Chasing Rusty Parker - 23. The First Confrontation

Chapter Twenty-Three – The First Confrontation

“So, last night,” Kane was the first to start when he went down for breakfast.

Breakfast was one way of naming what he was going to get, mainly because Jonathan, bless his heart, had thought of him and put aside some leftovers. Rusty plopped down on a chair and brought the plate closer. Scrambled eggs were good even cold; Jonathan had left a note, recommending that he heat them up a little, but he couldn’t be bothered with that.

He pointed his fork at his housemate. “What do you want to say? Come on, hurry up, I have things to see, people to do.”

“Ah,” Kane said and raised an eyebrow. “I thought you did Matthew Han all night long.”

“Curious?” Rusty asked. “You see, Kane, that story with the bees and the flowers, well, sometimes the bees are by themselves, and they start eyeing their bros, like, you know, damn, look at the fine booty on that bro.”

“Are we talking about worker bees or drones here?” Kane, always the smartass, asked.

“Did you just call me a drone?”

Kane rolled his eyes. “But the place is full of flowers,” he gestured around. “Why this particular… bee?”

Rusty shrugged. “I’m going to tell Louise if you don’t stop with this line of questioning.”

“I bet she’d be just as interested in your sudden change from being a flower hopper to one bee’s man.”

“It’s not anything like that,” Rusty hurried to deny. “I’m still the same flower hopper. It’s just that it’s a lot more convenient to have a buttfucking friend right now.”

“Buttfucking friend,” Kane repeated slowly. “And why is it convenient now of all times?”

Well, that was a hard question. However, Rusty was famous for being perfectly capable of thinking on his feet, so he grabbed his phone and pushed it across the table toward Kane. His friend took it and stared at the screen. “Why are you even reading Xpress?”

“Because,” Rusty said with a shrug. “It’s cheap entertainment. Free, as it’s pointed out in the text. As you can tell, this new sheriff they’re talking about is after my ass, and not in any fun way. Obviously, I have to lay low, or I might get burned at the stake. Or, you know, become part of some Mexican standoff.” To get his point across, he began to hum a random western theme.

Kane looked at him and narrowed his eyes. “Since when are you afraid of Connor Williams? And what’s this story all about?”

Rusty waved. When Matty had tried to explain it to him, he had just brushed it off. Even now, he was none the wiser. “He’s in charge of some vigilante group or whatever. They’re called the Funbusters.”

“Really? The Funbusters?” Kane threw him a doubtful look.

“Not very inspired, right?”

Kane gave him back his phone and began fiddling with his. “What the fuck?” he said out loud. When Rusty waved impatiently with his fork, he continued, “You have to see it to believe it.”

It was Rusty’s turn to stare at Kane’s phone screen. “Well,” he said, adopting a philosophical stance on the matter, “if you put ‘the’ in front, it’s clear what they believe themselves to be. But whatever, I’m not in the mood to fight. I don’t give a fuck about this new T-man--”

“T-man?” Kane asked.

“Yeah, from--”

“I get it,” Kane said quickly and shook his head. “But why don’t you want to put this clown in his place?”

“Because, obviously, that’s what Xpress wants. And I don’t care about doing what other people want me to do. Especially if they’re strangers. If Connor Williams wants to become the king, whatever.”

“He’s more likely to become the leader of a so-called revolution,” Kane said.

“And, as we learn from history, revolutionary leaders have a tendency to put their weathered buttocks on the same seat they pushed the other guy down from.”

Kane seemed to consider his words for a moment. “I guess you’re right. So, you’re not bothered by this in the least?”

“Why would I be? Unlike Connor Williams, I don’t hate my life enough to want to change it.” He got up and took the plate to the sink where he washed it, dried it and put it back in its place. “What?” he asked, when Kane continued to stare at him. “It’s the deal I have with Jonathan. He leaves me food, I do the dishes.”

“It’s good to know you can be house-trained, after all. Anyway, as long as this new wannabe doesn’t bother you, I won’t care, either. But are you really sure it’s because of Connor Williams that you’re willing to fool around with your tutor instead of some random girls?”

“No, obviously not. But the point is, Matty’s not random. I know him. We have fun. Case closed.”

He didn’t, really didn’t, want to go into details, mostly because they were fuzzy and flying randomly inside his head, and he couldn’t be bothered to make them clearer.

