Page 7 of Boys Like You

“Stop bitching, it wasn’t even that bad, we went to four shops before you cut me off,” a short, thin man with stylish glasses says as he glides through the door, pushing his way past the boys, and placing some take out containers on my wheelie table. “Hi, I’m Doctor Cole.”

“Dad, you’re not a doctor,” Mercer chastises, walking around to greet his father with a hug.

“I could be. Son, you smell terrible; lucky for you I packed a change of clothes. Go steal the girl’s shower while I feed her; she looks like a bag of bones.” Mercer goes to say something, but his dad shoos him away. The other four are handed a container each and take a seat on the floor.

“I spoke to your doctor; he said you can eat, just small amounts at a time.”

“Thank you.” I smile, looking around at the guys.

Rocky jumps up from the floor and takes a seat at the end of my bed. “You should try Carson’s chicken stir fry, it’s to die for.” He passes me his container and fork, clearly no phobia of germs. I take a bite and he is right, it is amazing.

“Mmm.” The sound escapes my lips before I have a chance to stop it. I honestly don’t know if I have ever tasted anything this good before, but my mouth salivates for more.

“JD, I don’t want to hear that sound come from you again unless it’s followed by ‘Rocky’.” He laughs at his own joke. It takes me a minute, then I feel my face go bright red.

“Don’t embarrass the girl. I need to get home and cook my husband a nice meal after working all day. I’ll bring you heathens more food in the morning. Tell my son, I will call him.” With that he breezes out of the room.

“Mercer has two Dads?” I ask. They all look at me weird. I feel like an idiot for asking.

“Yep,” Rocky says with more attitude than necessary. Maybe I hit a sore spot for them.

“Awesome,” I answer, and they all seem to visibly relax. “Is Mercer having two dads usually an issue?” I’m sure having gay parents would bring out the assholes. But who am I to judge as long as they love their son and are good people? That’s all that should matter.

“A lot of people have an issue with it,” Mercer says, rubbing his hair with a towel. He’s freshly dressed in a new pair of jeans and long sleeve Nike shirt.

“Why? If they treat you right and love you, who cares?” He smiles at my comment.

“I think they love me too much – you met one of my dad’s – he can be crazy. He likes to feel needed; I’m sure it isn’t the last you will see of him.” He takes his seat back in the recliner, taking the container his dad left for him. Rocky is still seated on the end of my bed, now shoveling what looks to be homemade cookies into his mouth. Maximus is sitting on the floor between Rory and Levi. They all seem to be watching whatever is on Maximus’s phone.

“So, what’s in the bags?” I ask, changing the subject. Talking about his dads seemed to slightly change his mood. Rory moves from his spot to where the bags were placed. He seems to have shaken off whatever was wrong when he left.

“Maximus and I went to the shop to pick up some clothes for you, and when we saw how many options there were for girls, we called Carson, who was more than happy to help. We should have winged it – you now have enough options to last you a year,” Rory says, picking up a couple of bags and placing them on my bed. “I had to guess your size. We kept the receipts and Carson said he would exchange them if we needed.” I’m momentarily thrown by his generosity. They claim to not know me but they keep going out of their way to be nice.

“Thank you, Rory, you didn’t have to buy me anything, but I do appreciate it; this hospital gown is a bit breezy in the back. I think Mercer copped a nice view of my ass when he helped me out of bed earlier.”

“Damn, I knew I should have been the one to stay,” Rocky jokes.

I ignore Rocky’s comment and look over at Maximus. “Maximus?” He looks up from his phone. “Thank you for the clothes and for finding me.” He nods and looks back at his phone, pulling his headphones over his ears. “Did I upset him? I didn’t mean to.”

“Don’t take it personal; he gets uncomfortable when people talk to him because he feels rude not responding,” Levi explains. Until now, he’s been awfully quiet. “I have basketball practice, I’ll come by in the morning.”

“See you later.” He walks out shaking his head. Maybe he doesn’t like me. They all seem close, and I wonder if he will make the rest of them leave me alone.

“Okay, everyone take a seat,” Rocky says, jumping to his feet. Mercer is already in the recliner, Maximus is still wearing his headphones watching his phone, and Rory takes Rocky’s place on the bed. “Let’s take a look at what Daddy Carson picked out.”

“In bag number one we have… oh it’s some undies.” He scours through the bag. “I particularly like these ones.” He holds up a lacy black pair, not overly sexy but nice all the same.

“How about we skip that bag, I’m sure JD doesn’t want us touching those,” Mercer states, giving Rocky a serious look.

“Fine.” He places that bag down and pulls out another one. “Nope, this one is bras. I really have a knack for finding the important stuff.” I laugh and snatch the bag from him, pulling out a sensible sports bra.

“Carson said we should get some of those ones while you’re sore, that underwire might hurt or something,” Rory says.

“Good idea, I will hold onto this one. Rocky, find me a pair of underwear that looks comfortable, not sexy.” He goes back and digs through, pulling out a navy blue pair of boy legs that match the sports bra.

“There’s also a bag of shirts and shorts but this one has some pjs – here, these look comfy.” He pulls out a pair of pink flannel pants with a white long-sleeve cotton shirt.

“You have all gone above and beyond for me.” A tear rolls down my cheek. “None of you know me, and yet you have gone out of your way to be so nice.”

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