Loki exhaled and stepped close, resting his cheek on Jack’s arm. “Me neither,” he whispered.
Jack gently petted Loki’s head. “I can be myself with you in a way I never know how to with girls.”
Loki chuckled and slid his hands around Jack’s waist, eager to just melt into his firm muscle. “You treat me so well.”
“Do I?” Jack shook his head with a lost expression. “I’m sorry I hit you.”
Loki shrugged, breathing in the leathery scent of Jack’s cut. “You’re so different than my other boyfriends. You take responsibility.”
“I bet that Richard guy was responsible. He had a career, and all that,” Jack mumbled.
“Nah, he was a fucking douchebag. He just wanted other people to think he was all that.” Loki frowned and nuzzled Jack’s arm. “Everything was always my fault, including his problems at work.”
“You said it yourself, I’m not a good guy. I bet you wouldn’t be behind bars now if it wasn’t for me.”
“I would stay here, if it meant you wouldn’t have to worry about the police. I can see you’re worried,” Loki whispered, squeezing Jack’s hand, which was oddly cold.
Jack rubbed his forehead and his frown deepened. “I just keep thinking about your illness, and that you could have died in that car, and the last thing between us would’ve been ‘fuck you’. And now your nose is bleeding again, and I need you out of here, not stressing out over this. Fuck.”
Loki bit into his bottom lip, blinking away the wetness that suddenly flooded his eyes. He’d wanted a connection such as this his entire life, yet now it felt bittersweet. He’d broken into Jack’s life, got what he wanted, but what would happen to Jack when Loki died? He hadn’t thought of that. Before, his thinking only went as far as having someone love and pamper him on his death bed. The fate of that person - irrelevant. He wasn’t even sure what he had hoped for when he decided to make the redhaired douchebag fall for him, and now it seemed like such a selfish thing to do.
“I’m fine.”
Jack wiped the tears off Loki’s cheeks. “You’re not fine. I’ll call Sam to come and get you out of here. You’re ill. He’ll take you to our house, and you can pay him back with my money. You just go lie down, and they’ll probably let me out in the morning. It’s like a free hotel, right? Fuckin’ couchsurfing with the cops.” He let out a laugh, but his face was tense.
Loki hugged him tight, overwhelmed by the need to be close. Our house, Jack had said. Loki had no idea when it had happened, but Jack had unlocked something that Loki didn’t know he had, a tenderness he never before wanted to express. And now, he was more worried about Jack than he was about himself. “Wouldn’t it be better if I stayed here?”
“In no world are you staying locked up here for the night alone.” Jack shook his head and walked over to the bars. He banged on them before Loki could get a word in.
Loki gasped and touched Jack’s back. “What about you? They were fucking cunts to you.”
“Guess that’s what I get for being a fag.” Jack took a deep breath and put his head against one of the bars.
Loki exhaled, stunned by Jack’s honesty. “I mean... you’re clearly bisexual... and even if, they still have no right,” said Loki, even though he knew that nothing in the world worked like it should in theory. He knew that all too well.
“I’ve had worse from cops. I’ll be all right. I just wish… we’d waited to get home.”
Loki couldn’t argue with that. He gently squeezed Jack’s fingers but stepped away when he heard footsteps approaching.
It was a different policeman this time, but just like the others he let his eyes linger on the patches at the front of Jack’s vest.
“What is it?”
“I’m allowed a call, right? Still waitin’.”
The policeman glared at Red Jack, but pulled out the keys to the cell. “Make it quick.”
Chapter 24
Loki did get released, and the hours since Sam had come for him were dragging in the lonely cell, but at least Red Jack knew Loki was safe and recovering. Everything else was a blur now. Sam not meeting Red Jack’s gaze, stupid comments from the police, being seen as a fag, Loki getting a headache and real bad nausea…
When keys rattled against the door down the corridor, Red Jack stiffened and sat down on the bench in the cell, trying to look relaxed, but he was listening to every single step, assessing the weight and age of the officer coming his way. He swallowed as the brisk, energetic footsteps came closer, culminating in him seeing the slim feet on the other side of the bars.