Waiting on Life

by Parker Williams

  “Because I’m going to ask him to come get you and take you to the ER.”

  He tried to stand, but I put a hand on his shoulder.

  “I have to work,” he insisted.

  “You have to go get checked out. You’re barely standing, and I’m not taking the chance you’ll pass out in the bar.”

  “But—”

  “Shut up. Do what I tell you.” His eyes widened. I examined my motives. I wasn’t angry, I was scared. Afraid of what could have happened. Terrified of what might still happen. “Please. Give me his number.”

  He huffed and rattled off a number. I scribbled it on a piece of paper, then went back and knelt again. I reached out and pulled the towel away so I could see if he was still bleeding. He wasn’t, but the swelling had gotten worse. I gasped as I reached out to touch, but drew my hand back, because I had no idea how much pain he was in.

  “Is it that bad?”

  He must have seen the truth on my face.

  “Well, there goes my stunning good looks,” he quipped.

  But it wasn’t true. He was still beautiful in my eyes. And though I couldn’t understand the reasons, I wanted to…. No, I had to get that thought out of my head now. I wasn’t into men, and I didn’t shit where I ate.

  His eyes closed. “I think I might lay back for a while,” he said, his voice softer than before. “Head’s kinda swimmy.”

  My heart dropped into my stomach as he curled up and closed his eyes. “Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?”

  He gave a slight shake of his head, then winced. “No, but calling Pete might not be a bad idea,” he whispered.

  I pulled out my phone and dialed. My palms were sweating, and I could barely hold the damn thing.

  “H’lo?”

  “Pete, this is Toby. I’m sorry if I woke you. I need a favor.”

  “Toby?” he asked, sounding groggy. “What’s wrong?”

  “Kyle needs to go to the emergency room. I was hoping you’d—”

  “What the fuck did you do to Kyle?” he demanded, now sounding wide awake. “I swear to God, if you hurt him, I’ll—”

  “One of the customers sucker-punched him,” I interjected. “I’m going to work for him, so I was hoping you’d take him. If you can’t, then I’ll close the bar and drive him there myself.”

  “He—he’s okay?” Pete asked, his voice breaking.

  “His nose is swelling and he’s got a split lip. He says he’s feeling lightheaded.”

  “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. I…. Thank you for calling me.”

  “Don’t thank me. It’s my fault it happened,” I replied, but Pete had already hung up.

  “Was not,” Kyle called from the couch. “I usually pay better attention.”

  But he shouldn’t have needed to think he was going to get hit. Not at work. Not with me standing right there. I should have been able to protect him.

  I slipped the phone into my pocket, then went back to the couch. “How you feeling?” I asked.

  He sighed. “Go out to the bar. Take care of our customers. I’ll be here when Pete shows up, I promise.”

  I knew he was right, but walking away from him felt wrong on so many levels. I was about to say so when the phone on the desk rang with the bar’s tone. I went to the desk and pushed Speaker.

  “What’s up, Scott?”

  “The police are here,” he said.

  Shit. “Tell them I’ll be out as soon as—”

  “You’ll go now,” Kyle called. “Go do your job. Let me rest.”

  The thought that he might have a concussion hit me hard. Did you let people sleep if they did? I couldn’t remember anything beyond the TV shows I saw where if someone with a concussion went to sleep, they might not wake up.

  “Toby?” Scott said softly.

  “Send them back to the office, please.”

  Kyle groaned. “You can go talk with them. It’s not like I’m dying or anything.”

  “Shut up,” I groused, the thought of something happening to Kyle while I wasn’t there to watch over him was to terrible to contemplate. “I’m not leaving you alone until Pete gets here.”

  He sighed. “Fine.”

  Only it wasn’t. I tried to tell myself that if it had been Scott who was hurt, I would be doing the same thing, but for some reason, that rang hollow. Sure, I would make certain Scott was taken care of, but I don’t know if I would have reacted the same to him getting punched.

  The knock startled me, even though I knew it was coming. I felt awkward, like I was caught doing something I shouldn’t be, which was crazy. I went and opened the door to find two boys in blue standing there. Both were broad in the shoulders. One was narrow in the hips, while the other looked like he’d never met a donut he hadn’t fallen in love with.

