“Well, that’s the best I can do,” Gem said as he secured the gauze with medical tape. “It’s still my not-so-professional advice to get stitches.”
“I’m good,” Rusty said as he straightened on the couch, inspecting his bandaged foot. “For what it’s worth, you would have made a damn good doctor.”
Gem paused in cleaning up his medical bag and glanced Rusty’s way. His fur vibrated, and he offered the Pyclon a sweet, almost shy smile. “Thanks. I think so too.”
As Gem rose and carried his medical bag back into the bathroom, Rusty set his foot down and tested it, adding pressure. It ached, but he’d be ableto walk on it. He eyed his heap of soaking clothes and grimaced. He didn’t want to walk home in them, but there was no way, in this life or any other, that he was stepping one claw out of Gem’s flat wearing shorts withjuicyscrawled across the ass.
“Hey, can I use your phone?” Rusty called as Gem waltzed out of the bathroom, robe hanging mostly open over his bare chest and capri sweats. Rusty tried not to stare at the lean lines of his long body, but it was near impossible not to. Gem was annoyingly beautiful.
It had bugged Rusty in the beginning, when he’d first met the bubbly Araknis. To be honest, everything about Gem had bugged him, from his cavalier, manically cheery demeanor to his gorgeous face and killer body. The way he could move through the world wielding his pretty privilege to get away with shit Rusty never could.
At first, Rusty had assumed Gem was stuck up, because how could he not be looking like he did. It had taken a while, but Rusty had finally put aside his bitterness and jealousy and admitted that Gem’s confidence wasn’t born of arrogance. Gem was confident because he, more than anyone Rusty had ever met, knew exactly who he was and never apologized for it. And yeah, Rusty had been envious of that too.
But regardless of the way Rusty had treated Gem—and everyone at the cafe, honestly—like shit, Gem had been nothing but kind and supportive. He’d accepted Rusty with all his defenses and baggage, extending patience and kindness when all Rusty did was ridicule him. Why Gem wanted to be his friend, Rusty would never know. All he did know was that Gem deserved better friends than Rusty could ever be.
“You hungry?” Gem asked, jarring Rusty from his thoughts. “I have some leftovers I can heat up for you.”
Without awaiting an answer, Gem opened his fridge and pulled out several to-go containers from an Araknis takeaway Rusty frequented. He had already eaten dinner, but his mouth watered as the scents of Araknis-styled noodles and marinated meat assaulted him.
Against his instincts, Rusty shook his head. “I should call a car, but I need to use your phone.” He held up his cracked cell when Gem cocked his head in question. “Mine’s busted.”
“First off, you’re not going anywhere. It’s too late for that, and I want to make sure the glue holds and you don’t bleed through your bandages. You’re sleeping here tonight, and I’m not taking no for an answer. Secondly, if it’s just your phone screen that’s busted, I can fix it for you. Thirdly”—Gem pointed at the food he’d set on the counter—“are you sure you don’t want some ’cause I’m feeling peckish.”
Rusty’s traitorous stomach rumbled, and he grudgingly shrugged. “I could eat, I guess.”
With a knowing grin, Gem shoved the food into his microwave, then breezed past Rusty and rummaged around in his bedroom behind the partition. “What kind of phone do you have?”
Rusty couldn’t remember. He’d bought it because it was the cheapest version that still offered the features he needed to run his online forum. But since he didn’t want to get into any of that with Gem, Rusty just offered the broken phone to him when he returned to the living room carrying a box full of wires, cords, tools, and other various electronic supplies.
As Gem sat down on the couch and started pilfering through the box, Rusty slowly lowered himself back to his spot, curling his good foot underneath his ass. Gem inspected Rusty’s phone while his lower hands spread supplies and tools out on the coffee table.
“What are you doing?” Rusty asked.
Without looking his way, Gem said, “Making sure I have the right size of screen to replace this one.”
“Did you also study tech in uni?”
Snorting, Gem shot him a wry smile. “No, I just like this kind of shit.”
“Broken shit?”
“Sure,” Gem said, leveling several small eyes on Rusty. “Broken things can be fixed.”
“Not everything,” Rusty countered, and Gem’s hands faltered for a moment. “Some things are just broken.”
After an uncomfortably long pause, Gem nodded noncommittally. “Maybe, but I think most things are repairable, given enough time and effort.” He angled his head, all eight eyes falling on Rusty, and for some reason, Rusty didn’t think they were talking about cracked phones anymore. He squirmed under the unblinking attention as the Araknis added, voice soft and lovely, “And even if they’re not, there’s nothing wrong with broken things.”
Chapter four
F*ck the Man
Gem
The microwave beeping brokethe suddenly heavy air settling over the living room, and Gem startled at the sound, tearing his gaze away from Rusty’s. Rusty cleared his throat awkwardly and reached up to finger the notch in his ear. Gem wiped several palms on his pants, unsure why they were sweaty to begin with.
To distract himself from the weird vibe buzzing between them, he rose and retrieved the food from the microwave. He placed the containers and a set of cutlery down on the coffee table in front of Rusty. Since he wasn’t actually all that hungry, he left Rusty to eat while he sat back down on the couch and picked up Rusty’s phone.
“Anywho,” Gem said, when the awkward silence had stretched too long, “what I meant was, I like fixing things like this. I always have. I used to break my phones a lot. I was kinda clumsy when I was younger.”
