by K. C. Wells
When his phone buzzed and he saw Marcus’s name, Kendis had to smile. He peered at the WhatsApp message.
Vid call?
He hit the camera icon, and seconds later there was Marcus, grinning. “Hey, bro.” He widened his eyes. “I don’t wanna worry you, but a caterpillar’s crawled across your lip an’ died there.”
Kendis cackled. “Bastard. Don’t you be mocking my mustache.”
“Oh, is that what it is? Then what do you call that fuzz on your face?” Marcus’s eyes gleamed with mischief.
He stroked his jaw. “Don’t you think it makes me look more… mature?” He’d been trying to grow a beard the last month. He figured it wouldn’t hurt none with his job interviews.
If he ever got that far.
Marcus snorted. “You don’t wanna know what I think. Is Momma okay?”
Kendis nodded. Then he grinned. “She’s cooking gumbo.”
Marcus narrowed his gaze. “You little shit. You said that just to make me jealous.”
“Did it work?”
Marcus rolled his eyes. “That’s one thing I don’t miss—your aggravation.”
“Yeah, right. You know you love me.” Kendis got comfortable, stuffing pillows behind him as he leaned against the headboard. “So what’s new? You still lovin’ it, workin’ for Uncle Elroy? He didn’t fire your ass yet?”
He laughed. “It’s all good here. Hell, I even got me a girlfriend. And she’s gorgeous.” He was actually preening.
Kendis bit back his smirk. “I bet her dog is beautiful too.”
“What dog? What in the world are you talkin’ ’bout?”
“You know—her seein’ eye dog?”
Marcus glared at him. “Boy, your tongue is that sharp, one of these days you’re gonna cut yourself with it. No wonder you ain’t found a boyfriend yet.” He smiled smugly.
It was Kendis’s turn to glare. “Hush your mouth. I don’t want Momma hearin’ ya.”
Marcus frowned. “It don’t bother her none. She knows you’re gay, right?”
“Knowin’ somethin’ an’ bein’ happy about it are two different things.” Kendis sighed. “She don’t talk about it, so neither do I. Okay, enough about me. Tell me about this girl. What’s her name? How’d you meet her?”
He listened as Marcus related the story of how she’d come to Uncle Elroy’s car repair shop. While her mom had gotten down to details with Uncle Elroy, Marcus had taken the opportunity to talk with her—Madison, that was her name—and apparently her mom had had to drag her away when they were done. A date had followed, then another. They were up to their fourth and everything was hunky-dory as far as Marcus was concerned.
“I told her I had a gay brother,” Marcus informed him. “She said that was cool.”
“As opposed to some other kind of brother?” Kendis shook his head. He shouldn’t let it bother him. At least Marcus was trying to be supportive.
“Hey.” Marcus’s voice grew soft. “You know I got your back, right, bro?”
“Yeah, I know. Is this why you wanted to talk to me? To make me jealous ’cause you’re gettin’ some?”
Marcus’s eyes were as big as saucers. “Who said I was? Did I mention—”
“Oh, hush now. You didn’t have to. That smug look said it all. An’ don’t bother denying it.” The truth was, Kendis was jealous. Twenty fucking years old and never been kissed. That was a pretty sad state of affairs.
Marcus coughed, and that was all the confirmation Kendis needed. “Look, I wanted to talk to you because Uncle Elroy says he’s got a job for ya, if you want it.”
“Working with you in the repair shop?”
Marcus nodded. “He says he could do with your hands around here.”
“Well, he should know what they can do. He’s the one who taught me, after all.” He couldn’t remember a time growing up when he wasn’t tinkering in his uncle’s repair shop. He learned how to change an oil filter before he could ride a bike. “Maybe I don’t want a job where I come home smelling of grease and covered in stains, you ever think of that?” Except that was a lie and he knew it. He’d applied to three repair shops in LaFollette, and had gotten nowhere. Granted, there were more, but three times was enough to put him off the idea, and try for something else.
It was the something else that was proving pretty fucking elusive.
