The Troll Whisperer (9 page)

“Meth addicted parents, naturally.” She gave
him a wry smile. “I’m pretty sure I was named after the drug.”

“Wow,” Oscar said. Not exactly tactful, but
he couldn’t think of what else to say.

Crystal gestured at Jeremy. “So how often
does he get this drunk?”

“I dunno,” Oscar said. Now that he thought
about it, Jeremy had gotten plastered every single time they went
to the bar for the last six months. “A lot, I guess. We only go to
the bar once or twice a week, though.”

“How much does he drink in general?”

“How the hell should I know?” Oscar snapped.
“I don’t live with him, and I’m not his mom. It’s his business, and
if you want to know so bad, ask him yourself.”

“I have, but I’m pretty sure he’s lying to
me.”

Oscar crossed his arms over his chest. “Well,
like I said, I don’t know either.”

Crystal’s eyebrow quirked. “I bet you could
make an educated guess.”

Oscar scowled. “Probably a lot.”

“Every day?”

Oscar thought about all the days he was late
for work, the circles under his eyes, his shaky hands, and his
breath— smoke, for sure, but a sour smell as well. “Yeah,” he
mumbled. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Crystal nodded absently. She reached into her
purse for her phone, exposing more faded scars on her arms. “I’ve
got a friend who can take my shift tomorrow. I’ll stay with him. He
shouldn’t be alone.”

“Why do you say that?”

“It’s this shit with his mom. It’s going to
eat him alive.”

Oscar gave her a look. “When did he tell you
about that?”

“It happened last week.”

“Last week?” Oscar echoed. “He only told me
tonight!”

“Sometimes it’s easier to tell someone who
hasn’t known you that long,” she said.

And sometimes it’s easier to tell someone
who acts like they want to hear it
, Oscar thought. There was
that conscience of his again, rumbling around. But he took care of
Jeremy, didn’t he? Although he’d never once thought to stay with
him; it felt intrusive. The situation was clearly a lot worse than
Oscar had thought. Oscar had always been shit about taking care of
things. When he was a kid, he went through five goldfish and three
gerbils.

Crystal slung her purse over her shoulder and
stood. “I think he’ll be okay for a few minutes. You still want
that ride home?”

“Sure.” He wasn’t sure how he felt about
Crystal, but Jeremy’s apartment was the opposite direction from the
bar as his place, and he sure as shit didn’t feel like walking.

They didn’t say much on the ride to Oscar’s
place. “Here you go,” she said once they’d gotten there.

“So you aren’t going to casually talk to me
about seeking treatment for my drinking problem?” Oscar
sneered.

“Why would I? You don’t have a drinking
problem.”

Oscar gave her a baffled look. “I drink all
the time.”

“Sure, you probably drink too much,” she
agreed. “But it’s not compulsive for you.”

“How the hell would you know?”

She tapped her temple. “We addicts can sense
our kind. You might want to do something about that festering
wound, though.”

“What are you talking about?”

She put her hand briefly over his heart.
“Here,” she said. “Lance it, drain it, rub some spiritual Neosporin
on it, and let it heal. It’ll kill you otherwise.”

That caught him completely off balance. “What
the fuck are you talking about?” he asked when he’d recovered. “Has
Jeremy been telling you things? Because my past isn’t any of your
goddamn business!”

“Jeremy hasn’t said anything,” Crystal
replied, cool as always.

“Then how did you—” He stopped, because that
would be basically admitting she was right.

Crystal just tapped her temple again.

Oscar was officially done with this
conversation. He opened the car door and stepped out onto the
sidewalk. He cooled off a little when he was back in the open air.
Before he shut the door again, he bent his head to look at her.
“Thanks,” he said. “For, you know, whatever.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome, for whatever. It
was nice talking with you, Oscar.”

“That’s a flat-out lie,” Oscar said. “Don’t
tell me it isn’t.”

She laughed. “Okay, how’s this— I look
forward to talking to you in the future. That’s the truth.”

