Geekspeak: Focal Point
Definition: The most dominant element on a web page, where the eye is naturally drawn.
It was truly amazing what Gideon could accomplish with the proper incentive. Every freaking one of those stupid racks was assembled—and the boxes broken down, thank you very much—and the shift was nowhere near done. He had ages before he could claim that incentive and ambush Alex on the trip down in the service elevator.
“We agreed to three dates, and we’re having three dates, Mr. God’s Gift to BJs, so there,” he muttered as he stalked across the server room.
He studied the list of cable lengths on the list Alex had left on his worktable. Picking up the discarded mat knife, Gideon extended and retracted the blade a couple of times. How hard could cutting cable be? If Gideon could speed up Alex’s process a little, maybe they’d get to that service elevator half an hour sooner.
He’d convince Alex to stop for a drink. At Gideon’s apartment. In Gideon’s bedroom.
With Alex’s sister down the hallway. God. Awkward.
But in the last couple of days, Lindsay had started staying with her mom until Alex got home.
Oh, right. Alex had to go home. Where he lives with his parents. And was Gideon a total douche because that still freaked him out? Did it freak him out more than the thought of Lindsay knowing what her brother was doing behind closed doors in the corner turret?
Why was his life suddenly so goddamned complicated? He measured the first cable length, slapped it down on the plywood faux-table and gave it an extra vicious slice with the mat knife.
“Oh.”
The knife slipped out of his hand and landed on the floor next to his purple high-top. Shouldn’t it have made a noise? But how could he hear anything over the roaring in his ears? He blinked at the table. The blue cable was bleeding, curled in a pool of red as if he’d cut the vein of some giant digital dragon. Gideon wanted to giggle but couldn’t force any air past his diaphragm.
He should wrap that splice before the poor network bled out. It had enough trouble already. Instead his knees buckled, and he landed on his ass on a pile of cardboard.
“Gideon, have you seen— Jesus!” Alex must be far away; his voice sounded like he was inside a barrel. Or maybe Gideon was inside the barrel, because the edges of his vision were dark as if he were looking down a long tunnel. Or a barrel. Or what-the-hell-ever. Maybe he should lie down. Was there room in the barrel for that?
“G, talk to me.”
Right. Alex had asked him a question. He knew the answer. He loved knowing the answer! “No, I haven’t seen Jesus.” He blinked at Alex’s square chin and shivered. “Did they turn the air conditioning on?”
Alex gazed at him. God, his eyes were gorgeous. So dark. A guy could get lost in those eyes and wander around for days. Alex’s lips moved, but that annoying roar in Gideon’s ears muffled the words. Something about cold?
“Not cold.” Every time Alex looked at him, his temperature shot up another degree, he’d swear. “Never cold with those eyes on me.”
Alex’s grin flashed before it disappeared behind compressed lips. “Glad to know that, but we’ve got a little problem here. I need you to focus.”
“I can focus.” He focused on Alex’s lips. So full. And God, they were soft. They’d been soft yet firm around his dick. He wanted them on his mouth again, to taste Alex again. He leaned forward because that helped him focus. Alex’s lips were getting blurry, and that would never do.
Alex’s chest quivered under Gideon’s palm. When had he put his hand there? He should remember. The first time he put his hand on Alex’s chest should be an occasion. Something to remember and celebrate every year with cake and confetti.
He closed his eyes, just for a second, so he could picture the party.
Alex’s heart galloped like he was racing for the last stage out of Dodge. Jesus, the blood: on the table, on the floor, on Gideon, who was sitting dazed on a pile of those fricking empty server boxes. Gideon sighed and tilted his head.
And kept tilting.
“Jesus!” Alex caught him before he hit the floor, and hauled him to his feet with an arm firmly around that slender waist. “Come on, baby. Let’s get you patched up.”
Gideon squinted at the scary-big pool of blood on the table. “D’you see that? The network is bleeding.”
“It ain’t the network, babe. That’s all you.”
If Alex knew anything about construction injuries—and between him and his dad, they’d had a fuck-ton of them—this wasn’t something a couple of Band-Aids would fix. But he needed to get a closer look in someplace more sterile than this.
Gideon sagged in his arm, so Alex adjusted his hold and half-carried him down the hall and into the washroom.
“Hunh,” Gideon murmured. “I knew I hated cabling.”
Alex positioned Gideon with his hips against the sink. Gideon promptly slid down. Alex caught him and propped him in place with his own body, leaving his hands free to tend the wound. He turned on the water, testing the temperature on his wrist.
“You’re not licensed for this shit, G. What were you thinking?”
“I wanted to help you out. You helped me.” His head lolled on Alex’s shoulder. “You helped me a lot.”
Even after an evening of mucking around in the dust of the construction site, Gideon still smelled like his fancy cologne. Like incense, with a light sex-sweat chaser that Alex took full credit for. He cupped Gideon’s hand in his palm and eased it under the water. With his groin pressed against Gideon’s ass to hold him up, Alex felt his dick start to respond. Gideon didn’t help matters when he wiggled a bit and leaned back on Alex’s chest, his sigh warm against Alex’s jaw.
