Night by Night Read online

  Not that what she’d done was ethical nonmonogamy. Maybe he’d feel differently had she actually talked to him instead of screwing around on him behind his back.

  Still, he was man enough to admit his limitations. His next relationship, they would have to agree to monogamy or it’d be a non-starter. He wasn’t built to share, and he wasn’t hard-wired to want more than one person romantically. Absolutely no problem or restriction on platonic friends, of course. He’d never get jealous over that. That kind of bullshit had no place in a healthy relationship.

  But for sex and sexy play?

  Yeah, he was going to set a limit.

  Now he just needed someone for him.

  He paused before he was about to head out the door. Staring at Hank’s response one more time, Maddox finally opted to reply. Hopefully the alert wouldn’t wake him up.

  Just got up, on my way out to the gym before work. I’ll text you later this morning. Glad you’re back in town. I’ve really missed you.

  Yeah, maybe adding that last sentence made him sound a little needy, but he’d own it. He was done fucking around with hiding his feelings. He didn’t need to tell Hank all the deets about what he felt for him, but he wanted to make sure he didn’t leave the basics unsaid.

  It looked like he was about to have his best friend back in his life and he wanted the man to know he loved him and had missed him.

  The in love confession could remain locked away.

  Along with his memories, hopes, and dreams of ever having more with Hank.

  This time, he wouldn’t let their friendship slip away.

  * * * *

  Hank was sitting in his truck at a red light when he made the mistake of looking at his phone and spotted the response from Dox.

  He swallowed hard and glanced at it, his heart thumping as he read it. He didn’t know exactly why he hadn’t kept in touch with Dox, or why he hadn’t reached out to him before now.

  He’d been trying to hold things together for Lois after their parents died, then he’d been busy working—it seemed like all he ever fucking did was work—and years had suddenly passed. Then all of Lois’ bullshit with Cameron and the first round of legal issues. Cameron had beat her up so badly he put her in the hospital. Hank had moved all her shit out of their apartment and moved her in with him, since Cameron had been arrested and couldn’t afford to bond out.

  Clean break.

  Except she was pregnant with JJ. It’d taken Hank a lot of tearful pleading with her not to give in to Cameron’s parents and drop the charges, reminding her he could’ve killed her. Then they discovered Cameron had other restraining orders in the past from other women, other charges filed—and dropped—for domestic violence.

  That if he could do that to her, what the hell could he do to a baby?

  And, yes, Hank admitted he’d tried to talk Lois into an abortion, but she’d shut him down right away on that, so he’d dropped it.

  From that moment on, he dedicated himself to being a good brother and uncle-to-be, not wanting Lois to distance herself from him.

  But she hadn’t. She’d cried on his shoulder, curled up at night with him holding her to help her through the nightmares. He’d held her hair out of her face when she puked her guts up with morning sickness.

  Held her hand when she crushed it during contractions, and held JJ in his arms when she was born after he cut the cord.

  “Daddy,” JJ scolded. “Light’s green.”

  He set his phone aside and let off the brakes. “Sorry, kiddo. Thank you.”

  “What’s my new school going to be like?”

  “I don’t know, sweetie. The pictures and reports looked good.” Sarasota County had decent schools, at least. She’d attend the elementary school for several years, then the middle school she’d transition to was right next door to that, if they were still living in the same house by then.

  Their landlord had expressed an interest in possibly selling to him at some future point, if he wanted to buy.

  Hank had been honest with him that financially he wasn’t in a position to buy right now. It wouldn’t do any good to lie to the guy. Why? At least he wasn’t up to his fucking eyeballs in debt. One thing their parents drove home to them. To not use credit cards except for emergencies, and pay them off as soon as possible. If it was something you wanted, save up cash for it instead of paying a shit-ton more for it in interest.