“Come anyway. We’ll find you a job here. What is there to stay for in that god-awful town? You know you wanna come back to Louisiana. An’ don’t tell me you’re happy there, because that’s a fuckin’ lie, an’ you know it.” Marcus’s face tightened.
Shit, how do I explain this?
Kendis took a deep breath and did his best to speak calmly. “They brought us here to play ball, an’ we did just that, while they ignored us and avoided us. They found Momma a job and it’s not great, but we both know cleaning the hospital is prob’ly the best job she’s gonna git. When you’re a black face in a sea of white, you’re fighting a losin’ battle.”
“Then why stay?” Marcus’s eyes blazed. “You said it, bro. We did what they wanted us to, and when we graduated, they fucking turned their backs on us. Okay, so no one ever said once ‘Go back where you came from.’ You know why? ’Cause that would mean someone actually spoke to us. Instead, they acted like we weren’t even there.”
“I know. You stuck it out here as long as you could, till Uncle Elroy offered you a job.” Marcus was wise. Marcus had gotten out. Twenty-two, a job, prospects, a girlfriend….
“An’ now he’s offerin’ you a job too. So take it.”
Kendis shook his head. “I’m gonna stay.”
“But why? Give me one fucking reason that makes sense.”
He took another calming breath. “Because if I leave, then I’d be running away, and this town would’ve won. I swear, there are days when it feels like every pair of eyes in this goddamn town is on my back, just waitin’ me for to throw in the towel, but you know what? I’m not gonna give ’em the satisfaction.” Kendis stuck out his chin. “I’m gonna stay, I’m gonna find me a job, and I’m gonna make a success of it, you see if I don’t.”
Marcus stared at him in silence for a moment before sighing heavily. “Lord, that stubborn streak of yours don’t get any narrower, does it?” He gave a start when Momma rapped loudly on the door.
“Supper time.”
Supper time, Marcus mouthed, grinning.
Kendis gave him a mock glare. “Coming, Momma.” He waited until her footsteps had faded, then returned his attention to his phone.
“Coming, Momma,” Marcus mimicked. “Lord, she nearly gave me a heart attack when she knocked on the door. Still walking ’round the house like she’s a ninja, I see.”
“And you miss it.”
Marcus sighed. “Yeah, I do. Living with Uncle Elroy is okay, but… he’s not Momma.” His eyes shone. “He don’t have her sense of humor, for one thing.” Then he grinned once more. “There is a bright side. He don’t say nothin’ when Madison is in my room. Can you imagine me doin’ that with Momma around?”
Kendis snorted. “Only if you’ve got a death wish.” If there ever came a day when he got himself a boyfriend—You hear that, Lord? From my mouth to Your ears—there was no way in hell she’d let him within sniffing distance of Kendis’s bedroom. Then he recalled where their conversation had gotten up to before Momma’s interruption. “I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense, me staying, but—”
“No, but I’m sure it does to you.” Marcus sighed. “Go eat. Enjoy the gumbo. Hug Momma for me, and tell her I’ll call tomorrow, same as always. And Kendis?”
“Yeah?”
Marcus smiled. “Love ya, you stubborn little fucker.”
Warmth filled him. “Love you too. Say hi for me to Madison and her dog.”
“Little shit.” Marcus was still laughing as he disconnected the call.
Kendis got off the bed and walked over to the door. There was gumbo to be eaten and a conversation to be avoided.
“Mind
if I ask you somethin’?
Here it comes. Kendis steeled himself. They’d gotten through supper without Momma asking once about his job hunting, but he should have known better than to assume he’d escaped. “I don’t mind,” he lied.
“Well… it’s just….”
Kendis straightened in his chair. Whatever was coming at him was not what he expected. “Momma? What’s wrong?” She never sounded this flustered.
“Are you lonely?”
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
Momma shrugged. “You don’t seem to have any friends. At least, none you bring home. Even when you were in high school.”
“Maybe I don’t make friends so easy.” Or maybe nobody wanted to be friends with the only black kid in a totally white school. At least when Marcus was there, he’d had someone to hang with. Once Marcus graduated, the loneliness had almost crushed him.
