Page 79 of Blaze & Ajax

“Thanks for coming.”

He eyed me with those intelligent amber eyes. “Start from the beginning.”

“Something’s really off with Ajax. You know how he is… all bouncy and pretty happy when he’s not being a dick. But remember the other day when he came by the apartment wanting to fuck? He was, like, wired, drunk, and had crashed his bike? We fucked around, but afterward, I couldn’t get him to sleep, so I gave him anAmbien. He wouldn’t calm the fuck down.”

“Hold up… you gave him a fuckingAmbienafter he’d been drinking?”

“Just one. He wouldn’t calm down!”

Cueball pinched his nose and sighed. “Jesus fucking Christ, Blaze.”

“He’s fine! Will you let me finish the story or not?”

“Don’t ever fucking do that again.”

“Fine! I’m sorry! Whatever.Anyway, the next day, I stopped by his apartment, and the place was spotless. I mean, like, obsessively so. And it looked like he spent tons of money buying shit for his house. I mean, he bought throw pillows, for fuck’s sake. Ajax isn’t a throw pillow kind of guy. Then I found him in his bathroom, smashing the tiles with plans to remodel it. I know apartments don’t let you do that shit. But god, he was so hyped up and bouncy, with non-stop talking. He told me… he loved me.”

Cueball contemplated for a minute, nodding thoughtfully. “Then what happened?” he asked, as if my world hadn’t turned upside down when Ajax said those words to me.

I paced and ran a hand through my wrecked morning hair. “Well… ah… now don’t get all pissy and lecture-y on me.”

“Blaze…”

“Promise!”

He pinned me with a hard stare before he gave me a quick nod.

“So, I, ah, thought I’d help him burn off his energy. Instead of trashing his bathroom more and having the neighbors call the cops on him, I took him to my mom’s house.” I paced some more, finally addressing the stupidity of all my fucking decisions. “It was my birthday, and I was so tired of… look, itdoesn’t matter. I took Ajax over there, where we trashed the cars. I was angry, he was hopped up, so…”

Cueball rubbed his forehead as if I perpetually gave him a headache, which I probably did. “I said I wouldn’t lecture, but Jesus, Blaze.” He sighed and looked at me again. “Then what happened?”

“Well, after that, I’d been trying to call him for days, and he hadn’t shown up for work. I finally went over to his place to find that he hadn’t showered or anything for who knows how long. The place was trashed, he was still in bed, and he smelled really bad. He’s like all down in the dumps and shit, claiming no one cares about him.”

Cueball rubbed his bald head again and stood straight, more alert. “This is bad. Has Ajax said anything about suicidal thoughts?”

I nodded. “He’s given hints of it. I found him this morning sitting on the rooftop on the edge of the building, talking about how easy it would be just to fall. But he said he wouldn’t do it. I’m scared, Cue.”

It was the first time I’d ever seen Cueball lose his composure. Even when he was pissed at me, he kept his emotions under control. Now, he looked… afraid, even if it was subtle, constantly rubbing his bald head back and forth.

“And you should be. Okay, we need to call Alpha. He should be getting involved in this. We all should. Ajax is going to need all of us.”

My stomach clenched, fearing the worst.

“Go on up and hang with Ajax. I’ll grab Alpha and meet you upstairs in a bit.”

“Okay, and… thanks for this, Cue.”

He gripped my shoulder fondly. “I knew there was a good soul in there somewhere. You did some fucking up, but your heart’s in the right place, and you did the right thing by calling me.”

“Do you… know what’s wrong with Ajax?”

“It sounds like he could have Bipolar Disorder, but I’m… no doctor.”

I’d heard of it, but really knew nothing about it.

“Go up and keep an eye on him,” Cueball ordered. “We won’t be long.”

“Is… he going to be okay?”

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