Page 101 of Necessary Time

“Neither has young Wesley,” Grayson said, stepping back into the kitchen, his whiskey empty again.

“See?” Miles bumped his elbow against the outside of Hendrix’s arm. “At least there’s that.”

“Small mercies,” Hendrix groused, storming off toward Grayson’s side of the apartment.

“He’ll be fine,” Miles said as I went to go after him. “He’s just a little high-strung sometimes.”

Miles went after Grayson in the kitchen and I headed after Hendrix. The first door in the hallway was cracked open, a dark purple light casting shadows into the hallway. I closed the door behind me, breath catching in my throat when I got my first look at the room.

The walls were dark, maybe not black but definitely close. The overhead light had been replaced with a purple bulb, which gave the whole room the feel of a nightclub. One wall had a row of hooks on it, each hook stacked with a coil of knotted rope. Beyond the rope hung paddles and other implements I’d never seen before. At least not in real life. The movies, sure, but those rooms were red and this one…

Against the other wall there was an arrangement of clunky wooden furniture that I was sure had to do with sex, but I didn’t know the names for any of them. Hendrix stood in the middle of it all, facing me with his arms folded over his chest. He didn’t look the least bit surprised at the furnishings in the room. If anything, he was surprised only by my face.

“You really haven’t been in here?” he asked.

“Why would I have been? Your brother’s room is down the other hall.”

As soon as I said it, I regretted it, his amused expression quickly darkening into something more representative of the reaction I’d expected.

“Right. Since you know where my brother sleeps.”

“Hendrix, it’s not…” I stopped myself, because it wasexactlylike that.

“How long?”

“A month or so,” I said.

“I…I didn’t even know he was interested in men.”

“It’s new.” I shrugged. “But that’s not for me to tell.”

“Why would he keep something like this from me?” Hendrix turned his back, pacing to the far wall. Much like the rest of the apartment, the westward facing walls were mostly windows offering a magnificent view of the coastline. I wondered if he could see Wesley and David down on the sand.

“It’s not for me to say,” I said.

“Any insight?” He threw a look over his shoulder at me. “As a friend.”

I cleared my throat and approached him, leaving enough room between us that I could get away if things turned volatile. He’d never struck me as that type of man, but this was uncharted territory for both of us.

“You treat him like you’re his parent, not his brother.”

“I’m old enough,” he said.

“He has parents. Same as yours.”

Hendrix sighed. “I assume you know why he wasn’t happy to see David too.”

“Yeah.”

“Grayson does too?”

I took another step closer. “Yeah.”

“But not me.”

“I don’t critique the choices Wesley makes, Hendrix. Neither does Grayson. He’s a good friend to your brother, by the way. You should be thankful they have each other.”

“Grayson is a menace,” he countered, but there wasn’t any venom in it.