Page 35

(Axel)

“It’s a little cramped, with two beds in it, but we can make it work,” Axel assured Scout as he led him into their room at Creature’s apartment.

“And it’s only temporary,” Creature explained.

“I’ll start looking for another apartment for us this weekend, and before either of you tries to protest, let me cut you off right now.

It isn’t an issue; it isn’t me going out of my way or disrupting my life; it’s me wanting a place where we can all be comfortable, so zip it. ”

“Yes, sir,” Scout replied while Axel stood there blinking at Creature’s declaration.

The way he’d swooped in, not once, but twice now, left him feeling all kinds of things about the man, including naughty ones he wasn’t sure how to proceed with.

Or if.

After the way Scout had been treated by Kong, Axel was feeling a bit gun-shy despite all that Creature had already done for him.

Between learning about Teddy and the way he’d been literally cut loose and cast adrift and then seeing the pain in Scout’s eyes when Kong had turned his back on him, he was scared of trusting too soon.

A heavy hand rested on the back of his neck and gently squeezed before Creature’s thumb stroked along the side of his neck until the tension in it and his shoulders eased.

“If you think any harder, smoke will start rolling out of your ears,” Creature muttered.

“It’s okay if you don’t wanna share a room with me,” Scout said. “Like I told you before you guys shoved an extra bed in there, I’m good with the couch until we can move somewhere with a third room. It’s cool, really.”

“It’s not that,” Axel explained, reaching out to catch Scout’s sleeve and gently tug him closer. “I swear, it isn’t that. It’s gonna be cool sharing a room with you. We can have our own private slumber party.”

Scout’s eyes sparkled as the corner of his lip lifted into a small smile.

“My brother and I used to have sleepovers all the time when we were little. Dad would let us set up a pillow fort if the weather was shit, but when it wasn’t, we’d pitch a tent in the yard, and he’d light a fire in the fire pit and let us cook our hotdogs and marshmallows over it.

Sawyer used to smear melted marshmallows on his hotdogs and say it was the best thing ever.

I tried it once, and it was okay, but definitely not the best thing ever. ”

“What was the best thing ever?” Axel asked.

“Cheese-filled hot dogs with just a little char on the outside, dipped in a mix of barbeque sauce and ketchup,” Scout admitted with a dreamy little look on his face.

Axel smiled fondly at the memory that popped up then, of him and his folks in front of the trailer, Mom laughing at something Dad said as he was tending the grill, while Axel popped a wheelie on his BMX as he rode past.

“I always loved hotdogs with a little bit of char too,” Axel admitted. “The ones Dad made were awesome, but he never got the ones with cheese in them. I bet those are amazing.”

“They are,” Scout insisted. “We should get them sometime so you can try them.”

“Why don’t we pick some up on the way to the compound and head down to the beach, light a fire, and pig out?” Creature offered.

“Hell yeah,” Scout blurted, while Axel stood, for a moment, stunned before enthusiastically nodding.

“I’d like that,” Axel admitted. “Would be an awesome way to spend the day off.”

“Why so shocked?” Scout asked, cocking his head as he studied Axel, who squirmed, not like he was going anywhere with Creature still stroking the back of his neck.

“Guess it’s been a while since anyone wanted to do something cool with me just cause they thought I’d like it,” Axel admitted.

“We’re gonna have to change that,” Scout said.

“He’s right, we do,” Creature murmured, pressed so close Axel could feel Creature’s rumbling words roll over him.

“I’ve missed having a family,” Axel admitted. “Never expected to gain one by pitching in to even the odds in a fight.”

Creature chuckled, fingers tracing a path along the top of Axel’s shoulder. “Sometimes fate has a fucked-up sense of humor.”

“You mean like the way the three of us wound up living here together?” Axel blurted, turning so he could look up at Creature.

He wasn’t usually so bold, especially not when faced with a man the size of the one who stood before him.

Maybe it was the knowledge that he had Scout beside him, and he was practically fearless.

Or maybe it was just that he’d come to see that despite the colors he wore and his affiliation, Creature was a mellow man in their home, even if the day had been shitty.

He never came in ranting or rattling the contents of the fridge when he opened it to take out a beer and he didn’t slam things around either.

“You could say that,” Creature said. “I prefer to look at it as fate giving me the chance to have something I’ve longed for.”

Chuckling, Axel raised an eyebrow at him. “Roommates? Why not just put an ad in the paper if you were lonely?”

