Page 42 of Caged Hunger

“Are you close with your family?” Cameron asked, still staring into the fire.

“I don’t have a family.”

Cameron’s face turned toward his. “What do you mean?”

“I grew up in the foster system. My mom was a drug addict, and I spent my whole life bouncing around from one family to the next.”

“Why did you bounce around so much?”

Basher shrugged as he took a sip of his beer.

So much for a nice, quiet, drama-free night.

His night was quickly turning into a two-man therapy session.

Thankfully, he had a fridge full of beer.

“People found it hard to love my sparkling personality,” Basher added dryly.

The joke tasted hollow the moment it left his mouth. A lump formed in his throat as memories of his childhood came rushing back, bringing with them emotions he'd spent years trying to bury.

Cameron squeezed his hand, pulling his focus once again. It was now Cameron’s turn to lend his strength and support.

“It’s just because people weren’t able to see the real you buried under all that roughness and armor. It took me a bit to see through the cracks, but now that I do, there’s no way I’m stopping until I get to see the real you—the whole Basher package.”

Basher began to chuckle.

“Okay, that sounded extremely sexual… but also really hot.” Cameron laughed as well.

“I’m glad you stopped by,” Basher added, reaching into the cooler and opening another beer for his friend.

They continued to talk well into the night. Cameron shared stories from his youth, struggling to grow up as an out teen, then having to deal with his mother’s early onset of Alzheimer’s.

Basher listened to Cameron talk. He loved seeing the excitement on Cameron’s face when he talked about the adventures he’d had over the years, including meeting Ace and Lucas, and why he decided to come to Baton, New Mexico, in the first place.

Cameron tried asking him about his past, but he wasn’t ready to fully open up just yet. Eventually getting the message, Cameron shifted the focus back to them and how Basher enjoyed working with Marcus so far.

It was just after one in the morning when Basher came back outside after taking the world’s longest piss, only to find Cameron asleep in his chair.

Smiling, Basher reached down and scooped the sleeping stud out of the chair and carried him back into his house. He would give Cameron his bed while he slept on the sofa.

Carefully, he lowered Cameron onto the bed, brushing a few stray strands of hair away from his eyes.

He looked so peaceful sleeping in Basher’s large, comfy bed.

He debated whether to remove Cam’s clothing to make him more comfortable, but given that Cameron had fallen asleep unintentionally, Basher thought it best to leave his clothes on. You know, consent and all that sort of stuff.

While it might not matter to him whether some cute guy undressed his tired, sleeping ass, he couldn’t assume that Cameron would feel the same way.

“Good night, Cam,” Basher whispered, gently kissing the top of his sleeping head.

This strange feeling of want lingered inside his chest. He wanted more than anything to slip in beside Cam and cuddle him for the remainder of the night. He’d never had that desire before. But there was something about the boy’s sweet nature, his kind heart, and loving smile that just made Basher want to be near him… always.

Slowly, he straightened from the bed and took a step back toward the door.

Cameron let out a moan.

“Stay…” his sleepy voice whispered.