Page 15 of Up in a Blaze

“I, um, I’ll let you know.”

I nodded. “Do you still live at home, Sawyer?”

He nodded, then shook his head, then shrugged.

I smiled softly.

“I….” He blew out a breath as his gaze flicked up to me and down to his plate. I really wondered how this boy took clients to have sex with when he was so nervous having a conversation.

Then again, there were a lot of men who liked the timidness from others.

He shook his head, lips thinning. He wasn’t ready to talk, and I worried if I pushed anymore, he wouldn’t eat and would instead leave.

Slowly, I reached over and brushed my fingers against the back of his hand. “I’ll leave you to your meal, chéri. But please do remember we are here for you.”

“Thanks,” he whispered.

My stomach tightened when I turned and left the poor boy there, knowing there was something going on in his life that I believed wasn’t good for him.

Would it be wrong of me if I asked mon amour to trail him?

I didn’t know what best suited in this situation. Did we push to help and risk losing him altogether or wait for him to come to someone?

Loyal stood at the front counter talking with Blaze, but I knew it would be Loyal doing most of the talking. Blaze preferred to speak when necessary, and it was never much.

When we’d first started dating years ago, he’d been worried I would end up annoyed with how little he spoke. But I learned I did enough talking for the both of us and that when Blaze did speak, it was always meaningful.

Well, that was most of the time, except when he teased me in some way about my attitude. The little liar liked everything about me.

“How’d it go with Pixie?” Loyal asked.

Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair. Blaze stood from my chair and ushered me into it. “He’s not ready for help, but I do worry there is something happening.” I frowned. “He was hiding food in his bag.”

“Shit,” Loyal bit out. “Doesn’t look like his home life is good then.”

“I tried to ask if he still lived at home, but he didn’t give me a straight answer.”

“Don’t the managers do a background check on all the employees?” Blaze asked.

I hummed. “Maybe it would be good to speak to one of them.”

Loyal tipped his chin up. “I’ll go talk to Saint. Catch ya later.”

Nodding, I spun my chair to my man, pouting.

“What?”

“He is so young to be walking around here with the weight of the world on his shoulders, mon amour.”

His finger slid under my chin and tipped my head back a little, and his thumb glided over my bottom lip. “Tell me what you need, and I’ll do anything to deliver.”

My heart galloped. This man was so intimidating to most. Too scary and silent. But he was my world.

And I was very grateful I reached out to him when Dusty had been kidnapped or else I would have lost my chance to be with the love of my life.

“Mon amour,” I whispered.

He ducked down, pressing his lips to mine, and there he said, “You’re mine, Henri. Mine to tease. Mine to fuck. Mine to mark. But also mine to take care of in every damn way.”