“But you need to be with kids your own age.” Kendis stiffened, and she stared at him, aghast. “Not that you’re a kid, you understand,” she added hastily.
But it’s how you see me, right? He didn’t trust himself to speak.
Momma sighed. “Haven’t you met anyone your own age who you’d like to get to know better?”
He was about to tell her there was no one, when he remembered a tall, skinny guy with straggly black hair and dark, mischievous eyes. What was his name? Then he got it. Chaz, the guy who worked for Del. Chaz, who said he’d watched Kendis play. Chaz, who thought Kendis was a fantastic ball player.
“There was one guy,” he said grudgingly. “I only met him today though.”
Momma’s face brightened. “Well, that’s good. Where there’s one, there’s more.” She bit her lip. “There was something I meant to tell you. I… I don’t think you’re the only…gay guy around here.” Lord, she said the word so carefully, like it would bite her.
Then her words registered. “What makes you say that?” he demanded.
“Well… I was working yesterday, cleaning the hallways, and I saw something.”
Kendis’s mind went into overdrive, imagining her coming across a pair of male nurses kissing in a storeroom or an empty operating theater. “Really? What did you see?”
“I was walking past one of the rooms, an’ I looked inside. There were these two guys sitting on a patient’s bed, and… they were holding hands.”
Kendis smiled. “That’s kinda sweet.” Not to mention totally surprising.
“But what surprised me most was that they didn’t look gay. In fact…” She leaned forward. “I think one of them is a cop. I’m sure I’ve seen him around town.” She whispered, as if she was sharing some state secret.
Okay, that rang a bell. Kendis frowned. “What did the other guy look like?”
“He was a big man, wearing a leather jacket. Older than the cop, with a graying beard.”
Yeah, Kendis knew exactly who she was talking about. He’d had his suspicions about Del Walters the day his car got trashed, and Del had called that cop to take down the details. So he is gay. And that cop friend of his is a damn sight more than a friend, by the sound of it. Kendis was glad for them. Del was a nice guy, and if he’d found someone who made him happy, good for him. And maybe that means there’s hope for me too.
He gave an internal snort. Yeah, right.
“I’ve met him,” he told his momma. “He’s the one who opened that bike shop, Rainbow Racers.” Like that should have been a big fucking clue right there.
Momma widened her eyes. “A bike shop? Do they have any vacancies?”
Dammit. “I don’t know, Momma. I didn’t ask.” But now he thought about it, that was a pretty good idea. Maybe Del needs someone like me. Kendis was good with car engines—surely he could learn about bikes? How hard can it be?
It was a long shot, sure, but it was worth looking into. Especially if it meant he could get to meet Chaz again. There might not be a job there for him, but there might be a friend, and Kendis could sure use one of those.
Because Momma was right about one thing. Kendis was lonely as hell.
Chapter Four
Monday Dec 11
Kendis was getting pretty used to walking. And if I can’t get the car repairs done, I’m gonna stay used to it. He saw more than he ever did driving around, that was for sure. But when the heavens opened and a fresh downpour soaked through his jacket and hoodie, walking lost its appeal. By the time he arrived at the door of Rainbow Racers, he was cold and shivering. Judging by the empty state of the parking lot out front, they had no customers.
Kendis pushed open the glass door and stepped into the considerably warmer interior. There was no one in sight. “Hi? Anyone here?” One side of the shop was taken up by bikes of all sizes, ranging from basic bicycles and tandems to motor bikes with gleaming paintwork and shiny metalwork. On the other was a wide desk, behind which was a door and a window. That was the office, Kendis recalled.
A head popped up in the office window. It was Chaz. Seconds later, the door opened, and he came out. “Hey.” His eyes widened. “Jesus, you look like a drowned rat.” He dove back into the office and reappeared carrying a towel. “Here. You look like you could use this.”
“That bad, huh?” Kendis’s hoodie was clinging to his skin, and the jacket he wore over it was soaked through. He shivered.
Chaz’s expression grew grim. “Okay, we need to get you outta those clothes.”
Despite his cold wet state, Kendis chuckled. “I think I’ve stepped onto the set of a porno. The next line is, we need to share body warmth, right?”
