Bitter Taffy Read Free Page B

think the dangerous soldier who had grown up around the terrified boy was the real Adam at all.
    “Whyfor?” Rico asked, blinking. “And what the fuck is this thing on my throat?”
    Adam scooped up the fuzzy thing, then shifted it back about six inches to Rico’s stomach, where it regarded Rico from a pair of somber gold eyes.
    “Rico, Jake. Jake, Rico. Rico, this is your cat. You told me to pick one after Gonzo died and I did. He’s all your fault. Anyway, we’re taking Clopper out for his morning dump. You’re getting up and showering so my boyfriend doesn’t have to see you naked, ’cause I don’t like competition.”
    “Nice. I could shower after you leave for work.”
    “Not if you’re coming with us,” Adam said, his tone brooking no bullshit. “Finn’s dropping me off at work, and you’re bringing your laptop. You can hang out in his parents’ deli and surf for a job—they got Wi-Fi, and it’s a good spring day.”
    Rico blinked and wrapped his arm around Jake the cat, who drooled on him in retaliation. “I was gonna—”
    “Wallow,” Adam said bluntly. “You were gonna hang out, pet the cat, and wish you were dead. Then you were gonna call your moms and not come out, and that woulda made you feel worse. Then you were gonna eat all the soup, all the bread, and most of the butter, not to mention the cookies we got in the freezer—”
    “Cookies?” Rico said hopefully.
    “I work in a candy store,” Adam wheedled. “Get your ass up and dressed and I’ll get you some chocolate truffles that’ll give you a boner.”
    Rico glared at him. “That’s a lie. There’s no such thing.”
    “As a boner? I beg to differ.” Adam smirked, so playful and so earnest that Rico couldn’t help it.
    “Okay, fine. I’ll get up and shower and dress and go sleep sitting down in a café—”
    “You can sleep upstairs from the café,” Finn said, surprising him. “It’s supposed to be my apartment, but it’s only got a single bed. Dad’s been using it as an office since me and Adam started sleeping here….” Finn grimaced. “I, uh… I mean, you probably want your bed back….”
    Jake the cat purred comfortingly on Rico’s stomach, and Rico thought about how different this morning would have gone if Adam hadn’t been here with Finn and his bright and shiny new life and the hope that Finn seemed to have given him.
    “Naw,” he said, thinking, Hey, not like I’m gonna be doing anything hinky here anyway. “If you guys don’t mind a roommate, I don’t mind the couch.”
    “Great!” Finn smiled, and Rico wondered why Adam didn’t wear sunglasses all day. “C’mon, Adam—let’s let him get ready!”
    And like that, Adam snapped the lead on Clopper’s halter and Finn grabbed the shit-sacks (Finn’s word) and they went running out into the early spring day.
    Leaving Rico with maybe a twenty-minute window to not be naked and embarrassed when they got back. He was used to his building in New York now, where if he was lucky, the water lasted long enough for him to soap the half inch of his hair that had grown out. He was out in five, freshly shaved in ten, and had dressed and started the coffee before Adam and Finn came back in, smelling like incipient warmth and exertion, and bickering companionably.
    “He will not,” Adam said as they came through the door. “He doesn’t know me—”
    “From Adam!” Finn cracked.
    Adam’s grunt sounded hard put-upon. “That’s right, Finn. The guy don’t know me from Adam—”
    “He’s hit on you like twelve times—”
    “Like once—”
    “Twice—I was there the second time, remember?”
    Adam looked up at Finn blankly. “He wasn’t hitting on me then,” he said, completely sincere. “He was giving me a job, remember?”
    Finn gaped back, flailing his hands and sputtering. “I… don’t you… holy jebus mother trucking fucker! He’s your boss ,Adam. I mean, he gives you small jobs and takes a percentage and… he knows you.