Chapter Eleven
By the time Maddox took his own shower and returned to the bedroom, Hank was thankfully sound asleep.
Good. He needs the sleep.
Maddox stood there for a moment, staring at him, unable to believe he was really there, in his bed.
The volunteers had retrieved the majority of their belongings from the house, minus anything in the kitchen, and, of course, Hank’s truck and anything inside it. Unfortunately, the truck itself would be a total loss.
Hank didn’t have comprehensive coverage on it, and he didn’t have renter’s insurance, either. At least the truck was paid off, so no adding insult to injury and having to pay off a loan balance on a truck he couldn’t even drive now.
Maddox turned out the lights and carefully settled on his side of the bed. Plenty of times when they were kids they’d awakened to find themselves pressed back-to-back, so it wasn’t weird.
Hopefully Hank would still think it wasn’t weird.
Because he knew he’d be snuggling against Hank any chance he got.
The next morning, when his alarm went off what felt like far too early, Maddox heard a groan from Hank.
“Jeez, I was hoping that was a nightmare.”
Maddox rolled over to face him. “Sorry, buddy.”
From what he could see of Hank’s face…he looked like hell, and Maddox hoped Hank wouldn’t have to do anything too complicated today.
“I just want to catch a fuckingbreak.” Hank’s voice sounded hoarse, raw—broken. “I just wantsomethingto go right, for a change. I want to raise JJ, be reasonably happy, and get paid fairly for doing an honest day’s work. That’s it. It’s not asking too much, is it?”
Maddox risked holding him. Hank still lay facing away from him, but when his body started shaking as he cried, Maddox wrapped himself around him, his heart breaking for him once again.
“I’m here for you. I’m not going anywhere. We’ll get you through this. You two are going to live with me, and it’ll give you a chance to finally breathe and relax. I need you to focus on you and on her, and not stress over the rest. This will be okay. I’ll make sure you’re okay.”
He couldn’t help inhaling and breathing in Hank’s scent, not when his nose lay against the back of Hank’s head, buried in his hair.
When his cock decided this was agreatposition and began to stiffen in his boxers, Maddox opted to sit up and rest a hand on Hank’s arm.
“I’ll go get coffee made for us,” he said.
“Okay. Thanks.” Hank slowly sat up and looked at Maddox over his shoulder. “I love you, dude.”
Maddox patted him on the back. “I love you, too, dude.”
At least he didn’t have to lie about that.
He climbed out of bed and headed for the kitchen.
* * * *
Once he was alone, Hank drew in a shuddering breath and struggled to rein in his tears. He needed to get JJ up and ready for school. In fact, getting her to school today would probably be best for her, keep her mind occupied. Keeping her on her normal schedule would mean less time for her to be upset about their circumstances.
Although JJ likely would adapt quickly. She loved Dox, and now they had a pool. Despite his stunned state last night, it looked like the volunteers had managed to empty her room, getting everything out through the window.
Thank god I never unpacked those boxes.
It would’ve broken his heart if he’d lost those irreplaceable memories, or the urns of his parents and Lois.
He dragged himself to his feet and started looking for clothes. By the time he smelled coffee brewing, he was fully dressed in work clothes and headed to what was now JJ’s room to wake her up.
He turned on the hall light so he could see and not trip and scare her, but after opening her door he realized they’d managed to arrange her room very close to how it’d been at the other house. The door was in a different place, though, and so was her lamp, because there hadn’t been an outlet handy.