  He’d taken that lesson to heart, too. His three cards were paid off. He used them once a month, just to keep them active, and immediately paid the balance. If he ever needed to rent a car, or get a hotel room—or rent a U-Haul trailer—they came in handy for stuff like that.

  Or to hire an attorney for emergency custody and adoption proceedings.

  Or to pay for his sister’s cremation.

  But with his finances so desperately thin right now, he didn’t want to put any charges on them unless absolutely necessary. If they were starving, sure, he’d buy them food, but they had enough food to make it until he got paid.

  He’d timed it this morning to try to get to the school early so he could find a large enough parking space to handle the trailer, because the rental company wasn’t open yet anyway, and he hadn’t wanted to drop the trailer without checking it in. He wanted an inspection so no one tried to whack him with bullshit fees later on.

  He gathered the folder with all the information he’d need from JJ’s old school and from her pediatrician, including her physical and vaccination records, and they headed into the office.

  Twenty-five minutes later, one of the office aides led them through the halls to her new classroom. The teacher, a cute, young redhead named Miss Grant, seemed nice and welcomed them with open arms and a beaming smile.

  The aide walked him back to the office so he could finish filling out forms. They’d wanted to get her in class right away so she didn’t feel left out or uncomfortable since the day hadn’t started yet.

  As he studied the emergency contact form, he realized he didn’t have anyone to add. It brought up a painful lump in his throat that forced him to blink back tears.

  Fuck.

  At JJ’s old school he’d listed Marla and Barry, and his previous boss and his wife, because they’d loved JJ. He pulled up Bryce’s contact info on his phone and called him, hoping he wasn’t waking him up.

  Fortunately, he answered.

  “Hey, man. Did you get down here all right?”

  “Yeah, I’m at JJ’s school right now filling out forms.” Hank nervously laughed. “Um, would you mind if I listed you as an emergency contact with them? I…” He choked back the unexpected tears. “I don’t have anyone.”

  Bryce’s tone turned gentle. “Sure, buddy. I don’t mind. What do you need…”

  A moment later, Hank had that space filled and thought to copy what info he didn’t already have into Bryce’s contact in his phone. After a moment, he added Bryce as an ICE contact on his phone.

  But that still left another space on the form.

  He would use Dox’s parents, except he knew they’d moved out of the area, so that was no help.

  With his heart pounding in his chest and not knowing why, he called Dox.

  Please don’t let this be a mistake.

  Chapter Four

  Maddox was on mile three of a grueling, punishing run on the treadmill when Avenged Sevenfold was interrupted in his earbuds by the Deadpool theme marimba remix ringtone. He glanced down at his phone, which sat propped in the holder on the treadmill, and nearly face-planted when he saw it was Hank calling.

  He grabbed the handrails so he could put his feet on the sides and hit the treadmill’s emergency off switch before answering the call. “Hey, buddy! Long time, no talk!”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry to call so early, Dox, but I need a huge favor.”

  It felt good to hear that nickname again. Hank had been the only one to call him that, and he’d always loved it. “Anything.” He grabbed his towel and mopped sweat off his face. “What’s up?�
�

  “I’m at my daughter’s school and need a second emergency contact for her. Bryce Butler was my first call, because he’s sort of my lawyer now, I guess, and—”

  “Wait a minute.” Maddox tried to process that. “What about your wife?”

  “Wife?” Hank sounded confused.

  “Um, I mean, your daughter’s mother,” Maddox clarified. “Girlfriend?”

  “Well, she’s my sister, and—”

  “Uh, whut?”

  Hank sighed. “It’s a long story, and damn, I just realized how creepy that sounded. Sorry. JJ’s not my biological daughter, she’s my niece, but I adopted her. Lois was her mother. She was murdered a couple of years ago by JJ’s bio father.”

  Horror filled him. “Shit. Dude, I-I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

  “It’s okay, Dox. You didn’t know. But I need two local contacts, and…” He sounded close to tears and Maddox wanted to pull him into his arms and hold him. “I just realized I don’t have two emergency contacts.”