Then he realized what he’d said. Lord, it sounds like I’m flirting with him.
Kendis had never flirted in his life. What was more interesting was Chaz’s reaction, because the line clearly didn’t gross him out.
Chaz laughed. “Get in here. I’ve got a space heater goin’.”
That was all the prompting Kendis needed. He walked over to the office and stepped into the toasty room. “Oh, nice.” Chaz put the towel on a chair and helped him remove the sodden jacket and hoodie, until all he wore was his tank top that clung to him like a second skin. Chaz’s fingers brushed over Kendis’s bare shoulders, lingering there, and the contact sent a shiver through him.
“Yeah, we need to warm you up.” Chaz’s voice was a little husky, and the combination of that and his light touch had Kendis’s body reacting.
I’m not reading the signs wrong, am I? It wasn’t as if he had any experience to refer to, but all his senses were screaming that not only was Chaz into guys, he might possibly be into Kendis.
That was fine, because Kendis could seriously be into Chaz. The guy was cute and sexy as fuck. The idea of making a new friend had driven him there. Finding out Chaz was (possibly) gay added a whole new dimension.
Enough already. Just ’cause he’s cute ‘n’ sexy does not make everything he says and does a come-on. Kendis’s perpetual state of horniness was getting to be a problem.
Chaz placed the garments over the back of a chair near the heater. Kendis glanced at his jeans, which were dark and damp. Chaz chuckled. “Now if you take those off, we really will be on a porno set.” He handed Kendis the towel, then pointed to the coffee machine. “Want some?”
“Oh yeah.” Kendis cocked his head to one side. “They left you in charge?”
Chaz snorted. “Yeah, sure. Del’s off somewhere, and Jon went into town. To tell the truth, it’s been so quiet around here, we’re thinking of closing for the winter. The only people out in this kinda weather are the ducks.” He poured two mugs of coffee while Kendis rubbed the towel over his head and arms. “Speaking of ducks, what are you doin’ here? You didn’t come to rent a bike, did ya?”
Kendis laughed. “Do I look crazy?” He gazed at the chair. “If I sit on that in these jeans…”
“Fuck it. It’ll dry.” Chaz held out a mug. “Here. This’ll warm you up.”
Kendis took it and sat on the chair. Chaz’s playful manner seemed to have vanished, and Kendis had to face t
he prospect that he’d misread the situation after all.
Dammit.
Chaz took the seat next to him, moving aside a pile of magazines, with glossy covers displaying gleaming bikes. He caught Kendis looking and smiled. “We’ve been planning for next season. Some of these beauties look awesome.”
“You ever ridden something like that?” The bike on the cover seemed huge.
“Not yet.” Chaz flicked through the magazine, then laid it open on his lap. “There. That’s the one I want to try out. Del’s talkin’ ’bout getting one. A nice big cruiser.”
Kendis glanced at the image. “If he does, maybe we could go for a ride one day.” The words were out of his mouth before he had a chance to think.
Chaz’s eyes twinkled. “You wanna go for a ride?”
That playful tone was back, and Kendis prayed fervently that Chaz wasn’t talking about bikes. Be cool. Because that question was downright suggestive.
Okay, it sounded suggestive to Kendis’s warped little mind, but hell, everything did nowadays.
“Sure,” he replied with a shrug. Then, because he couldn’t help himself, he added, “Sounds like it could be an unforgettable experience.” He had no idea where all this was coming from, or how he had the nerve to say it with a straight face.
“Oh, it would be. I guarantee that.” Chaz’s gaze locked onto his, and there was no missing the heat that uncoiled in Kendis’s belly. “Ridden much?”
Fuck. A swathe of goosebumps covered his arms. Kendis licked his lips. “Never.” And wasn’t that the God’s honest truth? “How ’bout you?”
Chaz smiled. “Only ever ridden solo. I suppose riding with someone would feel… different.”
Yup, it was official. They definitely weren’t talking bikes anymore. Kendis’s skin tingled, his breathing quickened, and a pleasurable shiver ran through him.
