by Kamisa Cole
I used my teeth to pull the sleeve of my hoodie from my good arm and saw Kash closing his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. The ring on his thumb made me wonder how those fingers would look pinching another part of my body and, despite all the pain I was in, my dick stirred.
His breathing was shallow as if he tried to control it. Once I had the sleeve off, I pushed the hoodie over my head, gritting my teeth so I wouldn’t cry out in pain, then I pulled it down my injured arm.
“Shirt too,” Kash ordered on a low growl, and I licked my lips before meeting his eyes.
“I need help with that,” I admitted, and he hung his head.
“Is it okay if I touch you?” His voice was soft, broken, as if he was hurting for me.
“Of course it is,” I replied a little too eagerly before wondering if maybe he’d find me coming onto him too strong.
Then again… I shouldn’t be coming onto him at all because…
Well, I wasn’t ready for disappointment, and a guy like him probably had boys and men lined up at his door. After all, I wasn’t anything special, and right now I was also broken.
Yeah, I was quite the catch.
Not.
KASH
Alec had a dislocated shoulder, a bruised face, finger-shaped bruises on his upper arms, and by the way he moved I assumed he also had injured ribs. While I could fix the shoulder so the joint would work again, I couldn’t do anything more, like give him something against the pain.
Bracing myself before pushing his white tee up, I wanted to jump up and find the guy who’d laid hands on him. There was no way this had happened accidentally.
Seeing that more bruises bloomed on his ribs and his stomach made me want to scream in frustration. I’d never understood how anyone could put a hand on another person in anger, and certainly not like this.
“I'm going to have to hurt you now. I need to see if your ribs and your cheekbones are fractured, and after that, I’ll have to force the shoulder back into its joint. Unless you’ll allow me to take you to a hospital?”
He shook his head even before I’d finished my sentence. “No, no hospital.”
For a moment I considered asking for the reason but decided to assess his injuries first. Gage came back in, taking a spot to my right, and I didn’t spare him a glance to see if he was annoyed or concerned. I didn’t care that this was his bar. I wouldn’t allow him to make this boy walk out before we knew what was going on.
I was also set on getting him a job here no matter how much head-butting it would take with Gage. He didn’t like my ass as it was, and therefore I couldn’t make it worse. I shook out of my jacket, sweating just thinking about causing Baby Boy here more pain, but it needed to be done.
I started probing his scalp, wondering what his hair was hiding, and smirked when he closed his eyes, clearly enjoying the way I was scratching along his scalp.
Any other situation, and a few years further down the road, maybe I’d allow myself to take this somewhere that wasn’t public. However, he was twelve years my junior and injured. I couldn’t feel anything towards him besides a strong sense of protectiveness.
“No hidden head injury,” I stated out loud because I needed to shift my focus from him to something else. Gage nodded briefly.
Next up were his cheeks and brow, and Gage held out a small butterfly bandage for me. “Nothing broken,” I announced, tempted to apologize when Alec winced under my hands. “It needs to be done,” I whispered for his ears only.
His good eye met mine and the trust in his expression nearly floored me. “I know,” he replied quietly. “Keep going.”
I taped the cut on his brow, hoping it would stop bleeding, and Gage handed him a towel-wrapped ice pack. “Press it on lightly. You want the swelling to go down as soon as possible so you can assess the damage to your eye,” the bar owner grumbled.
“Yes, sir,” Alec answered and took the pack.
“Hold on for a second. I’m gonna fix your shoulder first,” I told him and then moved into position, meeting his eyes again. “Grab my shoulder and squeeze tight when it hurts. Scream if you want, okay? Just don’t bite off your tongue.”
I grabbed his arm, but Gage stopped me. “You wear a leather belt?”
I blinked at him for a second, then understanding dawned. “No, I don’t. I don’t wear a belt at all actually.”
Alec’s eyes followed Gage’s hands when he lifted his shirt and opened his belt, and I wanted to punch a wall because Alec subconsciously licked his lips at the small happy trail vanishing beyond the waistband of Gage’s jeans.
