The Brick Yard (18 page)

Lucky lifted the bottom of his T-shirt and wiped the sweat from his face, taking special care with the bruises and scrapes. “I guess we worked it out.” He lowered his shirt. “Did you know Brick helped Mac get this place?”

Dray shook his head.

“Yeah,” Lucky confirmed. “I wonder how many other people Brick’s helped through the years.” He stopped walking when they were outside the door to the gym. “What kind of fucked up world do we live in when someone as good as Brick dies when someone as evil as my mother is given a second chance at life?” He blew out a long breath. “Sorry. I still don’t know how to feel about my mom.”

“I can understand that.” Dray sat on the sidewalk, resting his back against the building, in hopes that he could get Lucky to keep talking. “I would imagine it’s nice to see your mom clean and sober for a change, but you’re angry that it happened now instead of years ago.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Lucky didn’t sit, instead he started to pace back and forth in front of Dray. “She always told me that bad people get what they deserve.” He tilted his head back and let out a growl of frustration that echoed against the brick buildings.

Dray remembered what Jax had told him about Lucky’s mumblings on the night of his beating. “Bad people or bad boys?”

Lucky’s entire body jerked as if Dray had just delivered a knock-out blow. After several moments, he stared daggers at Dray. “I’m not done running. Why don’t you go in and check on Jax.”

Lucky took off at a dead run before Dray could get to his feet. “Fuck!” Dray spat. As he watched Lucky pound down the sidewalk, Dray swore he could see the ghost of a small boy chasing him.

Once Lucky had rounded the corner, Dray pulled out his keys and unlocked the front door. He glanced at the small light that Lucky must’ve left on when he’d closed the gym earlier. Whether Lucky wanted to realize it or not, he’d already begun to slip into Brick’s shoes. “Jax?” he called. He didn’t want to frighten the kid, and he had no doubt Jax had heard the door open.

“Hey.” Jax came out of the laundry room. “Is something wrong with Brick?” he asked, worry in his voice.

“No. I went for a run with Lucky, so I thought I’d stop by and check on you. You’re not still working, are you?” Dray asked, walking across the expansive two-story space of the gym.

“Homework.” Jax leaned against the doorframe. “Lucky attacked me with Silly String earlier.” He chuckled. “It took me forever to get it cleaned up, which put me behind schedule.” He wandered back to the scarred table. “Chemistry.” He groaned. “Sucks!”

Dray walked into the room and sat on the corner of the table. “Sorry, can’t help you.” He’d barely made it through high school because he’d been so immersed in training that he’d cared about little else.

“Yeah, neither can God evidently, because I’ve been begging him all evening.” Jax tapped the end of his pencil against the thick textbook. “Is Lucky okay?”

“He’s working through shit, but he’ll be okay,” Dray said, knowing Jax had his own problems to deal with. “Has your dad been around?”

Jax shook his head. “He doesn’t know about this place. I saw him waiting for me outside school yesterday, but I spotted him and used the exit out the back.”

Dray had given Jax’s situation a lot of thought. Legally, Jax’s father could go to the cops and get his son back, but according to Lucky, he didn’t think Jax’s dad would do that. However, the fact that The Brick Yard was harboring a runaway could get Brick, Lucky and Dray in trouble with the authorities. It was a fucked up situation, but one Brick had been willing to risk everything on for years. The answer to the problem was to become a foster parent to Jax, but that process required extensive background checks. He studied his tattoo covered arms. For the first time in his life, he worried what another person might think of his ink. Would the foster care officials take one look at his tatted up skin and deem him unworthy? Then, of course, there was the gay thing. And, the fact that he didn’t even have a home in Chicago.
Christ.
There was no way in fuck they’d let him be a foster parent.

“Well, until I can figure something else out, just keep your eyes open,” Dray finally said.

“Yeah, I get ya.” Jax glanced back at his book. “Lucky’s mom seemed nice to me, but I could tell by the way he reacted to her that she isn’t. It made me wonder what other people see when they look at my dad.”

“Appearances can be deceiving. That’s for sure,” Dray agreed. He pointed to Jax’s homework. “You almost done?”

Jax looked at the page in front of him. “Six more problems to answer.”

“Is the rest of your homework done?” Dray stood.

“Yep, this is the last of it. Don’t worry. I plan to go to bed the minute I’m done.”

