by BA Tortuga
“God, I’m sorry. I haven’t slept out here and…. You have to think I’m a fucking moron.”
“No. No, I think you’re doing the best you can with a shitty situation.” Jayden put a hand on his arm, just a soft touch, clearly meant to comfort. It burned his skin like fire. “You should take the bed, really. Hell, I didn’t sweat in the sheets. I promise.”
“I—” He should. He would just keep the whole house awake sleeping out here.
“Come on. Seriously. Just come lay down for a second.” Jayden stood him up and walked him over toward the guest room door.
“I—I need to hit the head.” He had to have a moment to get his shit together.
“Sure. Dakota, I’m not a bad guy. I swear. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I know. I need to breathe.” He laughed sharply. “Maybe cry, and I don’t want to embarrass myself.”
“You want to go sit outside together? It’s fixin’ to rain.”
He blinked. “Yeah, yeah, I could do that.” That sounded like a hell of a plan.
“Good deal. Come on.” Jayden took his hand and led him outside into the backyard. The wind was blowing, and he could smell the rain in the air, and he was outside.
Dakota took a deep breath, goose bumps rising on his arms. Oh. This was so not prison.
He sat on the back porch steps, face up to the sky. The stars were disappearing behind the storm, the lightning making little patches that glowed. The breeze swept away all the sweat from his nightmare.
“That’s better already. I can tell.”
He glanced at Jayden. “I—thanks. Yeah. It is.”
“There’s not much that a rain storm can’t fix, huh? I love sitting in the rain.”
“I’m ready for it.” He wanted it. He wanted to feel it, remember it.
“You can smell it, huh? It’s coming.” Jayden plopped down next to him.
“Yeah. Yeah. This is the stuff I missed. This here. I never got this.” He’d been at his folks’ house, then his time at the dorm. He hadn’t had a summer where no one told him he couldn’t go outside and just sit in the dark.
“I did this a lot when I was a kid. I haven’t in years. Sage’s place lends itself to outdoors, huh?”
“Yeah. No one would believe that I liked being outside. No one from before, I mean.”
“Were you a nerd?” Jayden teased gently.
“God, no. That would assume that I was at least technologically sound. I was a fat, unhappy kid that watched TV and read. It was stupid.” He should have been doing anything, experiencing things. Having fun, even if it was scary. If he’d known he was going to lose the entire prime of his life, he would have deserved the loss more.
“What do you want to be now?”
“I don’t know.” Now he was a skinny, unhappy man who read and worked. It was still stupid.
“Well, maybe you ought to ponder it. Just for a bit. Tomorrow.”
He could hear the grin in Jayden’s voice, but he didn’t hear mockery, just teasing.
“Yeah. I spent a lot of time thinking while I was in. That’s why it’s so good to work hard. No thinking. Nothing but sweat.”
“Oh, I guess I can see that.”
“It’s okay, you know. You don’t have to feel guilty because I was in. It happened. Somebody got hurt and somebody paid.”
“The wrong somebody.”
“Yeah. I used to hope he’d do it again, prove it wasn’t me.” If he believed in God, he would say that was one reason he didn’t get out, because he was a bad man, but he didn’t believe.
“Well, let me test the kit, at least. I feel like I need to, if nothing else for the percentage of guys I put away that didn’t do it.”
“Is there a lot? I mean, do you know when you do it, that they’re innocent?”
“No.” Jayden sighed. “Some of my colleagues might not have been so sure, but I tried hard to be sure. The fact is, though, that they estimate two percent of people in prison are innocent. So if 250,000 people in Texas are in jail, that’s five thousand who don’t belong there.”
“That’s a lot, Jayden. I mean a whole lot.”
“I know.” Jayden patted his leg. “You have DNA evidence on your side. That’s why I feel like it’s important to run the test. Will it get your life back? No. But you deserve for people to know.”
“I just…. I’ll make payments to you. I can pay you twenty a week, maybe…. Ten for sure.” He could manage that. He didn’t need Cokes. They were bad for him.
