Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 5

head. His reasons for not drinking had nothing to do with the law, and Aiden, at least, knew that. When they'd kissed goodnight, slow and easy, Cade had tasted the alcohol on Aiden's breath, but it hadn't bothered him. Aiden drank, sometimes. That was fine. Aiden's parents weren't both drunks. For Aiden, alcohol didn't mean confusion and neglect, didn't call up the bewilderment of a little boy struggling to understand a world where a bottle was more important than a child. Cade refused to be paralyzed by his upbringing, so he wouldn't let himself be bothered by the smell. But he didn't drink, and he never would. And when he'd explained his reasons, Aiden had stopped drinking for almost two months, until Cade had dragged him to a frat party and handed him a beer. "I trust you," he'd said. "It's a choice I made for me, but it's not something you need to worry about." Aiden had given Cade a long look, and then he'd taken a sip of the beer, and they'd been fine. No, drinking wasn't a big deal for Cade.
    He sat up slowly and looked around the cabin. Todd sprawled on his back in the corner, Taylor draped over him like a blanket. Sarah on her own, clutching a pillow like a teddy bear. And Aiden, lying on his side as if he were still shaped around Cade's body, his arm stretched out over Cade's blankets, searching for him. They all looked so young, so innocent, and Cade felt old and filthy.
    He eased out of the blankets and found his shoes, pulled them on, and snuck outside. The birds stopped singing when he appeared, then started again, defying his ominous presence. He wasn't sure where he was going, exactly, but wasn't too surprised when he ended up at the dock. He was startled to see that someone else was already there, though, his fishing pole extended out over the water as he sipped at a mug of coffee. Cade started to turn around, but the man had seen him. "Hey. You. Come out here for a minute." There was no doubt in his tone, no question that his authority would be respected, and Cade's feet moved as if of their own volition, carrying him out toward Aiden's Uncle Warren.
    He stopped when he was several feet away, and Warren took a sip of his coffee before saying, "Cade, is it? That's not what I remember you calling yourself."
    "I don't remember catching your name, either." And that was more like it. No more of this deer-in-the-headlights bullshit. Cade wasn't a little boy, and he wouldn't act like one.
    "No. But we never did talk a lot, did we?"
    There was no answer necessary. They both knew exactly what they'd been doing instead of talking. "Are you going to tell them? Because it'll screw things up pretty bad, for you, won't it?" It was true, Cade realized as he was speaking. "It doesn't really fit into this cozy family atmosphere you're enjoying up here. Won't go over too well with the wife and kids. So how about we both keep our fucking mouths shut, and this just goes away?"
    Warren looked at him thoughtfully, and took another sip of his coffee. "I looked for you, you know. For… I don't know, the better part of a year? I'd drive past your corner and slow down, see if you were working. But you meant it." His voice was grudgingly respectful. "When you quit, you quit."
    "But you didn't, right?" Now that he was thinking, it made a lot more sense. Cade had to caution himself to keep from getting too excited, but this was good. He didn't need to worry about this asshole outing him, not when the guy had so much to lose himself. "You like barely legal boys, and that's not the sort of thing that just pops up and then goes away. So it was me while I was doing it, but how many others were there, before me? How many have there been since?"
    "What an outrageous insinuation," Warren said calmly. "What proof do you have of any of it?"
    "I don't need proof. Because if you open your mouth, that'll be all the proof anyone needs. If we both stay quiet, we're both fine."
    "Uncle Warren, can I come on the dock?" The small voice sounded from behind Cade, and he whirled to see a little girl maybe five years old, standing at the end of the walkway.
    "You need a lifejacket, sweetie. You know the rules." Warren sounded calm, civilized, and Cade had to remind himself to not be sucked in. Warren had been a regular, and he'd been a sadistic son-of-a-bitch who'd paid double in order to cause Cade extra pain and humiliation. He had another side to him, here at the cottage, but Cade couldn't forget the man he'd known in their cheap motel