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Logan reached for him and clasped his shoulder. He had to move the car, as he had parked near a bus stop. They drove away, then soon after, Logan managed to pull into a parking spot near the convenience store, where Beth had accosted them and harassed them weeks ago. Before Sammy could begin to worry how Logan would react once he realized where they were, he had unclasped both their seatbelts and was tugging Sammy closer to his chest. He was crushing him in his powerful embrace, and it felt so comforting to feel this perfectly surrounded by his body, safe and protected.
“I’m so proud of you, baby. That woman was absolute poison, but you stood up to her without hesitation, protecting Michael and yourself. Who knows what could have happened…”
He was caressing Sammy’s back and kissing his forehead. Sammy was barely able to mumble, “Where’s Michael? Is he alright?” He was trying to get his breathing under control, but the truth was, he was devastated. More so because, deep inside he had known this meeting hadn’t been about Sarah making amends for abandoning him, but he had hoped for a reconciliation, nonetheless. After today, there would be no such thing. She was now truly a ghost from his past.
“I dropped him off at Dave’s. We’ll go get him right now. I think you should also call James. Sarah might be involved in the LGBTQIA charities your friend Danika is running, causing more harm than anything else.” Logan said with concern. Shit! He was so right!
Sammy called James and immediately asked for Danika. James huffed and tried to make some stupid joke about gays and rich spoiled heiresses being besties, but Sammy cut him off and the urgency of his voice shut James up.
“What?” Danika had answered his call angrily. Sammy steadied himself with a deep breath, then delivered the story. She listened without interrupting him. When he was done giving her all the details of his meeting with Sarah, he heard Danika yell out, “That fucking bitch!” She clearly tossed the phone back to James. The conversation had been on speaker, so all the cats were out of the bag at that point.
His friend mumbled, “Are you mad?”
Sammy shook his head, but then remembered himself and said, “No, dude. I’m fucking humbled and grateful that you loved me so much, you never ever hesitated to be by my side. We were just kids, but you fucking did this courageous selfless thing. You saved my life in so many ways, I don’t think I can thank you enough. I’m speechless and I’m definitely overdue to visit your parents and tell them just how much I appreciate them and everything they’ve done for me. I love you all. Thank you for giving me a family. I’m sorry that it took me so long to figure it out. To believe I was loved. To believe I deserved it.”
Before James could answer, he heard Danika raging in the background, “James, get dressed! Now! We are taking this to Papa David! I want this bitch banned, blocked, and blacklisted!”
James sucked in a deep breath. “Got to go, dude. Love you!” he said before hanging up.
Logan was staring at him. “I can’t believe she said all those things to you.”
“Will it sound pathetic if I tell you I feel sorry for her? There is no way she could live with so much poison in her mind and be able to hear herself even think straight.” He chuckled. “Pun not intended.” They both laughed, even if it was shallow and strained as Logan was pulling up to Dave’s house.
They found Michael playing with baby Jackson in the large, brightly lit, open floor plan living room. Dave and Stef were looking on – each relaxing on the couch with a cup of coffee. Dave grinned when they walked in. “You can bring this Mary Poppins over any given day of the week! Jackson loves him!”
Stef nodded enthusiastically. “Did you know Michael here is studying to be a math teacher?”
Michael’s face suddenly fell, and he turned away from the little boy, hiding his face in his hands. Logan and Sammy hurried to be by his side. It seemed Michael had kept it together well enough but seeing them ignited a fresh dose of panic in him.
Sammy took a knee by his side right away. “Michael, you’re safe. These people here, Dave and Stef as well as Logan and me, you can trust us.” Michael looked up, his face stained with tears, his eyes bloodshot. He looked exhausted and broken. Sammy pulled him into a tight hug and muttered in his hair, “I promise. You’re safe. We got you.”
Michael wiped his tears with the sleeve of his hoodie. “I know. I just… will I even be able to start school again? Where will I live? I don’t have any money. I don’t even have my birth certificate.”
Sammy sat on the floor by his side. He pulled Michael closer, guiding him into a gentle embrace. “Where did you live before?” he asked him softly.
“Stamford. I was going to college there. I’m a math major. I came home for the holidays and my dad...” he swallowed hard, but the tears rolled down his face regardless of how much he tried to calm himself down. “They saw me with my boyfriend. My ex-boyfriend. I’ve been locked up like a hostage ever since. I even called the police to ask for help, and all that earned me was a hold in the suicide ward and a psychological evaluation. I was lucky they didn’t get their way and gained legal custody of me.”
“Fucking hell!” Dave cursed from the other end of the room, clearly shocked by Michael’s story. “I’m so sorry, we had no idea. Michael are you okay?”
Stef rushed to him, sat beside them, and hugged his other side. Her eyes were teary when she said, “I’m so sorry this happened to you, Michael. Sammy is telling you the truth – you can trust us. If you ever need anything, our door is always open.”
Michael looked at Stef, then Dave and gave them a crooked smile, nodding and wiping his tears away, a little bit shy suddenly. As if being emotional in front of all these people was too much. “Thank you for welcoming me to your home and letting me play with your little Viking sunshine.” They all chuckled. “I didn’t think it would be possible to get my mind off the nightmare of the past few weeks. Thank you, Stef and Dave. Thank you little one.” He ruffled Jackson’s hair who was playing by his knees, and the cute little troublemaker grinned at him.
Sammy cleared his throat. The emotions brewing in the room were getting to him too. “We’ll help you figure this out. If you want to go back to school, I know just the people that will be more than happy to help you.”
“Really?” Michael sniffled, but he already sounded more relaxed.
“Really. Just brace yourself, for an exuberant amount of movie references.” Logan chuckled. He was yet to meet Papa David andPapiBlake, but he knew all about the movie buffs that had raised James.
When the boy had calmed down, Logan helped Michael up and gave him a hug. When he pulled away, he simply said, “Come on, you’re coming home with us, and we’ll start figuring this out tomorrow.”
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Logan & Sammy
Danika and James showed up to Logan’s house the following day, in toe with David and Blake Wilder-Hermosa, James’s parents. Michael had agreed to let them sort his legal situation, helping him gain possession of his legal documents and making sure his father and Sarah stayed the fuck away from him.
Danika had not been kidding when she had set the dogs on Sarah and her husband. She had convinced several other organizations to return their donations and to withdraw their support for them. The flashiest event they would be able to show up to would be an opening of a pop-up kiosk forAs Advertised On TVgoods.