The weird thing was Oscar believed her.

Oscar watched her car disappear down the
street. He made his way toward his apartment. His gaze flickered
briefly to Noah’s place, but it scurried away. Going to Noah was
something that someone in a relationship would do, which he most
definitely was not. Still, it felt lonely when he got into his own
place. It was a mess again; he had backslid on his efforts to clean
up. Old habits were hard to break; trying to kill his had only
given them smelly, gangrenous wounds. He sent Jeremy a text before
he got ready for bed..

Hope ur ok, dude.

He didn’t know what else to say.

CHAPTER FOUR

“Let’s go to the pool,” Noah said one
Saturday.

They were sitting next to each other on the
couch, playing Mario Kart. Bowser went sailing off the Rainbow Road
as Oscar dropped his controller. “The pool?”

“Yeah. It’s hot out, and it’s still the
afternoon. The pool would feel nice.” Noah gestured over to Oscar’s
laundry basket. “Your swim trunks are on top of the pile
there.”

Oscar hesitated. This would be Leaving The
Apartment. Was he ready for that step? He decided that it wasn’t
really
leaving the apartment— they’d still be in the
complex. It was the same thing as meeting in the laundry room,
basically. “Okay,” he said.

Noah smiled. “Great. I’ll go get my
suit.”

Oscar changed into his trunks in the living
room while Noah went to his bedroom to fetch his own swimsuit. He
emerged wearing some truly dorky Hawaiian patterned trunks, but
Noah’s fantastic ass was enough to make them seem like high
fashion. He was carrying a bottle of sunscreen. “Do you need any?”
Noah asked, indicating the bottle.

“Nah, I don’t burn that easy.”

“Then will you do me?” he asked, holding out
the bottle.

“Oh yeah. I’ll do you all night long.”

Noah rolled his eyes. “Sunscreen first. Then
pool. Then we can do it.”

Oscar took the bottle and squeezed some of
the lotion onto Noah’s shoulders. “All night long?” he asked
teasingly as he massaged the lotion into his skin. He kissed the
nape of his neck.

Noah turned around and kissed him. “Sure, but
that would involve you staying the night.”

Oscar turned away. “We got towels?” he
mumbled.

Noah looked as if he wanted to say something
more but decided not to. “Yeah. In the bathroom.”

They made their way out to the pool. No one
else was there. Oscar stepped into the water, keeping his arms up
as he got in. It always took him a minute to get used to the
coolness. Noah surprised him by diving gracefully into the deep
end. He swam under water until he emerged beside Oscar. Water
droplets dripped off his face.

“Diving is against the rules,” Oscar pointed
out.

“I know,” Noah responded. “I’m living on the
wild side now, though. Who knows what kind of crazy stunt I’ll pull
next. I might even tear some tags off pillows later.” He looked at
Oscar. “Why do you have your arms up like that?”

“Just taking a minute to get
comfortable.”

Noah made a noncommittal noise. He moved as
if he were going to swim away— but he abruptly turned and pounced
onto Oscar, dragging him under the water. Oscar popped back up with
a gasp.

Noah popped up too, looking extremely pleased
with himself, and Oscar couldn’t help but grin. He liked naughty
Noah. He liked all versions of Noah, really. “Oh, it’s gonna be
like that, huh?” he said. He tried to grab Noah, but he slipped
away, gliding across the pool as gracefully as a dolphin. Oscar was
more of a flail-swimmer, but he caught up eventually and made
another grab. This time, Noah let him catch him. They both went
under water. Oscar opened his eyes briefly, watching Noah’s brown
hair wave above him like seaweed.

They bobbed to the surface again, laughing
like they were kids. Oscar splashed him in the face. Noah responded
with an even bigger wave. They chased each other around the pool,
tackling each other with great whoops and hollers.

