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“There you go.” The man behind us started talking, and we both startled. We turned and saw him holding a bottle of water up to Dylan’s mouth.
“Who are you and what are you giving him? We’re not supposed to drink water from strangers.”
The man sighed and kept pouring tiny sips of water into Dylan’s mouth. His eyes were open but they weren’t focused. “Yeah, it’s a little late for that, don’cha think, boys?”
Oh. He was like Daddy. Speaking of… “Where did my Daddy go?”
The man smiled for just a second and then looked over my shoulder. “Carrying another reckless boy back from something that could have been very serious.”
I twisted around and saw James cradling Augie in his arms. “Can you guys walk? We need to get the fuck out of here.”
I stood up immediately and pulled Brayden up with me.
The other Daddy man helped Dylan stand up, and we all started walking toward the elevator.
I felt a little jealous that James was carrying Augie and not me, but Augie was still sleeping, so I decided it was okay to share. Oh, yeah. “Sleepover at my house tonight. Daddies can come too.”
“Christ,” James said under his breath. “We need to get Augie to a doctor. Actually, you all need to be seen.” He narrowed his eyes in my direction and sighed. “Sleepover is at the hospital tonight.”
Well, that didn’t sound fun at all.
14
JAMES
When I flipped on the light and found Augie naked from the waist down, I wanted to fucking kill someone. But no one else was in the empty storage room on the far side of the rooftop, so the best I could do was get him dressed and out of there.
And as I was carrying him back to his friends, the self-loathing set in when I said a silent prayer that nothing more serious had happened to my Max. Fuck, that was a shitty thing to think, but I couldn’t make myself stop.
I was just so damn glad he was okay.
The ER was empty when we arrived, so everyone was seen quickly. Augie had woken up but didn’t remember anything that happened. Honestly, that was probably for the best. I didn’t have high hopes that we’d find the guys who were responsible, but I left a message for a detective friend at the police department to see what he could find out.
The other boys were all feeling better by the time they were examined by a doctor in the emergency room. A few bottles of electrolytes went a long way to clearing out whatever they were given, but they’d all be nursing headaches for most of the day.
Augie had to be put on an IV and given more tests based on the state he was found in, but his sister came to stay with him at about five am, so the rest of us felt comfortable heading home.
Roy took Brayden and Dylan home and agreed to cover for me at work so I could get Max home.
Max and I spent most of the day asleep in his bed. By the time we were both fully awake in the early afternoon, his headache had lifted, and mine had only just begun.
I squeezed him even tighter against me. “You really scared me, you know.”
Max nodded against my chest where he was nuzzled up to me and sighed. “I really scared me too.”
“Do you remember what happened when you got to that party?”
He was quiet for a minute before finding the words. “Yeah, we were mostly following Augie. He met some guy and wanted to leave, but we wouldn’t let him go by himself, so we all went.” He pulled back onto his own pillow, looking straight up at the ceiling. “Everything seemed fine, but as soon as we got onto the rooftop, a woman with a tray of shots came by, and we all took one. I was totally sober, so I didn’t think one shot would be an issue. “
I grunted, but mostly kept my opinion to myself.
“You might not believe this, but I can usually handle a shot and a drink or two without any problem. Anyway, we each took one, but then Augie wanted another drink, so he went with the guy to the bar and the three of us went to go sit down… Basically where you found us.”
That was somewhat reassuring. “Did you have anything else after that first shot?”
“No. There must’ve been something in it because I started to feel sleepy and just wanted to rest my eyes. Brayden said the same thing, but he went to go get Cokes for us.” Max cocked his head as if in thought then turned toward me. “He never brought back any other drinks, or…if he did, I didn’t have one. I think I dozed off, and when I woke up, I got sick. A couple times.”
Max looked down at himself and remembered he wasn’t wearing anything. “Thank you for getting me cleaned up last night.”
