The Boy Who Came in From the Cold Read Online Free Page B

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    “Todd,” he said softly. “Drink your wine. Relax. If you’re tired, I’ll make up the couch now if you want.”
Todd’s brown eyes widened. “Couch?” he asked.
    Gabe nodded. “I don’t have a guest bedroom, so the couch will have to do. I’ll put a couple of blankets on it. It’s really quite comfortable.”
“I-I don’t understand. I’m sleeping in here?”
    For just a moment, Gabe thought Todd was going to cry. “Sure, Todd. You can sleep in my room if you want. It’s a king-size bed, plenty of room, but with you being straight, I figured you wouldn’t want to share with a ‘queer’.”
Confusion filled Todd’s face. “I-I don’t… I’m sorry about calling you that.”
    “I’ll forgive you this time. In the meantime, I want you to unwind. I’m not paying for you. You told me you’re not for sale.” He gave Todd another reassuring smile.
The confused look came back. “But I figured… since you let me in….”
    Ah, sweet boy. “I don’t take advantage of people. Especially not people in trouble. I’m sorry about the offer downstairs. I just thought—”
“I was a whore,” Todd muttered.
    Gabe’s heart sank. “Todd, I’m sorry about that. I fucked up. So tonight I’m giving you a place to stay. Get your head together. That’s it.”
    With those words, Gabe watched the tension run out of Todd, saw his shoulders lower, his posture relax. A smile flickered at the corners of his mouth, but Gabe saw that tears still threatened. What had this kid been through?
    Todd sipped cautiously at his wine, and then smiled for real. He took a bigger taste. “Gosh,” he said.
“You like?” Gabe asked, taking a drink himself.
“Yeah. I do.”
     
Gabe held his glass toward Todd. “Then let’s drink to getting out of the cold.”
     
Todd nodded and clinked glasses with him, though misunderstanding still shimmered across his face.
    Talk to him . “Where’re you from, Todd?”
“Buckman.”
Buckman?
“It’s a little town a couple of hours from here. Lived there my whole life.”
     
“And now you’re in Kansas City?”
     
“I had enough of small-town life. I wanted to find myself. Saved up and got out of there.”
    “What’s wrong with where you’re from?” Gabe asked. “Well,” Todd said with a snort. “If there’s a bright center to the universe, Buckman is the town farthest from.” Todd looked away, stared out the double glass doors that let out onto the balcony. The
    snow was still falling furiously. He looked back. Gabe could see a battle going on there on Todd’s face as he tried to decide what to say. Gabe nodded encouragingly at the kid.
“I left because my parents are crazy,” Todd said finally. “My Mom…. She… I… I left because I have an alcoholic stepfather who… who….” Todd stopped talking a moment, then continued. “I figured it would only be a matter of time till I got a job here, but it’s not that
    easy. Not one that pays for shit or will give you enough hours to even pay for the electricity. I wanted to go to culinary school. Cooking, you know?”
Gabe nodded. “Cooking, huh.” Now that was a surprise.
    “That’s not working out so much. And when the little savings I had was gone—boom!—I was out in the cold.” Suddenly, there were tears springing to his eyes. He wiped at them angrily with the heel of his hand.
    “My old man beat me,” Gabe said and placed a hand comfortingly (or at least he hoped so) on Todd’s knee. At least the kid didn’t flinch. “Until I got big enough to hit back. He never laid a hand on me again.”
“Well, I can’t beat up my mom. And my stepdad could break me over his knee.”
     
Gabe watched, saw the muscles in Todd’s jaw clench, a quick tremble, as Todd struggled desperately to fight back the tears.
    “You know, man, it’s okay to cry.” He squeezed Todd’s knee. “I’m not crying,” Todd shouted, and then suddenly the tears came. They were pouring out of the kid. Gabe moved closer to