Wade

by Jenny Wood

  “Hey, come on. Grab some clothes and whatever you’ll need. I like sleepovers.” I tried to tease, but he looks so dejected, like all the fun we had tonight had been forgotten. I didn’t want that.

  “I’m really sorry.” He whispers, passing me to grab a bag. I reach out and grab his arm to stop him, and he stops, looking up at me, wounded.

  “Please stop apologizing for things that aren’t your fault. Okay?” I tell him quietly and watch his throat work to swallow. His teeth are clenched tight, and it’s noticeable that he’s fighting some pretty heavy emotions and I want to ask what it is that makes him think that everything is his fault, but I don’t.

  Once he gets a bag together and grabs the things that he’ll need; we’re back out to the truck and heading to my house. I reassure him several times on the way there that it isn’t putting me out nor do I think he’s a burden of any kind. He apologized twice more, and no matter how many times I told him to knock it off, it seemed like it was a compulsion, like he just couldn’t help but apologize.

  “This here is the living room, obviously; help yourself to anything, I’ve got about a billion channels, and I don’t even know what half of them are, so please, take advantage, they’re making me pay an arm and a leg for it all so it should be used. Over here is the kitchen, the fridge is stocked, help yourself to anything at all in there, I mean that. There’s a room down here but I use it as an office slash storage kind of space for now and there are three rooms upstairs. The one at the back of the hall, by the bathroom is mine, but the other two, you can take your pick. There’s also a bathroom right off the kitchen, beside the door to the garage, I’ll show you out there tomorrow, when it’s daylight. If I’m not in the living room or my room, you can probably find me out on the back porch, I like to sit out there. It’s quiet and nice and I’ve just discovered the amazing intervention that is the porch swing and my back patio is perfect for it. You’ll see that tomorrow too. Now, what time do you have to be into work tomorrow?” I asked him after we completed the tour. My house wasn’t much because I was still acquiring little things here and there that I needed, but it was home. Foster didn’t seem to mind; he seemed to like everything that he saw, especially the big ass beds in each of the rooms.

  “This is a guest room?” He asks as I put his bag on his bed.

  “Yep,” I tell him honestly though I leave the part out that my granddad owned a furniture store and now my Uncle Ricky runs it. We get all of our furniture dirt cheap, and it’s all quality. He lives in Indiana, though, so I buy in bulk when I journey up there to visit extended family. It helps to have family in all areas of the US doing all different types of things. Anything you need, I probably have a cousin or an Uncle that could get you a good deal. I realized as I said that to him, out loud that it sounded like we were some sort of mafia family or something. We’re not; we’re just a big family. I told him that too.

  Because I figured he’d need time to settle down and get his head together, I told him he could use the bathroom to shower or just turn in, if he wanted to. He didn’t work until noon tomorrow so he could sleep in or just relax all morning; I didn’t care, I was just glad he was here, and that was a bit troubling because everything was so new and I didn’t go for that insta-love bullshit. I couldn’t deny the pull he had on me though.

  After changing into my sleep clothes but adding a shirt because I wasn’t alone in the house, I sat at the kitchen table and called my buddy and co-worker Cruz and reported the notes and the two pictures I’d taken of Foster’s door. He wasn’t doing anything at the moment, seeing as it was a Monday night in a sleepy town and there was absolutely nothing to do on night shift but hope someone decided to cause a little trouble so you’d have something to do. He said he’d drive over and see what he could find in terms of evidence, and he also decided to look up the ex-boyfriend who I now know, is Jeffery Bingham; a very prestigious, very pompous, fancy ass lawyer from the rivaling county. Cruz knew him immediately, and I could tell by his scoff he wasn’t a fan. He said he’d keep me updated and I let him know I’d be in tomorrow at ten. After shooting the shit about the boring night, we ended the call, and I settled in for some TV before bed. I kept one eye on the screen but was constantly listening to see if Foster would come out and want to watch something. It was going to drive me crazy having him two doors down. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

