“Look, there he is,” I said, pointing toward the entrance where Cruz’s car could be seen.
He pulled in and parked in the spot next to us, but it took him a whole minute before he turned off his car.
“Hope I didn’t make you guys wait long,” he said without really looking at any of us.
Ignoring his sour mood, I bypassed Micah and Grayson so I could reach him and give him a hug. Cruz not being his usual joker self was a bit alarming. I wondered what happened on that ride with Big Dog. He leaned into my touch, burrowed his head into my neck, and took a deep breath. No one said anything as I rubbed his back and hugged him.
After a few minutes, Grayson cleared his throat.
“We should probably head inside…you know how everything around us has eyes.”
His voice was surprisingly gentle. I turned back and gave him a grateful smile. Now was not the time to start snapping at Cruz.
They both could be so stubborn, and I was afraid one day they wouldn’t hold back and end up hurting one another without really meaning to.
“Yeah, let’s go inside.”
We all followed Cruz in a single line as we made our way to his apartment. Once inside, he told us to make ourselves comfortable while he went to the kitchen. He came back a few seconds later with napkins and disposable plates.
Micah raised an eyebrow as he took the items.
“This is very domesticated of you,” Micah murmured.
“Kinda hot,” I added.
He gave us a small smile. It was better than him being all serious. “You do realize I’ve been living alone all my life, right?”
I scrunched my nose at his comment. It made me grateful for all I had growing up, and I admired him all the more.
“Disposable plates mean no dishes. I hate doing dishes.” He sighed but kept going. “I always hated how my hands get pruned afterward, but now I hate anything that has to do with water.”
The last part was admitted in a whisper.
“I don’t feel comfortable taking showers at the facility anymore,” Grayson added.
“I hate being home alone,” Micah said as he slowly opened one of the pizza boxes.
Okay, I guess we were doing this.
“If I’m not with you guys or my dad, I no longer feel safe.”
We all reached for a slice of pizza without saying another word. When Cruz broke the silence, I knew he had some things to get off his chest, and we had to be patient and let him.
“Do you ever think we let this get bigger than it should have? At what point are we going to be, like, fuck, we should have gotten help or something?”
I didn’t say anything because I had wondered the same thing on many occasions, and when neither Micah nor Grayson spoke, I figured we were all in the same boat.
“We went to the church,” I offered, and boy, did this have a reaction.
“What?” Cruz bit out.
“Um…we kind of wanted to follow you, you know, have your back, but it was too risky. We figured that if we could figure out what the church needed Big Dog for, it could help you out.”
Cruz looked at Micah like he had grown two heads, then he turned his glare toward Grayson. “You let that shit happen?”
“Fuck you,” he shot back. “We’re all in this together. That shit you pulled today in going MIA was not cool…and honestly fucking selfish.”
Both their jaws were clenched, and I couldn’t help but think how hot they looked.