“We’ll work out something,” Jayden said gently. “If we prove you didn’t do it, you’re entitled to a settlement.”
“I just want…. I didn’t do it. I never have, you know. I mean, I’ve been fucked a lot, but I never once did it because I wanted to. I went to jail for fucking, and I was a virgin.”
“Hey.” Jayden stopped patting and squeezed his leg. “Here comes the storm.”
Oh, for real.
He took a deep breath and held it, eyes closed as the first drops of rain fell on him, fat and wet and icy cold in the heaviness of the night. He let the sky beat on him, let the world cry for him, and if it was silly and ridiculous, then so what? Someone should have cried for him, goddamn it. Someone should have hurt.
Jayden was making him hurt now, but he was also giving Dakota hope for the first time in maybe ever.
He began to gulp in breaths as the storm raged, the rain stinging now, drenching him as it pelted him. He wasn’t going to walk away from it, though. He needed… this. He needed to be clean, for fuck’s sake. Deeper than a shower, than soap.
He needed to be free.
Jayden stayed right there with him, holding his hand when he groped out, needing something solid to hold on to. When he couldn’t even see anymore.
The wind began to scream, the thunder crashing so loud that he actually jumped.
“Come in. Come in, Dakota. It’s getting hairy out here.”
“Yeah.” Whatever baptism he was going to get, he got, and drowning like a baby turkey too stupid to stop looking up into the rain seemed like a bad idea.
Lightning hit the ground, just popping against the driveway, and time stopped.
For a second, all Dakota could see was a streak of white and the ozone burned his nose. There wasn’t even any sound, just a deathly silence. Then the porch lights went out as something behind the house popped and sent sparks flying. Huh.
“That’s the transformer! Man, that just missed us!” Jayden’s hair was all standing up on end, just like a wild man’s, even wet as it was.
He blinked up, the transformer like a tiny fireworks show. “Poor Sage.”
The dog set up an unholy howl inside, and Jayden dragged Dakota in, laughing like a loon. “Shit, that was crazy.”
Sage came out of the bedroom, talking fast and furious on his phone. “No shit it’s out. Y’all need to get someone out here. That was the transformer.” Sage looked over at the two of them and frowned. “You’re dripping on my tile.”
“Better than on your carpet,” Jayden said. “Are there towels in the laundry room?”
“Yeah. Yeah, there are.” Sage turned around. “No, I don’t want to be on some list until y’all get your heads out of your butts. That transformer serves me and Miss Carolina down the road, and she’s on oxygen!”
Dakota grinned and followed as Jayden beckoned him to the laundry room. “He’s fierce, huh?”
“God, yes. He’s a force of nature. Here. I put two in the dryer, but use this one to dry off first. Let me ask Sage if I need to check on his neighbor.”
“Okay. I can do it. I’m wet already.”
“Like I’m not.” Jayden looked over at him, then smooched him. Smacked him on the lips. “That was so fun, man. Thank you.”
Dakota stood there, blinking rapidly, as Jayden bounded off, leaving a trail of water behind him still.
Well, okay, then. Someone kissed him and the world didn’t stop.
He dripped for a minute more, then took a deep
breath and grinned. “It was,” he said, even though Jayden was talking to Sage in the hallway. “It was a lot of fun, and I’d do it again.”
Of course, for right now, he probably needed to stop dripping on Sage’s floor.
Then somebody needed to find some candles.
Chapter Eleven
THE POWER was still out when Jayden woke up on the floor in the front room. They’d made a tent city out of blankets and pillows, and he thought maybe Sage and Dakota were both glad Jayden was there.
He was happy to serve, but God, that made him feel bad for them.
This was utter fucking bullshit. Seriously.
These men’s lives were ruined in ways he didn’t fucking understand, and he was pretty sure neither of them deserved it. Oh, Sage could go on about drug use, blah, blah, but a few bad decisions did not mean he’d blown anyone up.
Hell, Jayden was certain at this point that he was going to direct his mom toward prison reform as her next charity.