  Foster

  It’s awkward being at Wade’s house after the fun night we just had. I kind of feel like I was thrust on him because he was with me when something shitty happened. In my life, I’m used to shitty things happening, but things had been going so well for a while. I guess that’s when the universe needs to remind you to know your role. I just wasn’t the type of person that good things usually happened to. But man, having a fun night with a lot of fun people and then things happening with Wade the way they did; I just didn’t expect the other shoe to drop so soon. Now, I’m in his guest room that’s bigger than my whole apartment, and I can hear him downstairs on the phone; though I can’t make out what he’s saying, I can almost guarantee that it’s about me.

  I took Wade up on his offer and used the bathroom; his shower would rival any 5-star hotels in the country and mine is like a tiny closet with a drain. It’s been a long time since I was able to use one this fancy. It felt amazing, letting the water run over aching, tension filled joints and muscles. I slid into a pair of dark green pajama pants with dancing tacos on them and a long sleeved white shirt. I tended to stay cold at night and I more often than not woke up in a tight ball, burrowed under the cover, but somehow, I still always stay cold.

  I try to lay down but it takes me forever to fall asleep at my own place, being in a place that’s unfamiliar is going to be a bit trickier. I don’t want to keep Wade awake, but I still hear him doing things downstairs, so maybe it wouldn’t be terrible to see what he was doing and maybe keep him company for a bit. As awkward as it is being here, it’s worse hiding out in here all by myself. I pull on my socks and tiptoe down the hallway and to the stairs. I can hear the TV on, but I have no clue what he’s watching. The lights are dim, and I can see him stretched out on the couch with his feet on the table in front of him, the lights of the TV shining over him. He doesn’t notice me at first, and I take in the way he’s sitting with his legs crossed at the ankles and his arm back behind his head, showcasing his amazing arms and intricate ink that I can’t make out from this far away. I wonder to myself if he has more and where it might be.

  “Hey,” I say softly, gaining his attention; not really wanting to get caught staring at him in a dark corner like a weirdo.

  “Hey.” He sounds drowsy, and I feel bad for interrupting him. Maybe he falls asleep on his couch or something. “Wanna watch TV?” He asks, nodding beside himself to the couch but otherwise not moving at all from his comfortable looking position. I walk slowly to the couch and sit a respectable distance from him, noticing for the first time that he’s watching an old episode of a teenage sitcom I watched as a kid.

  “You watch Dawson’s Creek?” I asked him, unable to hide my surprise or amusement.

  “Dude. Jack.” Is all he says. Fair enough, he was the first hot gay guy to come out on a show. I was obsessed for several years when I was younger.

  “I called and reported your apartment; my buddy Cruz is going to see what he can find out. You’ll probably have to file a report in the morning, and we’re going to ask the ex if he was lurking around your place tonight.” He tells me. Something just feels off about that.

  “I don’t understand why it would be him if he hasn’t made any attempt to get in contact with me since the hospital that first night,” I tell him honestly. I understand that I might’ve bruised his ego, but I just don’t see him doing something like that. I guess I shouldn’t put too much into my perception of him, I was clearly a shitty judge of character with him in the first place, because I’m pretty positive the lady he was with the night of the benefit was his girlfriend.
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br />   “People do dumb shit for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes they don’t even need one.” He suggested and I’m sure he was probably right, being in law enforcement, he probably saw dumb shit all the time.

  “Maybe I can call and talk to him. I mean, obviously, that’s what he wanted. I was just petty about it because he made me feel stupid. He was with a woman at the benefit, and I saw them kissing, several times. We were supposed to be exclusive, and I guess I was just a little shitty that I didn’t realize he was lying. More mad at myself if I think about it though, I knew deep down he was an asshole. I mean, he kind of proved it more than once.” I rolled my eyes at my naivety, or maybe just my willingness to overlook the stupid shit that I had a problem with, in order to be with him. Who does that?

