Thirty-Six

 

 

 

“Jesus, Case.  You are a brutal asshole, you know that, right?”

Case folded the cover over his tablet and tucked it into his bag.  “Your point? You need me, Bas and you know it.  Besides, you love my brutal asshole.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“I, uh, I’ll just get out of your way,” Ten mumbled as he pushed up from the chair he was sitting in.  As he tried to walk past, Bas reached up to grab his hand, “Ten.”

Ten froze but he didn’t look at Bas.

“Ten, it’s not like that.  It never has been.  Besides, Case has certain tastes in men, qualities that I don’t possess.  Isn’t that right, Case?”

“Fuck yes.  Shit, if Bas and I ever got together somebody would end up dead.”

Ten relaxed and allowed Bas to pull him down next to him on the couch.

“Speaking of tastes, how is Riott, Case?”

Riott Flame.

Waiter.  Dancer. gorgeous. mine.  But not, Case thought with a growl.

So far, he’d kept his brutal, tainted hands away from Riott. 

He didn’t want to tarnish his beauty, didn’t want to dim his sparkle. So, despite a yearning, a craving that pulled at him constantly, painfully, he’d stayed away.

Case glared at Bas, then he growled a “Fuck you, Bas,” as he turned away.

“Still haven’t called him?”

“I am not doing this with you right now, Bas.”

“Why not?”

Case’s scorching, angry gaze turned back to Bas, “Because punching you when you’re hurt would be a really dick move.  Drop it, Bas.”

“Oh, just like you drop it every time you pick up the phone to call him?  He’s not going to wait forever, Case.”

Case pushed to his feet and picked up his bag.  “He shouldn’t wait at all,” he snapped as he walked to the door.  With a barked, “I’ll be in touch,” he stepped out and slammed the door behind him.

“Damn, he’s intense.  Do I even want to know?”

“Probably not,” Bas said as he stared at the closed door. 

He sighed as he sagged back into the chair.

“Come on, back to bed for you,” Ten said as he slid one arm behind Bas’ back.

“Will you stay with me?” Bas said.

Ten hesitated, “I need to make us some lunch.  And I should also probably do some laundry.”

“Then let me stay here, please?  I’m tired of being alone, Ten.”

Ten knew there was so much more behind that statement.

And if he was truly honest with himself, he was tired of being alone too.

“Alright.  Let me go grab a pillow so we can make you comfortable on the couch.”

Bas smiled, “Thanks, Ten,” he whispered as he tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

 

                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Case growled as he stomped to his car, nearly ripping the door off when he reached it.

“God damn it, Bas!” he shouted when he closed himself inside.

He didn’t need this shit.  Not now.  Not ever.

He and Riott were never gonna happen.  Bas needed to get that through his thick, fucking, meddling skull.

And while he was doing that, maybe he could help Case’s head and heart get on board with that program too.

Case sighed as he thought about Riott Flame - with his silky black hair glowing and his blue eyes sparkling as he wrapped his leg around the pole and spun.  Or how his muscles flexed with every fluid move that he made.  This was a man who was born to dance - whether in a studio, in a club or on a stage - it didn’t matter where.  He was a work of art who made the world a better place just by existing.

He didn’t need a darkness like Case Donner casting a shadow over him, dimming his light, suffocating him, depriving the world of his joy.

No.

Case Donner was toxic to a man like Riott Flame and he knew it. He growled as he turned the key to start his car.

It was better for all if he stayed away.

He just wished he could figure out a way to do that without dying inside.

He punched in the address that Morgan had given him for Trent’s place then he got the car turned around and out on the road.

He pressed the phone button on his steering wheel and told it to ‘Call Morgan’

“How’d it go?” Morgan said by way of a greeting.

“Fine.  He’s still a stubborn asshole but he’ll be fine, both physically and with testifying.”

“Good.”

“Do they know I’m coming?”

“They do now.  I just texted Trent.”

“And?”

“They’re not thrilled with the timing.  Apparently, Trent’s boss, my former commander Waverly Gamble, beat you to the punch and now they’re worried that it might be too much for Liam.  Gamble’s still there now.”

“What was the extent of Liam’s injuries?”

“gunshot, torso I believe.”

“Oh, damn.  Okay, I’ll watch my time with him, but we need to both be tighter than my asshole during a bungee jump or I won’t be able to help him.”