“Open up,” Gage ordered and when Alec did, I had to fist my hands for a second, fighting back the urge to punch Gage’s thigh where I could reach it.
Alec bit down on the material and then focused back on me. This time though I didn’t have a smile for him, although it wasn’t his fault—hell, he could be attracted to whomever he wanted—I didn’t want him to look at Gage like that.
“Ready?” He nodded, and his good hand came to rest on my shoulder. Through the thin material of my shirt I felt his ice-cold fingers burn my skin. It was as if his touch would leave an imprint on me no matter what.
“On three. One… Two” I didn’t even wait for three because I couldn’t take him tensing in preparation, and I felt his fingers dig into my shoulder painfully as he groaned, his muscles straining. However, once that had subsided, his grip on me loosened and he exhaled slowly.
“Okay?” Gage asked, and I knew he was talking to me, asking me if I’d managed to do what I’d wanted to.
“I’m head of a fucking… Sorry, Baby Boy. I’m the head of a security team, we have to deal with dislocated shoulders quite often,” I assured Gage, surprised at the wide-eyed look I was receiving.
“I’m not a boy,” Alec insisted after spitting out the belt, and although the words had much less heat than before, they doused me in cold water. It was only when I went over the words in my head again that I realized I’d called him Baby Boy out loud.
I shook my head in apology. “Of course not. Move your arm even if it hurts.”
He did, nodding in relief. “Much better.”
“Ice pack, now.” I couldn’t deal with any more words because I was about to slide my hands along his pecs, his ribs, his stomach. I should not be out of breath at that thought, and hell, I wondered if Gage would give me a hearty punch in a minute just for having lusty thoughts about Alec when it was obvious he’d been physically abused.
Then another thought hit me and, although I was kneeling, I needed to hold onto something before I face-planted right there.
Oh dear God, please don’t let it be true.
ALEC
Kash paled under that neatly trimmed dark beard and my first reaction was to reach out and cup his cheek. He was swaying on his knees, one of his hands landing on my thigh as he searched for something to hold onto. “Kash, you okay?”
“Tell me, Baby Boy, they didn’t… They… Whoever did this hasn’t…” His voice was nothing more than a whisper and still, I couldn’t figure out what he was talking about until an angry growl escaped Gage’s lips.
When it settled in what he was referring to I couldn’t even be angry anymore at the nickname he’d given me. “Fucked me against my will? Raped me?” I asked.
“Yes.” The word sounded as if Kash had swallowed razor blades and damn, I wanted to comfort him, wanted to draw him in and kiss the top of his head just for worrying about me so much.
“No,” I assured him. “I can take off my pants right now if you don’t believe me, but…”
“No need for that,” Kash interrupted and then hung his head for a moment.
Gage cleared his throat. “I need a drink. Whiskey, K-ass?” he wanted to know, walking away, and I arched a brow.
“It’s Kash, and yes. Make it double.”
“I take vodka,” I called after him and both men instantly stared at me.
Kash’s expression darkened. “You can have soda, Baby
Boy. And now, I need to check the rest of you.”
I huffed, knowing I proved exactly how young I was. “Don’t call me Baby Boy.” It didn’t matter that it sounded sexy, caring, when it fell from his lips. I needed them to see me as an adult and nothing else. However, the moment Kash’s warm hands brushed over my skin I lost all train of thought.
The rings he was wearing were a stark contrast to his warm hands and my nerve endings came to life in the worst way possible. Whereas earlier my dick had only taken note of the handsome man kneeling in front of us it, now it demanded to be checked too. His touch was gentle, soft, and I had to close my eyes to get myself under control. There were small stabs when his probing finger checked my ribs, but I walked a sharp edge between pleasure and pain, and his hands on me were both.
A moan fell from my lips before I could control it and instantly he stilled. “Did that hurt worse than before?”
