Tarot: the Fool- Paranormal M/M Romance

Chapter Eleven

David

Zin's crush on me wouldn't have been so difficult to handle if I wasn't so wholly attracted to him. His every move, even while he was still bandaged up and beaten, God strike down my sick soul, made me hyper aware of how close he was, how easy it would be to reach out and touch him, grab him, press my body flush against his. I knew he had a sort of hero worship thing for me, and because I knew that's all it was, I kept him away, trying not to hurt him. With everything I feared the poor guy had gone through, I didn't want to add a cruel rejection to that list. So I treated him as I had before, just with a bit more caution and awareness.

He healed quickly, and within a week he seemed ready to walk around enough to visit the doctor. I took him to my doctor, who gave him the go ahead to work, with various stipulations (no lifting, no standing for longer than 20 minutes at a time, etc.), and Zin was eager to get started. I scheduled him for a few short shifts for his first week, only 3 hours at a time, and I made sure Ben and Noah knew the stool beside the register now basically belonged to Zin.

And finally he met them. Or, met them again. Along with everyone else. Noah and Ben had told the entire crew of the parlor next door, and a few other people from town, so when we stepped back into the store after Zin's check up, we were met with a lot of amused leers, laughter, and a few cheers. Ben had seemingly closed the store, and there was a table set up with food, liquor and beer.

I had never seen Zin's face quite so red.

He was introduced to Ryder first, whom he seemed to melt beside after he shook his hand, as if he had only been holding himself up because Ryder hadn't been there to do it. I was glad I had introduced him to Ryder first, because he calmed immensely afterwards and almost seemed to flow through the rest of the room, only flinching a few times when things got too loud or someone touched him. I was glad that he seemed so at ease with the big, burly biker. 

I was.

Noah went in for a hug— the man was like a soiled child when it came to touching, cuddling, and physical affection— which Zin deftly sidestepped. Noah took no offense, only chuckling and holding his hand out to shake.

"Welcome to the family, Zin."

I introduced Zin to Leslie, who looked like she wanted to grab his cheeks and squeeze, like a toddler, and then Jake, who was in his full sheriff's uniform. If I thought Zin melted for Ryder, his body managed the opposite when he stood in front of Jake. The tall, broad sheriff looked down at him with a gentle smile, but Zin backed into me until I had to grip his forearms to keep us both from tumbling back

"Zin, you met Jake at the Urgent Care, but you were a bit doped up so you probably don't remember. He's an old friend of mine. He and his son live just a few buildings down."

"It's nice to meet you, sir," Zin murmured, his eyes steadfastly fixed on his feet.

"Please call me Jake, Zin. Not only do I feel like a major stick in the mud among these guys already half of the time, but you're making me feel old. Stop it."

At that moment, Noah's loud laughter distracted Jake, who stared past Zin and me, his eyes fixating just behind us. Which is why he didn't notice the sudden faraway look in Zin's eyes, or the way he sort of jerked, hiccuped, then sighed and met my eyes before looking away quickly.

"This is the Now. Not the Then, and not yet the Will Be," Zin whispered to himself, like a mantra, repeating it twice more before he took a deep breath and met my eyes again.

"Now that I've met half the town, may I have some food? I'm starving."