***

Mock practice it was since on Sundays that was his favorite physical activity. Sure, he would have liked to keep Matty in for the entire day, but the guy had an ass to care for, and Rusty was damn certain that he was supposed to respect that or else he’d be considered a major douche.

“Have you heard about Connor Williams, man?” One of his teammates approached him as he was putting his sneakers on.

“I heard something,” he admitted.

“So? What’s going to be your move? You need to put that douchebag in his place.”

Rusty shrugged and jumped to his feet. “No one’s going to buy the cookies he’s selling, so don’t worry, my man. I can tell that he’s using vinegar instead of sugar.”

His mate looked at him nonplussed, probably trying to figure out the joke.

“Oh, shit,” Rusty realized his mistake. “You can catch some flies with vinegar, too. They’re these little creatures,” he began to explain, “and they’re called, wait for it, drosophila melanogaster.” The other guy began shifting uncomfortably and scratching his head. Rusty patted him on the back. “I’ll let Connor make a fool of himself. He has no power here.”

“But he runs the Sunny Hill Implacable Team,” his mate argued.

“My point exactly,” Rusty said with satisfaction and walked out of the locker room. For real, why was everyone getting their panties in a twist over this Connor dude?

***

Matty had slept far into the afternoon, probably an effect of getting naughty with Rusty throughout the night before and only his roommate making noise managed to pull him from his slumber. He groaned and grabbed his glasses.

“It appears that you’ve been getting all kinds of bad habits since the beginning of the year,” John said reproachfully, as if he was Matty’s mom or something.

“Sorry, what?” Matty asked, hoping that his sarcasm was well-aimed.

John didn’t appear to get it. “I mean, I know that you didn’t sleep here last night, and now you’re still sleeping, although it’s two in the afternoon.”

Well, that wasn’t like him, but it wasn’t every day, or better said, night, that he was losing his virginity to the king of Sunny Hill. He couldn’t help smiling at the thought. Yeah, that had been an incredible night, and Rusty had been equally incredible.

“You spent your night in sin,” John suddenly said as if he had just discovered that Santa wasn’t real.

“In sin? Seriously, who talks like that?” Matty said with a snort. “And would you get off my back already? You’re not my real mom.” Again, he was trying to make a joke.

Which hadn’t landed, obviously, because John moved near and put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “I’m trying to help you, Matthew.”

“Help me escape the depths of hell?” Matty pushed his glasses up on his nose and gave John an inquisitive look.

“Hell isn’t real,” John said with a snort.

“According to that line of reasoning, sin isn’t real, either,” Matty said.

John seemed to consider. “Yes, that’s an archaic word, I admit. But criminal activity isn’t.”

“What criminal activity?” Matty asked. This conversation was getting weirder and weirder by the moment.

John began talking very slowly. “Did you consume illegal substances last night?” He also seemed to stare into Matty’s eyes, while being uncomfortably close.

Matty pulled away. “I didn’t even drink alcohol.” Sarcasm and jokes were wasted on this guy. “What are you going to ask me next? If I had sex out of wedlock? Is that a criminal activity, too?”

John straightened up and moved away, as if Matty was suddenly threatening him with a lit torch. “Did you… do that then?” he stuttered.

Matty rolled his eyes. “With all due respect, John, even being roommates and all, I don’t know you well enough to answer that question. By the way, what’s with your sudden interest in me? I thought you were here to study.”

That appeared to send John into a frenzy of sorts, because right away, he started gesticulating and talking animatedly. “A wonderful thing happened. You see, there’s this new organization on campus that wants to help us all become the best we can be. You can’t say ‘no’ to self-improvement, Matthew. As I recall, you’re a good student. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about your studies to live a life of debauchery.” He stopped and gave Matty a long hard stare. “What do your parents think?”

Matty groaned. He was all for dealing amiably even with people he couldn’t stand, but John was starting to get on his nerves. All he was in the mood for today was to lie in bed, read, and dream about Rusty. Definitely, he didn’t care about meandering around inside his roommate’s crazy head.

“My parents are more than satisfied with my grades and academic activities,” he assured John.

“What about the other stuff?” John gestured with his chin in a vague direction.

“The debauchery, you mean?” Matty asked brightly. “They know all about it. I send them regular updates on my extracurricular activities, as well.”

That brought a disgusted look to John’s face.

“Come on, man,” Matty grunted, “can’t you tell I’m joking? And don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. Thank you for your concern.”

“You should become part of the Implacable Team, too.”