“Man, we have got to find someone open with hot coffee. It smells like wet dog in here.” Sage looked up at the sofa where Penny was lolling, sound asleep on her back. “Huh. I’ll have to send Adam a picture.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m still wet in certain places, Sage.” Dakota sat up, black hair going every which ways.
“Far too much information, Dakota.” Sage winked and stretched, joints cracking. He’d taken the recliner, since he had such a bad time getting up and down. “We need coffee and bacon.”
“I like bacon.” Dakota stretched up, back popping loud enough Jayden heard it.
“Was that good or bad?” Jayden asked.
“Bacon?” Dakota asked.
“No, your back noise there. Bacon is always good. Unless it’s limp.” The devil was in him this morning.
“Limp is never good, and yeah, I guess. It means it’s morning.”
Wait. Wait. Was that a joke? A joke about limpness? Dude. He needed to take Dakota out in the rain, then kiss him more often. Thank God there didn’t look to be any awkwardness on that.
To be honest, Dakota looked a lot like a man who had woken up on the right side of the pillow fort. Jayden liked that look. He really did. Like, as in he could see it next to him at home.
Okay, that thought was totally off the wall. Neat, but off the wall.
Jayden glanced down to make sure he didn’t have a morning hard-on before he stretched and climbed to his feet. “Bathroom? Anyone else urgent?”
“There’s two. Go on. I’m fixin’ to get dressed so we can get food.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Thank goodness he’d had a shower after they came off the river, and the rain just made his hair feel soft.
Dakota nodded and started folding blankets, whistling to himself as he worked.
Jayden hit the head, then got his bag out of the guest room so he could dress. He yawned, then peered at himself in the mirror while he brushed his teeth. Nah. He didn’t want to shave by flashlight with cold water. No one would mind if he was stubbly.
He did run his fingers through his hair, but he decided that was good enough for Denny’s or IHOP.
When Jayden came back, the front room was neat as a pin, save for the dog still snoring on the couch, and Dakota had ducked off somewhere, presumably to get dressed.
He did like Sage’s house—simple, but not too country-fried. Clean, but warm and totally not designed to death. God knew, that was the danger of being out in Austin. People expected a lawyer like Jayden to have a sleek, modern loft, or one of those shabby chic shiplap places with lots of barnwood Texas flags.
His house was just… a nice place for a dude. Media room, granite countertops, good-sized backyard.
Dakota sat out on the back porch, feeding the pit bull and talking to her, voice soft, gentle.
“He’s good with animals, huh?” Sage asked.
“Looks like it. I think he needs to be able to figure out who he is.”
“Yeah. At least I knew that, huh? I knew coming out that I was going to have to cowboy up. This guy didn’t have that.”
“No. You two couldn’t be more different.” He glanced over, met Sage’s eyes. “I admire you both.”
“Thanks. I’m no lawyer, but I get by, and Dakota’s getting there. He’ll figure shit out.”
“He will.” Jayden pondered the situation for maybe five seconds. “I’m gonna get his rape kit tested.”
“For real? Yeah? You must really believe him.”
“You do, don’t you?” Jayden had to ask.
“I do. Adam doesn’t, but I’m telling you, I’ve met a shitload of people that are guilty, and Dakota isn’t one of them. He’s probably gonna die over this, because that family hates him and needs someone to focus on, but I believe in him.” Sage shrugged. “Shit, at this point, he’s done his time. Why keep lying? His life is fucked, no matter what. If he did it and admitted it, he’d at least not be thought a liar.”
Relief made him grin a little. “Right? Nothing adds up about his case at all. I mean, I hadn’t even met him when I really decided he didn’t do it, which is probably good.” Jayden shrugged when Sage raised a brow. “I really like him.”
“Why?” The question pissed him off, but it wasn’t snarled or anything, just asked in that slow, steady way Sage had.
“I don’t have the foggiest clue.” Jayden might as well he honest. “I see this wicked sense of humor under there sometimes, and he’s sort of a giant dork, which I appreciate since I’m one too….” When he tried to put it into words, it sounded silly, but there was something in Dakota that called to him. A similarity between them.
“Works for me.” And just like that, Sage headed down the stairs. “You hungry, Dakota?”
