Page 46

TUCKER

I hopped out of my jeep and waited for Josh to follow as Van and Cael climbed out of the backseat, groaning and stretching.

“It’s a half-hour drive,” I shook my head at their whining.

“I’m six-foot-five, Tucker. I was just crammed into a sardine can of death for thirty minutes. If I wanna complain, I’m gonna complain.” Van rolled out his shoulders and pressed his hands to the sky in search of a good stretch.

“This is stupid,” Josh said as he came around the front and stood next to me. "I can just wear my dress clothes.”

“No, it's tradition,” I said to him. "Everyone gets new clothes for the Gala, you don’t get a choice.”

“I don’t have the money for this.” Josh didn’t mince his words; his voice was tight and low as Van and Cael started toward the small shop.

“How about you let me spoil you?” I turned, stepping backward into the quiet street and smiled at him. No favours, no deals, no exchanges. “Just once,” I said.

Josh shoved his hands into his pockets and followed me out across the street to the sidewalk without saying anything. His surrender was enough of a yes for me and I opened the door to the shop for him.

“The shop owner is obsessed with Cael. It’s hilarious.” I moved past Josh and into the store, where it smelled like fabric and leather. It wasn’t large inside, but the walls were lined with coats and shirts of every color. The dark walls were rich and made the entire place feel like a gentlemen's club without the smoke.

“Mr. Tucker.” Mr. Malik came out from behind the store room curtain with lengths of dark purple fabric lying in his arms. The funny, small man was a ball of energy that only rivaled Cael’s. He wore a dark dress shirt and suspenders, his smile stretching from ear to ear.

“He’s been in the store for two minutes,” I laughed, looking down at the tailor's arms.

“I picked these out for him two weeks ago.” Mr. Malik winked. "He’ll be the center of attention.”

“He always is,” Josh grumbled.

“Correct. This is our new pitcher?” Mr. Malik set the fabric down and gave Josh a small bow of welcome. I saw the surprise on his face when the tailor didn’t offer him a handshake and smiled. Josh scowled at me as Van and Cael dropped something in the back of the store and took the attention away from us.

I turned to him. "Mr. Malik’s store burned down a few years ago, you remember that massive fire, it took four trucks to get it out?” I asked and Josh nodded.

“That fire took out half the block,” Josh said.

“They had to pull him out of it; most of his body is covered in burns, hands, neck… he doesn’t really like contact, like you, but different,” I explained. “He’ll respect your space.”

Josh’s eyes drifted back from the commotion to mine. He took a deep breath, his hands flexing in his pockets. “So that’s why we're here?” He finally asked.

“We always come here, they’ll fit everything for you and send it over to the Nest the week before. Mr. Malik and you sharing trauma is just a coincidence.” I shrugged and turned around to find Van holding up some suits for me to look at.

“No,” Mr. Malik cried. "No, no!” He waved his arms. “They have to complement one another!”

Van scowled and put the suits back.

“Do you remember the sheer red shirt Mr. Cody wore at his first Gala?” Mr. Malik asked.

“Don’t call me that,” Cael hollered from somewhere in the store. "It’s Cael, I’m not sixty!”

Mr. Malik rolled his eyes and waved his hand at me to remember.

“Uh yeah, I think so?” I said, I was so drunk that year I couldn’t even remember what I was wearing, let alone Cael but it was better just to go with it.

“Good, I made you something.” He clapped his hands together and ushered me to the back of the shop. Josh followed nervously, his eyes dragging over all the suits and racks as we walked. “Look!” He held up a sheer dark blue shirt with pride. “We can match it with a jacket,” Mr. Malik nodded, and I reached out to rub the fabric between my fingers.

It was soft and thin under my touch and I could see my skin through it. "You think I can pull this off?,” I laughed gently looking up to Mr. Malik and his frantic nodding. “Alright,” I conceded and took the hanger from him.

“Now.” He looked at Josh.

“I’d like a real shirt if possible,” he chuckled nervously and Mr. Malik obliged, making Josh follow him through the back and away from me.