  They came into the office, and one of them gave Kyle the once-over. “Really, Kyle?” he groaned.

  “Oh, hey, Jack.” The words were said with a smile, but without sincerity. “How are you?”

  “Apparently better than you.”

  As insane as I thought it was before now, this pushed me into cuckoo-type crazy. A surge of jealousy zipped through me that Kyle and this cop were so… chummy.

  “This is my boss, Toby Tomlinson. Toby, this is Jack, Pete’s brother.”

  Other than a quick glance in my direction, Jack barely acknowledged me. “I swear, the two of you need around-the-clock protection. What happened this time?”

  “Some asshole punched me in the face.”

  Jack sighed. “And why are you here in the first place?”

  “Uh, I work here.”

  “You work… here?”

  His voice dripped with distaste. I was about to say something when Kyle lurched up, pinned Jack with a sharp stare, and shouted, “There’s nothing wrong with No Angels! Toby is a great person and a good manager.”

  The words warmed me.

  Jack held up his hands. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “Oh, bullshit. You’ve always been a judgmental prick ever since we met.”

  Jack’s partner snickered but otherwise said nothing as Jack glowered at Kyle. Then his shoulders slumped. “Look, let’s talk about what happened, okay?”

  Kyle sat back, his glare icy. He was still far too pale for my liking. “Unless Toby says otherwise, I’m not pressing charges.”

  The second cop turned to me. “Sir?”

  I admit, I wanted to hunt the asshole down myself and hurt him badly, but it wasn’t my call. I wasn’t the one who’d been assaulted. And besides, Kyle didn’t seem overly eager to work with Jack.

  “If Kyle wants to let it go, then that’s what we’ll do. I’ve told the guy he’s not welcome in the bar anymore, so I doubt we’ll be seeing him again.”

  “So, this was a waste of time,” the partner said.

  “I didn’t want to call you in the first place,” Kyle protested. “And if I had known Jack would come, I would have insisted no one call.”

  There was another knock on the door. I strode over and opened it to find Pete there.

  “Where is he? Is he all right?”

  Kyle groaned. “Don’t come in, Pete. Your brother is here.”

  Pete pushed by me and stomped over to Jack. “Why are you here?”

  “Because we got a call about an altercation. I didn’t know it was Kyle.”

  “And if you had known, you wouldn’t have come.”

  “That’s not true and you know it. I like Kyle well enough.”

  “Yeah, why didn’t it sound that way when I said we were moving in together?”

  Jack sighed. “Look, I was wrong, okay? I’m sorry. What can I do to get you to finally accept that I admit I was an ass and forgive me?” He put a hand on Pete’s arm. “And no matter what else, I would never, ever wish harm on you or Kyle. You have to believe that. I’m not making excuses for what I said before, because it can’t be excused. What I am asking you for is a chance to prove I’m not an asshole.”

  There
was conflict in Pete’s expression. He turned to Kyle, who gazed up at him.

  “Give him a chance,” Kyle said. “You gave me one. Least we can do is return the favor.”

  Pete sighed as he returned his attention to Jack. “If I find out you’re lying to me….” He left the rest of the threat unvoiced.

  Jack gave a hopeful smile. “I’m not.” He went over to Kyle. “I truly am sorry, and I thank you for being the bigger man. I promise I’ll be better.”

  “Are we done here?” I demanded. “Pete’s going to take Kyle to the hospital to have him checked out.”

  “If no one is pressing charges, there’s not much we can do,” said the partner.

  “I hope you’ll change your mind, Kyle,” Jack said solemnly. “If they did this to you, they could do it to someone else. At least tell us about it, okay? Let us take down the information so we have it.”

  “Fine.” Kyle tried to stand, but his legs gave out again, and he fell back against the couch. “Maybe later.”

  “Pete, help Kyle up. Get him to the cruiser, and we’ll take you to the hospital, okay?”

  “Sure, okay.”

