Thirteen by Tia Fielding

Author:Tia Fielding [Fielding, Tia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Published: 2021-04-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

On Sunday, Mark came to collect Francis from Padraig and Kaos’s house. It felt weird, especially with Mark being in his uniform and arriving in a cruiser. What worried Francis was the way Mark was cagey and wouldn’t kiss him in greeting because Kaos was out with Hestia.

It seemed like Mark’s cautiousness had come back in full force since Valentine’s night.

And boy what a night had that been. For a few short hours, Francis had managed to bring Mark out of his shell of self-imposed alienation, mistrust, and misery.

The difference between Mark in his cruiser and Mark in bed with Francis was like night and day. Then again, Francis could hardly blame him for being professional.

“Do they know I’m coming with you?” Francis asked after they had driven in silence for a while.

Mark cleared his throat. “They’re waiting for me, but Pearl probably told them I was bringing a nurse over, so technically yes?”

The small hint of a smile on Mark’s face told Francis that they were okay. Or, not any less okay than they’d been the previous night when they’d sent a few texts to confirm today’s plans.

“Well, I guess that’s something,” Francis mused, and concentrated on the view, because he genuinely liked the nature around here, snow or not.

“I don’t like snow,” Mark said suddenly.

“You’re from Arizona, right?”

“Yeah, I guess I’m a desert dweller.”

“Do you miss it? The place itself I mean?” Francis was pretty damn sure that Mark didn’t miss his parents.

“Sometimes. It’s… complicated.” He glanced at Francis and frowned. “Everything about my past is complicated.”

“I can understand that.” He sighed and made himself more comfortable in the passenger’s seat. “I love it here. Yes, the snow gets to be a bit much, but I’ve always loved it in Acker.”

“When did you first visit?”

“Sophomore in college. Padraig and Marcus were dating and I was invited as a sort-of chaperone so they could spend the summer together here. We all got odd jobs around town and nobody thought anything of it.”

Mark snorted. “That was a whole different time, wasn’t it?”

“I hope so. Not as different as I’d liked it to have been, but you know….” Francis shrugged. “We had fun, we were young and they were so in love and I found this farmer’s son and well, maybe I was in love that summer for a bit, too.” He grinned when Mark chuckled.

“Just that summer?”

“With that boy, yes.” Then he shook his head. “No, it was more like… adolescent lust. But it felt momentous at that age.”

“Have you ever been?” Mark asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

“What? In love?” At Mark’s tight nod, Francis let out a little huff of wry amusement. “Yeah. Once.”

“Oh?” Mark feigned disinterest, even though it was obvious to Francis that he really wanted to hear the story. “For how long?”

That made laughter burst out of Francis. Poor Mark had no idea what kind of a can of worms he’d opened with the question.

“Most of my life, actually,” Francis confessed when Mark gave him a look.

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