“I’m so excited to see your perky nipples all night,” Cael teased in passing, his fingers reaching out to twist at my chest.

“Yeah, you and all the old ladies.” I slapped his hand away and held the shirt up to the light. It was something I had never even thought about wearing before, and I wasn’t even sure I could muster the confidence, but I was turning a new leaf. It was time to be a little louder.

“Sit, sit!” Mr. Malik returned after some time and shooed the three of us to the couch in the center of the shop. “He’s very grouchy, Mr. Tucker,” he commented. “Not in the least impressed that you called ahead,” he laughed.

“He’s all bark.” I laughed as I settled onto the couch.

“What did you do?” Van asked.

“I asked Mr. Malik to put together some new dress clothes for him…” I said, looking over at them both staring at me like I was nuts. “He wears the same shirt every game, I’m sick of looking at it.”

“Sure.” Cael rolled his eyes and doubled back against the couch in laughter.

Before I could argue with Cael, Josh appeared from the back with Mr. Malik on his tail to push the pace. I could tell instantly that he hated every second of it.

“ Fuck , he’s handsome,” Cael hummed under his breath. The low throaty sound of possessiveness left my chest before I could stop it, and Cael snorted. "Simmer down, big boy, it was just a compliment for our man.”

Cael was out of pocket, but he wasn’t wrong with his comment. Josh’s sharp features were highlighted by a tight black dress shirt with gold embellishments around the collar. Corner pins that dragged the collar down and met in the middle with a long golden chain that buttoned into the top of his shirt like a bolo or a tie. He shifted in his dress pants, and Mr. Malik had even found him a pair of shoes to complete the look.

The dark fabric made the gold in his eyes glow against the dark browns, his lips pressed into a thin line that screamed unamused. “The collar is too tight,” he grumbled.

“No, the collar is perfect,” Mr. Malik hushed him and walked around to admire him from the front. “The beauty is here,” he said, pointing to the fabric without touching Josh. All of us leaned forward to admire the way the shirt shone. When Josh shifted, the light caught it, and the faintest hint of deep blue reflective pinstripes appeared. “Navy, for the newest Hornet.”

“Mm,” Josh groaned.

“Navy to match.” Mr. Malik looked at me before pointing at the sheer shirt. I smiled at him and nodded. “Now shoo, there’s more to put on.”

Josh glared at me, and I could feel the heat rising off him as Mr. Malik made him change outfits. Each one was fitted and much nicer than the shirt he had been wearing. A few dress shirts in dark colors, two new pairs of dress pants and two suit jackets and a grey knit sweater he could wear to dress everything down.

When Josh was finally set free it was Van’s turn, it didn’t take Mr. Malik long to tree the giant but we had to sit and wait for him to re-measure his gait four times. “You have grown since the last time you were here, it's unnatural.” Mr. Malik grumbled as he worked.

“That’s what I’m saying.” Josh shook his head, sitting on the couch next to me with our knees almost touching. His hand was between us on the couch, and I nudged him gently before slipping our palms together. His jaw tightened slightly, but after a moment, he relaxed back into the couch with a sigh.

“Oh, hey.” Cael sat forward on the couch. "Mr. Malik, do you still have the Christmas present I gave you last year?” He asked, and I instantly knew he was up to something by the sparkle in his mischievous blue eyes.

“Yes,” he said without looking up from the hem of Van’s pants. “Behind the counter, under the box of ties.”

Cael leapt over the couch’s back and hit the ground running before I could even stop him from ripping the Hornets calendar out from behind the counter. “Put it back,” I tensed as he came toward us. “Cael, I swear—” I let go of Josh and pushed off the cushions to stand.

“It’s only right he knows,” Cael laughed, darting to the left out of my reach and around the couch toward the massive shelf of bow ties. “It’s tradition!”

“I will burn every poster in your room!” I threatened, and Cael laughed.

“Worth it,” he mouthed and decked me out again around the rack of dress pants and back toward Josh, who was watching on in annoyance. He flipped through the pages with precision and dropped the folded calendar in Josh’s lap.