“Starving to death. I swear, it’s late for me, breakfast-wise.”
“Yeah, you got to get up early to work construction.”
Jayden followed them toward the vehicles, feeling lazy. Nothing in law started before nine for a counselor, anyway, and he tended to work late nights rather than early mornings.
“Not today. I do not work on Sundays, thank you. Still. Breakfast.”
“Local place or chain?” Sage asked.
“As long as there’s pastries, I’m in,” Jayden said. “I need sugar.”
“Let’s hit the Thyme, then. They got croissants, and I do love me one of them.”
“Oh, yum.” Jayden thought Dripping Springs might be a little hipster for Sage, but he seemed to fit right in with the coffee baristas and B&B owners. That was what he got for judging books by covers, right?
The older he got, the more he understood that was a stupid thing to do. Nothing was exactly what it seemed, and nothing ever had been.
Jayden let Dakota have the front seat, and he closed his eyes, letting his head rest against the back of the seat. Every time he had a second, he found himself replaying that moment last night when the lightning had hit.
Dakota had looked transcendent, not afraid, not worried, but utterly excited that he was outside in the weather, letting the rain pour down on him. That was the key, Jayden thought, to unlocking Dakota. Not keeping him tucked away inside.
Maybe he should see if they all wanted to go camping. Including Win, damn it.
Oh. Oh, that would fucking rock. He liked that idea. Dakota up at Inks Lake for the weekend—fire and s’mores and goofing off. The good stuff.
He’d even let the guy sit and read as long as he did it outside. Jayden grinned. Though he’d rather play touch football. Lots of touch.
Bad attorney! No doughnut!
“Mmm… doughnuts….”
“There’s Drippin’ Donuts,” Sage said. “They have buttermilk chocolate, but no eggs or anything.”
Dakota looked back at him. “We’re not going for doughnuts, Homer.”
“Croissants are like doughnuts,” he countered, and Sage shook his head.
“They make them things—crodunts? Doughsants?”
“Cronuts. Oh my God. Cronuts. Those are better th
an sex.” Jayden loved them. Loved the damn ten thousand calorie apiece things.
“No shit?” Sage asked. “They must sell them in Austin.”
“I haven’t seen any sex doughnuts, Sage. Sorry.” Oh, Dakota was getting better and better at the comebacks.
Sage hooted. “No? I know a lady who will make penis cookies. Runs the B&B over at Henly.”
“Who buys them, though?” Dakota asked, and Sage went bright red.
“I did, for Troy’s birthday.”
“No shit? You dawg.” Jayden hooted. “And Win didn’t have a stroke?”
Sage snorted. “Adam and Eric had a contest to see who could deep throat one the farthest without breaking them. Apparently there are lots of blowjobs in the military.”
Jayden howled, just so tickled at that particular image that he couldn’t barely stand it. Oh fuck. That had to happen again in his sight.
“Tell me you videoed it.”
Sage turned off on the main road into town. “No. I was stunned into immobility, man.”
“I can only imagine.”
“Who won?” Dakota asked.
“Huh?”
“Eric or Adam? Who won?”
“Oh. Oh!” Sage’s neck went so red Jayden expected it to burst into flames. “Adam.”
“Lucky bastard!” Jayden crowed, applauding happily. “That’s what I like to hear!”
“Oh, I don’t know. Eric is probably a champion cocksucker.”
Sage turned to stare at Dakota before bursting out laughing, whacking the steering wheel. Jayden wailed, holding his belly, seriously afraid he’d piss himself.
“Well, all right, then.” Sage wiped his eyes. “I reckon he is. And just think, he ain’t got to worry about Troy’s legs getting in the way.”
That got them going again, and by the time they pulled up to the bakery, Jayden was going to pass out from laughing so goddamn hard. Even Dakota was rolling, leaning his head against the window and howling.
They took a moment in the parking lot to gather their good sense, but all of them were still chuckling when they walked inside.
“Y’all look like you’re having a blessed Sunday,” the lady behind the counter said, and Sage offered her an angelic smile.