Page 76 of Nugget

Leo had a life, a job, friends. Gavin was terrified that if Leo left his sight, he might not ever see his brother again.

Before he could figure out what he wanted to do, Stryker glanced up at the doorway. “What do you have there, Papi?”

Gavin strode forward.

He stopped beside his brother and crouched, placing the box on the coffee table. “I went back to our house.”

Leo leaned forward.

“There wasn’t much I could scavenge. Some of Grandma’s canned food and a shovel from the shed, I think.” It was hard to remember. That had been so long ago. All Gavin really knew was everything had been gone.

Leo snapped his head to Aaron. “I knew someone had been there. I told you that they’d gotten in the cellar.”

Aaron patted Leo’s shoulder. “It could have been anyone. There were lots of us that had lost everything. Scavenging was common in that time.”

Leo nodded. “What if we just missed him? Or if we’d stayed longer, we’d have found him?”

Aaron sighed. “There’s no way to know. Don’t start playing the what if game.”

Gavin had to agree. It wouldn’t do either of them any good to wonder what could have been. If Gavin had been rescued by the council, would he have made the same choices as Leo or would he have sought out a family?

Eventually Gavin had found a family.

His family.

Axel and Bryce, Nate, Bo, and Craig, Drake, Lawson, River, Anton, Rainier, Shawn and Sam, Trevor and Anton, Seb, Ash, Adam and Mal, Levi, Mason, Jason, and Tristan, Logan, Dean, and Noah, Lucifer, Cary, and Gage, and the demons that were just joining them like Atom and Ari. It had taken longer than he’d liked but he wasn’t without those that he loved.

His finger shook as he opened the box.

Stryker and Aaron also leaned forward to see.

“I couldn’t find much,” Gavin said again in a whisper. “But I took these.” Carefully he picked up the old burnt photographs. The one on top had the edges burnt so badly that they crumbled. Right in the middle of the photo, yellowed and aged by the years, was the image of Gavin and Leo smiling. Gavin was missing both his front teeth.

“Fuck!” Leo’s finger hovered over the photo.

“It’s all I had left,” Gavin said thickly. Emotion once again overwhelming him.

He had spent a lot of time on his own. Gavin set the photo back in the box. He only had about six and all of them were damaged. “Anyway, you had one photo. I had these.” He went to stand but Leo grabbed his hand. Leo squeezed his fingers tight and nodded but didn’t say anything.

Gavin appreciated it.

Leo released Gavin’s hand and Gavin returned to Stryker. He sat and this time it was Stryker who slid onto his lap without any coaxing. Just having Stryker with him helped calm the feelings rolling inside him.

Rain still fell lightly out the window of the cabin, but he didn’t know if that was his doing, Leo’s, or a mixture of both.

“I have one more question,” Stryker said.

“Sure. Then you can tell us how you ended up here with my brother,” Leo replied.

“Oh!” Stryker clapped. That was the best story ever.

Gavin snorted. He wondered just how much truth was going to be in Stryker’s story. He was a hacker and a thief after all, and Leo worked for the council. Maybe he should be worried.

“So,” Stryker drawled. “How long have the two of you been fucking?”

Chapter Thirteen

Stryker

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