The River Leith (25 page)

“We put that up after you got hurt. We…all of us…wanted to remember better times for you,” Marvin said, standing with his hands on his hips. He shook his head. “That was a real surprise to some of us at first, you know. You and another guy. But you were so defiant about it and obviously in love. I was impressed with you even then. You’re still together?”

Leith nodded, staring at the photo until all he saw were black and white dots, pixels swimming in his eyes.

“He’s a good guy. He came by after the accident once to get your stuff. He was really torn up.” Marvin sighed, nodding at the photo. “I’m still sorry about what happened after that article came out.”

Leith stared at him, the hair on his arms standing up. “What happened after?”

Marvin blinked. “You don’t know?

“Know what?”

“You should ask your boyfriend,” Marvin said, his face creasing as he backed away. “Listen, I need to get back to training. But we’d love to have you back. See you later?”

“Yeah, sure,” Leith said, turning back to the newspaper article and photo. The smiles in the photo were so pure. Would Zach ever look at
him
like that?

He knew there was no answer
—
at least not yet. But what had happened when the article was published? His stomach clenched thinking of the possibilities. Leith took the article down and folded it carefully into to his pocket. At least that was one question he could get to the bottom of.

Marian sat forward on her chair at the dining table and looked at the newspaper article with a tender expression. “I always loved how you would just kiss him there in front of everyone. It was so romantic.” She sighed. “It was so
sweet
.”

“What happened, though?” Leith asked, not wanting to hear about the wonderful former Leith who had said romantic things to his boyfriend and kissed him in the boxing ring. His need to know about himself battled with his frustration and jealousy in ways he couldn’t understand. “Something bad happened because of that article, didn’t it?”

“Oh. That,” Marian said, frowning. “You’d better talk to Zach about it.”

Leith took the article and studied the photo again. “He doesn’t talk about before my injury. He says he wants to move on.” Leith admitted, “I think it hurts him to remember.”

“Well, yeah. Of course it does. He was devastated; absolutely torn to pieces afterward. He was like a zombie. I’d never seen him cry until then. And when you didn’t remember him? He was inconsolable. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Marian paused. “Really, you should talk to Zach.”

Leith sighed and dropped the article on the table between them. “I can’t. It hurts him and I don’t want to do that.”

Marian nodded. “I understand. He’s been through a lot.” She touched the newspaper clipping with her fingertip. “You really want to know?”

“Yes,” Leith said. “It’s my
life
, Marian.”

“Okay. After you came out, there were some pretty big problems. Some guys at the boxing club weren’t too keen on having a queer working out there. You weren’t going to be frightened away, so a few of them
—
one was your friend Marvin’s younger brother
—
decided the best way to scare you off was to get at you through Zach.”

“They harassed him?”

“More than that. They waited in the alley outside Blue Flight one night for Zach to bring the trash out. He used to insist on doing it himself. At the time he was trying to quit smoking. He’d gotten down to one a day, and he’d save it as a reward and smoke it out by the garbage dumpsters.”

“He smoked?”

“Yeah. You hated it.”

“Is that why he quit?”

“One of the reasons I’m sure, but anyway, it was part of his plan to quit. If he was only allowed to smoke one and it had to be out in the alley by the dumpster, he figured it’d be easier to make the final break. I think you know where I’m going with this story, Leith.”

“They hurt him?”

“They did, but the cops broke it up fast. Miyoko called them when she heard the commotion, and luckily there was a squad car just around the corner. Even luckier, you’d taught Zach how to defend himself, though he was really outnumbered.”

“How bad was it?”

“Cracked ribs, black eye, and busted lip. It wasn’t too bad.”

Squeezing his hands into fists, Leith trembled. “Not too bad? Jesus.”

“You were pretty scary. I was glad they arrested the guys because if they’d been free? Who knows what might’ve happened.”

“Did they go to jail?”

“Community service and kicked out of the boxing club. Fucking courts. Fucking world.”

Leith’s jaw creaked as he clenched down.

“Don’t even think about it, buddy. It was a long time ago now and Zach isn’t interested in revenge.”

“Yeah, sure. I know. Thank you.” He imagined how good it would feel for his fist to connect with the attackers’ flesh and crunch their bones.

Keys jangled and the front door opened. “Hello?” Zach called.

Marian squeezed Leith’s arm and grabbed her purse. “I was just heading out.” She breezed by Zach and closed the door behind her.

Zach hovered in the little front hallway. “Did I interrupt something?”

It had taken only a few minutes to relate the story, but Leith now couldn’t imagine not knowing it. Somehow it made Zach more precious to him, and he wanted to touch him and kiss him, to wipe away the forgotten past held in Marian’s words. But he hesitated. He had a feeling Zach wouldn’t be glad Leith knew this particular truth
—
or how he’d discovered it.

He took a deep breath. “I went to the boxing club today.”

Zach said nothing for a moment, but his mouth tightened as he pressed his lips together. “Oh? So you’re definitely going to box again?”

“I think so.”

Zach’s jaw clenched and he strode to the kitchen, grabbed a cloth, and began to wipe the counter with quick strokes. “It’s your choice, but your brain is already injured, and another incident could lead to you being nothing but mush,” Zach gritted out, his face flushed.

“Zach…” Leith went to stand by the fridge. “I understand how you’re feeling.”

Zach blew out some air and said nothing, continuing to scrub invisible stains.

“Marian told me about what happened after that article in the paper came out. It made me sick just to imagine it. I can’t even think about something happening to you.”

At the counter Zach froze, his back to Leith.

Leith approached Zach slowly, wrapping his arms around him from behind and sighing when Zach melted against him. He kissed the side of Zach’s neck. “I’m sorry that happened. I hate that I had anything to do with it.”

“It wasn’t your fault. Leith, you beat yourself up for enough at the time. Please don’t do it again. I’m fine.” He put his hand over Leith’s on his chest. “I’m fine,” he repeated.

Squeezing him tightly, Leith breathed in Zach’s sweet-spicy scent. “Okay,” he whispered. He sucked on the soft skin behind Zach’s ear.

“So you went to the club.”

“Yes. It…it felt good to be there. I’m just talking about a little training for now. It’ll be good for me. Help with my aggression.”

Zach was weak in Leith’s arms. He shook his head. “I know you, Leith. It’ll start with a little training, but you’ll want more.”

Leith turned Zach and kissed him softly before resting their foreheads together. He whispered, “I might, and if I do, I’ll need your support. My fancy footwork isn’t so fancy anymore, and my reflexes are slow. I doubt I could compete again anyway.”

Zach sighed, his eyes big and intense. His hand came up to touch Leith’s face. “You can do anything you set your mind to, and no matter what, I’ll be there by your side.” Zach eyes flashed then, and he banged gently against Leith’s chest with his fists. “But you have to start out slow, and no pushing it beyond what the doctors say is okay, and you have to promise me that
—
”

Leith kissed him. “I promise,” he murmured. “I promise.” He ran his hands over Zach’s ass. “Do you have to get back downstairs?”

“Not even a little bit.”

“I want you to fuck me. I want to feel you inside me. I want…I want it all.” Leith couldn’t stop touching Zach. Couldn’t stop kissing him.

With a groan, Zach tugged Leith toward their room.

In their bed, Leith gasped at the intense stretch and burn as Zach pushed the thick head of his cock into Leith’s ass. Chills broke out over his body as he pressed down, his legs shaking on Zach’s shoulders and sweat sliding down his forehead. Zach’s fingers had felt big, but his cock felt huge, and Leith took shallow breaths, trying to ride out the pain.