Leaving Home by Chase, A. (life books to read .txt) 📗

not everyone in the house was as trusting as Peter. Chaz was

surprised to discover he was glad to know that. It hurt some hidden part in his soul to think of Peter living in this place on his own, getting taken advantage of by conmen and assholes.

What are you doing? Isn’t taking him up on his offer of food and a bed taking advantage? Chaz shut his eyes tight to try to get rid of the voice in his head that sounded amazingly like his younger brother Matthew.

When they were growing up, Matthew had been Chaz’s voice of reason and his

conscience. A wave of loneliness swept over him. Matthew was in the army, serving in

Afghanistan.

“Shit! What’s the date again?”

Peter looked over from where he’d been staring at the fireplace. “It’s August fifth.

Why?”

“I missed my brother’s call. Or, at least, I think I did. He was supposed to call me on the second. I don’t remember talking to him.”

Peter snorted. “I’d be surprised if you did. I probably shouldn’t have given you those

pills earlier, should I? Not if you’re an addict, and had overdosed.”

Chaz didn’t reply to that. “Did you find my phone in any of my stuff?”

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“No. It might be in your hotel room. Hey, now that you’re sober, do you remember

which place you were staying at?” Peter asked.

Chaz thought about it for a few minutes, then remembered checking in a week or two

earlier.

“Yeah. I’m staying at the Historic Plains Hotel. I came in a week before the Frontier

Days rodeo started.”

“Not a bad place. Why did you come to Cheyenne to begin with?”

He always came to Cheyenne for a week or two during the break. Sometimes Chaz

would earn extra cash during the huge rodeo they held every year in the town. This year, he hadn’t planned on working the event, hoping to leave town before anyone he knew arrived,

but he’d lost track of days because of the pills. Christ! He was lucky no one had seen him.

“The Frontier Days are over with, aren’t they?” Chaz shuddered. “I meant to be gone by

the nineteenth. Lost track of days.”

“You didn’t want any of your rodeo friends to see you, did you?” The knowing tone in

Peter’s voice irritated him.

“No, I didn’t. Hell, I deal with those guys pretty much every weekend from January to

November. I just wanted some time to myself that didn’t include cow shit and dirt. I didn’t need to work it this year. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t have to work any of the other rodeos—besides the PBR—if I don’t want to.” Chaz sat up quickly, and stars circled in his vision as agony threatened to knock him unconscious.

‘No sudden movements’ had been his mantra for the last three years, and for the most

part he’d done a good job of listening to it. Except when he was working. Then he took some meds and let the absence of pain get him through the events.

“Fine. Calm down. Tomorrow, we’ll run into Cheyenne, and you can get your truck and

stuff. If you don’t want to see anyone, you might as well stay here until you’re ready to head out. Les’ rough stock company had some bulls and horses at the rodeo there and couple of

the other local rodeos, but they won’t be back for a couple more days.” Peter was trying to placate him. “The cowboys who work here are very discreet, and won’t say a word about

you being here.”

Wasn’t that offer exactly what Chaz wanted? Hiding away from the world for another

week or two before he headed out to Tulsa for the next event? It would give him a little time

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to cut back on the pills. He tried not to take too many of them each night while he worked. So far, he’d been doing a good job of disguising his problems.

“I appreciate the offer, and I accept.” He gritted his teeth as he pushed his battered

body to his feet. “I think I’m going to hit the hay now. Haven’t got a lot of sleep lately.”

Peter didn’t say anything, simply watched as Chaz shuffled his way out of the living

room. Chaz made sure Peter couldn’t see him before bracing his hand on the wall and taking a shallow breath. He needed to find the Vicodin fast or he wasn’t going to be able to move within the next day or two.

Maybe you should’ve listened to your doctor and had the surgery. It would’ve helped with the pain. Matthew’s voice taunted him with its logic.

“Then I wouldn’t be able to do my job, jackass,” Chaz muttered as he continued down

the hallway towards his room. “They wanted to fuse some of my vertebrae, making it

impossible for me to move the way I need to be able to save the riders.”

You’ve always been so stubborn.

There had been no truer statement than that. Chaz got into the room without anything

terrible happening. He didn’t even think about brushing his teeth or stripping out of his clothes. In spite of the pain, his body demanded rest, and Chaz wasn’t going to argue with it.

He’d work a plan out in the morning, when he wasn’t so tired.

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Chapter Three

“Will your friend be getting up for breakfast?” Margie asked as Peter walked into the

kitchen.

He brushed a kiss over her cheek as he passed her to head to the coffee pot. After

getting his morning coffee, he shrugged. “I have no idea. I’ll admit he’s not really a friend.

Just some guy I met yesterday while I was in Cheyenne.”

“And you thought it was a good idea to bring him here?” Margie sent him a quick

glance before turning back to tend to the eggs on the stove.

Peter sat at the table then set his cup in front of him. He frowned, staring at the plate of toast. “I’m not sure what I was thinking when I did it. I just knew I