  “Sure, yeah. You can add me. Of course.” He read off the information Hank needed. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m…I’m just putting one foot in front of the other right now. I’m…vertical. Barely. I’m exhausted from the drive down from Pennsylvania, and the move, and everything. It’s just the two of us. I don’t even have after-school care set up yet. I’m kind of overwhelmed.”

  “What about your parents?”

  Hank hesitated. “They died not long after we moved up there. Car wreck.”

  Maddox closed his eyes and silently swore. “Hank, I’m so sorry, man..”

  “It’s okay. It’s been years now. You didn’t know. I sort of hunkered down in survival mode.”

  But that didn’t make Maddox feel any better for not knowing. “Can I come over tonight to help you? Bring you anything?”

  Hank laughed, but it sounded tight, emotional, close to breaking. “Yeah, I wouldn’t say no to a beer or something. I can offer you soup, leftover pizza, and canned tuna fish, until I get my last paycheck from my previous job and can go grocery shopping on Wednesday.”

  “Text me your address,” Maddox told him. “And what time?”

  “I’ll be home by five thirty, probably. Any time after that.”

  “Does she have any food allergies?”

  “No, but she’s in a fish sticks and tater tot phase, if that helps. She loves green beans.”

  Maddox was already forming a plan. “Done. I’ll come by and cook you guys dinner.”

  “I didn’t mean you had to—”

  “No arguments, buddy,” he gently said. “We’ll talk tonight and get caught up.”

  “I…” Hank laughed again. “I’m not sure where my sheet pans are. I don’t think I sold those before we moved. I mean, I hope I didn’t. I really downsized.”

  Maddox took a chance, knowing he was setting himself up for secret disappointment but doing it all the same. “I missed you. I’m so glad you’re back. Whatever you need, I’m here for you. Let me do this for you tonight, okay? Please?”

  “Okay, yeah. Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

  “Soon as we hang up, text me your address.”

  “I will.” Maddox was about to hang up when Hank spoke again. “Dox… Thank you.” Hank’s voice sounded heavy, full of emotion, almost enough to make Maddox start crying right there in a fucking busy-ass gym.

  “You don’t have to thank me, H. I’ll see you around six.”

  “Six.” Hank sniffled. “Thanks.”

  Maddox ended the call and stood there dumbly staring at his phone, trying to convince himself that just happened.

  He was also trying to process the vast amount of information dumped on him, leaving him feeling damned guilty he hadn’t been at his friend’s side to help him through everything.

  And feeling like a royal shit, because—

  He’s single.

  Of course, there was still the whole problem of Hank being straight, but…

  Maybe he could rebuild their friendship and something could happen.

  Well, stranger things had happened in the world. Working on a slow-roll, low-key plan to seduce his straight best friend over time wasn’t exactly the worst plan in the world. Not like putting-men-on-the-moon difficult.

  And maybe not even feasible in the slightest, depending on what fourteen years apart had done to both of them.

  But one thing was for certain—he couldn’t stand the pain he’d heard in Hank’s voice. From this point on, he was going to be there for Hank, every day, in any and every way Hank would let him be there for him. He’d show him he wasn’t alone anymore.

  Whatever Hank needed, he’d do his best to make it happen.

  Because when he took an honest look back on his life since they’d last hugged outside Hank’s parents’ house…

  There’d been a gaping void there the whole time. One shaped like his best friend.

  It’s time I do something different in my life, and rebuilding my friendship with Hank is that first step.

  * * * *

  Relieved and nearly in tears, Hank sniffled them back and tried to discreetly wipe his eyes as he added Dox’s information to his phone and then texted him their address. After looking at the form for a moment, he swapped the numbers on the form, scratching out the number 1 next to Bryce’s name and changing it to 2, and vice versa for Dox.