  Jack turned to me. “Mr. Tomlinson, I’ll come back later and check in with you, all right?”

  I nodded, my gaze locked on Kyle.

  Jack leaned in close. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they get to the ER safely. I love my brother, but he gets a little panicky, and I don’t want him behind the wheel with Kyle.”

  “I heard that!” Pete groused.

  “He didn’t lie,” Kyle responded.

  The two squabbled as Jack led them out the door, and I followed behind because… I had no idea. I guess I wanted to be sure Kyle was okay.

  “I’ll call you when I get home,” he said at the door. “I’m sorry about—”

  “Shut up.”

  “But it’s your only day off.”

  If he had any idea how good it made me feel to see him stand up for me, not only to the asshole who’d punched him, but to Jack, he would understand.

  Maybe then he could explain it to me.

  Kyle

  “My head hurts,” I whined for probably the thirtieth time since the doctors told me I was okay, but that I should take some aspirin, a hot shower, and get some sleep. As crappy as I felt, I wasn’t about to argue. I’d told Jack everything I could remember about the guy who’d hit me, and he said he would file the report. It was good to see him and Pete talking, especially since I was at the center of their whole drama.

  For a while, I lived alone in a shithole of an apartment. Then…. It doesn’t matter. What does is that when Pete and I decided to move in together, Jack had protested because I was broke. Well, beyond broke. Pete’s family had money, even though Pete was determined to show he could do things on his own. So Jack assumed I was going to be letting Pete handle all the bills. And, I admit, for a while he did because I couldn’t find a job. Now? I fully intended on pulling my own weight. Assuming I wasn’t fired or that Toby didn’t hate me because I’d screwed up his one day off.

  I pulled out my phone, because to sit here and stress wouldn’t do anyone any good.

  Scott answered on the third ring. “No Angels, this is Scott.”

  “Hey, Scott.”

  “Kyle?” His voice grew soft. “You okay?”

  “No concussion, but the doctor still wants me to rest a few days before I go back to work. I’m calling to tell Toby I’m willing to quit if he has to find someone else.”

  A soft snort came through the line. “You’re kidding, I hope? Every time the phone rings, Toby asks if it’s you. He’s worried about you. I’ve seen him angry or exhausted or just plain scary, but I’ve never seen him worry. What did you do to him, and can you keep doing it?”

  “Is that Kyle?” Toby’s voice asked from the background.

  “Yeah, he just—”

  Scott squawked, then his soft tones were replaced by Toby’s harsher ones. “What did the doctor say?”

  It was nice to hear his voice, even with the annoyance in his tone. “He said I was okay, but he suggests I rest for a couple days. Don’t worry, I’ll come in and—”

  “No.”

  I swallowed hard. Of course the answer would be no.

  “Oh, okay.” Even though I’d expected it, my heart sank. It was a new record for me to have a job less than a month and lose it. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around.”

  “What? Wait a sec. What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I think you’re scaring him,” Scott whispered, loud enough for me to hear. “He thinks you’re letting him go.”

  “He what? When did I say that?” Toby growled at Scott. Then he came back to the phone. “That’s not what you thought, right?”

  “I…. Well, yeah. I mean, you haven’t gotten a day off, and now you had to work because of me, and—”

  “Did I say you’re fired?” he demanded. “Well? Did I?”

  “No, but—”

  “But nothing. What happened wasn’t your fault, so why the hell would I fire you? That doesn’t even make sense.”

  My heart dropped out of my throat and settled back in my chest. “So I still have a job?”

  “Of course you still have a job. When the doctor clears you, I expect you to be back here, ready to work. You have a lot to make up for, you know.”

  That last bit? It was said with a certain intensity. Like he was hurt or upset.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Shut up. Get some sleep. I’ll stop by when I get home and check on you.” And with that, he hung up.

  Pete came from the bedroom, went to the refrigerator, and grabbed a beer.

  “Hey, where’s mine?” I groused.

  “Nothing for you. Doctor said so.”

  No beer? Screw that. I started to get up. “Fine, I’ll get it myself.”

  “You do and I’ll tell Toby,” he warbled in a singsong voice.

