Cody
Cody watched TJ spin around, his gun in his hand and pointing directly at him. He’d expected this response. He knew TJ now held the position of sheriff in Robinson, and Cody was happy for him. He deserved to be sheriff. He’d worked hard, put the people of Robinson first, and could be relied on when needed.
Watching the dawning realization cross TJ’s face when he recognized Cody would have made Cody chuckle, but he knew what TJ saw. He had changed. Matured. He no longer had the skinny, scrawny body he had when he’d left. Not that TJ would be able to tell, considering Cody sat on a chair, but other things had changed as well. He used his actual voice and not the high-pitched squeal he’d put on to annoy his family. He’d cut his hair and wore his natural black. Again, TJ wouldn’t see that. The moon gave some light, but not enough.
Standing slowly, Cody held his hands out. “I’m going to put the light on.”
“Stay where you are. I’ll do it.”
“Okay.” Cody winced and shut his eyes when the overhead lights came on and blinked his eyes until they adjusted. He watched TJ do the same, then saw his eyes widen as they looked Cody over. The height. The muscles. Cody looked nothing like the kid who had run away that dark night four years earlier.
“Fuck, Cody. It is you. Jesus. Fuck. Look at…” TJ trailed off, shaking his head. “When…No, why? Fuck.”
“It was time.” Cody sat and placed his hands on the table, seeing the small scars from his time working on a ranch. The home he’d found after he’d left. A place where he’d discovered who he was and who he wanted to be. “How is everyone?”
“Have you spoken to your parents?” TJ hadn’t moved, his gun still held in his hand.
“Are you going to keep pointing your gun at me?” TJ blinked, looked at the gun, then holstered it. “I came here. No one knows I’ve returned and I’m not ready for them to know. Not yet. Soon.”
“Why did you come here, then?”
“I took something that didn’t belong to me, so I came to return it.” Cody nodded toward the medals he’d put on the counter. “Those are yours and I had no right to take them, but I was a different Cody then.” He pulled the house key out of his pocket and placed it on the table. The key he’d taken with him when he’d left.
TJ stumbled over to the kitchen table and dropped into a chair. “Different Cody?”
“Yes. Do I look like the Cody who left?”
TJ’s eyes moved over Cody, and he shook his head. “Shit, Cody. Do you know how long we searched for you? I literally made calls yesterday. Have you any idea what your parents have gone through?”
“They couldn’t handle what happened to me and neither could I. You know I struggled to accept my sexuality. I let that man fuck me to prove I hated it so I could date girls instead. I thought I could handle it. Handle being gay.”
“I found him.”
Cody narrowed his dark blue eyes at TJ. “I made the mistake. Not him.”
“You were fifteen, and he was thirty.” TJ’s jaw hardened. “Statutory rape.”
Cody clenched his jaw. “I wanted it. He gave me what I asked for.”
“You had no idea what he was going to do to you. You were a kid,” TJ snapped. “He was an adult. He knew what would happen when you went back to his house. He took something you had no idea you shouldn’t have been giving away, and you went off the rails. Drinking and doing drugs and sleeping around.”
“You’re right. I didn’t know all the details, but I did it anyway. I had to prove to myself I wasn’t gay, but I was. I am. It wasn’t his fault.”
“And you regretted it, and we had to watch you fall apart. You weren’t mature enough to handle it. You numbed yourself with drugs and booze and we couldn’t help you.”
“Not we, TJ. I refused, and so did my parents.” Cody shook his head, glanced away. Taking a deep breath, he asked, “What happened to him?”
“He’s inside now, but not because of you. He has a thing for young boys. Whether you agreed to have sex with him or not, you were underage, and he knew it. He took advantage and now he’s paying the price.”
“I didn’t want you to do that.” Cody sighed and shook his head. “I knew what I asked for when I approached him.” Cody held uphis hand when TJ opened his mouth. “You’re right. He should have refused, but he didn’t, and I never told him my age.”
TJ snorted. “You only had to take one look at you to know you were underage. You were small for fifteen. Most people thought you were younger. He deserved to go to prison.”
Cody ran his tongue over his teeth, eyes on TJ, then nodded. “You’re right, but I need to take some of the blame whether you like it or not. I put myself in that position. I went to that bar looking for a man to fuck and I got one.” Cody paused. “I don’t want to argue about the past. That isn’t why I’ve come back. It was time to come home, TJ.”
“Where are you staying?”
“Here.”
