Page 33 of Baiting Kong

“Looks better than anything I could cobble together,” Creature admitted as he grabbed a couple sodas from the fridge and set them down beside their plates. “Did you enjoy your day off?”

“I feel a little like I wasted it,” Axel said as he cut pieces for them.

“How so?”

“Just used to spending my days off trying to get the trailer back to some halfway livable condition in between laundry and a mound of dishes and trash that never seemed to shrink,” Axel admitted. “There wasn’t much to do here once I finished the laundry and the breakfast dishes. I swept and mopped the kitchen floor just 'cause I found the Swiffer wet and dry mops in the supply closet when I was looking for fabric softener.”

“I think we’re out.”

“We were, so I grabbed some,” Axel said. “Since I was already out, I decided to grab the fixings for the pizza too, along with more grape juice, milk, and cereal. Oh, and I picked up meatballs and garlic bread, sauce, and pasta since you said you wanted to make a batch of spaghetti.”

“Thanks, but I don’t expect you to spend all of your free time doing housework,” Creature pointed out as he dug in. “Holy shit, this is good.”

“Thanks.”

“No, thank you,” Creature said. “But I meant what I said. You’re not here to be the maid service. On a nice day like this, you should have been out doing something fun.”

“Ech,” Axel replied, shrugging.

“Is that an Ech? You’re right, but I don’t want to admit it. Ech, you didn’t think about it because your old man has you so conditioned to pick up after him that you think you have to do that here, or Ech, you haven’t had the chance to figure out whatyou like, so you didn’t know what to do with your time off?” Creature pressed.

Sighing, Axel ran his fingers through his hair while he finished chewing the bite he’d shoved in his mouth.

“All three,” he finally admitted. “I just, I don’t really have any friends left around here. The one who could leave left a year ago, and the one who got married is busy with his new kid.”

Creature nodded, chewing. Axel was pleased to see that he was taking the time to savor the food instead of woofing it down the way he usually did with the meals he cooked.

“I can see where that would suck,” Creature said. “So how about we introduce you to some new friends? Wanna drop into Joker’s Wild with me tonight?”

Whoa.

What he’d seen of the clubhouse, when he’d dropped off Saint’s patch, had been really cool. Between the pool tables and several guys chucking darts at a board, it looked like a lot of fun.

“Are you sure no one would mind?”

Creature chuckled and pointed his fork at him. “After what you did for Saint, no one would have an issue with you being there.”

“Then hell yeah, I’d love to go out with you tonight.”

The moment he realized what he’d blurted, he felt his face heat up, and he ducked his head, turning his attention back to his plate.

“Done deal then.”

Relief washed over him when Creature said nothing about his choice of words.

Mounds of cheese, meat, mushrooms, and onions made for a thick slice, filling his belly so there was no need to take a second one. Once he finished eating he excused himself and washed his plate so he could go change while Creature finished eating. By the time he’d returned to the kitchen, the man hadcovered the rest of the pizza with foil and was busy rearranging the contents of the fridge so the dish would fit.

“First time I’ve ever had to pass on a third piece of pizza, Creature admitted, “but that just means I can take a piece with me tomorrow and not have to send for takeout.”

“That’s what my dad always did too, when he had a job, anyway,” Axel said, shuffling from one foot to the other.

It still felt a bit like betrayal to have left him the way he had, but staying there with Creature was far better for his nerves. There was no denying that he slept better on the bed Creature had found for him, without worrying about the old man slamming around in the middle of the night, bellowing curses and breaking things.

“All set?” Creature asked.

“Yeah.”

When Creature eyed him from head to toe, Axel couldn’t resist picking at the sleeve of his jacket and averting his gaze from the older man’s intense scrutiny.

---