  He wanted Dox to be the first call, if it ever came to that. He hadn’t seen the guy in fourteen years, but he still trusted him. The guy had saved his ass before. Hank felt reasonably certain the man would be equally protective of JJ.

  I need to change my will.

  At his last job, he’d had a cousin over in Daytona listed as his next of kin. She and her husband had only met JJ once, and that’d been before Lois died.

  But if he was rebuilding his life here…

  I need to talk to Dox about that.

  Maybe Dox wouldn’t want the responsibility of potentially being the guardian of a little girl he never knew and wasn’t related to, but deep within Hank, something gnawed on his soul. He’d seen first-hand how quickly fortunes and futures could irrevocably change in tragic ways.

  He needed to know JJ would never be raised by those fucks in Pennsylvania. He wanted her to never have contact with any of them ever again.

  After returning the forms to the woman in the office and making sure everything was squared away, he started to leave, then hesitated. “Do you have a list of daycares or after-school programs?” he asked.

  He was out of there five minutes later. The school couldn’t recommend any daycare facilities specifically, but she did give him a list of after-school camp providers who were approved to pick up kids.

  It was a start. Four different martial arts programs, the YMCA, and three churches. On the last three…

  Yeah…no. Hard pass.

  Wasn’t that he had anything against religion in particular, but Cameron’s parents had been hard-core Evangelicals and simultaneously tried to slut-shame and then victim-blame Lois at every turn, demanded “forgiveness” from her and Hank without making any serious efforts to demand true change from Cameron the first time around, and then tried to find any loophole possible to get him off of the murder charges.

  Nope.

  Once Hank had returned the trailer—and he even asked the woman behind the counter if she had any recommendations for child care, but she didn’t—he headed to his new employer.

  Ken Listley wasn’t at all what Hank had pictured through their phone conversations. He had a deep, rolling voice that Hank had imagined belonged to a large, broad, younger man, but Listley was about five nine and thin as a rail, probably in his sixties, from the full head of grey hair and the lines in his face burned there from so much time spent working out under the sun. The man ran a large-scale construction contracting business, with roofing, electrical, and plumbing divisions. They did repairs, as well as a lot of new-construction work for developers in the area, like Sarton an
d others.

  Hank sat in the office to fill out all the forms. He’d have to go take a drug test today, too, at their expense, but he knew he’d pass it. He’d never done anything like that, because he’d never felt a need to and he couldn’t have afforded it, anyway. Hell, the only reason he had the bottle of Jack was because it was a going-away present from one of his former coworkers he used to give rides to all the time.

  This time when the forms asked for next-of-kin, he didn’t hesitate to put Dox’s information.

  Ken Listley did have one bit of good news. “I asked around for you after you told me about your daughter. I hope you don’t mind.” He handed Hank a slip of paper with some names and numbers written on it. “Those were some recommendations about daycare.”

  Hank nodded. “Thank you so much. I’m sorry it’s going to take me a few days to handle that.”

  Ken, as he’d asked Hank to call him, waved down his apologies. “I’m a grandfather. I get it. So, from what you said on the phone, you have experience running crews…”

  They talked for over an hour. Florida building codes were, of course, different than what he’d dealt with in Pennsylvania. Far stricter roofing requirements to stand up to hurricanes, but holding up under the weight of snow wasn’t an issue.

  “Here’s my thinking,” Ken said. “I want you to work from the bottom up so you know all aspects of the business. But if you prove yourself, and my guys like you, I want to look at moving you into a crew leader position within a year. Not a huge pay boost, but from there we can look at helping you get your contractor’s license. I want to start stepping back my day-to-day involvement, and I’ve got several guys I’m already aiming in that direction.

  “You can imagine, it’s hard to get and keep quality help who can pass drug tests, who will work for what I can pay them to start, and who can prove they can work legally. I lost four guys just in the last month, when our office manager discovered their paperwork was forged. I hated to let them go because they were nice guys and hard workers, but I can’t lose my insurance or my contractor’s license.