Oh, great. That was what John was talking about. Had he been there yesterday? Matty hadn’t seen him, but the place had been packed, anyway, making it hard to identify one single person in the sea of faces. “Sorry, I’m too busy studying,” Matty said and grabbed a textbook from his nightstand, hoping that would make his roommate shut up.

Finally, it seemed to be the necessary magic trick, because John returned to his bed and grabbed a heavy tome as well and buried his nose in it.

Matty stared at him for a few moments. Hopefully, Rusty wouldn’t want to see Slicky Coolplums again, because there was no way he’d be able to change into his suit in this room with John watching over his morality like a hawk. Turning into a cat boy wasn’t, maybe, even a thing in John’s book just yet, but it would be, and Matty had an inkling that it would be considered a mortal sin, as well. Or even some kind of criminal activity.

***

Rusty was walking back from his mock practice when he heard murmurs rising all around him. He had no idea what was happening, but it wasn’t the usual fangirling over his person. Since Xpress had launched the rumor that he had impregnated the cat boy, the girls had taken a step back, which suited him just fine. Everyone suspected that he was keeping the cat boy, cat girl, whatever, away from prying eyes, and that he was getting ready to become a doting father. That was the kind of mad shit Xpress kept writing, at least.

He raised his head, lost as he had been in thoughts of how to put together the perfect bag of gifts for Gabriel. Right in front of him, almost at the point of crashing into each other, stood Connor Williams. Well, that was the conclusion he reached after searching the guy’s face for a while, because he hadn’t recognized him at first, in that moldy suit and new haircut that made him look like he wanted to apply for a schoolmaster position in a Dickensian novel.

“What’s up, T-man?” Rusty said with a huge grin and grabbed the dude by his shoulders.

Connor tried to shake off his touch, but Rusty pretended that he didn’t get it and forced him to walk side by side. “Rusty Parker,” he hissed, “we’re not pals. Please unhand me at once.”

Rusty let go of him so brusquely it made him lose his balance. However, Connor knew a thing or two about keeping his wits about him, because he quickly recovered and straightened his suit.

To make things more interesting, Rusty whistled appreciatively. “Are you going on a date, my good dude? ‘Cause I heard chicks dig older dudes. Oh, sorry, my bad. It applies to dudes, too.”

Connor stared at him as if he were some lunatic. “You must have heard about us by now. Your jokes fall on deaf ears. I can understand that you hate me now--”

Rusty opened his arms wide. “Why would I hate you, man? You do you. Although, I thought gay dudes tended to have pretty decent fashion sense. Sorry, sorry, my bad again,” he added and put his hands up. “That’s a stereotype. There must be some gay dudes who have an indecent fashion sense, too. Now, if you’ll ex-squeeze me,” he drawled, “I gotta go. See ya! And good luck.”

Connor tried to open his mouth to come up with some scathing retort, but he must have noticed that Rusty was already too far away for him to deliver his line without shouting, so he reconsidered.

Rusty shrugged. Was anyone taking this douche seriously? Whatever. As he had told Kane, he couldn’t care less.

***

“Did you tell Rusty?” Zoey’s voice came through the phone speaker the moment he picked it up.

“Hi to you, too,” Matty said but a smile was already tugging at the corners of his mouth. Damn, John was still lying in bed, across from him, deep in his studying. He had his headphones on, but Matty didn’t want to risk anything by telling Zoey all about his crazy night with Rusty.

“He even had a confrontation with Connor while they were both walking through the quad,” Zoey shot back rapidly. “And yeah, hi.”

“A confrontation? When? Today?”

John shifted in his place, making Matty believe that it was unlikely he was actually listening to something in those headphones.

“You know what, Zoey? I wanted to go out anyway. Let’s get together if you have nothing else lined up.”

“The douche is over there, isn’t he?” Zoey asked. Matty could picture her nodding thoughtfully and probably cooking up some prank he wouldn’t want to play on his roommate.

“Yeah,” he said quickly.

“Okay, then, meet me outside of my dorm in ten.”

“You’re sure that’s enough to put on all the glitter you need?”

“There’s no point to glitter,” Zoey said with a long sigh. “He’s not around today anyway.”

“Who?” Matty asked quickly, happy to grab the opportunity.

“In ten, no more,” Zoey replied just as fast and cut the convo.

Hmm, he would have to extract little bits of truth out of his bestie. All in due time. Now, what was this about a confrontation between Rusty and Connor? Things were getting unnecessarily interesting around here.

