Chapter 99

“Has it been busy?”

“Nah, it’s slow. A lady came in and bought a small bouquet for her daughter about an hour ago, but no one since.”

“I thought maybe we could go out for a nice dinner tonight,” Leo said.

“Yeah? What’s the occasion?”

“Can’t I just want to go out to dinner with my boyfriend?”

Nolan smiled. “Boyfriend?”

“You don’t like that?”

“I do. I like it a lot.” He poured water into a plant. “I think this is the first time you’ve called me that.”

“Since we’ve spent every night together for the last couple of weeks, I think we can call ourselves that. Don’t you?” Leo asked.

“I think so.” He finished watering one row of plants and headed back to the sink to refill the can.

“So what do you think then? Dinner?”

Car brakes squeaked outside. Nolan frowned and walked back toward the remaining plants to water them. “Yes, I’d love to—”

The front plate glass window shattered and burst into flames. A shard of glass flew through the air and stabbed his forearm.

“Oh my God!”

“Nolan? What was that? Nolan, are you all right?”

“Call 9-1-1.” He dropped the phone even as he could hear Leo frantically calling him. He scrambled to the back area and grabbed the fire extinguisher, ignoring the pain in his arm.

When he ran back out to the front of the shop the fire had spread to some of the merchandise.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He coughed and started spraying flames, desperate to keep the fire from consuming the entire shop. More glass shattered and he fell to his knees, pointing the extinguisher at the orange flames. Scrambling to his feet, he aimed it at another part of the fire. He could finally hear sirens in the distance and relief nearly brought him to his knees again. As he continued to put out the fire, the sounds of the emergency vehicles got closer and closer.

“Hello! Anyone inside?”

“Yes, in here,” Nolan said, setting the now empty extinguisher on the floor. The fire was out and help had arrived. 8

“It’s all right you know,” Nolan said as he waited for the nurse to come back with the discharge papers. He sat on the edge of the exam bed. “I’m fine.”

Leo paced back and forth in the exam room of the hospital’s emergency room. He was fucking pissed. Nolan had almost been killed. He wanted to strangle someone.

“Leo, I’m okay.”

“Yeah, and we’re lucky you are.” Leo continued to pace, feeling like some sort of caged predator. “Does your arm hurt?”

Nolan sighed and rested his hand on the bandage on his arm where the glass had cut him. “It throbs a little.”

Leo stopped and stared at him. “You could have been seriously hurt. Stitches are bad enough.”

“I could have been, but I wasn’t.”

“Were you scared?”

“I didn’t really have time to be too scared. It happened very fast.”

He started pacing again. The doctor said Nolan would probably have a sore throat from the smoke, too.

The door opened and they both glanced over, expecting the nurse, but instead Jude and Rex walked in.

“Nolan, are you all right?” Jude asked.

“Yes, I’m fine. How bad is the shop?”

Jude shook his head and came to give Nolan a quick hug. “Don’t worry about it right now. The important thing is that you’re not seriously hurt.”

Nolan nodded. “What caused it?”

“The police said someone threw a Molotov cocktail,” Rex answered. “They found the remnants.”

“Fuck,” Leo said under his breath. “A Molotov cocktail? That’s some serious shit.”

“Yes, we’ve certainly made an enemy,” Jude said, his brows furrowed.

Nolan looked down at his feet. “It’s my fault.”

“How so?” Leo rubbed his shoulder.

“I think maybe it was my dad.”

Rex snorted. “Mayor Young?”

Nolan let out a long breath. “He’s a homophobic bigot. When I left my house to stay with the Winthrops he made some threats. I just…I know it was him.”

“Maybe.” Jude hugged him again. “We’ll worry about that later.”

Nolan’s eyes filled with tears and Leo wished everyone would just go away so he could hold Nolan and tell him everything would be all right.

“I’m sorry, Jude,” Nolan said, his bottom lip quivering.

“Hey.” Jude lifted Nolan’s chin with a knuckle. “This isn’t your fault even if your fucker of a dad did do it. And believe me, after you’ve seen your boyfriend murdered in front of you, well, the rest doesn’t compare.”

“The shop is damaged,” Rex said. “But Jude is insured. We’ll get it fixed and it will be good as new.”

The door opened again and the nurse came in. She glanced at them with a glacial stare.