Twice Shy by Kate Sherwood

Author:Kate Sherwood [Sherwood, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gay Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Kate Sherwood
Published: 2016-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

JAKE SLEPT ON THE COUCH that night, dozing off and then jerking awake every time there was the slightest sound, any suggestion of anything that might be the buzzing of his cell phone or the grinding of Austin’s key in the lock. But every time it was a false alarm, and by the time the sun was starting to rise he gave up.

Another text to Austin, the last of at least a dozen he’d sent since the night before, and then he found some breakfast and packed a lunch. He had to go to work, had to make money so he’d be able to pay for the rent of the apartment Austin might come home to, or for the rehab he might someday be ready to try.

Filling the second travel mug with coffee and fixing it to Micah’s tastes helped him relax a little. Jake didn’t have to go through this alone. It wasn’t fair to expect too much from Micah, of course—a friendship and one fuck wasn’t a wedding ring, wasn’t a promise of lifelong support and comfort. And Micah had his own shit to deal with. But Micah didn’t need to do anything that was actually related to Austin in order to help Jake out. It was just nice to have something positive to look forward to, and getting to see Micah definitely fit that criteria.

Jake kept half his attention on the sidewalks as he drove; not an effective search technique, but about the only one he could think of. The whole thing was hopeless, and yet, when he pulled up in front of the halfway house and Micah bounced down the steps toward him, he could feel a bit of energy returning. A bit of optimism.

And the energy kept flowing as Micah climbed into the front seat and started talking. “I sent Austin’s picture to about ten people in the old neighborhood, and Tristan’s boyfriend is going to help, too. I don’t know him so well, but I guess he’s turning into some sort of community organizer or something. He’s got a sort of spy network set up. It’s a bit creepy, but it could be useful for this, right?”

“But what do we do if we find him?”

“I have no idea.” Micah’s smile was jaunty, but there was something in his eyes that made Jake feel like the optimism was at least partly an act. A brave face and an attempt to do something, even if the something wasn’t completely productive. Maybe that was the best that could be managed, under the circumstances.

So Jake nodded and made his own smile as genuine as he could. “One step at a time,” he agreed. “First we find him, then we—beat the shit out of him? Is there any way we could make that seem like a valid therapeutic technique? Because it would be really, really satisfying to punch the little bastard in the gut. I could make it only one hit, but a hard one.”

Micah didn’t answer, just reached for his coffee and took a sip.

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