Deserted - Auctioned

“Weird last name,” Jayden muttered.

Gray chuckled under his breath.

Then Jayden picked up his scarf and threw it around his neck. “There’s a lotta sickos. I have to talk to Malley.” He stood up and nodded at the paper bag on the other side of Gray. “Do you have food in there?”

Gray immediately extended the bag. “Want some? I didn’t know if you’d wanna sit outside and—”

“Yeah, I’ll take it all, thanks.” Jayden grabbed the bag and sniffed, his nose a little runny. “I’ll get back to you, okay?”

“Uh.” What was happening? Was Jayden leaving?

“Pat can find anyone,” Jayden said and left the pew. “Bye.”

“Jayden, wait.” Gray shot up and felt his worry spiking, and it didn’t get better when Jayden started running. “Jayden!”

What the fuck?

The boy was gone within a couple seconds, leaving Gray flustered and fucking confused.

Father O’Malley headed over with a look of concern. “Did something happen?”

“He just…” Gray gestured toward the exit and blew out a breath. “He left in the middle of—” Okay, it hadn’t been in the middle of the conversation, but almost.

“Ah.” Father O’Malley appeared relieved for some reason. “He does that. Don’t worry about it. He’s…special, that boy. He has some coping mechanisms.”

That answer wasn’t satisfying at all. Jayden had mentioned that finding Gray wouldn’t be hard—thanks to some friend?—but Gray had nothing to hide. He told Father O’Malley everything, from the hotel he was staying at to his plans to help Jayden.

While he word-vomited, he felt increasingly uncertain about his entire approach. He doubted himself because…what the hell did he know? Was he going to take this kid from everything and everyone he knew and place him in a shelter all the way across the country?FourTwo days went by without a word.

Gray spent more time in the hotel gym than in his room. He’d called Adeline, after which he’d quickly checked in with his mother. Because Adeline had given him an earful about worrying everyone. She’d softened eventually, of course, because that was what she did, and though her shelter was constantly housing residents over capacity, “There’s always room for more.”

He hadn’t had the balls to actually call Mom, though. He’d unblocked her number and texted. He’d apologized. He’d promised he was being safe. He’d promised he’d see her soon.

The guilt weighed heavy on him, but he just couldn’t be around everyone right now.

The exception was Jayden. Gray hadn’t expected to feel so worried about the boy. He drove past the church and the shelter every day, around lunchtime, to see if he could spot Jayden. So far, nothing. He’d talked to the priest again too, who politely reminded Gray to be patient.

Patience. Right.

Fuck patience.

He grunted as he finished his set with a fifteen-pound weight and slumped down on the floor with his water bottle.

Only one thing had come as a relief the past few days, and it was Father O’Malley’s approval to move Jayden to Washington. At first, the priest had been on the fence. He’d weighed the pros and cons. Then yesterday, when Gray had come by the church again, Father O’Malley had made his decision.

“It’s selfish of me to want the boy to stick around. I do want to be able to stay in touch with him, but I called Adeline Hayes, and it does seem like a wonderful place for Jayden.”

Gray hoped Jonas would approve too.

Despite Father O’Malley’s green light, the doubts were far from gone.

What the fuck was Gray doing? Twenty-one years old, all messed up, trying to help some kid he didn’t know.

After finishing his stretching, he jumped to his feet and left the gym. He crossed the lobby and emptied the last of his bottle of water, and he threw it into the nearest trash can on his way toward the elevators.

Could he do anything right?

Maybe Adeline’s facility would be great for Jayden—short term. But what of when she couldn’t wait any longer and had to call the authorities to let them know he was there? Jayden would bail. He’d run away, and he’d be thousands of miles away from the life he knew.

Those he could lean on now were right. The boy needed a family. He needed to be adopted by someone who could show him what family truly was.

Gray pressed the button for the elevator and wiped his arm across his forehead.

In the end, though… No, not in a single universe was it okay for an eight-year-old boy to live on the streets, and that was literally what Jayden was doing. Judging by what he’d said, he didn’t spend every night with that nun.

As Gray entered an empty car, he was struck by a sense of loneliness, and the memory of Darius’s face flashed by in his head. He coughed lightly and pressed the button for the ninth floor, and he shook his head to himself. He had to forget his ridiculous attachment to Darius. He had to push past it. Suppress it.