Page 108 of Left In The Dark

“You think he’d find it easier talking to someone he knows?”

I shove my hands in my back pockets, looking around. “Probably. I was planning on going along anyway, so he isn’t alone when he wakes up.”

“That’s a good idea. You think you’ll be able to get a hold of his family too?”

“Yeah. I can do that.”

“Good.” He squeezes my shoulder. “If you need me, give me a call.”

“I will.”

“You said you were going to go have some fun and unwind with some friends after work. I’m starting to think you don’t know what any of that means.”

I force a laugh. “I did. For a little bit at least.”

He looks away when someone calls his name. “We got a body over here.”

“I’m coming,” he calls back. “Alright, I’ll go handle that and you take care of your boy there.” He nods to Blake and runs to the person who keeps calling for him.

My boy. That is what he is. He’s mine and nothing’s keeping me from him from here on out. No one should suspect anything now. They had no reason to before, but with all the questions Hayden was raising, it was hard not to be paranoid.

They go on talking around me about his dad possibly working alongside Hayden, and I jump in the back of the ambulance, holding Blake’s hand when I think no one’s looking. I hate that this is what brought us together again, but at least we are together. It’s what Blake kept saying whenever I felt bad about everything that happened between us. He’s right. We are together, and always will be. It no longer matters how it happened. Only that it did.

Forty

Blake

Light from the large window creates a golden hue on Logan’s skin. His lashes flutter but his eyes remain shut and his chin threatens to slip off his closed fist more than once. He’s got his other hand on the bed and I rest mine on top, smiling as I close my eyes again. I wasn’t ready to wake up yet, but I had to make sure him coming with me in the ambulance and kissing my forehead as he covered me with a blanket after all the staff left my room wasn’t a dream. I squeeze his fingers and he squeezes back. My eyes shut when warm lips find the back of my hand.

“It’s, okay, sweet boy. I’m right here. I won’t be going anywhere.”

And neither will I.

Forty-One

Logan

My friends enter the bar and stop when their eyes meet mine. I wave them over to the pool table I’m at with Blake. It’s been almost a month since he nearly lost his life to his piece of shit stepdad. Even that term’s too good for him. His mom was in disbelief, but his sister didn’t seem the least bit shocked. She wasn’t ignorant of the type of man her dad was. Only some people chose to look past what they thought were small flaws, but she saw firsthand what he did behind closed doors to her brother. Blake hasn’t been able to tell me everything he’s suffered at the hands of that man, but he has been able to write most of it in his journal. He writes in it every day and has started seeing his therapist again, but the subject has mostly revolved around his dad and his upcoming funeral.

The smoke inhalation didn’t do much harm to Blake but it did affect his dad enough to kill him in his sleep on the way to the hospital. At least that means Blake doesn’t have to worry about him anymore. I don’t have to worry about my dad either, or Hayden. They’ll be serving fifteen‑year sentences with the drug charges sticking more than anything else. At least something will keep them there long enough. I’m not sure we’ll be living here by the time they’re released. Blake is looking into modeling again, and if he chooses to take a job somewhere in the future, I’ll be going where he goes. There’s no rush for him going back to work in the meantime. I told him he can take a year off to find what he really wants to do, but mostly I just like having him at the house waiting for me naked in bed. Sometimes it’s with a butt plug attached to a pig tail, and others it’s him asking me to put it in for him so he can show me how excited he is to see me return home.

Fuck, I love him. I haven’t said it yet, but I do. There have been so many opportunities for me to say it, but I keep thinking it’s too soon and stop myself. He leans against me, holding his pool stick at his side, and I kiss his cheek.

“Yeah, I knew we should have waited longer to come in,” Jimmy says, and Reese laughs, putting some space between them.

Lydia rolls her eyes and pulls me into a hug when she reaches me. “Nice getting to finally seeing you again. Work really has you busy.”

Work and something else, I think to myself as I wrap an arm around Blake. “Yeah. There’s been a lot happening around here the last few months. Hopefully it’ll start slowing down soon.”

“Hopefully.” Her eyes dart to Blake. “How have you been, Blake?”

“I’m okay. Hanging in there like everyone else.”

“That’s a good answer,” Reese says, grabbing a pool stick.

“That’s my whole damn life basically,” Jimmy adds, and Reese rolls his eyes.

While they’re too busy bickering at each other, I turn to Lydia, whispering, “What’s with them?”