Page 12 of Protecting Mr. Fine

I nodded but kept my mouth shut. What I wanted to say was definitely inappropriate.

I wanted to tell him that it was a privilege to worry about him, that his friends loved him and would want to protect him as much as I did. Well… maybe not as much as I did. He couldn’t possibly know just how much I wanted to keep him safe. Even though I hadn’t known Zane as long as his friends had, I’d spent many hours, days, and months in close quarters with him, getting to know him under many circumstances.

I felt like I knew him better than anyone… though I probably didn’t have a right to.

The sounds of Lou greeting Zane’s friends filtered through to the bedroom, and I took it as my cue to leave. I made my way back out to the main part of the suite while Landry, Silas, Way, Dev, Tully, Bash, and Rowe all trooped past me on their way into Zane’s bedroom.

Half an hour later, all but Landry trooped back out, giving Lou and me friendly “good night” waves and thanks for taking care of “our superstar.”

I stared at the bedroom door as Landry pushed it closed with a cheeky wink and grin.

Yeah, the fucker definitely saw me looking at themearlier.

My stomach somersaulted as I sat back down at the dining table and pretended to check my email.

Sure enough, just like five other times in the past several months, soon there came the distinctive sounds of sex from inside the bedroom—loud moans and muffled cries I tried not to attribute to anyone in particular, squeaking mattress springs, and the rhythmicbang bang bangof a headboard whacking forcefully into a wall.

I tried to grit it out. Lou was scheduled to head to her own hotel room down the hall for a much-deserved night’s sleep… but she knew better.

When I glanced over at her, she winced and gave me a look of complete pity. Somehow, she’d picked up a few months back that I was uncomfortable with Zane’s hookups, and I tried not to wonder whether she thought I had a crush on my principal or was actually homophobic. Either way, I was grateful for what she said next.

“Go,” she said in a low voice. “I’ll stay.”

I didn’t argue, though maybe I should have. I bolted out of my chair, headed straight for the door to the suite, then down the hall and into the stairwell.

There, I did stairwell sprints for twenty full minutes until my legs shook with exertion and my head swam.

But try as I might, I couldn’t outrun the fact that the man I had a crush on… okay, fine, the man I loved more than any other human on Earth… was having sex with the stupidest and second most beautiful man on the planet.

THREE

ZANE

Bears usually mind their business, but they can become dangerous if provoked. Sudden, loud noises and those who encroach on their dens or their food can trigger a defensive reaction. The best way to avoid danger is to keep your mouth shut… and stay away from their honey!

—Bear Facts for Insomniacs, Episode 23

Landry did what he always did when trying to cheer me up. He reenacted the most ridiculous hookups he’d ever had on his modeling circuit, including full-body shudders, full-volume moaning and shrieking, and full-of-shit exaggeration.

“Then, the guy was like, ‘God,mooooore,’” he groaned, loud enough for people in Alabama to hear. “‘Suck me harder! I can’t get enough.’”

“Sure he was.” I rolled my eyes and threw myself down on the side of the bed where he wasn’t currently bouncing. “Quit.You’re fucking up my sheets.” I tried to smooth the bedding back to some semblance of normal.

Usually I found Landry’s antics amusing as hell, but today, I was struggling. Between the stamp incident and the memory of Bear’s hands on my skin in the bathroom, my system didn’t know whether to be terrified or thrilled.

Landry scoffed. “Stop being a princess. Nobody needs their bedding pristine. Besides, I love fucking with your bodyguard.”

“B—Ryan’snot homophobic,” I told Landry for the millionth time.

It was getting harder to hold back from using Bear’s nickname in front of my friends, but I knew Landry, in particular, would tease me forever if he suspected how out-of-control-huge my crush on my bodyguard had gotten.

“Ryan wouldn’t clutch his pearls at the two of us having sex,” I went on. “Hell, he probably wouldn’t even notice, unless he thought I was in some kind of mortal danger.” This glum thought did nothing to help my mood. “And you shouldn’t make assumptions about people’s sexuality. We don’t know that he’s straight, do we?”

I liked to pretend he wasn’t anyway, but Landry’s assumption was probably right.

I’d never once heard Bear refer to his own love life, and the only clue I’d ever gotten was a Ventdestinian royal gossip blog post speculating about him and a woman in the royal public relations department several years ago.

“I’m not assuming Ryan’s straight or homophobic. But he’sdefinitelynot happy at the idea of us having sex.” Landry grinned mischievously, but before I could ask him to explain himself, he went on. “Wonder how he could have survived living in a backwoods place like Ventdestine all those years if he’s not straight, though. You know you’re not allowed to be gay there? It’s like this little island in the North Sea that time forgot, and they’re all still living like it’s the Middle Ages. But, like, with internet.” He crossed one slender ankle over his knee and bounced his foot in the air.

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