  “If you don’t feel comfortable talking to him, then don’t. We’ll handle it; it’s kind of our job.” He nudged me slightly, lightening the mood. We sat in silence for a while, watching the teenage drama and love triangle unfold in several episodes. My eyes were getting heavy, and I could feel my body relaxing deeper into the couch, the longer we sat there. It felt like my eyes had just closed when Wade stroked his fingers across my neck and whispered my name.

  “Let’s get up to bed; you’ll be more comfortable.” He whispers, the TV now turned off. I nodded, and we both got up. He took my hand and walked with me up the stairs to the door of the room I was using. I wanted really badly to ask him to come in and stay with me until I fell asleep. It was too soon for all that; I knew that. I didn’t jump from person to person, bed to bed or relationship to relationship and I didn’t want him to think I done that either. So, I said goodnight and I thanked him again for letting me stay. He rolled his eyes good naturedly and pulled me to him playfully by hooking a finger in the neck of my shirt and pulling me forward. He leaned down slowly and pressed his lips softly to mine.

  “Goodnight.” He whispered just before disappearing into his own room for the night. Surprisingly, it took me no time to fall asleep.

  Filing a police report is intimidating. Police officers have this way about them that even if you haven’t done anything wrong, they make you second guess your morality….Like, if one is driving behind you and you know you aren’t doing anything wrong, and you’re not speeding or anything, you still think… “I’m going to get pulled over….act normal… there are no drugs in here… Are there drugs in here? What if there were? Ones that I didn’t know about or something? What if my foot just suddenly hits the gas pedal and I go speeding through the next intersection without stopping?” Okay, maybe that only happens to me, but cops make me nervous. Thankfully, Wade was with me and made it relatively painless. Still, his co-worker Cruz seemed to only talk to Wade, which I guess makes sense, since they know each other and Wade was with me when I discovered the door and its message; but I felt like he was faulting me for getting Wade into something, or something. He side-eyed me a lot, and when he would glance my way, it was quick and with a frown. I was confused but didn’t want to say anything to make it awkward between Wade and his friend.

  After filing the report, Wade took me to my place to change for work; the word was still there in all of its dark and depressing glory, but Wade told me not to worry about it and to just get what I needed for work. So, that’s what I did.

  The next few minutes were spent arguing about him taking me to work. It was out of the way of where he was going, which was to work himself. Granted, it was only a couple minutes out of his way since everything in this town in a hop, skip and jump away; still, I felt bad that I was infringing on all his personal time the last twenty-four hours. He did the thing where he rolled his eyes and nudged me to his truck anyway. He kissed me before letting me out at Skye’s the Limit, and I promised I’d answer when he called me later.

  Anderson was going to be busy most of the day, so he put me on pie baking duty. He needed 45 pies as a personal favor for a friend but didn’t have the time to do it himself because he also had a paying job tonight at a country club buffet.

  My phone rang several times throughout the day, and I wasn’t surprised to get calls from Cameron and Morgan…I was surprised to get a call from Jase. They’d all just wanted to thank me for coming last night, and Cam and Morgan wanted to get together one day this week for dinner. I agreed and felt good about having some potential friends. My last call of the day was from Wade, telling me that they’d still not been able to get a hold of Jeffery. He wasn’t in his office when he called him and still hadn’t heard back from him after he’d left a message. We did the argument thing about him coming to pick me up from work once I was done, but I didn’t want to take him away from his work just to give me a ride. I assured him that I was used to walking home after work and I actually liked doing it. It gave me time to get my head together, though I didn’t tell him that part. He relented and promised to call when he got home. Then, he actually did.

  “How was your day?” I asked him as I lounged on my bed and stared at the ceiling. My bed was smaller than the one I’d slept in last night, and it didn’t smell the same, like Wade. I had a feeling I wouldn’t sleep as good as I did in his space.

  “Boring. You should’ve let me come give you a ride earlier.” He snorts a scoff. I could imagine the eye roll.

