On a Roll by Beth Bolden (free ebook novel .txt) 📗

with a laugh, because even though his cousin was seriously overdramatic, even Ren’s fit couldn’t ruin this day. The sun was shining and he hadn’t just spent the night with Sean, he fucking adored him.

“That was on you ever having the capacity for being cool,” Ren said. “But this is worse.”

“Just because you don’t have the capacity for it doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t want to fall in love,” Gabriel said, and that was perfectly reasonable, right? He wasn’t saying Ren had to fall in love—even if he even could, at this point—Gabriel just wanted to enjoy it.

“I have the capacity,” Ren said in a clipped voice as they neared the lot. “I just choose not to.”

“Yeah, that’s all fine and good,” Gabriel said with hesitation, “but sometimes I’m not sure you get a choice.”

“You always have a choice,” Ren said with steel in his tone.

Gabriel thought Ren was fucking crazy, but what else was new?

He pulled his keys out and went to unlock the door, but to his surprise, there were scratches on the stainless steel panel of the door—the panel that held the lock. Alexis’ truck had had very similar ones, only a few weeks back.

“Shit,” Gabriel said.

“What is it?” Ren asked, coming closer. “Did you decide you were being stupid?”

“No,” Gabriel said, pointing to the scratches. “I think someone tried to break into our truck last night.”

But Ren was already not paying attention—he was craning his head around the edge of the truck, clearly distracted by something else he’d seen.

Gabriel looked too, because anything that had given Ren that look on his face was something worth paying attention to.

There were wooden picnic tables scattered across the courtyard between all the different trucks. And on the very central one, someone had painted a message. Ren and Gabriel walked closer, his heart in his throat. Was this what Tony had been worried about the whole time? Thefts and vandalism?

It was worse than that. “Suck a dick,” was the message, scrawled in bright purple paint, across the entire tabletop.

“Shit is right,” Gabriel said with an unsteady exhale. “What the fuck is this?”

“I don’t even want to suck a dick now,” Ren said, his own voice not precisely steady, “and I always want to suck a dick.”

“We’re gonna have to clean this up.” Gabriel pulled out his phone after glancing around and realizing they were the first owners here. This was their prep day, and he and Ren often were here by themselves for at least the first hour.

Tony needed to see this.

———

Tony just stood there and stared at the message.

His brother, Wyatt, stood next to him, a frown on his face, and the rest of the owners clustered a little ways back. Everyone’s expressions were grim, but there was a healthy amount of disbelief thrown in. Gabriel knew how they felt. He’d felt safe here too, protected with their community, with the cushion of so many queer food truck owners gathered together. He’d always believed that they were stronger together than they were apart, and he knew Tony had believed in that idea too.

“Well,” Ash said under his breath, coming up to stand next to Gabriel, “I guess I was wrong about needing security.”

The semi-playful argument they’d had during last week’s staff meeting felt a lot stupider with those words emblazoned across one of their picnic tables.

“I guess we were all wrong,” Gabriel admitted.

“But how do we know,” Ash continued, “that someone like Lennox isn’t behind this shit? He didn’t really seem all that comfortable with us . . . what did he call it? Fucking around all the time?”

“He might not be comfortable, but the guy wasn’t homophobic. You know that, Ash.”

Ash was still frowning though, like he didn’t quite believe it. “I wish Tony would find someone else.”

“Tony isn’t going to find someone else,” Gabriel said. “He said it at the staff meeting: the guy knows us, knows our trucks, knows the lot. Maybe he’s a little uncomfortable with so many queer couples, but that shouldn’t stop him from keeping us safe.”

“Do you trust him?” Ash asked him, point-blank.

Gabriel wished that this day hadn’t been totally derailed; he wished that Ash was actually asking him about Sean, not about Lennox. He wished they didn’t even have to talk about this. But that option had come and gone.

“I don’t know him, but I trust that he’s going to do his job,” Gabriel finally said.

Just then, the man in question arrived, wearing a sharp black suit, with a white shirt and a narrow black tie that he hadn’t quite finished tying yet. Lennox was walking fast, but silent, people parting and letting him through, until he came to a stop right in front of the table.

“Glad you got here so quick,” Tony said, extending a hand, which Lennox took quickly and efficiently.

He was putting on a brave face, Gabriel realized, but Tony was shaken, some of his confidence leeched away.

Gabriel had never understood it. So what if some of them did like to suck dick? Did that make them lesser people? Anger was pointless, because it did nothing, but it surged through him anyway.

“Oh great, our knight in shining armor is here to save us,” Ash said, not even bothering to lower his voice.

“Ash,” Gabriel warned, “this isn’t . . . just don’t, okay?”

Ash shot him a venomous look and stormed off.

A second later, Sean took his place.

Gabriel had wondered, before this clusterfuck had hit their lot, what it would feel like to see Sean for the first time since he’d left his house, early this morning.

What it would feel like to see him for the first time, knowing that he loved him.

These circumstances were definitely not fucking ideal, but Gabe still felt the same surge of love and affection and caring that he knew couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. He wanted to comfort Sean when he felt sad, he wanted Sean’s comfort in return.

In fact, he really wanted it right fucking now.

“Hey,” Sean said softly, his