Owning It (Metropolis #3)(66)

The kid's eyes go wide. "How can you be sorry that I got hurt when I hurt you?" The look on his face tells me he hasn't had a whole lot of kindness in his life. He hasn't had a whole lot of people who cared if he was hurt.

"Believe me. If you would have asked me a year ago, I never would have believed it either. Come on. You can walk home with us," Gary replies but gets a headshake in return.

"I couldn't do that."

"What if Peter-"

"I'll get him home," Frankie interrupts Gary. His response doesn't surprise me in the least. That's Frankie. He's always looking out for someone. He gets wide, confused eyes in return.

"Call me if you need anything," I tell him. Frankie nods at me, squeezes my shoulder, and then disappears with the kid.

"Jesus, I want to fucking kill that bastard." Travis pulls Gary to his chest and kisses the top of his head.

"He's not worth it," Gary tells him.

"You're worth it."

Gary nods, pushes onto his toes, and kisses Travis.

"Ugh. You guys are so fucking sweet," Derek says, and everyone laughs. It's the perfect break in the heavy tension drowning all of us. He's good at that-reading people and being what they need. I wish people were what Derek needed more too. My hand itches to touch him, so I wrap an arm around him and pull him close too. 

"Aww, I'll be sweet to you too, boy."

Derek playfully tries to push me away while grasping on to me too. Hayden gives him a smile that says he sees past Derek's façade the same way I do.

"I don't know about you guys, but I say we bring this party back to Metropolis. We have a couple of bottles of good shit and I think we could all use it after tonight," Cody says.

Hayden pushes his glasses up his nose and says, "Fuck yes."

I look down at Derek, waiting to see his reply. "Are you kidding me right now?" he asks, reading my question. "It isn't a party without me. Of course we're going."

There's another laugh, and I get a tightness in my chest that had been accompanying thoughts of Derek a whole lot lately.

We make our way back to Metropolis and then head up to Hayden and Cody's place. They live in the same tower as Derek. As soon as we step inside, Cody walks into the kitchen and pulls out a couple of bottles of liquor.

"I think Gary deserves the first glass," Hayden says. Cody passes one to him before filling the others up. We make our way to the living room. I pull Derek onto my lap, Travis doing the same with Gary, while Hayden and Cody sit side by side.

"So … Peter is even more of a dickhead than we thought," Derek says.

"Yeah, he is," Hayden replies.

"I still want to fucking kill him," Travis adds.

"I'll help," Cody jumps in.

"I don't know the whole story, but I'm thinking I like Travis and Cody's idea." Derek looks over his shoulder at me and smiles at my response.

"Ooh. I like it when Daddy Jackson gets all tough. Can we use the spare bedroom?"

"No!" Hayden says at the same time as Cody's, "Sure."

"If I wasn't so pissed right now, I would not be leaving you alone about this shit, Derek. Tell me you know it," Travis says, and by this shit, I'm assuming he means my relationship with Derek. I have a feeling this is a first … Derek having someone here with him. Not being the odd man out.

"You're just jealous I don't want to fuck you anymore," Derek counters and a growl starts deep in my chest.

"Jesus, that's hot too. I didn't really want him, Daddy. Just wanted to make him feel good."

That earns Derek a, "Pfft," from Travis.

They talk a little more about the new discovery tonight and fill me in on the rest of the story. By the end of it, I'm ready to head out with Cody and Travis and find the motherfucker and kick his ass too.

Every time we're empty, Cody fills our glasses. There's a lot of teasing and laughter and friendship.

I like these people, I realize. I like them a lot. I'm glad that Derek has them and for the first time in years, I feel as though I've met people who are more like-minded than my friends with Steph. I feel comfortable around them and can feel how much they all care about each other.

My arms tighten around Derek.

"Oh, Cody. Show him the sketch," Hayden says. I frown, unsure what he's talking about.

"I'm a little drunk. I don't know if I can move," Cody replies, but Hayden nudges him until he gets up and disappears into their room. He comes out a few minutes later with a piece of paper he hands to Derek.

"You have a character now, man. It's kind of my thing," Cody says to me, which makes me lean forward and look at the paper with Derek.

I see his character, the one he told me about-Bottom Boy, who looks exactly like Derek, in a Speedo and cape. But as I scan the page, follow Bottom Boy in his little adventure, I see a drawing that looks a whole hell of a lot like me-Bottom Boy calls him Daddy Jackson and then proceeds to wrap his daddy around his finger.