Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 127213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
It was better this way, since the last time Ezra had seen Dex, the hands that prepared the homemade meals had been covered in human blood. The last thing Ezra needed in his current state was to confront the person who still came back to him in violent nightmares.
Frank was always there to calm him, but a brief shake of Ezra’s shoulder was the only thing he could do, because Ezra did not want hugs, stroking, or any physical contact that wasn’t strictly necessary. The perspective of taking him home later today filled Frank with dread, but his own feelings and sense of duty were not dependent on whether Ezra loved him back, so he’d protect him and help him recover for however long it took.
He owed Ezra that much for all the lies he’d fed him.
“Hey! Sorry I’m late,” Dex yelled from afar, earning himself a glare from a janitor. “This douchebag parked in the spot for disabled people, and I had to park all the way at the back. And there was a bunch of pigeons there, and one had no leg, so I felt bad for it, and ended up giving it some bread.”
Frank took a second to process the jumble of words as Dex approached with a large cooler bag. “What? You’re not disabled.”
Dex rolled his eyes. “I’d just be in and out, no biggie. And that car was a silver McLaren 720S with custom matte bodywork. So this person is for sure not disabled, because where would you even fit a wheelchair in that kind of vehicle?” He looked so certain of his logic, Frank hated to burst his bubble.
“There’s disabilities that have nothing to do with being in a wheelchair.”
Dex shrugged. “Oh, yeah? So why does the sign have a wheelchair on it? It’s for people in—”
“Dex, just give me the food while it’s still hot.”
Dex rolled his eyes and handed over the bag. “Easy, you must be really hungry. I packed an extra portion, because I went a bit overboard with the broth. Hammer really loves authentic ramen, so I learned how to make it on YouTube, from this Japanese lady’s channel. There’s subtitles, and everything, but I still messed it up the first two times. It’s a lot more work than making ramen from a packet. You have to cook the meat and bones for a long time, and add special ingredients I had to go all the way to Pittsburgh for, but it’s all worth it. You know people dry fish and then grate it, like it’s cheese?”
That gave Frank pause. “What? Like… flakes out of fish?”
Dex instantly picked up on that. “Well… not like normal fish meat flakes. It’s those paper-thin strips. And it’s so good. Hammer loves my ramen. Now that I learned so much about making it from scratch, I experiment with it anyway. I’ll put in some chicken nuggets, or add hot sauce.”
“I hope these don’t have nuggets? When Ezra still spoke to me, he used to say nuggets are fifty percent meat, fifty percent poison.” He’d once made his own version, using fresh chicken from a deli, and then baked them in the oven in a coating made of cornflakes. They were so delicious Frank still fondly thought back to that meal. Everything Ezra had cooked for him had been a delight. Partially because it was homemade from fresh ingredients, partially because it was made out of care for Frank.
Being rejected by him was like physical pain, but Frank had been through a lot, so what was another blow?
Dex snorted. “Nah, I know your boy is fancy, so I put some pork in there, and egg, and sesame oil. Oh, and spring onion, of course. Don’t you think it’s a weird name, by the way? Spring onion? If it only grows in spring, how come we can easily get it all year round? And is it even an onion, or do we call it that because the root looks a bit like an onion, so they were lazy naming it?”
Frank shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Dex cocked his head. “You okay, Frank? Are you exhausted over being in the hospital all the time? Or are you upset he won’t be able to give you head for a while?”
Frank growled like a bear woken early from hibernation. “It’s not all about sex!”
Dex raised his hands. “Okay, okay, though you gotta admit it’s kinda about sex if you paid him for it? You could have said you were this horny. I have friends I could have hooked you up with.”
Frank counted to ten, but the anger wouldn’t dissipate. “Friends who can handle the kind of work we do? I don’t want to date some biker psycho. I want him.”
Dex’s brows lowered, and he sighed, shaking his head. “It got you good, Frank, didn’t it?” He stepped forward and pulled Frank into a hug. “Don’t worry, he’ll be better soon. The doctor said it’ll all heal with time, right?”