Page 10 of Dead Ball Situation

Sacha avoided his gaze, but his face was red. “Um. Yeah. She’d love that water. There’s a filter pitcher full of water in the refrigerator.”

Bandit gave a sharp nod, even though no one looked at him. “On it.” He filled the glass as Sacha helped Baba from the chair they had put her in after lifting her from the floor. She leaned heavily on Sacha as they headed down the hall.

Artem reached for the glass he held. “I’ll take that to her.”

Bandit passed it along. “Thanks.”

Artem dipped his chin and turned away. He froze and turned back Bandit’s way. “Thank you. Sacha deserves to have something in his life beyond all this. He does too much for us.”

Bandit heard the guilt. His heart went out to him. “You don’t have to thank me for that.”

A bright smile lit Artem’s face. “By the way, Baba says you’re a good boy, and judging by the noises you had Sacha making, you also know how to do that good fucking. Roughly translated.”

A bark of laughter burst from Bandit even as horror washed over him. He hadn’t considered the noise. His face had to be as red as his hair. Thankfully, Artem was already heading down the hall.

Bandit made his way back to Sacha’s room. Waves of embarrassment kept washing over him. He couldn’t believe Sacha’s grandmother had heard all of that. Bandit didn’t know how he would look her in the eye. He supposed he would find out because he wasn’t going anywhere.

Bandit stripped and crawled back into bed. This final burst of adrenaline had him wiped out, and the exhaustion made itself known. He dozed without meaning to. Bandit didn’t realize it until the bed dipped beside him. He reached out and hauled Sacha into his arms.

“You need some sleep, angel.”

Sacha kissed his chest but didn’t speak. He felt the way he shook. Bandit held him tighter and kissed his head. Sacha had tried to spare him from this. Bandit didn’t want that. He had been that guy his whole life. He had taken care of Baylor, and now Sacha needed him. Bandit was more than not going anywhere now that Sacha had let him in. He was ready to take over his life.

Chapter Five

Sacha thought of nothingexcept Bandit fixing that glass of water. For most people, it was likely such a small thing. For Sacha, it was everything. No one had stepped in and volunteered a single damn thing since Baba’s care had fallen on him. A simple glass of water said everything about Bandit. Sacha smiled just thinking his name.

Each time his roses died, Bandit replaced them. Currently, they were dead since they hadn’t seen each other in two weeks. That was on Sacha. His schedule had been super crazy with Baylor out of town. Coupling that with Bandit’s schedule made everything harder. Sacha was willing to work at it. He was still worried about Baylor’s reaction, though. If Baylor flipped, Bandit woulddefinitely choose Baylor. Bandit had assured him his job wasn’t on the line. Sacha swung back and forth on if he believed that.

Sacha raced around, gathering his things. Baylor still had two days left of his month-long honeymoon. Even though he had hired two more people to help Sacha, the meetings with clients always fell to him when Baylor wasn’t around. He barely had any time left before he would need to leave if he wanted to get there on time. The doorbell rang. A growl rose in Sacha’s throat. He felt like his life was always like this. There was always something that needed to be done. He never got to stop and enjoy the things he actually liked doing. Sacha understood that was life. Still, sometimes, he felt like his best years were slipping away.

He rushed to the front door. As he yanked it open, his irritation died. A smile exploded across his face that came from his soul.

“Hey.”

Sacha pushed aside the gorgeous roses Bandit held and captured his lips. He felt the stress fall away as their tongues played. Their kiss was a healing balm on his frayed nerves. He pulled away. “Hey.” Sacha sounded breathless and didn’t care.

Bandit’s gorgeous smile nearly made him sigh. “Sorry for not calling first, but that was totally worth the risk.”

Sacha chuckled as he stepped back, inviting Bandit inside. “I’m over the stars to see you, or whatever the saying is. Unfortunately, I also am about to leave. With Baylor still gone, I’m handling all the client meetings.”

“It’s okay. Five minutes is better than nothing. I could drive you.”

“That’s—” Sacha’s phone rang, cutting off his words. He pulled it from his pocket and checked the face. “Sorry. It’s Artem. Give me just a second.” He put the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“You’re going to hate me.”

Sacha automatically pinched the spot between his eyes. “That’s not possible.”

Artem blew out a tired-sounding breath, proving how overwhelmed he was too. “I know Baba has an appointment, but I won’t be home in time to take her. They’ve moved up my project presentation to today.”

Sacha found the first flat surface and sat. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t take her. Baylor is still out of town and I’m meeting with a client. If I lose this big of a contract, I could lose my job. Then what? You won’t have a school to do projects for. I also can’t cancel Baba’s appointment. She’s already been waiting six months to see this specialist, and we can’t afford Dana for more days this week.”

“Put her in an Uber. I should be able to pick her up from the appointment.”

Sacha fought the urge to growl. “Put her.” He stopped and took a breath when his voice came out enraged. Sacha tempered histone and tried again. “I can’t put her in an Uber. She can’t make it to the kitchen to get water without falling.”

“I’ll take her.”

---