Page 10 of Twisted Minds

“I’ll be here tomorrow morning. Don’t miss any more classes.” He claps me on the shoulder, and I say goodbye, still feeling guilty. Lately I wonder if things will ever go back to normal—or whatever our normal had been.

“He gone?”

“Jesus, fuck!” I clutch my racing heart. “How does someone your size make zero noise when they walk!?”

“Where the hell were you last night?” Jamie walks past me. His black hair is shaggy and sleep mussed, and his dark eyes are void of anything remotely human. It’s unnerving. At least he smells good. Forcing him to take showers isn’t fun for any of us. “You look like shit.”

“Aw. Back at you.” I blow him a kiss as we walk into the kitchen. I’m starving. While it was a nice gesture, those snacks Mark gave me are the only things I’ve eaten since yesterday morning. My insides are eating themselves. “Make me something to eat.”

“I’ll toast you a bagel. That’s all you’re getting out of me. If you’re nice, I’ll even butter it.”

“Mm, butter my bagel. Are you flirting with me?”

Jamie smirks and I’ll take the tiny win. Since the accident, Jamie’s actively avoided taking his medication. It’s like he tries to make himself as miserable as possible—which is his business. We can’t force this six-foot pain in our ass to take his medication, but the issue is it’s become all our issue. I know the drugs will wear off soon, but I’ll enjoy this version of him while I can. “That fucker drugged me.”

“Is it being drugged when it’s medication you need to be comfortable and to not be a dick?”

Jamie ignores me, putting a tea pot on the stove. Today he’s wearing a long-sleeve shirt that covers his full sleeve of tattoos despite the September heat. It’s something I noticed after the accident—Jamie wears sweaters all the time. I haven’t seen them, but Xavi told me his back and chest are covered in scars. I wonder if they ruin any of his tattoos. I wonder if he covers them because the person who did them isn’t around anymore to tattoo anyone ever again. Maddox was Jamie’s best friend and also the driver that night in the jeep bringing them all home. Those tattoos are something really fucking special now.

I feel my throat tighten, and I try to swallow and not think about it. While I definitely wasn’t as close to Maddox as Jamie was, every time I think about him, alongside Luci and even Jamie’s girlfriend Ailee who also died, it makes me sick. Three lives snuffed out just like that. It’s so fucking senseless.

Jamie had been in a coma for nearly two weeks. He lost an insane amount of blood and couldn’t even walk for the first couple of months. Things have been terrible for all of us, but Jamie’s barely even human at this point. “So, what the hell happened to you last night?”

“Sawyer got into a fight. I tried to break it up, but he caught me with his elbow by accident. Then he got arrested.” Something I know he’ll feel like shit about. “The guy he fought also got arrested and since Sawyer was my ride I was left stranded.”

“Where did you sleep last night?”

Not for the first time today Mark comes to mind. Tall, slim, gorgeous body, low-slung sweats. His blond hair had been damp from the shower. Those baby-blue eyes. I’d never seen eyes that blue in my life. If it were any other night I would have asked for his number. “I crashed at someone’s dorm.”

Jamie lifts a cup to me, and I shake my head. Making himself a cup of tea, he sits down across from me, and I watch him quietly as he steeps the teabag before he sips his drink, not knowing what to say.

None of us do most days.

Lia adopted Xavi and Luci when they were two and five respectively. While she’d fostered other kids on and off throughout the years, Jamie, Luci, and Xavi were the only ones she adopted, but I know that if she could have, she would have adopted them all. She’d adopted Jamie later in life, when he was sixteen. The amount of hell this guy has been through turns my stomach. I learned a lot from Lia when she welcomed me into her home at sixteen. She’s the main reason I’m going into human resources—I want to help people the way she does. The NHL is the dream, but I know dreams don’t always come true. I am good, but I am also realistic. I’m a queer man, and we are few and far between in sports. I refuse to hide myself for the comfort of other people.

“The dude hot?”

That throws me off before I remember I was talking about Mark. “Yeah, uh, he is.”

“Get his number?”

“No.”

“Shame. You need to get laid and leave me the fuck alone. I will not suck your dick.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“And you’re not my babysitter. Stop acting like it. Go get some dick and get off mine.”

“I’m not babysitting you.” He cocks a pierced brow at me. “I’m not!”

“Is that why you and Xavi take shifts like you’re both clocking in to a fucking job?” Whatever. I’m not going to argue with him right now, it’s pointless.

“Xavi slipped you the good shit I see.” While Jamie’s acting like an asshole right now, I know he can be way worse.

“I’m going to kill him.” Something dark washes over his face. “Can’t even joke about shit like that anymore. Every day is a living, breathing nightmare.”

“How are you feel—”

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