  That froze me in my tracks. “You wouldn’t.”

  He held up his phone and gave it a little wiggle. “I have the number saved in my contacts, and I put it on speed dial.”

  He was such an asshole. Why I thought Toby would care, I didn’t know. Wait, why I should care if Toby cared, I didn’t know. Yet, I did.

  I slumped back down onto the couch. “He confuses me so much.”

  Pete took a seat next to me. “And by ‘he,’ I’m assuming you mean Toby?”

  “Yeah. I mean, okay, so I’ve accepted he’s straight. But I’ve never seen a straight guy who’s so… caring, I guess.”

  “You didn’t see the way he was looking at you when I got to the bar to pick you up. I have never seen anyone watch another person so intently. I don’t know if he’s straight or not, but he definitely cares what happens to you.”

  “It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Take it slow. Don’t jump to conclusions about what he is or isn’t. Now, what did he have to say?”

  “That I should get some sleep and that he’d check up on me when he got home.”

  “I gotta say, I agree with him. You’re paler than usual. Head still hurting?”

  A twenty-piece band was stomping around in my skull, all while wearing steel-toed boots with cleats. “A little.”

  “Go get some sleep. If he shows up, I’ll be sure to come get you.”

  Well, two guys told me to take my tired ass to bed, and who was I to argue? I got up and shuffled into my room. I stripped to my pants, then realized I simply didn’t have the energy to take anything else off, so I flopped down on the bed and closed my eyes.

  Sleep claimed me moments later.

  Chapter Eight

  Toby

  I stood outside Kyle’s apartment with two bags filled with boxes of takeout items from Outpost. I knew he had said that Pete was vegan, but he’d never told me if he was. I grabbed some vegan breakfast burritos, some Joey’s Famous Tofu sandwiches, two tofu bahn mi sandwiches, and a couple of Beyond Burgers. The intermingling scents floated up and tickled my
nose, which caused my stomach to growl. I was hungrier than I had been in a long while.

  From my apartment, the sounds of a kitty in his death throes issued loudly. There would be hell to pay later, I was sure. I rapped my knuckles against the door, and a moment later, it opened. Pete stood there, giving me a big smile.

  “Hey, Toby.”

  “Hi. How’s he feeling?”

  “He’s still sleeping. I checked on him a while ago, and he was out of it.” His cheeks pinked. “Listen, I wanted to apologize to you for my comment when we met. I didn’t think about what I was saying, and—”

  “And I took it the wrong way,” I finished. “My fault, really. I’m so used to people looking down on me, that it’s sort of my default setting.”

  “I can promise you, Kyle doesn’t look down on you at all.”

  That warmth filled me again, and I couldn’t figure out why.

  “How about if I leave this with you, and you two can enjoy?”

  “You brought food? For us?” Pete asked, clearly shocked.

  “He brought food?” came a sleep-filled voice from deeper inside the apartment.

  When Kyle’s heavy-lidded eyes came into view, I wanted to insist he go back to bed for a while, but he needed to eat. His eye was black and puffy, and he looked wiped out. The problem for me? He was shirtless, and I couldn’t seem to stop staring at his pale chest. One dark freckle stood out above his pink bud of a nipple. It took a lot of effort to drag my gaze away from his skin and look him in the eye.

  “Yeah, I stopped at Outpost. I didn’t know if you were vegan too, so I only grabbed vegan things from their menu.” And now that I thought about it, I didn’t want to upset him if he wasn’t. “If you want, I can go back and get you something.”

  “Thank you for taking that into consideration. I mainly eat vegan because that’s what Pete makes, but I’m not vegan. I guess you could say I’m more vegetarian than anything else.”

  He gave me a smile that had my stomach fluttering. Whatever it was that Kyle was making me feel was so far out of my comfort zone. I’d never met another person like him before.

  “Looks like you got enough for an army. Why don’t you stay and eat with us?”

  “I have to go feed Waldo. If he had opposable thumbs, he’d have murdered me in my sleep after this past couple of weeks. You guys enjoy. I’ll talk to you later.”