CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Lake
I was surprised to see Sara sitting at a table in the coffee shop when I came out on the floor.
“Hi,” I said. “Want a coffee?”
“I think I’ll try the Earl Grey,” she said.
I went to get it for her, and when I set down the cup and saucer, she smiled at me.
“I don’t know what your guy said to Barry that night, but thank him for me.”
“What do you mean?”
“He sent me a child support check—the first one in months—and he’s stopped harassing me about seeing B all the time.” She sighed. “God, it’s like a weight off my shoulders.”
I thought about it. “All Blaze told me was that he’d put the fear of God in him.”
“Well, it worked.” She smiled. “Why don’t we get together sometime? Drinks, maybe? I’m seeing a new guy. He rides a motorcycle. Your guy does, too, right?”
“Yeah. Okay, sounds fun.” I couldn’t believe I was making a double date with someone. Lately my life seemed completely surreal. I had a boyfriend, as well as a friend who wasn’t Khan or Stephen.
The bells chimed behind me as someone entered the shop, and I looked over my shoulder, almost dropping my notepad when a person I hadn’t seen in years crossed the threshold.
“Mom?” I whispered the word, but her eyes went right to me, studying my face before flickering over my simple, white shirt, jeans, and apron. I couldn’t believe she was there. We hadn’t spoken in eight years.
I felt Sara touch my hand, and I looked down at her.
“Are you all right?” she asked quietly.
I licked my lips and nodded. I didn’t know whether I was glad or upset the place was dead that afternoon. Did I want to talk to my mother?
“Lake. Do you have a few moments?” Her voice, unheard for so long, was like a sharp blade stabbing into my chest.
I looked toward the counter where Mariah stood at the register. She owed me.
“Just a minute,” I said to my mother and walked over to Mariah.
“Can you cover for me a few minutes?”
Mariah glanced over my shoulder where my mother stood in her Ben Marc suit and high heels and nodded.
Surprised at how steady I was, I led my mother to a side table. Although I hadn’t said anything, Mariah brought us a pot of coffee and two cups.
“I’ve been looking for you,” my mother surprised me by saying.
“Why?” I asked.
She stirred cream into her coffee. As always, her fingernails perfectly matched her suit.
“Your father died last month.”
I jolted, staring at her calm face. “What?”
“He had a heart attack.”
I didn’t know what to say. I’d never been close to my father, but fuck. She didn’t have to lay it out there like one would a comment about the weather.
When I didn’t say anything, she took a sip of her coffee, leaving a lipstick mark on the rim of the china cup, faded hazel eyes taking in the room.
“Quaint. How long have you worked here?” she asked.
“A few years,” I said faintly.
She set her cup down. “I’d like it if you would come to the house. I have some things of your father’s I want you to go through.”
“Okay.” I swallowed, unable to fathom why she suddenly thought I was important. “When?”
“You tell me, and we’ll work it out.”
“I’m off on Friday.”
“Come about two.”
She wiped her mouth delicately with the cloth napkin and placed her hand on mine where it rested on the table. “It was good seeing you, Lake.” She stood and left the shop, bells jingling after her.
A second later, Sara was seated across from me in her place.
“You look terrible,” she said. “What did she want? I mean, you said your parents kicked you out, right? Why did she come here?”
“To tell me my father died.”
“Oh, Lake. I’m so sorry.”
I blinked. “We were never close. It’s just a shock, you know?”
“I’m sure it is. Can I get you anything?”
I shook my head and looked around. A few more people had come into the shop and were queuing at the counter.
“I’d better get to work.” I stood on shaky legs.
***
When Blaze picked me up later that afternoon, we didn’t get a chance to speak until we got to Khan and Stephen’s. As usual, they weren’t home yet.
“Will you come in with me?” I asked Blaze.
“Sure. I’m taking you to the club anyway. Hey, you want me to go pick us up something to eat?”
“I’ll make us something,” I said. We entered the house using the key Khan had given me. I needed to move—I didn’t like staying there so long.
In the kitchen, I switched on the light and perused the refrigerator. “How about some warmed up chili?”
“Sounds good.” Blaze slipped onto the stool at the counter and watched me dump the contents of the plastic container into a pot and heat it up.
“Something wrong?” he asked after a moment.
I didn’t bother asking how he knew; I was sure distress showed in my features.
“I, um. Yeah.” I glanced at him. He looked worried.
“My mother came to see me at work today.”
His eyebrows rose. “Really?”
I nodded and stirred the chili.
“What did she want?”
I took a deep breath. “She came to tell me my father died a month ago.”
Immediately, Blaze was behind me, pulling me against him.
“That’s terrible,” he said into my ear. “I’m so sorry.”
I shrugged as best I could. “I don’t know how to feel about it. My father was always cold, and he said some awful things when he kicked me out of the house.”
“Yeah, but still. He was your father.”
“Yeah.” The word came out in a rasp, and I was dismayed to feel tears gathering in my eyes. “Shit.”
Blaze took the spoon out of my grip and turned me to look at him.
“I’m here for you. You can talk to me.”
I sank into him, and he held me tightly. I wondered what I’d ever done to deserve him in my life. He kissed my head and then moved to stir the chili before it burned.
“Mom never stood up for me when he went at me.”
Blaze’s shoulders stiffened. “Did he hit you?”
“No. That would be beneath him. He just told me what a disappointment I was. In everything. Being gay was the last straw.”
“How’d he find out?”
I paused. “Barry told him.”
“That fucking asshole. I should have smashed his face in.”
Blaze turned off the stove and filled our bowls. I got two water bottles out of the fridge, and we sat down at the bar.
“Mom wants me to come over on Friday to go through Dad’s things.”
“You don’t have to go.”
“I know, but I said I would. I think it would be good to talk to her.”
“Want me to come with you?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Thanks, but no. I’ll be okay.”
We ate our chili, and then I went upstairs to get my bag for the club.
Blaze stuck around at the Banana for a while. I felt his eyes on me while I danced on the pole, and it made my performance even hotter than usual. I got more in tips than I ever had before.
After, he followed me to the back room and pushed me up against the wall.
“I have never wanted you more,” he said before kissing me hard and deeply. I was breathless and clinging to him by the time he released my lips.
“God, how am I going to work with my dick this hard?” I moaned.
He kissed me again before tugging down my shorts. Taking hold of my swollen cock, he stroked it with a sure hand, his eyes never leaving mine. It took an embarrassingly short time for me to come.
I sank like a limp dishrag onto the sofa while he brought me a towel from the bathroom to clean up with. Before he could move away, in a frenzy of want, I unzipped him and covered his dick with my mouth. I breathed in his scent, his dark pubes brushing against my nose with every bob of my head. Blaze seemed unsure, like he was afraid to take charge, and I realized he was thinking of my experience with Barry. Fortunately, nothing about being with Blaze made me think of that time, and I took his hand and placed it in my hair, moaning when he thread his fingers through the strands and pulled. He pushed into my throat, and my eyes watered, but I only sucked harder.
Blaze groaned. Wet sounds filled the room as I sucked him off, thrilling at how his legs stiffened, and his fist tightened in my hair when he came.
“Holy shit,” he muttered when he could speak again. We both chuckled while we straightened our clothing.
I floated through the rest of my shift.