“That’s a pleasant thought,” Morgan mumbled.

Case chuckled, “Yeah, my ass is damn pleasant, Doyle.”

Morgan snorted, “In order to keep you alive, I’ll have to take your word for that.”

“Pssh.  Your husband doesn’t scare me.”

“Then you’re an idiot.  My husband scares me, Donner.”

“Really?”

“No, not really.  He’s actually a sweet teddy bear but if you ever tell him I said that, I might have to kill you.”

“Duly noted.  I’m pulling up to the house now.  Talk later,” he said and then he hung up.

A tough looking brute stood on the front porch, arms crossed over his muscular chest.

“I didn’t realize this was a zoo,” Case said as he stepped out of his car.

He walked to the back and opened the trunk.

The man frowned, “A zoo?  What do you mean?”

“You look like a pissed off bull, or lion, trying to protect his territory.  Must be a zoo.”

The man’s arms fell, “Well, you’re a barrel of fucking fun.  Look, he’s had a stressful day.  All I’m asking is that you take it easy on him until he can get some rest.  If that means we need to put you up on the couch for a few nights, we can do that.

Case grinned as he closed the trunk.  In his hands were a duffle bag and a sleeping bag, “I have no intention of going away,” he said as he stepped towards the house.

“I can see that.  Come on inside then.  I’m Aleksy.”

“The boyfriend?”

Aleksy’s head whipped back around and he pinned Case with a glare, “One of them,” he said.

Case’s grin got wider “Oh, the bull is protective.  Settle down, cupcake.  I’m here to help, not judge.”

Aleksy blew out a breath, “Sorry.  I just, this is all new and I’ve never felt this overwhelming need to protect someone like this before.”

“Well, keep doing it.  I have a feeling Liam is going to need it.  This is going to be hard on him, like really hard.  He’s going to get raked over the coals.  He’ll need someone to comfort him after that.”

“We’ll be there.”

Aleksy led him inside where Case found another tall, handsome, jacked up man brooding at him.

He grinned, “You must be the other boyfriend.  I recognize the same ‘don’t fucking hurt him’ scent coming from you that this one has,” he said, throwing his thumb over his shoulder at Aleksy.

“Glad we got that out of the way.  I’m Trent Dragon.”

“Dragon?” Case said, his steps faltering.

Trent frowned, “Yeah, why?”

“Uh, I know Morgan.  I heard your story about a thousand times over during a weekend when Morgan got blitzed, puked, blitzed again, puked again, and so on.  We called it his Dragon purge weekend.  I don’t like you,” Case said with a frown.

“Good.  I don’t like you either.  But I know you’re here to help Liam so I’m going to tolerate you.  I would like to think that you’d extend me the same courtesy.”

“Sounds fair.  Where can I talk to him?”

“In the bedroom.  He can’t get out of bed yet.”

Case’s eyebrow went up, “He was injured that badly?”

“Shot in the chest, collapsed lung. Bad enough for you?”

“Sorry.  I haven’t seen an official report yet.”

“That’s because I haven't written it yet,” Trent said.

“Maybe you should get on that,” Case said.

Trent glared at Case for a few seconds before barking out a, “Why?”

Case just shrugged as he turned to head down the hall, “Maybe because it just might help keep your boyfriend out of jail.  Up to you though.”

He disappeared into the bedroom just as Trent muttered, “Asshole,” under his breath.  He turned and that’s when he found Aleksy staring at him.  He knew what the man was thinking without him saying a word.

Trent dropped his eyes as he walked over to the table where his tablet was.  “Fine.  I’m on it,” he mumbled as he dropped down onto the couch.

“Thank you,” Aleksy whispered into his ear just before he kissed him on the cheek. “The sooner we get this over with the sooner we can see if this thing between us is going to work.”

“I know, I know.  You’re right.”

Aleksy walked into the kitchen to get them something to drink.

“It’s going to work though,” Trent mumbled.

Aleksy turned to say something to him along the lines of ‘he sure in the fuck hoped so’ but stopped when he saw the concentration on Trent’s face.  He watched him for a few seconds, smiling at the frown line between his eyebrows, at the tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth.  The way the man was focusing, Aleksy could tell that Trent felt like this was the most important post-op report he’d ever written.

Yeah, with that kind of support and dedication, this relationship was going to work. 

At least he sure as fuck hoped it would.