“Just go! Please.”
“I’m not leaving while this thug is here. Who knows what he’ll do when I walk away.”
“That’s rich,” I snorted, "When I just had to stop you from assaulting him.”
David scowled. “I swear to fucking…”
All three of us jumped when the back door suddenly swung open. “Avery, are you back here?” Avery’s coworker froze when she laid eyes on the three of us. “Oh, I’m sorry. I just wanted to let you know I’d just sat a four-top in your section...”
Avery took the opportunity to rush past me and into the door the girl was holding open. She looked between David and myself once more before disappearing inside, the door closing itself behind her with a dull thud.
“This isn’t over,” he declared flatly.
I looked back at him as passed me.
“No, it certainly isn’t,” I gritted out through clenched teeth.
Once I’d caught a glimpse of David’s police cruiser peeling out of the parking lot, I released a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.
I cursed and slammed my hand against the side of the dumpster, using the loud bang and the explosion of pain to ground me.
Who the fuck does he think he is? In what universe does anyone, let along a fucking wretch like that, have the right to put his hands on Avery?
I don’t give a fuck what they are. Boyfriend, fiancé, husband…
“Fuck!”
I had to get the fuck out of there before I exploded. The last thing I wanted to do was scare Avery or cause him any problems at work. But I was fuming.
Then have the nerve to threaten to arrest me for defending someone he’s abusing!
I got back in my car and fastened my seatbelt.
As angry as I was, I made slow, careful work of backing out of my parking spot and onto the main road.
I used my turn signals, came to complete stops at stop signs.
Gave absolutely no reason for any cop anywhere to pull me over.
Not that I would put it past David to pull me over without probable cause.
The fucking rat.
Had he put his hands on Avery before? Was that a normal thing? Was that why Avery was so submissive and docile—nervous around men that were bigger than him?
I was gripping the steering wheel so hard my fingers were beginning to cramp, and my knuckles were ghost-white. I rolled the windows down to let the cold air swirl around me. I was sweating like I’d just finished a workout. I had no fucking clue how this could be happening.
If he had just waited for me… I would never harm him or scream at him. I’d rather open a fucking vein than ever scare or intimidate him.
I pulled up to the house, and, after I had calmed myself down enough to go inside, I opened the front door. Jenna and Lindsey were sitting on the couch watching TV as Jenna scrolled on her phone.
“Hi, Uncle JR,” Lindsey sing-songed as I walked in the door.
“Hey there,” I said back, smiling and giving her a wave.
“Wanna watch PAW Patrol with us?”
“Oh, that sounds like so much fun, but I’m gonna go take a shower and change. Maybe later?”
She nodded and averted her focus back to the TV, where cartoon dogs were cavorting in Technicolor sunshine.
I grabbed clean clothes and headed into the bathroom. I made quick work of undressing and turned the spray on as hot as it would go. I stepped in and let the stream hit my shoulder and run down my arm. It was sore and starting to throb.
David had been a lot more sturdy than I anticipated. Especially with the bulletproof vest and all his gear. I chuckled as I remembered him flying through the air and slamming down onto the pavement.
Bastard’s lucky he only got a body slam. I shoulda knocked his ass out cold to begin with.
Avery looked so scared.
My hands balled into fists again, the throbbing in my shoulder increasing with the tension. “How could you be with a man like that, Avery?” I whispered to no one.