Page 55 of Xavier

How did I go from here?

It wasn’t like I could go to that church and find the bastard and kill him. Getting myself thrown in jail was the last thing Dexter needed. He needed me to be there to protect him, something that I couldn’t do locked behind bars for the next twenty-five years.

What he needed was to be home with familiarity. To have the comforts of what he knew, not out here trying to put on a brave face and forced to be around people he really didn’t know while we toured a random city for the next few more days before Christmas.

How could I, in good conscience, keep him away from all of that when this was the time he needed it most?

“I think... I going to take him home,” I said.

Gage’s voice was quiet as he said, “Do what you need to do.”

CHAPTER 22

Gage

My heart hurtfor both Xavier and Dexter.

After getting him up off the floor of the bathroom, I’d convinced him to let me cook something for the both of them before they headed off for an early bedtime. Whipping together something both comforting andgoodwas tough, but I’d managed to make a homemade classic in the form of goulash.

By the time I’d gotten the food on Xavier’s plate, he’d already booked two plane tickets back to California for first thing in the morning. While it wasn’t my place to tell him how to handle a situation like this, I was sad to see him and Dexter leaving so abruptly.

I could understand from a parent’s perspective on wanting to take your kid back to the familiar comforts that they were used to in order to ground them back down into reality, but at the same time, I was also of the mindset that sometimes distracting yourself until you were ready to face your demons was the best medicine.

Xavier was always going to be overly protective of Dexter, no matter what his age. I found that admirable, even as sad as I was at the time. Putting his child first above all else was the kind of thing he’d only dreamed of a year ago when he’d still been addicted to the bottle.

Havinganyonetake priority over that was impressive in and of itself, no matter how you looked at it.

So really, who was I to judge in the grand scheme of things?

“Mmm, something smells tasty.”

Turning to the sound of the voice, I spotted Greyson wandering into the kitchen, his shoes still on from coming in. Normally, I’d yell at him to take them off but at this point, I was feeling exhausted myself.

Watching Xavier go through all of that and feeling the mental toll of him showing me his booked plane tickets had me wanting to crawl into bed for the next few days and only to come out to pee.

The other downside was tonight Xavier was sleeping in Dexter’s room just in case he woke up with a night terror.

“Leftovers are in the fridge,” I said, setting the pot down into the sink to soak it.

“Red sauce? Wow, someone was feeling fancy.” Greyson popped open the door to the fridge, fishing out one of the containers I’d used to store his portion. “What’s the occasion?”

“Nothing. Just wanted to make something for Xavier and Dexter.”

“Oh, they’re here? I didn’t even see them.” He tossed the container into the microwave and jabbed the buttons on the front of it after shutting the door. “They have a long day at the botanical garden?”

Sighing, I said, “Something like that. They’re taking an early night since they need to catch a plane in the morning.”

Greyson turned to me with a frown. “Wait, I thought they were staying the rest of the week?”

Turning back to the sink to occupy myself, I said, “Something came up.”

Greyson was quiet while his food was cooking, giving me time to turn on the sink and rinse out one of the pans I’d used to cook the ground meat in. Normally, I’d be bragging to the high heavens that I’d successfully cooked a meal without having to rely on a store bought base.

Expressing anything remotely close to joy felt wrong right now, though. My stomach was still churning with what Xavier had told me. He didn’t have much info about what exactly the priest had done to poor Dexter, but honestly, there wasn’t really a reason to force the kid into spilling more details.

It was pretty obvious what happened—given his reaction and the answers to a few of Xavier’s questions.

Not to mention that creep who was trying to peep on him got away with not one repercussion for what he was trying to do. Honestly, I had half a mind to call up some of my buddies in the police force and tell them to check the cameras.

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