Then Alex saw the length of the gash across the three middle fingers of Gideon’s right hand and forgot all his X-rated thoughts.
Shit. He needs stitches.
Alex pulled out his phone and called Manny. “Hey, I’m in the john with the IT guy. He had a run-in with a box knife, and I’m clocking out to take him to the ER.”
“Doesn’t he have a work partner?” Manny’s three-pack-a-day voice rasped over the phone.
“Nah. Cheap bastards won’t spring for more than one guy. Spent all their dough on that consultant.”
Manny muttered a curse in Chinese. “Consultants. SOBs’ll borrow your watch—”
“To tell you the time,” they finished together.
“Okay, but get back ASAP. Damn network won’t wire itself.”
Kim, the ER nurse, remembered Alex’s mom. She’ll love that. He wondered if she missed the community and interaction here. The only people she saw these days were the immediate family. His dad. Lin. Him. Aunt Ivy, unfortunately.
Kim beckoned him from the ER door, and he thankfully abandoned the molded plastic chair made for someone half his size.
“Your friend will be fine,” she said.
“Stitches?”
She nodded and pressed a plastic bag full of folded papers into his hand. “Here are the home-care instructions. He needs to see his primary physician in five to seven days to have the sutures removed.” She smiled at him. “I’m sure you know the drill.”
“Yeah. Been down that road too many times myself.”
“I remember. You can see him now. He’ll be ready to go as soon as the doctor signs the discharge paperwork.” She led him into a room sectioned off with flimsy blue-flowered curtains.
She gestured for him to enter the first cubicle. Inside, Gideon was lying on a gurney, eyes closed, eyelashes dark against pale cheeks. Alex’s gut tightened with the need to gather him up. Keep him safe.
Yeah, because you’re so fucking good at that. It’s your fault he’s here.
Kim handed Alex another bag. “His effects: glasses, cell phone, wallet. You’ll drive him home, right?”
“Absolutely.”
She typed a few notes on the laptop on the counter and then moved to Gideon’s side. “Mr. Wallace. Your friend is here to take you home.”
Gideon’s eyelashes fluttered open. When his unfocused gaze finally landed on Alex, a huge goofy grin spread across his face.
Alex couldn’t help but return it, but . . . “Kim, he looks completely stoned.”
“We gave him some painkillers. Don’t let him operate any heavy machinery.”
“I don’t think he’ll be able to operate his feet.”
She collected her laptop with a chuckle. “I’m sure you can help him with that.” Then she walked out, sliding the curtain closed in a rattle of metal rings.
Alex moved closer and touched Gideon’s arm, his stomach clenching at the swath of gauze wrapped around his poor right hand. “Hey. How you doing?”
Gideon sighed hugely and held up his injured hand. “Spoiled all my plans.”
“You had plans?”
“Yup. Was intending to proposition you in the service elevator.”
Alex raised his eyebrows. “Really?” Despite the sour churn of guilt in his belly, he grinned.
Gideon sighed again, but this time it sounded happy, not disappointed. “I love the contrast.”
“Contrast?”
“The darkness of your skin. The brightness of your smile.”
“If you say so.”
“Don’t mock. Contrast is very important in web design.” He blinked, his pupils blown so wide they crowded out all but a narrow rim of his warm brown irises. “In other places too.”
Jesus. No way could Gideon be on his own tonight. But no way could Alex bail on his shift, not if it meant squeezing in a couple more hours of paid time and justifying Manny’s trust in him. He pulled out his phone and dialed his sister. “Lin? Hey, babe. Are you at home?”
“Yeah. I’m with Mom now.”
Ah shit. “Is Charlie at your apartment?”
“No. She’s at Daniel’s again. Why?”
“I’m at the Emanuel ER—”
“Oh my god, Alex. What happened?” Lindsay’s voice rose to near Minnie Mouse levels, and he heard his mother in the background in soothing-nurse mode. “Are you hurt? Should I—”
“Chill, babe. It’s not me. It’s Gideon.”
A beat. He could hear her breath shuddering, little gasps into the phone. “Gideon?”
“He’s okay. Cut his hand and needed a few stitches, and now he’s kinda loopy on the pain meds. I don’t want him to be alone, but Manny expects me back on the job ASAP.”
“I can’t leave Mom. Dad’s a little fractious tonight.”
Alex ran a hand across his jaw. “Shit.”
“Call Charlie. She’ll figure something out.”
“She will?”
“It’s what she does.” A glass shattered somewhere in the background.
“Lin, is everything okay? Do I need to—”
“It’s fine, but I’ve got to go. You have Charlie’s number?”
“No, but it’s on Gideon’s cell. I’ve got this. You take care of Mom and Dad.”
He glanced at Gideon, who was stretched out on the gurney, picking at the edge of his bandages. Gideon noticed Alex’s attention, and that loopy smile bloomed again. Alex’s heart melted into a puddle in his chest.
And one way or another, I’ll take care of you.