  “I like walking.” I tell him honestly, “It was nice out, tonight.”

  “Did you see anything out of the ordinary?” He asks.

  “Nope, no cars sitting outside, no nice words written anywhere, either, who done that?” I ask him. I knew when he told me not to worry about it last night; he’d be having someone remove it.

  “Joker.” He answers, surprising me. He’d hardly said two words to anyone when I’d met him.

  “Really?” I asked.

  “Yeah. He’s a good guy.”

  “Jase called me earlier; he didn’t say anything. I’ll have to call and thank him tomorrow. That was really nice.” I tell him sincerely. This group of guys are all really nice; I feel very lucky to know them. We talk for what seems like hours about everything and nothing. Things are easier to talk about with him now, though I still don’t divulge much about my past and he doesn’t really either. It’s okay though; I prefer looking forward instead of back.

  I’m surprised the next morning with bagels and coffee, and I can’t stop my smile when I open the door and see a casually dressed Wade.

  “So early,” I grumble although I let him in. He rolls his eyes with a smile and although it’s way too early to be awake and I feel like I only slept for five minutes; it’s that eye roll with that smile that makes me not give one shit if I’d not slept at all.

  “I brought bagels!” He says like it’s a consolation. I think I might hum some sort of acknowledgment while wrapping myself back up with my blanket and sit in the cocoon of warmth. “And coffee.” He finishes.

  “You can stay.” I untuck my hands and reach for the coffee.

  “You’re cute in the morning.” He hands me a cup and then takes off his jacket before sitting down next to me on my bed. I close my eyes and take the first sip, and it’s from the deli on the square. I’d know this dark deliciousness anywhere. “I don’t remember you being this cute when you stayed at my house.” He comments teasingly.

  “You didn’t wake me up at the ass crack of dawn then,” I tell him honestly. If we’re going to see each other, my lack of morning etiquette is something he’ll have to learn about me. I’m complete shit without coffee.

  “Fair enough. How’d you sleep?” He asks, pulling the bagels out and putting them on the cardboard plates they send with every to-go order.

  “Good,” I answer, although not the truth but it wasn’t a terrible sleep. I’d definitely had worse.

  “It’s Wednesday, and you’re off today, so I wanted to see if you wanted to go shopping with me. I need shit to fill my house. I’ve been here for months, and I look like I just moved in. I need home stuff.” He smiled at me and took a giant bite of his bagel. I snorted at his ridiculous morning personality but agr
eed. We took his truck to the next town over where they had an enormous outlet mall. They had a little bit of everything in about a hundred different stores, so I figured we’d find the majority of what he was looking for there.

  It turns out, Wade in crowded department stores were something I should’ve been warned about. At first, things were great; he was hesitant about the place, but I figured he was just a guy about shopping. The first place we went into wasn’t that bad, it wasn’t crowded or loud, and it was early enough in the day that there weren’t a lot of people milling about. By the time we hit the food court around lunch time, I knew something was seriously wrong. Wade was sweaty and twitchy. His face had lost most of its color, and he looked ashen and pale. I asked him several times what was wrong and if he wanted to leave but he’d squeeze my hand reassuring me that everything was fine and we’d move on to the next store. It was in the furniture store where shit hit the proverbial fan. A tiny little forklift was lifting a stack of boxed mattresses, which I assume was about to be shipped, when a box ripped open from the bottom and several mattresses box springs slid out and onto the ground. It wasn’t terribly loud, but it made a little POP, before rattling. Before I could process what was happening, Wade’s body was on top of mine, and his hands were covering my face and head.

  “Wade!” I yelled, thinking something serious had just gone on. I heard him breathing rapid and heavy while his body shook on top of mine. He was covering me from top to toe, and I didn’t understand the threat.

  “What’s going on?” I asked frantically, placing my hands on his sides and feeling the tightly wound muscles above me. I could hear him chanting something but it was almost a whisper, I couldn’t understand the words.