Read Online Holding Out for a Fairy Tale by A.J. Thomas - Free Book Online Page A

Ray spun the circuit board in his hands, then carried it over to the gutted shell of Elliot’s old laptop and set the small circuit board into place. With a screwdriver so tiny that he had to hold it between two fingers, Ray began to secure the rest of the components, clipping things back into place and reassembling the laptop as if he’d done it a thousand times before.
    “You fix a lot of computers?” Elliot asked.
    “Yeah. They’re neat. And don’t give me that look.” Ray wagged a finger at him without looking up from his project.
    “What look?”
    “That you’re a closeted geek look. Being a geek hasn’t been something to be ashamed of for decades now.”
    “There was no such look,” Elliot lied. “Will it work?”
    Ray glared at him for a long moment, then went back to clipping things into place. “Eat so we can get going already.”
    “So you can leave this mess for me to sort out?” Elliot gestured to the counter. Even he had to admit that the mess was rapidly disappearing back into the thin laptop case.
    “I doubt you could sort it out. I’ve fixed your computer, bought you groceries, made you breakfast, and I’m helping you with this case. You’re welcome .”
    “I didn’t ask you to do any of that. I also didn’t need you to drive me home last night, I’d have gone a bit slow, but I’d have gotten home in one piece. And you know damn well that you’re more of a liability on this case than an asset.”
    “Too proud even for a thank you?” Ray sighed. “Hey, Belkamp, catch!”
    Ray tossed a tiny metal cylinder at him. Elliot reached out and caught the cylinder, then dropped it again as it stung his hand hard enough to make his knuckles ache. “Hey! What the hell?”
    Ray’s lips were pressed together tight and he was shaking. After staring at Elliot for a few more seconds, Ray burst out laughing, then held up another cylinder. “I can’t believe you fell for that! Didn’t you take shop in high school?”
    “What the hell did you do?”
    Ray took in a deep gulp of air and finally managed to get the laughter under control. “I charged an extra capacitor. It discharges when you touch both leads. I’m sorry, they came in a four pack, and I couldn’t resist.”
    “Did you pull this kind of shit with Superman?” Elliot asked.
    Ray straightened, the laughter dying quickly. Elliot regretted the question as Ray’s back and shoulders tensed.
    Even though the arson case Elliot had been assigned to in northwestern Montana hadn’t actually gotten Ray’s partner killed, it had left him physically broken. Elliot had gathered afterward that Ray cared about his partner as more than a friend, and though his partner didn’t return his feelings, nearly losing him must have been hard.
    “He has a name.”
    “He must have the patience of a saint. I think Superman fits.”
    He glanced sideways at the pot of oatmeal, grabbed a packet of Pop-Tarts from the box in the cabinet, and headed back to his room to eat and get cleaned up fast. The sooner he got Ray Delgado back to his own car, and out of his house, the better.
    “Okay, I get it.” Ray followed him into the bedroom. “It really was just a joke. I used to do that to guys in my shop class all the time. Once to the teacher, even.”
    Elliot stopped at the bathroom door and spun around. “Tell me something; did the guys in your shop class actually like you?”
    Ray pursed his lips for a moment. “Do you actually like me?”
    “No, I don’t. I doubt any of the guys in your shop class did, either.”
    Ray’s cocky posture shrank and his shoulders slumped forward. “Okay. I’m sorry, man, I… I’ll cool it. No more practical jokes.”
    “Yeah, right. Get the hell out, I want to take a shower.”
    Ray didn’t move. “You shouldn’t eat that crap.” He gestured to Elliot’s foil-wrapped breakfast.
    “You know what, Delgado? I’m actually a grown man. I’ve been feeding myself, tucking myself in, and working my own cases for a