“Good deal.” Dray moved toward the door. “I’ll lock the front door when I leave, but Lucky’s still out there somewhere, so don’t freak if he shows up again.”

* * * *

After only a few hours of sleep, Lucky shuffled into his kitchen to find Dray leaning against the counter, staring at the coffee pot. He wrapped his arms around Dray’s waist. “Can’t you make that brew any faster?”

Dray reached back and slapped Lucky’s ass. “I wish.”

Lucky rested his chin on Dray’s shoulder. After a punishing run, he’d returned to his apartment to find Dray sound asleep in his bed. He’d taken a shower and joined Dray under the covers. Dray had curled around him, but that was it. For the first time since they’d been together, they hadn’t had sex. “Are you mad at me?”

“No. Why would I be?” Dray withdrew cups from the cupboard.

“Because of the way I acted last night.” Lucky kissed the tattooed skin between Dray’s shoulder blades. “We didn’t have sex.”

Dray poured two cups of coffee before turning around, leaving the coffee on the counter. He cupped Lucky’s ass and pulled him closer. “We don’t have to fuck every time we’re together. You had a bad night, and I thought maybe it would be better to just hold you.”

“I don’t understand. Why would you want to sleep with me if you didn’t wanna fuck?” Lucky knew he probably sounded crass, but he needed to know.

Dray stared at Lucky, his mouth set in a thin line. “What kind of asshole do you think I am?”

Lucky took a step back, unsure how to take Dray’s obvious anger. “I don’t think you’re an asshole.”

“Then why…?” Dray sighed. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

“Evidently not, because I can’t figure out why the fuck you’re mad at me all the sudden,” Lucky said.

“Because I care for you. This isn’t just about sex for me, but I can see you feel differently.” Dray turned his back on Lucky and lifted his cup to his lips. “If sex from me is all you’re after, that’s fine, but you should have said something before now.”

Lucky’s chest felt tight as he tried to comprehend Dray’s words. “You care about me?”

Dray punched the cabinet door in front of him, cracking the cheap wood from top to bottom. “Fuck!” He shook his head and several drops of blood splattered onto the floor.

Lucky rushed forward and grabbed a dishtowel. “Did you break it?”

Dray took the towel from Lucky and wrapped it around his hand. “Don’t worry about it.” He pushed past Lucky and left the apartment without putting a shirt on.

Lucky stood in the middle of the kitchen, wondering what in the hell he’d just done.

Chapter Ten

Dray was working his frustration out on the heavy bag with Jax sitting on a stool nearby. With his hand fucked up, he was forced to stick to his legs and his left hand, but he was slowly bringing his blood pressure down.

“Why’d you quit?” Jax asked.

Dray glanced at Jax. “Didn’t Brick tell you?”

Jax shook his head. “He said you had some personal problems,” he admitted.

“The fans found out I’m gay and turned their backs on me.” Dray kicked the bag several times, switching from foot to foot.

When Jax remained quiet, Dray was suddenly afraid he’d lost the respect of the teenager. He stopped and faced Jax. “Does that bother you?”

Jax shook his head. “I go to school with some gay kids, and they’re pretty cool.” He gestured to Dray’s bandaged hand. “How’d that happen?”

“Got pissed and punched the kitchen cupboard.” Dray frowned. “I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“I’ll remember that. What made you so mad?” Jax asked.

“Do you always ask so many questions?” Dray left Jax sitting by the heavy bag and went over to the speed bag. Using only his left hand, he started a rhythm.

“I’m not trying to be nosey or anything,” Jax said, setting his stool down before climbing onto it. “I need to tell you something, and I need to make sure it’s not going to make you madder before I do.”

“You can tell me anything,” Dray said, not taking his eyes off the speed bag.

“That night Lucky came here and he was so beat up, he said something that I didn’t understand at the time, but I’ve been thinking about it, and I think you should know.”

The mention of Lucky’s name got Dray’s full attention. “What’d he say?”

Jax shifted on his stool, clearly uncomfortable. “I think he thought I was you because he said I was his world, the only man he’d ever wanted, but that he couldn’t have me because he didn’t deserve me then he went on about being a bad boy.”