“Because it wasn’t necessarily roommates I was looking for,” Creature admitted.

“I was looking for a boy to love, lavish affection on, and protect. Someone who wasn’t looking for a summer fling or to be a hanger-on until he got bored.

I wanted that deep, long-term bond where we each got our needs fulfilled. ”

“Only one?” Axel asked, glancing over his shoulder to look at Scout standing there, only he didn’t look the least bit concerned.

“Doesn’t have to be,” Creature said. “Pretty sure Scout is looking for the same thing, so let’s just see how this works between the three of us. No pressure, no expectations; whatever happens, happens.”

“I’m good with that,” Scout said. “As long as Axel is okay with sharing.”

“S-sharing? Axel stammered.

“Yeah,” Scout said. “I see the way you look at Creature. I’m not gonna get in the way of that.”

“There’s nothing to get in the way of,” Axel insisted. “We barely know each other. He kinda swooped in and rescued me the same way he rescued you.”

“Fair enough,” Scout said. “Though if we’re really gonna do this, can I make one request?”

“Yeah, anything,” Axel replied, shocked when Scout licked his lips, then eyed him up and down.

“You should never tell me that,” Scout replied.

“Why?” Axel asked while Creature chuckled behind him. “What? What’s so funny?”

“You’re giving him an open door to make lewd suggestions,” Creature offered.

“And? I wouldn’t mind that at all.”

“O-kay then, I’m gonna hold you to that,” Scout said. “But that wasn’t the question I wanted to ask.”

“Then what was?” Axel asked.

“Wanted to know what Creature’s name was, besides Creature, ‘cause moaning that too many times is gonna get weird.”

If he’d had anything in his mouth, he would have spit it across the room, not just at Scout’s words, but because of the images dancing through his head, making his shorts feel tight. Behind him, Creature laughed, full, deep, rumbling sounds that reminded him a little of a motorcycle engine.

“It’s Carl,” Creature said. “And I don’t mind you using it at all. In fact, I think I’d prefer that, here at home, to Creature.”

“Thanks, Carl,” Scout said, beaming at the man, who smiled right back.

“How’d you get the name Creature anyway?” Axel asked.

“Kong was taken,” Carl replied.

Now they were all laughing, filling the room with the sound of joy. Standing between them, Axel was flooded by a sense of home and rightness.

“It really is just because of my size and the way I used to lurk around when I was first getting used to being around the club. Someone said I acted like the creatures in a horror movie, waiting in the shadows, and it stuck. I always loved the way those old movies were filmed, with lightning strikes illuminating the danger lurking just out of view, so I decided to roll with it.”

“Pops loves old movies like that,” Scout admitted. “Sawyer and I grew up watching them with him. Movie marathon nights were always the best, especially around Halloween when the old black and white movies were on TV.”

“Well then, come this fall, we’ll have to indulge,” Carl offered.

“With popcorn and everything?” Axel piped up.

“Of course,” Carl replied. “Gotta have popcorn, soda, and those boxes of movie candy.”

“That sounds perfect,” Scout declared. “Just like this afternoon. I’d better change.”

He glanced down at himself then, before glancing around to where he’d placed his bags, not like he’d had much to bring over from the cabin he’d shared with Teddy.

They were supposed to head up next week to grab more of his things, after Sawyer was released from the hospital.

By then, Scout would be cleared to work, which included wandering the scrapyard searching for parts, and Axel was looking forward to getting to help and see the place where Scout and Sawyer had grown up.

“Guess we’d all better get ready for a day on the beach,” Carl declared before fixing Scout with a firm look. “But at the first sign that you’re overdoing it, we’re coming home, got it?”

“Yes, sir,” Scout replied, sunlight shimmering over his golden skin as he crossed in front of the window.

He wasn’t shy either. He stripped down right there and stood rummaging in his backpack in briefs, showing off all the ink and bruises he had hidden beneath the shirt.

Fascinated, Axel moved around so he could see the ones on Scout’s back, including the one running just over the top edge of his underwear.

There was a dragonfly in the center, perched on a flower, its stem wrapped in chains, the chains stretching out on each side, forming a tramp stamp.

Beneath the flower was a cracked engine block, the silver and black a cool contrast to the purple and blue flower.

“Why a dragonfly?” Axel asked as he studied the swirls of greens, blues, and purples.

“Guess I just love the way they look perched on the wildflowers that grow out of the wrecks,” Scout admitted as he pulled on a tank top and a pair of board shorts.