***

The weather was still good enough for them to find a place on one of the benches around the quad. Zoey pointed right in front of them. “That is where it happened,” she explained.

“Are you sure that’s the exact spot?” Matty asked.

“Totally.” She nodded energetically. “Connor was like, Rusty Parker, you will pay for all the fun you’ve ever had in your life. And Rusty was like, no I won’t.”

“Really? I somehow expected Rusty to be more verbose than that.”

“Well, I’m giving you the abridged version. Rusty low-key insulted Connor by calling him T-man, and I think the nickname’s going to stick, you know. Pun totally intended.”

Matty pondered for a moment. “I can see that, yeah. What did Connor want Rusty for, anyway?”

“I’m not entirely sure. But that boy’s totally itching for a fight. And he’s so going to get it.” Zoey seemed very much amused at the prospect.

“Well, it’s not like they’re going to get into some fisticuffs,” Matty offered his point of view. “I doubt they’d be able to pull that kind of stuff in the middle of the campus.”

“No, like duh,” Zoey said with a roll of the eyes, “but maybe an underground battle could be arranged.”

“Only you’d think of such extreme measures.”

“That’s because I’d high-key enjoy seeing Connor’s arrogant mug getting smashed.” To make a point, she drove one little fist into her open palm.

Matty shivered. “You scare me sometimes, Zoey. Stop listening to those true crime podcasts. I fear for your sanity. Just for the record, if you ever turn to the dark side, we’ve never known each other.”

“Traitor,” Zoey said and pouted. “Anyway, the thing is, Xpress totally expects Rusty to ruin Connor.”

The choice of words made Matty swallow hard. If there were one person in the whole world who deserved to be ruined by Rusty, it was him. Well, in an ideal world of his choosing, of course.

Finally, Zoey caught on. “What’s with you? You look like you were up all night. That’s not good for your skin, Matty. What’s Rusty going to think if he sees you with dark circles?” She poked him in the cheek.

“Well, I guess he won’t notice or at least won’t say a word since he’s the reason I was up all night,” he said in a low voice, while stealing glances around.

Zoey leaned in closer. “He is? Fess up, right now.”

Matty munched on his lower lip hard. “He… I… you know.”

“No, I don’t. Not if you don’t tell me,” Zoey pressed him.

“We did it,” Matty blurt it out quickly. “Only his friends know. I mean, suspect, or they know for a fact. Like you, now.”

“Wow. Then I’m part of a really select circle.” Zoey sighed. “I’ve never been part of a circle. Not even a circle-jerk.”

Matty shook his head. Well, it was hard to still be embarrassed when Zoey was talking about circle-jerks like they weren’t a big deal.

Then, she turned and punched him in the shoulder suddenly. “Good for you, Matty!”

“Ouch. I was wondering when you were going to catch on.”

“So,” Zoey said slowly, and then, abruptly, “how was it?”

Matty sighed. “Like a dream come true.”

Zoey joined him with a reverent sigh of her own. “Has he already told you that he loves you?”

“Hey, we’re not even close to that. I mean, I doubt we’ll ever be.”

A tsk of disappointment let him know that his bestie disagreed. “Don’t be such a pessimist, Matty. At least, you plan on telling him how you really feel about him, right?”

He nodded. “I will, but not now.”

“When?” Zoey pressed.

“Hey, I’ve crushed about him for three long years. Forgive me for not wanting the fairytale to end right away. Because once I let that bird out of the cage, it’s game over.” He took a moment. He had thought about it, of course, even before getting to know him, how he would confess. At times, something low key like leaving a letter on Rusty’s doorstep, something he wouldn’t sign, seemed like the right choice. On the other hand, it wasn’t like him to be so extra, so he had thought of something a lot easier and yet harder at the same time to achieve, such as going directly to Rusty and telling him right up front that he had been his crush for all his years in college. “I’ll tell him when I know that we won’t be seeing each other again. You know, at the end of the academic year.”

Zoey nodded. “I see that you’re in it for the long run and congratulate you for it. But what if he calls things off before that? What will you do?”

Matty shrugged. “I’ll just stick to the plan. The last day on campus, I’ll walk up to him and tell him. And then, of course, I’ll run away. I’m shopping for the best running shoes as we speak. Before you ask, I still haven’t settled on the ideal pair.”

“Hmm,” came the noncommittal reply from Zoey. “Don’t tell me you’re also training for it. Rusty can easily catch you. He’s the athlete of the two of you, after all.”