I forced myself to look at him with my one good eye and decided on the lie. “Yes. I'm sorry. I know I should be able to handle this…” And by this I meant the way he touched me. He wasn’t the first man to touch me like that, even if he was older than the guys I normally fell for, but still, everything about his touch made me want to never move.
He shook his head. “Listen, Alec. Nothing about this is okay. You shouldn’t have to handle anything about this at all, you hear me?”
I almost felt bad for the lie when his concern was genuine, but then his fingers went back to what they’d been doing before, checking even the bruises on my pecs. I had to bite back yet another moan when one of his rings brushed across my nipple and if he noticed how it pebbled in pleasure he didn’t let on.
Sadly—or maybe luckily—he eventually sat back, and I almost believed his hands to be trembling when he placed them on his thighs. “Nothing broken. Do you have trouble breathing?”
I did at that moment, yes, but not the way he meant it. “No,” I said quietly, not trusting my voice to hold steady when speaking louder.
“Good.” Kash exhaled strongly, then pushed back to his feet. “Done.” He grabbed his jacket and pulled it back on, pushing the sleeves up yet again before crossing over to the bar and lifting the tumbler Gage had filled, emptying it one swallow.
“Another,” he muttered, and I grabbed my shirt, suddenly feeling naked. “Need help, Baby Boy?”
When I looked up I found his eyes on me, the expression soft, and as much as I knew I could get my shirt on alone, pain or no pain, I wanted him close just one more time. I had a feeling he wouldn’t allow anything else once I stood on my own two feet again, so I was willing to use anything I could to get him close to me.
“Yes, please.”
Gage made a sound in the back of his throat, probably seeing right through me, but I didn’t care. Kash came over to me while I got to my feet and he helped me dress just as gently as he’d undressed me before.
His eyes rested on my lips as if he didn’t trust himself with anything else, and I licked them just to tease him. He mirrored the action and I reached out, but my touch was met with air when he stepped back.
“There, dressed.”
“Can you cook?” Gage’s words were a hard reminder of what I’d come for.
I did know how to lift a knife and not cut my finger off while doing so, but that was the extent of my cooking skills. “Yes, of course I can,” I replied anyway, and he nodded once.
“Be here at two tomorrow. Everyone working this bar will be here, including Cam, my cook. You’ll help him tomorrow and we’ll see if I can get you a job in the kitchen. But you will not touch any alcohol or appear behind this bar. Anything except the kitchen and the employer’s bathroom is off-limits for you, okay?”
I wanted to remind him that legally I was allowed to enter a bar if I wasn’t drinking, but it didn’t matter. I’d gotten the job and that was all I needed for now. Well, I would get the job, no matter what it would take, so at least one worry was off my mind.
KASH
“Okay, listen, K-ass. Be here at three tomorrow. Bring all of your team. I’ll talk to each and every one of them, see how you get along with my team, and then I might be okay with you showing up. What you did for that boy—”
“His name is Alec,” I interrupted Gage, my mind only half on what he was talking about. “Where do you think he’s going right now?”
Gage took a deep breath and I was almost worried he’d dismiss the question, but I’d seen the softness in his eyes when he’d looked at Alec. He felt just as protective of him as I did.
Only you feel differently protective of him, as in he’s yours to take care of, my mind provided, and I bit back that thought.
“You think it was his father?” he asked, and I couldn’t help but think that for the first time since I’d walked in the venom in his voice was missing.
“Foster family, bigger, homophobe brother, person on the street… But most likely, yes, his father. Did he give you the ‘I-just-came-out’ vibe?”
Gage thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No. The way he was eye-fucking you, even while in pain, I’d say he was very sure about what he was feeling and also knew what to expect.”
I coughed. “He’s fucking nineteen. No eye-fucking going on there. I’m twelve years older and don’t exactly look like a teen. I caught him wincing and moaning in pain. Pretty sure attraction was the last thing on his mind.”