“Behold, Mr. November.” Cael leaned over the back of the couch just behind Josh, whose eyes flickered down to the ratty page. The whole thing looked like it had suffered immense water damage, and it crinkled every time Josh moved even a little bit.

“Holy shit.” Josh cracked a smile. “You guys still fucking do these things?” He looked back, and Cael shrugged.

“That was the last one before the school decided that it was morally wrong to issue school-sanctioned calendars that promoted using our bodies for fundraising purposes,” Van said, his voice low and almost professional. “That was taken almost two years ago now.” Van moved, and Mr. Malik threatened to stab him with a pin if he did it again.

“Look at this baby face,” Josh laughed, his eyes roaming over the image. I hated it, those pants were too tight on purpose, the paint stung when it got in my eyes and they refused to let me wear a shirt even though it was the middle of February when we took those. “Did they grease you up?”

“With sunscreen,” I grumbled, eyes shut in defeat.

“He smelt like a baby for a month,” Cael said, laughing.

“It was like tar, it took four showers to get it out of my hair,” I said with my eyes still closed, collecting my breath. I opened my eyes and Josh was still watching me, his gaze flickering to my bright red ears and embarrassed smile. I huffed, as he smiled and handed the calendar back to Cael over his shoulder without looking away.

“Please don’t,” I begged him.

Josh just pressed his lips together and shook his head. I knew I’d never hear the end of it later, but he wasn’t going to let me have it here, not in public. Van got changed back into his sweats before Mr. Malik started ringing up the orders.

“Go across the street and order some pizza,” I told Cael, and he looked over his shoulder with a shrug. “Go with him,” I said to Van and Josh when they paused to wait for me. Once the bell over the door had silenced, I turned back to Mr. Malik. “You can put it on this,” I said to him, handing Silas’s black card over the counter.

If Josh knew that the shopping trip was on his brother's dime I would have never gotten him out of the house. Mr. Malik took the card and wrote down the numbers.

“He’s a nice boy,” he said, handing it back. I shoved the card into my wallet and shoved it into my pocket. “Very polite but very sad.”

“Yeah, he’s working on the last part,” I sighed and watched the three of them disappear into the pizza place. Mr. Malik handed me the few boxes and bags of Josh’s new game day wardrobe with a smile.

“Make sure you take lots of pictures for me,” he said, nodding to the wall of photos behind him, a lot of them were us, especially the ones of us wearing the clothes he fitted for us. “Have fun Mr. Tucker, and don’t spill anything on your shirt this year!”

I laughed. "I promise.”

I climbed into the jeep after loading up the back, and it wasn’t long before Josh was climbing in beside me.

“They’re waiting for the pizza,” he said. "Oh, hey also,” he dug something out of his back pocket and unfolded something. ”Will you sign this for me, Mr. November?”

“Fuck off!” I burst into laughter. "You ripped that out of his calendar! When did you even do that!?”

“That thing hadn’t seen the light of day since Cael gave it to him, and man, what a shame,” Josh practically purred as he shoved it in my face. “So?”

“You’re not serious?” My smile dropped and he cocked his head to the side. “I’m not signing it, I don’t even have a pen.”

“I do.” He handed me a pen with Mr. Malik Tailoring engraved on it.

“You stole his pen?” I snatched it from him, taking the torn calendar page.

“Dean,” he warned. "Sign the page.”

“Bossy,” I grumbled and scribbled my name across it.

“What are you even going to do with this?” I laughed, handing it back to him. "...actually I don’t want to know,” I said with the shake of my head as Cael and Van climbed into the truck and Josh shoved the photo back into his pocket with a smug look on his face. Even when he teased me, all I wanted was to kiss him.

“Hey, Logan,” I whispered, and he turned his face to mine for a split second, just long enough for me to reach over with my body, using the center console for support as I stole a kiss from his scowling lips.

Cael and Van cheered from the backseat like hooligans, and the entire jeep shook, still in park. “I’ll fucking kill both of you,” Josh snarled as I started the engine with a satisfied smile.