That was good reason to snort with superiority. “He couldn’t catch Slicky, though, so sorry to burst your bubble. He won’t be able to catch me.”

“No bubble burst, don’t worry. Ah, damn, how are you going to turn into Slicky from now on? The douchebag is here to stay, isn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Matty said and pursed his lips. “Unless I manage some magical girl trick so I can change only by performing a pirouette in mid-air, that’s pretty much busted. Slicky has already mysteriously disappeared from the college grounds, the way I see it.”

“No way, nah-uh,” Zoey said. “That’s going to rip Rusty’s poor little heart in two. I have an idea. Do you want to hear it?”

“Do I have a choice? Yeah, I totally want to hear it, and stop giving me that withering stare,” Matty hurried to reply. She always meant well, but it was fun to tease her.

“Bundle up the suit and smuggle it to my room. In case of force majeure, we will use my bathroom for your magical girl routine. Sorry, for your cat boy transformation.”

“And what will your roommate think?”

“Let me worry about her. I have at least five different scenarios lined up, in case I need to send her all over campus so that I have a bit of well-deserved solitude for putting my plans into action.”

“Wow, you really are turning into a villain,” Matty said and snickered.

Zoey pinched his cheek. “Unlike you, I’m not a traitor. If I ever turn to the dark side, I won’t forget about you. You’ll always be my friend, especially when the police are going to hunt me down and I’ll need a place to lay low.”

“It looks like whether I like it or not, I’ll have to act as an accessory to your criminal activity. Ah, that reminds me. John, my roommate, is absolutely over the moon with Connor’s initiative.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Zoey shook her head. “You know what we can do to him?”

“To Connor?”

“I’ll think about that, too. But no, I meant your roommate.”

“I have a feeling that I don’t want to hear whatever is going to come next.”

Zoey grinned. “We could tie him up and hang all his textbooks from the ceiling just far enough away so that he cannot read a word. Or we could attach them to an improvised merry-go-round that will move around his head. He’ll go nuts.”

“I am so not engaging in any kind of criminal activity with you. And that’s cruel, you know?”

“I do,” Zoey confirmed brightly. “But don’t worry. My plans usually don’t bear fruit, they’re just ideas in my head. A girl has to busy her mind with something.”

Matty examined his friend carefully. “Who is he?”

“What do you mean?” Zoey pretended to be suddenly interested in absolutely nothing, because the quad was as good as deserted at that hour.

“You’re crushing on someone, and you’re not telling me. And I know it’s a ‘he’ because that somehow slipped from your tongue today, when we were on the phone.”

“It’s going to pass,” Zoey said with a long, heartfelt sigh. “I mean,” she gestured, pointing with her palm a few inches over the ground, “I’m down here, and he’s,” she stopped for a moment and then pointed at a tall tree across from them, somewhere up near its crown, “up there.”

“And is that stopping you? Get a ladder,” Matty pointed out.

“If only it were that simple. And I’m using metaphors, Matty, metaphors.”

“I know what metaphors are. I just had no idea they’d be enough to stop you,” he insisted. “So, when are you going to tell me who this guy is?”

“When you confess to Rusty. How about that?” Zoey stared at him and smiled.

He could read a lot of stuff in that smile. Most people thought Zoey to be this wacky character and settled for that, but he knew there was more to her. She was highly intelligent and one of her most often used skills was to hide uncomfortable feelings under a thick blanket of humor. Without even thinking, he pulled her into a tight hug. As expected, she protested and tapped his shoulders with her little fists, but he didn’t let go, because he knew very well that she really needed that hug, despite her objections.

He let go of her only when the protests stopped. “I’ll hold you to it,” he promised.

“Deal,” she said and rolled her eyes. “But, seriously, dude, you should stop with the hugging ‘cause I ain’t your Rusty.”

He punched her playfully in the shoulder. “Sometimes, Zoey, I think you act like one of those guys who are just too tough to show their feelings.”

“And?” she challenged him. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Should I read you the entire list or--”

She punched him in the shoulder this time, too, but harder. Matty rubbed the place she had hit him and shook his head.

Then, Zoey looked away and put her both hands under her knees, letting her feet dangle above the ground. Maybe it all came from her being so short. People expected her to be fragile and helpless, and she was bent on proving that she was just the opposite. “You’re an awesome dude, Matty,” she said. “And the best friend I’ll ever have.”

