Chase the Stars (Lang Downs 2 ) by Ariel Tachna Read Free Book Online Page A

later.
    However strange it might seem from the outside, Macklin lived in the station house and was partnered with the station owner, and everyone familiar with the station accepted that.
    Jesse took a deep breath, smelling new grass over the smell of the sheep in the nearby pens. Spring was coming even here in the highlands, and he was getting a new start along with it.
    Thoughts of Chris filtered through his mind as he enjoyed the cool night air. He couldn’t imagine what the kid had been through. He’d always been careful not to let people find out he was gay unless he was absolutely certain of their reaction precisely because he didn’t want to end up beaten or dead. Jesse didn’t know whether Chris was careless or stupid or simply unlucky, but Jesse’s worst nightmare had played out in Chris’s life. From the little bit of conversation they’d shared and everything Seth had said about his older brother earlier in the day, Chris seemed like a good guy, far more responsible than the typical person his age, but that came with a price. Chris could probably use a friend, and Jesse saw just enough of himself at that age in Chris to want to be that friend.
    It didn’t hurt that Chris was cute, in a not quite pretty but definitely attractive kind of way. The summer was looking up in more ways than one, if Chris happened to be interested in a little… recreation.
“L ET me see your hand.”
     
“It’s just a few scrapes on my knuckles,” Macklin said.
    “You’re the one who lectured me on letting little cuts get infected,” Caine replied, “so don’t argue.”
Macklin gave in gracelessly, holding out his hand so Caine could examine the bruised, scraped knuckles where Macklin’s fist had connected with someone’s jaw. He shook his head as he pulled Macklin toward the sink so he could clean and disinfect the cuts.
“Chris is going to need a lot of help adjusting over the next few weeks,” he said as he scrubbed Macklin’s skin gently.
“I’m more worried about Seth.”
“Seth?” Caine asked, pouring hydrogen peroxide over the cuts. “Why?”
Macklin hissed as the cool liquid seeped into the sores. “He’s sullen and angry. He’s behind in school. He’s gotten used to not having any structure. He’s going to resent being forced to do schoolwork, probably resent having to work as hard as he will here. He’s sixteen, and this isn’t the life he’s chosen for himself.”
“Really?” Caine asked, reaching for a tube of antibiotic ointment. “Are you sure? I didn’t get that impression at all.” He smeared the gel on Macklin’s knuckles. “I got the impression of someone so grateful not to be living on the streets again that he’d do anything we asked not to have to go back there.”
“Maybe I’m misreading him,” Macklin said. “I just know how I felt at the first station I worked on.”
Caine wiped his hand and nudged Macklin back toward the bedroom. “You want to tell me about that now?”
“Not really.”
“It wasn’t a question, Macklin.” Caine had let various comments from Macklin go in the past, either because Macklin had refused to talk, as he’d done the first time it came up in the early days of their acquaintance, or because it had come up at a bad time, as it had when Chris was in the hospital.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything there is to know about you. Haven’t you figured that out by now?”
Macklin scowled. “You already know everything that matters.”
“If it doesn’t matter, then you won’t mind telling me about it,” Caine retorted. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to push this, but Macklin had been pensive since they’d rescued Chris and Seth. Caine had learned to live with taciturn, but pensive didn’t fit Macklin at all.
Macklin’s scowl deepened. “Why is this so important to you?”
“Because it’s important to you,” Caine replied. “You’ve been out of sorts since we found them, moody and withdrawn. You haven’t f-fucked me