A Matter of Courage by J.C. Long

Author:J.C. Long [Long, J.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: NineStar Press, LGBT, mafia, criminals, friends to lovers, alcohol use, slow burn
Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
Published: 2017-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

29

THE DAY OF the race came faster than Winston expected. It had been quiet around Dragon headquarters since the meeting with the Twisted Vipers. Wei had set in place some contingency plans, but Winston wasn’t in on anything. If he asked, everyone just told him not to worry about it or that it was being taken care of.

That left him nothing to distract him from the nervousness leading up to the race, except perhaps Steel, and that was just as bad, or perhaps worse. Since the…events on the roof, he’d seen Steel for all of maybe ten minutes total. Every time he did, Steel acted normal, but Winston could see the invisible wall that now stood between them. Steel assured him he was just busy doing things for the Dragons, but Winston wondered if it was Wei’s instructions or if Steel was volunteering for them in order to keep his distance from Winston.

After the roof, Steel went right back to acting like his normal self. He joked around and laughed with Winston, no indication that things were strained between them, and nothing but the completely satisfied feeling Winston had in the wake of his orgasm to prove to Winston that it really happened and he hadn’t dreamt the whole thing.

Now that the day of the race had come, Winston had the impending evening to worry about instead of his relationship—or lack thereof—with Steel. It actually made things worse. He spent most of the day at home, doing his best to keep his mind off everything. No matter what he tried, it just didn’t work. Porn, television, movies, video games, none of it distracted him like he’d hoped it would.

As evening approached, he was a bundle of nerves, incapable of sitting still for five minutes. He really wished Steel were there to see him, like he had been before the first race. That would help him tremendously. If he was honest with himself, he just wanted to see Steel, to have a little time in his presence. It didn’t need to involve anything serious; simply being in the same space for a bit would make him feel worlds better.

When nine o’clock rolled around and Steel still had not showed, Winston gave up hoping for him. He was probably caught up in Dragon business or whatever—it didn’t mean anything. No matter how many times he repeated that to himself, though, he couldn’t make it true.

It did matter to him.

He’d never imagined that Steel, his best friend in the world, the one person he’d come to count on more than anyone else in his life, the one he’d come to love, would abandon him on such an important night. Steel knew what these races meant, not just for him but for the Dragons. He knew Winston well enough to know he’d need support before it, and yet he hadn’t bothered to show up.

He sat at the dinner table, an uneaten bowl of his mother’s vegetable soup in front of him. He clutched his phone in his hand, the screen displaying Steel’s contact information.

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