Page 168 of Still Bruised
He’d known.
In time, Jude might finally be able to say it with ease, and Foster couldn’t wait for that day. Luckily, he was a patient man.
31
The following March…
Foster paced Jude’s living room, unsure what the hold-up was. He checked his watch again. They were already late. Much longer and the event would be halfway over before they arrived. Not that he was in a rush. He’d said he didn’t even want to go. It was Jude who’d been adamant that they should. He walked over to the bedroom door and opened it a crack, to check on progress.
Jude sat on the corner of the bed, fully dressed. He hunched over, his elbows on his knees, appearing deep in thought.
“Hey,”Foster said softly.
Jude glanced up, his eyes wide with panic.
“Wedon’thave to go.”
Jude sat up straighter and brushed the wrinkles out in his dress pants. “We do.” He shook his head.“Ido.” He rose from the bed. “They have to see they didn’t break me. Not for good, anyway.”
Foster searched Jude’s face a few seconds. “Are you ready?”
Jude straightened out the thin sweater he was wearing and swallowed. “Yeah.”
Before they walked downstairs, Foster pressed a gentle kiss to Jude’s lips and then his forehead. “I’m going to be there the whole time. Right by your side. So will our friends.”
Anton, Roan, Mia, and Cary had already planned to create a perimeter around him. All night, if they had to. Jude wasn’t aware of that plan, though likely sensed it.
“I know,” Jude whispered. He lifted his gaze to Foster. “Thank you.”
Foster gave Jude a small smile. “Nothing to thank me for.”
They walked downstairs and slipped into Foster’s SUV. It didn’t take them long to arrive at their destination. As soon as they pulled into the lot, Foster sent a quick text to Anton to let them all know they’d arrived and would be inside as soon as Jude was ready.
Jude’s breathing had quickened the minute they’d turned onto the street. He sat silently beside Foster, clenching and unclenching his fists.
“We can sit here as long as you need,” Foster murmured. “There’s no rush.”
Jude reached over and grasped his hand, sliding his fingers through Foster’s. He squeezed it tight before breathing deep. Heslowly let it out and steadied his breathing. “I can do this.” He turned to look at Foster. “Let’s go.”
They exited the car and rounded the front of the vehicle before clasping hands again.
Clouds drifted past the nearly full moon, and the night brightened. Foster got his first look at Eastfield High School in fifteen years. It didn’t look any different yet somehow did. Likely, the difference was him, so far gone from the boy he’d once been.
Yet there were still parts of him there, under the surface.
He turned to eye Jude’s profile. He was the same boy who’d had a crush on the goth kid in skinny jeans. The same boy who’d wanted that kiss so desperately he could’ve lost himself to get it. Maybe he did lose himself after, when he’d hidden away in fear.
But no more. He squeezed Jude’s hand a little tighter.
There was no more fear. He was a proud gay man walking into the gymnasium adorned with crepe paper and bunting alongside the man he loved.
The man they’d almost broken.
Jude came to a halt just outside the front doors and took a deep breath.
Foster scanned around them to make sure there was no threat of Rick or his group around—not that they’d seen him since the fire station when Jude knocked him on his ass. Foster worried, though. The reunion would be the worst time for Rick to plan some revenge, especially when Jude had been doing so well. That was the main reason Foster hadn’t wanted to go.
No one hung in the parking lot, but he hadn’t really expected anyone to be. The event was already in full swing. Muted music, voices, and laughter wafted their way. It got louder when the front door opened.
