Chapter Twelve
It was both slightly weird and a comfort living with Dox. JJ quickly settled in and acted like she’d never lived anywhere else. For Hank’s part, he realized the first weekend there that he was sleeping better than he had in fricking years.
Having a living person in bed with him, even platonically, was like a silent balm he hadn’t known his aching soul desperately needed. It was a comfort awaking in the middle of the night and having Dox’s calm and steady presencethere.
To assuage his guilt, he arose before Dox every morning and made sure his coffee was ready, as well as made breakfast for them. Hank also insisted on taking over the cooking, laundry, and other chores, since Dox wouldn’t let him chip in for anything. Evenings were spent together with JJ, and…being a family.
That first Sunday night, they were sitting on the couch and watching a movie, with JJ asleep and sprawled across both of their laps, when it struck Hank that he was actually…relaxing.
There weren’t a million anxieties silently streaking through his brain.
By the following Wednesday, he had all his deposit refunds. With Marcia and Derrick’s recommendation, Dox drove Hank to the dealership. Susan Costello Holman, the owner, personally took charge of them and walked them around to show them four different used trucks she’d had checked out. Derrick and Marcia had apparently already talked to Susan, and it was soon clear that Susan had already talked to Dox, who playfully and silently smirked the entire time.
Hank finally settled on a Ford pick-up that was only three years old, but had low mileage, and it had a crew cab. That meant JJ could safely ride in the backseat. When it came time to do the paperwork and he filled out the financial forms, he realized the price listed was a good three grand less than the window sticker.
When he pointed that out to her, she smiled. “You get the friends and family discount,” she said as she nodded at Dox. “We’re good friends of Derrick and Marcia’s. They told us what happened.”
Immediately, he realized the context. She meantthosekinds of friends, the kinky kind, and he wasn’t sure how that left him feeling.
Dox hadn’t gone out since they’d been living with him, not even to the club. If they weren’t at work, they were together, or Dox was transporting JJ to school, or picking her up from Eliza’s. Dox had even bought a new car seat so they had one in both cars, and he wouldn’t let Hank chip in for it.
Hank had also notified the school of their situation and made sure they reflected their new address in their records. It apparently amused Dox to no end that he was now “officially” listed in the school records as JJ’s “step-father,” since that was the closest category they had to what they now were.
Why the hell not? If it didn’t bother Dox, it didn’t bother him. Not like he had a dating life to worry about
It was just over two weeks since they’d moved in with Dox, and tomorrow was the last day of the school year. From that point on, they would drop JJ off at June’s gym in the morning and then pick her up from Eliza’s dojo in the afternoon. She loved karate and was eagerly looking forward to gymnastics, too.
At least the extra exercise was burning off her seemingly boundless energy. She usually crashed hard every evening and slept all night, sleeping better than she had in a while.
The irony that he now could’ve had the privacy to jerk off in bed had he been living in their house did not escape him.
He made do, usually rubbing one out in the evening when he took his shower after returning home. With Dox taking charge of JJ, he didn’t have to worry about her. Dox was also teaching her how to swim, because he didn’t want her living there and not knowing how. He had a pool fence surrounding the perimeter of it out on the screened lanai, but accidents could happen in an instant.
Today, Hank had finished work early and headed over to the dojo to pick up JJ after shooting Dox a text that he was going to do it. He stood there, watching JJ with the rest of the class. She was the smallest one, even though there were a couple of boys her age. But she was apparently keeping up with all of them where she stood in the front of the class, in the first row and right behind the instructor, and worked through forms with them.
Eliza walked over to stand next to Hank and leaned in, her voice low. “She’s doing really well. Very feisty. I can’t wait until she starts sparring.”
He slowly nodded. “I’ll need Xanax then, but okay.”
She snorted. “You’re a good dad.”
He sighed. “If I was a good dad we wouldn’t be shacked up in my best friend’s house and living on the charity of others. I would’ve had full insurance on my truck, and had renter’s insurance.”
“Oh, sweetie. Shit happens. But you’ve got the best friend ever helping you out.”
“Believe me, I know that. Thank god we used to share a bed when we were kids, so it’s not weird. Dox won’t let me sleep on the couch. He insisted on me sharing his bed. I mean, it’s a king-sized bed, so it’s not like we’re on top of each other. But I feel guilty.”
A weird look crossed her face. “Why?”
“Because I’m upending his life.”
“It’s his life to decide that, honey. Enjoy it and be thankful for it, and him.”
“I am, believe me. But we can’t live with him forever.”
“Has he asked you to move out?”
“No.” He sighed. “He insisted we live with him. But he won’t let me pay rent. I tried to give him grocery money the other day and he wouldn’t even let me do that. When I got my money back from the landlord, and the utility deposit refunds, he insisted I use that for a new truck.”
