“I think you do know,” Noah says, voice low. “I saw you guys together. After the Combine? I guess you thought there was no one else around, but–”
“What are you trying to do here, exactly?” Blake asks and it comes out sharper than intended, but if Noah is trying to pull some shit here, Blake needs to– Well, what does he need to do? There’s nothing he can do. If Noah wants to go and tell everyone, it’s not like Blake can stop him. All he can do is hope that no one will believe him, it’s not like he has evidence.
“No, no, I’m not… That came out wrong,” Noah says and laughs nervously. “I didn’t tell anyone. I’d never… I swear.”
“Nobody else saw?” Blake asks.
“It was just me. And I didn’t stick around too long, no worries.”
Blake tries to breathe evenly, because this is his worst nightmare right here, someone else knowing, someone he barely knows, with the power to fuck up his entire life. And Elliot’s, too, if he wanted to.
“Blake,” Noah says, and something soft has crept into his voice that wasn’t there before. “I’m saying this all wrong. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out, I wanted to tell you, because I talked to you earlier and you seem like a good guy, I like you, and I… Back then, I was just so glad that I wasn’t the only one.”
“That you weren’t– Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re…?”
“Yeah,” Noah says and winks. “Don’t tell anyone.”
“No, of course not.”
“Good.” Noah gives him a nudge. “I honestly didn’t want to freak you out and I don’t know if you and Elliot are still a thing–”
“We’re not.”
“Okay, all the better for me, because I was going to say, if you’re not, and you need, uh, a friend, you know, a friend, I’m available. Very much available.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Noah says. “Listen, it doesn’t have to be… I’m not asking for your hand in marriage here. No strings, if you’re not one for strings. Probably easier that way. But you’ll be with the Knights and I’ll be with the Mariners, so I’m assuming we’ll see each other around.”
Blake can’t do much more than gape at Noah right now.
“Think about it.” Noah pats his back. “I’m free tomorrow evening and this,” he pushes a piece of paper into Blake’s hand, “is my number.”
“Okay,” Blake says, numb.
“Okay,” Noah echoes, somehow amused. “Good talk. See you later.”
Chapter Five
Blake arrives at Mattie’s house just after noon, looking a little worse for wear. He slept well enough on a couch at Brammer’s house, but a quick glance in the rearview mirror of his car tells him that he still looks like he just rose from the grave. He stopped for a cheeseburger on the way, because he passed on the breakfast that Brammer was cooking up, whistling as he handed out cups of coffee to those who’d spent the night at the house.
He didn’t come across Noah or Elliot before he left, which he considered a blessing, but that didn’t stop his thoughts from jumping back and forth between them on the entire ride to Mattie’s.
When he rings the doorbell, he’s greeted by screaming children and excited dogs, Mattie’s wife trying to get the kids to leave Blake alone long enough that he can make it into the house. “If you don’t let Blake get to his room, he might not want to stay,” Mattie says and the girls immediately back off and offer to carry things for him.
Mattie hands him a set of keys and Blake knows the drill, has been here before, so he takes his stuff downstairs, Mattie’s kids at his heels, carrying the lightest things he had in the car, carefully setting them down on his bed, both of them beaming when he thanks them for the Welcome, Fish! banner they put in his room. They painted the Knights logo on it, the sword glittering, surrounded by extremely colorful fish.
“They worked on it for a week,” Mattie mumbles to him. “They used up all their glitter.”
He says glitter like it’s a deadly weapon.
Blake grins.
“Yeah, you’re grinning now, but you won’t be when it somehow ends up on your gear. That shit gets everywhere.”
Blake unpacks, takes a quick shower and considers a nap, but decides to hang out with Mattie and catch up before he turns into a hermit. Katie makes them coffee, because she probably took one look at Blake’s face and saw how close to death he is. Mattie offers to make him something to eat, but Blake waves him off.
He found the scrap of paper with Noah’s number on it in the pocket of his jeans when he took them off earlier and now it’s downstairs in his room and he doesn’t know what to do with it, almost wants to throw it away and never think of it ever again, but part of him wants this, just one time, just to take the edge off, because it’s been just him for so long and he’s almost forgotten what it’s like to have someone else touch him, to be kissed and actually want it.
“Blake?”
“What? Sorry.”
“You have any plans for tonight?” Mattie asks. “We were gonna take the girls out for dinner at their favorite place, but you’re welcome to come with us.”
“I was actually thinking about hanging out with a friend later.”
“You have friends?” one of Mattie’s kids asks.
“Uh, yeah?”
Mattie’s shaking with laughter, trying to hide his face behind his hand. “It’s okay, kiddo, Blake will