Out of the corner of his eye, Oscar caught
the whoosh of a sensible gray pantsuit coming straight for them.
“Oscar!” Aneisha yelled. “How many times do I have to tell you it
doesn’t matter if it’s not after ten p.m., you still have to abide
by the noise rules! And what did I say about inappropriate pool
behavior?”

“Oh come on, Aneisha,” he said. “That was
just that one time!”

Noah moved out from behind Oscar. “I’m sorry,
ma’am,” he said, which was ridiculous because Aneisha was three
years older than them at the most. “I was the one who initiated the
horseplay.”

Aneisha’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Noah?”

He gave her a little wave. “We apologize. I
suppose we got out of hand.”

Aneisha’s gaze darted back and forth between
them. “So you two are here together?”

Oscar was loving the expression on her face.
“Yup,” he said. “Just two neighbors, having a good time.”

She tried very hard to keep her face neutral,
but Aneisha had a naturally expressive face. It was what made her
so fun to mess with. She focused her gaze on Noah. “My sister
wanted me to thank you again for showing her around campus.”

“It was my pleasure. I only started at SCCC
in January, so I feel like a newbie myself, but I’m glad I was able
to be of service.”

Aneisha looked back to Oscar. “So how’s that
cleanup going? We still got roaches in your building, so I’m
guessing not too good.” She smirked in satisfaction at Oscar’s
mortified look.

Noah gave Oscar a puzzled look. “What
cleanup?”

“My apartment’s kind of dirty,” he said.
“There’s a pest problem in my building.”

Aneisha crossed her arms smugly. “There
certainly is.” Oh, she was enjoying this.

“I can help, if you want,” Noah said to
Oscar.

“No, it’s cool. I can handle it.” He gave him
a little splash and a smile. “You wanna go inside now?”

Noah grinned back. “Sounds good.”

They got out of the pool. While Noah bent
down to pick up the towels he’d left on one of the pool chairs,
Oscar made eye contact with Aneisha. He mimed some exaggerated
thrusts with his hips in the direction of Noah’s backside. She
looked like she was about to explode from outrage.

He stopped as soon as Noah turned back
around. He handed Oscar a towel.

“It was nice talking with you,” Noah said to
Aneisha. “Tell your sister I said hi.”

She was still fuming, but she managed a tight
smile. “I will. I hope you have a nice afternoon.” Her gaze lit on
Oscar, the fire of impotent rage burning in her eyes.

“See you around!” Oscar said cheerily.

Aneisha didn’t bother responding. She turned
on her heel and stomped back to the leasing office.

“What was all that about?” Noah asked when
she was gone.

“She just doesn’t like me,” Oscar said.
“She’s always on my ass about something. It’s no big deal.” He
goosed Noah. “Speaking about asses, why don’t you get yours inside
and out of those trunks?”

Noah laughed. “Sounds like a plan.”

They retreated to Noah’s apartment; Oscar
pulled Noah into a kiss the moment the door closed.

Noah laughed a little. “Aren’t we going to
dry off first?”

Oscar nibbled at his neck. “Why? I like you
wet.”

That earned both a kiss on the lips and a
moan. They fumbled to the bedroom, dropping their towels on the
floor as they made out. Oscar got his trunks off first. Noah picked
up his towel and handed it to Oscar. “Seriously, though— I don’t
want my bed all wet.”

Oscar accepted the towel begrudgingly. He
expected Noah to take off his trunks, but instead, Noah gave him a
quick peck on the lips. “Wait here for me. I’ve got to use the
bathroom.”

Oscar obediently began drying himself off as
Noah disappeared into the bathroom. When he was reasonably dry,
Oscar sat on the bed. He stroked himself a little while he waited.
A few minutes passed, and then a few more. He wondered what was
taking Noah so long.

At last, he emerged. He was naked and dry
except for his damp hair, which was sticking out in all directions.
He held two things in his hands, which he set on the nightstand: a
condom and a bottle of lube.

Oscar’s cock jumped. He looked up at Noah.
“So, uh, what will we be doing with those?”

Noah straddled Oscar’s lap. “What do you
think?”