Page 74 of Don't Shoot Me Santa

“I was in care, too.” He met her gaze. “Got dumped into the system at eight. Had the worst parents.” He glossed overthat bit. “Foster homes were a bit…hit and miss.” More hit, but he parked that too. “Ran away from a couple. Ended up in some halfway house at fourteen. Care home thing where it’s more a business than a home.” He cocked his head. “You in one of those?”

Skye bit her lip where her piercing cut through. She nodded.

“Hard being different in those, right?”

She drew in a breath.

“Gay,” he said, with a crooked smile. “In case the aggressively queer jumper didn’t give it away.” He rolled his eyes at himself, and it earned the first real smile from her since the puppy had left. Small. But real. “It gets better. You’ll find your people. The ones who accept you, and see you. Love you. Exactly as you are.”

Skye glanced up at him. “You got that?”

Aaron smiled. Genuinely, this time. “Yeah. Somehow. Still not sure how I haven’t scared him off, to be honest. I’ve got… baggage. Doesn’t stay zipped, if you know what I mean. Explodes at inconvenient moments. Childhood trauma, moodiness, sharp tongue that gets me in trouble. React first, regret later. You know, the greatest hits.” He shrugged. “But Kenny’s stubborn. Likes a challenge.” He leaned in closer to speak out the side of his mouth. “Might also help that I have him handcuffed to the bed.”

Skye let out a laugh. Brief, unexpected, and bright enough to sting.

Then everything he’d described sparked to life when a hand landed on his shoulder and Aaron’s reflex hit faster than thought. He flinched hard, whole body snapping tight, breath catching mid-sentence. Instinct before recognition.

He looked up, jaw clenched.

Blackwell. And unlike the ever-intuitive Kenny, Blackwelldidn’t cotton on to Aaron’s reaction and didn’t remove his hand.

“We’re finished here,” he said, all smooth efficiency. “I’ll see you in the car.”

Aaron stood, the moment breaking like ice underfoot. He waited a moment, then held out a fist to Skye. She bumped it. “You watch out, yeah?”

“I can look after myself.”

“Yeah. I see that.” He went to move away, then turned back in afterthought. Sure, she could look after herself. But plenty of others thought that too. People who thought thick skin and sharper edges made them untouchable. He’d been one of them. And he knew all too well how predators didn’t care about armour and knew how to slip beneath it. So he said, “You got a phone?”

Skye blinked, wary.

Aaron circled his face. “Gay, remember. Very into men. Older ones specifically.”

“Like him.” Skye nodded towards Blackwell making his way out of the shelter.

Aaron shuddered. “God, no. Less pompous predator energy, more… hot, dominant, mind-reading perfection.”

Skye chuckled, then fished into her hoodie pocket and pulled out a scuffed, half-cracked smartphone. Aaron took it. Typed in his number. Put the contact asAaron (pride flag emoji) Gay Jumper.

He handed it back. “You need anything. Any time. Call me.”

Skye gave the faintest smile, then Aaron clucked his tongue to Chaos and headed out to the car.

The drive back was quieter. As if Blackwell had used up all his words. And Jonathon was back wearing his headphones. So Aaron sent a text to Kenny to ask him to come gethim. By the time they pulled into the shelter’s drive, the place had emptied out. The frost was creeping in, edging the concrete, and Kenny wasn’t there yet. No headlights. No coat wrapped around a lean, tall frame to pull him back into orbit.

Blackwell disappeared inside.

Thank fuck.

“You want me to take the pup back?” Aaron asked Jonathon. “I’m gonna go check on the lurcher anyway.”

“Uh, yeah, okay. Thanks.” Jonathon handed him the puppy’s lead. “I gotta get changed for my next shift, anyway.”

“Do you ever go home?”

Jonathon chuckled. “Mum makes sure I do.”

Aaron blinked.Mum.He’d have put money on Jonathon being in his thirties. Maybe older. The idea of him still under his mother’s roof snagged at the truth of how it was impossible to get a house these days, especially if only a volunteer. Then he shuddered, the thought of still being tied to his mum sliding across his spine. He shoved it away. Better to thank the authorities for giving him Howell blood money or he’d have been stuck in a whole different way.