“Same here, my dudette,” Matty said jokingly, knowing that he needed to lighten the mood. “Should we get something to eat? My treat.”

“Why is it your treat?”

“Because, obviously, I need to celebrate losing my virginity to the king of Sunny Hill.”

“Hmm, that means we need to have some cake.”

“I wouldn’t even dare to think not to have cake on a random day.”

“It’s not random,” Zoey reminded him. “It’s about celebrating your getting banged by the biggest crush of your life to date.”

“Good point. Let’s go.” He offered her his hand, and she smacked hers over his palm in agreement.

***

“Maddie, I have a huge favor to ask you,” Rusty began the moment he walked into the house and saw his bestie and his better half sitting on the sofa and making doe eyes at each other.

“Since you started by calling me Maddie, you can kiss that favor goodbye,” Maddox replied with a snort.

“It’s for a good cause,” Rusty pointed out and plopped down on the sofa, getting between them on purpose. He put his hands on their knees to show that he was willing to treat them equally.

Maddox laughed and pushed his hand away. Jonathan chuckled, his usual sexy chuckle that made Rusty feel goose bumps rising on his skin everywhere. He, however, made no move to make him remove his hand. Therefore, it was only natural to cuddle against him and turn his butt to mad Maddie. “See, mom loves me more.”

“Ah, you’re playing that card, I see,” Maddox commented. “I thought you’d start offering sexual favors in exchange for whatever you want to ask me.”

“No way. I’d sexually assault you into acceptance.”

“How is that supposed to work?” Maddox asked.

“I’d stop only when you said ‘yes’.”

It was Jonathan’s turn to laugh out loud. “And what if we didn’t want you to stop?” he teased, his voice dropping low.

Rusty pulled away and then stood to his feet. He wagged a finger at Jonathan. “You’re getting too good at this game, Hamilton. I’m supposed to win. All the time.”

“I’m learning from the best,” Jonathan served him back. “Now, what did you want to ask Maddox?” He pulled his boyfriend close and gave him a quick kiss. “Since you’re in my good graces,” he added, “I’m sure I can convince him for your sake.”

Yeah, mom was totally on his side. He took a deep breath. “I need your car next Saturday if it’s possible,” he said in one go.

Maddox’s face lit up. “You’re going,” he said with a big smile.

“Where?” Jonathan asked.

“His baby brother’s birthday,” Maddox explained. “He’s turning ten.”

“That’s great,” Jonathan said. “You should lend him the car.”

“Totally. Yeah, you can have the car,” Maddox said and turned toward him. “Have you thought about a present, too?”

Rusty puffed out his chest. “We’re going to dress up as superheroes. And we’re going to get a little of everything a ten-year-old boy could possibly want. Matty and I,” he explained when two pairs of eyes set on him questioningly.

Maddox let out a sound of relief. “Awesome. For a moment, I worried that you’d have me and Jonathan play dress up with you.”

He knew what Maddox meant by that. If he ever needed an ally to confront his dad, Maddox would be game. But he was grateful for having convinced Matty because he wasn’t as aware of his family drama as his best friend was. That meant that he would be able to take things lightly, as a result.

“Matty is a great guy,” Jonathan said. “Wait, you did ask him, right?”

“Yeah, he’s down with it. And it was his idea to google for perfect gifts for boys, and it was also his idea that we can’t go wrong with the superhero stuff. Now, thanks a bunch, Maddie, and I’ll be up in my room, shopping for gifts. Ah, and I’m going to call Matty. Just let him in when he arrives.”

“At this point, you might want to have a key made for him,” Maddox pointed out.

“Would that be all right with you all?” Rusty gestured vaguely, to show that he was including Dex and Kane in that, too.

“I don’t see why not. I suppose he’s going to spend a lot of time around here.”

Rusty raised his hand and Maddox high-fived him, grinning madly. Yeah, they thought they were joking, or that he needed some push, but he could see himself comfortable enough to have Matty become that much of a regular that he really needed a key.

TBC

Sorry for being so late! Also, because of my very crazy Friday, I must apologize for not having the time to reply to all your awesome comments! I'm so happy that so many people love Rusty (and Matty)! As you can see, the biggest battle of our times is just starting:)
So, until next time,
Hugs,
Laura
P.S. On Monday, 27th, my answers to Cia's interview regarding my story This Strange World Needs A Kicking! will come live, so it will be a lot of fun if you're there to read them  I will also talk a little about Chasing Rusty Parker, too, so please don't forget to drop by!