Gage shrugged. “Whatever helps you sleep at night. Boy looked at you like you were the golden dildo he’d always dreamed of.”
I combed my fingers through my hair, nearly tearing on those strands because, frankly, my cock had been standing to attention ever since knowing he hadn’t been as injured as I thought he was originally. “Anyway, if it’s his family or anyone close I don’t think he’s going back. He came here because he needs to be making money. He was desperate.”
“Okay, listen, K-ass. I don’t own a charity or a rainbow house or anything else that might help him.”
“Rainbow houses are for kids and underage teens.” It was only when he smirked that I realized he’d been testing me. I scowled. “For real, man? You saw me kneeling in front of him, and you probably can guess the boner I have right now because I had my hands on his fucking bare skin, and you still worry I’m shitting you about taking care of your bar in the best way possible?”
“Are you living the gay lifestyle? Are you closeted? Are you in a relationship? A cheater? What is your deal?”
I got to my feet. “What I do in my private time is none of your business.”
He leaned back against the counter behind him as if we weren’t talking about the protection of his livelihood. “Is when it comes to DiverCity. This bar is my life. All my savings went into it and I want it to keep being the mixed haven it has been since day one. We aren’t the most frequented bar-slash-club in town for nothing. I want it to stay that way.”
I nodded. “But who I fuck in the darkness of night doesn’t matter as long as I make sure everyone in here is safe. And even though it’s none of your concern, I don’t cheat, yes, I’m out to everyone who matters, and no, I don’t have a boyfriend. I have a supportive family and my team knows. In fact, the way I understand it you should know Savage. He says he’s been here before.”
Something flickered in Gage’s eyes, making me think there’d been more between Gage and Sav than my best friend had let on. I smirked. “See? He’s my best friend and we always work together. Have for the last eight years. Savage will be working the inside and if you don’t trust him, you better take that up with him tomorrow.”
“Whatever, K-ass.”
I considered reminding him again that my name was Kash but he’d decided on hating me for not being Daryl, and I couldn’t really blame him. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I was almost at the door when his voice made me stop in my tracks. “Yo, what’s your family like?”
Random much?
“If you’re asking about my parents I’m going to drop a sob story on you. I
was adopted when I was three months old. My new ‘rents were supportive and amazing. Anything else?”
I turned back to him, finding him studying me, but after a moment he shook his head. “It wasn’t very sobby, you know? Next time try to make something up about how they didn’t love you enough because they knew you’d be an ugly mug in the end. Get lost now, I need to plan what I’ll be doing with the bar.”
I didn’t dignify his order with a reaction and instead left DiverCity. Outside the wind had picked up, spring was on its way but it carried the chilly fingers of winter with it. I closed my jacket and turned toward Sav’s apartment. He didn’t expect me, and I knew I should probably grab some beer on the way, but I needed to talk to someone, even if it was just to have him remind me exactly how much younger Alec was than me.
I couldn’t deny that the thought of working with Baby Boy made my heart race, but there couldn’t be anything going on between us. I couldn’t care less that he was the legal age of consent. He was fucking nineteen and I felt like I could be his father.
Hell, I felt ancient and stopped next to a store’s window front to check for any gray hairs I’d been missing so far.
“Still looking good, hotshot,” a woman called as she and her friend passed me, and I gave her a grin before continuing on my way. I’d never thought I wasn’t good looking anymore.
I was just worried I’d suddenly turned a hundred because of how young Alec seemed to be compared to me.
ALEC
I should’ve taken a jacket and some cash instead of just my old backpack filled with underwear, socks, shoes, and my trusted dildo. Granted, maybe that shouldn’t have been my first thought, especially not when I’d be most likely living on the street for the foreseeable future, but…
I didn’t know why I’d grabbed it exactly, just that I’d wanted to take it. God, I wished I had a boyfriend I could go and see, or friends, but as it was I didn’t have many, and the one close friend I had was my neighbor and for now… No, I wouldn’t go there.
