Ace
Ace brought his lunch the next day, just like he said he would. He didn’t want Phoenix to worry about feeding him. It was clear once he started working, everything else faded away. Watching Phoenix during those moments was an absolute privilege, one he was almost certain no one else had been allowed. He looked so vulnerable. So open. Ace felt the strongest need to protect him from anyone who might want to hurt him.
Lucy met him as he drove up to the house. Phoenix was nowhere to be found, but when Ace climbed out of the truck, she led him around back to the studio. He paused at the open door. Phoenix was already there. Something about him seemed off. He moved around the studio, murmuring to himself. Every now and again, he ran his hand through his hair, occasionally leaving a streak of charcoal. It was as though he didn’t even register Ace’s arrival.
Ace cleared his throat. “Morning,” he said.
That did the trick. Phoenix’s concentration snapped and he looked up, freezing with his hand in his hair.
“I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I only just got here,” Ace lied. He didn’t want Phoenix to think he’d been watching him, especially when Phoenix was like this.
Phoenix nodded. “Okay. Yeah, come in. Sorry, I was up early.”
He looked distracted, frazzled for some reason, and Ace frowned. “Is everything all right?” he asked.
“Not really.” That only worried Ace further. He walked over, but Phoenix held up a hand. “Please don’t touch me right now. I know you mean well and it’s nothing against you. I promise. It’s just… part of this.”
He gestured up and down his body, and Ace understood then. Part of his Asperger’s.
“Okay,” he said, still frowning. “Is there anything I can do to help.”
“Not really. I can’t think right now.” Phoenix ran his hand through his hair again. Now that Ace was closer, he could see that every time Phoenix did it, he tugged just a little bit.
“Maybe if you talked about it? What’s going on?”
“I had dinner with my parents last night.” The way Phoenix said it sounded as though he might have been saying I stepped on a live frog last night, or something equally as repulsive.
Ace didn’t see what the big deal was. Most people had dinner with their parents at least semi-regularly. Hell, he would have willingly given up his position with the Boston Register to have dinner with his mom and dad again. He understood, though, some people had bad relationships with their parents. Maybe Phoenix was one of them.
“Did it not go well?” he asked.
“About as well as expected,” Phoenix answered. “I know they care about me, and they only want what’s best, but they can never seem to remember what I like and don’t like, and when I don’t like something, they take offense to it, and they still see me as a teenager instead of an adult.” He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. “It’s just a bit much.”
Ace had a feeling he’d been holding on to that for a while, with no one to voice it to. It was hard for Ace to imagine such a relationship with his parents. His dad had always treated him as an adult, even when he hadn’t necessarily deserved it. He’d always been respected and seen as an equal.
“I’m sorry,” he said, not knowing what else to say.
Phoenix waved a hand. “There’s nothing either of us can do about it. It isn’t like they’re going to change any time soon. Trust me, I’ve tried to get them to. At least I have my brother.”
“What’s he like?”
Ace wasn’t sure why he was so interested in Phoenix’s life. Sure, he thought Phoenix was cute and it would be nice to get to know him better, but this was an assignment. He was here for an interview. Besides, he wasn’t planning on sticking around anyway. Soon, he would find another job and move as far away as he possibly could.
“Elijah’s great,” Phoenix said. “He understands me better than my parents do, do having him around to interpret was a lifesaver.”
“How old is he?” While Ace could vaguely remember Phoenix now, he didn’t know Elijah at all.
“He’s two years younger than me. You wouldn’t have had the chance to meet him.”
Ace shook his head. “No, I had moved away for college by the time he reached high school.”
“He married Maya Washington a couple of years ago?”
“Maya Washington? As in, Dr. Washington’s daughter?”
The Washingtons had been the town doctors for longer than Ace’s grandparents had lived in Wilmingson. Maya had been a few years younger than Ace, but all the guys had wanted to date her in high school.
Phoenix grinned, clearly proud of his brother. “Yeah. They have a daughter, Eliza. Maya’s really nice. It took her less time than normal to learn that she had to ask before hugging.”
“Does it bother you?”
“Why, planning on hugging me any time soon?” He cocked his head to the side.
Ace shrugged. He certainly wasn’t about to tell Phoenix that he had fantasized about the two of them the night before. Some things were better kept secret. “Maybe, maybe not,” he said.
Phoenix stared at him for a few seconds longer than was comfortable before saying, “Most of the time, it’s okay. I’m just funny about touches. Light ones are the worst. I can’t handle them. It feels like there are ants crawling all along my skin. Firm touches are all right. Not good or bad, just a touch. Weighted touches…Those are the best.”
His entire body seemed to relax, as though he were experiencing one at that moment. Ace tried not to think about the weighted touches he knew. That wouldn’t help matters.
Clearing his throat, Ace crossed his arms. “What is a weighted touch?”
“The best way I can describe it is something heavy lying on top of you. Lucy’s incredibly helpful in that regard. She can sense how I’m feeling and knows when to come lay down on me.”
“I’m glad you have her. And Elijah, since it sounds like your parents are a bit over the top.”
“They care,” Phoenix said with a shrug. “But they care too much. I guess all parents do that, though. At least they’ve stopped pressuring me to ‘settle down.’” He made air quotes around the word, then scoffed.
That piqued Ace’s interest. “Oh?”
“For the longest time, they tried to get me to go out on dates and find a girlfriend. And when they learned I wasn’t interested in girls, they pressured me to settle down with a nice guy. Now, I’m pretty sure they’ve given up hope.”
“Oh, are you um…are you interested in guys?” Nerves fluttered in Ace’s stomach, and he regretted the large coffee he’d had on his way to Phoenix’s house, as his heart beat faster.
“Yes. Does that bother you?”
Ace released a slow breath. “No. Not at all. I mean, it would make me a little hypocritical to have a problem with it, since I like guys, too.”
Phoenix’s head shot up, and he looked straight at Ace, his gaze almost penetrating. “You do? But you dated girls in high school. Sarah Farmer, Andrea Simpson…”
How the hell did Phoenix know his dating history? They hadn’t even been in the same class, and it had been nearly ten years since he’d graduated.
“Um… yeah. I did. I didn’t really figure that out about myself until I reached college.”
“Oh.” There was something in Phoenix’s tone that Ace didn’t quite know how to read.
They stood there, Ace staring at Phoenix and Phoenix staring in Ace’s general area, for what felt like minutes. Finally, Phoenix cleared his throat.
“We should probably get to work,” he said. “I’ve taken up enough of your time.”
He walked over to his desk, while Ace headed toward the sofa.
“It’s all right,” Ace said. He sat and scratched Lucy behind the ears as she dropped down beside him. “It’s not an inconvenience. I like getting to know you.”
A slight smile tugged at the corners of Phoenix’s lips, and Ace smiled in return.
“And remember, don’t worry to stop for lunch.”
He held up his sandwich bag, and Phoenix’s smile grew even wider.
Grabbing his charcoal, Phoenix leaned over the desk. “I’ll try not to forget you’re here this time.”