AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With nothing left to distract himself, Josiah settled in the living room and kept streaming an Australian medical show that had aired over a decade ago. He couldn’t even remember how he’d stumbled onto it, but he’d been intrigued by a show in a setting where patients just...received care. No worries about insurance or bankruptcy or co-pays. Plus, the accents were sexy as hell, even on the female characters.
He was about to learn the diagnosis for one particularly tricky patient when tires crunched the gravel outside. Lights flashed in the windows before shutting off. Dread tightened Josiah’s stomach. Seamus was home. He paused his show and fled for the kitchen, got a bowl and fork, and he was scooping food into it when Seamus strode inside.
Once upon a time, Josiah had considered Seamus handsome. Now his smiles always seemed sinister, his touches one small squeeze from painful. To the residents of this county, he was a hero and the man in charge of keeping them safe. To Josiah, he was a walking time bomb.
“Smells good,” Seamus said. “You eat?”
“A little while ago. I wasn’t sure when you’d be home.”
“Okay.” He calmly put his service weapon in the lockbox he kept inside one of the cabinets, every motion smooth and without malice. As if he was in an actual good mood for a change. “Give me a beer.”
Josiah deposited both the bowl of food and a chilled, open beer on the table at the same time as Seamus sat to eat his dinner. A very late dinner, but Josiah wasn’t going to mention it. He hovered nearby, unsure if Seamus wanted company or to be left alone. Some nights he simply couldn’t read the man or his intentions. Not in the last few months. Not since the stabbing. It was almost as if Brand Woods openly living his life in a gay relationship was personally offensive to Seamus.
Or it made him feel trapped in his own environment. Josiah had been out of the closet for years before Seamus shoved him back inside and slammed the door. Locked it. And he wanted to get back out again, but deep down he knew that wouldn’t happen while he lived here. While he let Seamus...use him. Seamus had to come to terms with his own sexuality and stop hiding. But Josiah had a funny feeling that was never going to happen.
Right now, they shared the same closet and it was slowly suffocating him.
A stifling closet was, most days, better than the street, though.
“Do you need salt or pepper?” Josiah asked after Seamus took his first bite of dinner. Seamus preferred to season his own food, so Josiah was sparse in adding too much of either when he cooked. Having to chew on a mouthful of black pepper for thirty seconds because he’d accidentally overspiced a steak was an experience he would never, ever forget.
“No, it’s good,” Seamus replied. “Get yourself a drink.”
That was not a question, so Josiah fetched himself a glass of water to sip while Seamus ate. “I might have a lead on a new job coming up. Elmer Pearce had a stroke early this morning, and he’ll likely need home care for a while. Hayes asked if I’d be interested.”
“And you said yes.”
Again, not a question. “I did. I’ve met Mr. Pearce, and now that Mrs. Wellington is going into a nursing home, my schedule is clear. I’d like to take the job.”
“Nights or days?”
“I’m not sure. Everything happened today, and Hayes is coordinating with a social worker. Apparently, Mr. Pearce has a son who is coming into town but I don’t know how long he’ll stay.”
Seamus forked a bite of meat. “Okay. Keep me informed.”
“I will.” The low-key reaction surprised Josiah and lowered his alertness level a few degrees. “How was your day?”
“It was a day. Broke up a brawl over at the Roost this afternoon, which is why I’m so late. Ramie insisted she hadn’t overserved either of them, so they probably just got into it over a woman. Got ’em both cooling off in lockup overnight.”
Ramie was one of the main bartenders at the Red Roost, and she knew better than to overserve her guests. A night in the drunk tank would probably do those two brawling idiots a world of good. “At least no one was stabbed this time.” As soon as the statement slipped out, Josiah regretted the reminder of that night.
Seamus didn’t seem angry, though. He simply kept eating, paying more attention to his phone than to Josiah, so Josiah sipped his water and watched his “roommate” eat. He wasn’t sure what to call Seamus anymore.Roommatewas real to the rest of the world.Loverhad been right for a very brief period of time before Josiah realized Seamus didn’t actually love him. Seamus used him for his own needs, Josiah’s needs be damned. Once in a while, Seamus was sweet and doting like a proper boyfriend, but it never lasted.
I’m an object, something to use, and I need to get out before he destroys me. But I have nowhere else to go.
No family, no real friends to rely on. He’d kept up a very casual text friendship with Hugo Turner ever since Brand was stabbed, but that was it. He was isolated here, exactly how Seamus liked him. Existing without really living.
“If Elmer ends up needing care,” Josiah hedged, “do you mind if I take the job?”
“No, I like the man. And it’s not too far from home. I can think of worse people to care for.”
Josiah swallowed back a comment about judging who deserved health care based on their background or whatever and sipped his water. No sense in provoking a fight, especially when Seamus seemed to be in a good mood. “Do you want coffee? I can make a pot.”
“Coffee sounds great. Make enough for yourself.”
He wasn’t a huge fan, especially this late at night, but Josiah did as asked. He waited by the brewing pot while Seamus continued eating, and he had two mugs on the table by the time Seamus’s bowl was empty. “Do you want more?” Josiah asked.
“No, that’s fine.”
