Runner (Riders of Apollo #3)

Chapter Fifteen: Raphael Flores

My bed is really warm and my pillow is moving steadily, up and down, up and down. Oh God, did I get drunk and bring home a stranger again?

I groan and lift myself off of my annoyingly comfortable pillow, ready to force someone out only to sigh in relief as I find my pillow to actually be Mika. He's not wearing a shirt and his delectable skin is on show and has my mouth watering as I think about every time I have dragged my tongue along the outlines of his tattoos and in the contours of his muscles as he writhed beneath me.

"Raphe, it's six am, can you please go back to sleep?" Mika complains and searches for my body, rolling over and grabbing my waist with a disgruntled face. He looks adorable and I find myself curling back into his embrace, I bury my face in his neck and he chuckles softly. "I missed this." He breathes out and I freak out on the inside like a teenage girl who has just spoken to her crush for the first time.

I don't even mind. I want to feel excited and happy and at peace and I only ever get that when I'm around Mika. I'm not giving that up, they'll have to drag it from my cold, dead hands. "I missed it, too." I mumble, already drifting back into the blissful darkness that is sleep.

Avid knocking startles me awake and throws Mika from my grip as he grabs his gun off the bedside table and removes the safety. "Come in!" I shout and watch as Mika puts down the gun when he sees little legs and a fluffy body peek around the gap in the door. While Ollie waits for permission to come in, Kota flies in and pounces onto the bed making soft noises of excitement.

Mika pets him as I gesture for Ollie to come over. He seems intelligent, I mean he survived on the streets for God knows how long but socially he seems inept. He probably hasn't had many healthy communications with people so doesn't entirely understand the concept but he does understand how to behave in most situations. Hopefully getting him into school will mean he's able to catch up. I don't want him to miss out on the rest of his childhood just because his parents left him, if they even did. They could be dead or neglectful but they could also be loving parents missing their child.

I'll have Mika search websites later to see if there is anyone looking for him. "You okay?" I ask as I lift him onto the bed to sit between Mika and I.

"Just wasn't tired anymore, the bed was really comfy though. Where did you get it?"

"I don't have a clue, you'll have to ask Lexie." I ruffle his hair and stand up, stretching my muscles and letting my aching muscles click back into place. The stitches pull and I growl, my hand flying to the wound as if touching it will relieve the pain.

"Take it easy, Raphe. I'm sure Sav wouldn't appreciate having to sew you back up again." Mika jokes but his voice shows his worry for me as he slips out of bed to kiss my cheek and head into the spare bathroom. He's always been gentle with me, except when we're fucking obviously, but his touch is always light and caring. It's unreal that he ever thought he wasn't good enough for me, he just wasn't ready for what I was offering but him staying by me yesterday just proves how much this means to him.

How much I mean to him.

"Let's get some breakfast." I lift Ollie into my arms and whistle for Kota to follow us. I sit little man at the breakfast bar and start digging around for a menu, the diner down the road is 24/7 and delivers so I figure I'll order everything and we can binge. At this time in the morning they won't be too busy so hopefully we can get some food quickly.

"Do you think Lex can look after Ollie while we're in Church?" Mika asks, slipping past me to put the coffee maker on, leaving me to quickly grab Ollie some water and some vitamins because he needs them more than I do. He doesn't look particularly excited to take them but Mika gives him a look that makes him give in.

"She's going to have a heart attack, but yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine with it. It's not like she'll go anywhere and if Lex can't Mari will."

"We'll have to ask Prez if I can do some illegal stuff, I'll have to bring Saviour in on this as well." He scrubs his face in frustration as I order the food before brushing my hand up and down his back in comfort.

"Everything will work out. Are you scared to come out to them?" I brave asking, bracing myself for his answer. Maybe he'll say that he's just gonna lie and say that it's just two friends raising a kid together or straight up deny being gay.

"I can see you spiralling, Raphe. We're gonna tell them to truth and then hopefully Prez will let me do the dirty work as long as I don't involve the club. I'm a little anxious about it but I'm more worried that Prez won't let me do it rather than what they'll think about me being gay. Now, what's for breakfast?"

——————

"Thank you, guys." I say to Lex and Mari as I drop Ollie off in the pink room, his presence immediately made aware by little Gemma who seems excited to have a playmate.

"You're explaining this as soon as you're out of Church!" Lex calls behind me and I shake my head with a laugh. I knew it wasn't going to be that easy, never is with those girls. I head into the main room and slip into my chair next to Mika, smiling at Saviour who is wiggling her eyebrows at me playfully. I know she'd never expose us, I also know that she's enjoying teasing us about it despite being forced into silence.

It takes another twenty minutes before everyone finally arrives, Bear being the last, and we immediately go silent in respect of our Prez. "Mornin' boys."

"Mornin' Prez." Sounds at the same time as a disgruntled, "Fuck you, Prez." From Saviour because she is, in fact, not a boy. Bear grins like an asshole, taking full advantage of the fact that Sav is not supposed to be fighting right now because she would've throttled him by now had she been given the chance.

"You're looking mighty smug, Prez. I may not be able to beat the shit out of you but I can always get Lex to withhold sex so..." the glint of mirth in her eyes has me laughing as Prez goes pale, finally realising that the women will band together on everything no matter what.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." The smirk on her face only furthers her point and Prez decides it's best to back off for now. We all know he'll be back to fucking her off tomorrow and he will regret the consequences soon and I will be there to witness every bit of it.

"Anyway, all of our pacts are stable. The Niners are happy with their cut and all three Dons seem quite happy to leave us alone as long as we keep Saviour and Miracle safe, they have promised swift and vicious revenge if we fail to do so. As for the rings I have decided to put something to vote..." We all nod along with his words, eyes flicking to me as the rings are brought up. I know people are still pissed that I was stabbed but I'm already over it. "So, since one of our own was stabbed at one of these rings, I would like to put forward the idea of tearing every underground circuit in our territory to the ground. What do we think?"

Oh, shit.