Speed bag forgotten, Dray dropped his arms to his sides. Although he’d suspected Lucky cared more than he’d let on, it was Lucky’s incoherent mumblings to Jax that sealed Lucky’s fate, as far as Dray was concerned. Knowing what he did now, there was no way in hell he was going to let Lucky push him away.

Jax climbed off the stool and stood. “Why does Lucky think he’s so bad?”

“I don’t know. I think it has something to do with his mom.” Dray picked up a towel and wiped the sweat from his head and chest. He still didn’t know what haunted Lucky, but he knew the biggest and baddest monster in Lucky’s closet was his own mother. “I don’t suppose you know what her name is?”

“Alana. I heard Flint call her that after Lucky left with her.”

Dray remembered Lucky saying his mom was living at a halfway house. He didn’t know how many were in the area, but it was worth looking for her.

* * * *

Although he’d never set eyes on Alana Gunn, Dray knew who she was the moment she walked out of the house. “Alana?”

Stopping abruptly, Alana stared at Dray with fear in her eyes. “I don’t do that anymore.”

Dray ground his teeth. “I’m not a fucking dealer,” he growled. “I want to talk to you about Lucky.”

“Does he owe you money?”

Dray tried his best to control his temper. “No. I’m a friend of his.” He scanned the rundown neighborhood. “Is there somewhere we could go to talk?”

Alana bit her upper lip before pointing to a small bench at the side of the house. “I have to catch the bus in twenty minutes.”

Twenty minutes wouldn’t give him enough time to figure out what the hell the monster in front of him had done to her son, but it was better than nothing. “Okay.” He followed her around the side of the house and sat down. “I know you’re trying to straighten your life out, but I’m worried about Lucky. A close friend of his, Brick, is dying, and Lucky’s not taking it well. It seems to be bringing up some bad memories for him, and I thought maybe you’d be willing to help me understand what’s going on in his head.”

Alana set her purse on her lap and withdrew a pack of cigarettes. “Don’t bother trying to understand him. Lucky’s always been screwed up.” She lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply before blowing out a stream of smoke. “When he was young, he used to purposely do things to make me angry.”

“Like what?”
Ask for food?
The longer Dray sat next to the woman, the more he grew to hate her.

“Cry nonstop, for one.” She sighed. “He’d do anything to get my attention. Once, he flushed an entire bag of pills down the toilet.” Shaking her head, she took another puff. “Needless to say, he didn’t do that more than once.”

“Why? What did you do to him?” Dray asked, although he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“Me? I didn’t do anything. I tried beating him once when he was little and a neighbor saw me, said she’d call social services if she ever saw me hit him again. I couldn’t have that because I needed the welfare check.” Alana snorted. “After that, I made him punish himself. Bad boys need to be punished, but I didn’t need to go to jail for it or lose my food stamps.”

Bile rose in his throat as he fought the urge to hit the bitch. Never in his life had he hit a woman nor had he been tempted, but at that moment, he wanted to feel his fist smash against the woman’s face. He fought to control his anger as he shoved his hands into his pockets. “How did he punish himself?”

Alana dropped the half-smoked cigarette and crushed it under her shoe. “I need to catch my bus.”

Dray jumped in front of her, blocking her path. “Not until you tell me how you made him punish himself.”

She scowled up at him. “Why should I? So you can look down your nose at me? I did the best I could. Raising a kid like him wasn’t easy.”

“You’re garbage,” Dray said. “Even sober, you’re garbage.” He jabbed his finger toward her face. “Stay the fuck away from Lucky.” He strode away from Alana, hoping he’d never see her spiteful face again. He still didn’t know the full story of Lucky’s past, but he had a much better idea of why Lucky found the idea of someone wanting to spend time with him for something other than sex so alien. Lucky didn’t seem to recognize love when it was being directed at him, and Dray had no doubt it was because he hadn’t been shown an ounce of it as a child.

The problem was, how did he show someone who’d never felt loved that he loved them? He’d stupidly believed he’d been doing a damn good job of telling Lucky without words how he felt, but he’d obviously been mistaken. Sadly, the way things were between them, Dray wasn’t even certain Lucky would believe him if he came right out and declared his feelings. Nope. He needed to find another way.

* * * *

Lucky was sitting beside Brick’s bed, watching the old man sleep, when the door behind him opened. He glanced over his shoulder to see Dray’s handsome face.