Page 23 of Romeo vs Romeo

I kissed him harder, aware that he was drunk and likely to regret it, but unable to stop myself. I wanted him. I wanted him so much that I could go on kissing him all night without stopping. Even as sirens screamed in the back of my head, telling me he was drunk and upset and tired, I couldn’t stop myself from drinking from the fountain of youth. I couldn’t stop receiving what my heart most desired.

Until the front door banged, and I nearly jumped back.

I breathed quickly and deeply as footsteps crossed the apartment outside Roman’s open door. Roman, with a glowing face and heart-aching beauty, spun his head away, his shoulders rising and falling with heated breaths.

“Hey,” someone spoke from the door. “Oh. Sorry, I didn’t know you had company.”

“Tris,” Roman said, his voice a little tight. I could recognize it when his voice carried the full quality of the lust that filled him. He had sounded like this when we’d last been in this room.

“I just need to grab some things,” Tris said. “Gonna stay over at Cedric’s place.”

“Totally,” Roman said.

We sat in silence while Tris did what he had said he would. Four or five minutes later, Tris left, and we looked at one another. My dick ached whenever it throbbed, and I folded my hands in my lap, hoping to hide how hard I was.

Looking into his eyes, I decided that the moment had passed. “I’m sorry…”

“I should apologize…” he said at the same time.

We shared a laugh.

“Sorry if that shocked you,” Rome said.

I shook my head. “No. It was…good.”Damn. I wish I could find my words when I need them. “I like it.”

He licked his lips, his ears perking and his eyes glowing. He nodded. “Good.”

I cleared my throat and rubbed my knees. “But you should sleep. We can…”Continue? That sounds stupid. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” Rome said softly. I didn’t miss the hopefulness that filled that one word.

I got up and turned away from him, hiding the bulge that very annoyingly persisted despite everything, and made for the door.

“Everett?” Roman called.

I paused by the door, still vibrating with excitement that we had kissed and still waiting for the panic to descend on me like an avalanche. I looked at him over my shoulder, smiling weakly as if to give him comfort.

“Thank you,” Roman said. “For everything.”

“No problem,” I said.

Roman nodded and looked at me with new determination. “Tomorrow. Come earlier if you can. We can make plans at Mama Viv’s.”

I felt some of the terrifying panic grow thicker on the horizon. I was going to lose it. He was a dude. I kissed a dude. Male lips touched me, and a male moan filled my mouth. And I thought it was the sexiest, sweetest thing that had ever happened to me.

“Sounds good,” I said, wanting to get away from here in case the storm came over me. I wanted to be alone if it happened. If I freaked out, I didn’t want him to see it.

“Great,” Roman said, pulling the cover away on the bed, clearly ready to sleep. Just before I walked away, he said, “We’re gonna stick it to that Harold Langley and the corrupt city planners.”

The faint buzz of pleasure was dulled by the wave of disbelief. I might have agreed or said something, but I couldn’t recall doing that. I couldn’t remember a single thing that happened between the moment Roman’s words reached me and the moment when I stood in an unfamiliar alley, my ass leaning against the filthy brick wall, my hands gripping my knees, and air failing to enter my lungs. Panic made me dry heave, cold sweat breaking over my brow and under my arms.What have I done?The question roamed through my head as the entire world tilted on its axis.What have I gotten myself into?

My father…

Could it be true? Was my father really the person who wanted to tear down this place? Even as I groped for arguments to dismiss that thought, I knew it was true. Father and Jacobs and the Urban Development Corporation working together to bring down an innocent person.

However hard I tried to push it away, something vicious in me shouted that I had known all along.Every time a project was brought forth, innocent people got hurt. It shouted and yelled and screamed into the core of my soul that I had been aware of the truth since I was seven years old. My father, a successful businessman, got rich off the misery of the unlucky ones who stood in his way.

My father, the only ally I had in my family, was going after the only place where I was truly welcome.

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