Page 51 of Pet Project

“Once the time came for me to enter middle school, he moved us away from the home the social workers visited to the rat trap where I was until the day I escaped.”

“Escaped?” Toby gasps out, almost falling off my lap. “What do you mean escaped? I thought the dickwad was arrested for what he did to you.”

Shiloh shakes his head sadly and lets his arms flop to his sides.

“Eli told me that the district attorney’s office claimed that they didn’t have enough evidence to get him on the assault since I declined to press charges for it when I turned over the evidence for the drugs and everything else for the raid. Dunno how they didn’t have enough considering the cops had to pull my bloody unconscious body down from his fucking house. He claimed he had no idea who did that to me, and they fucking believed him, like they always did.”

Toby’s gasp makes me realize I unintentionally fisted my hand in his hair. I hurry to release my grip and gently scratch his scalp in apology. I might want to inflict a little pain for pleasure, but I never want to give my boys pain out of anger.

“Long story short,” Shiloh’s voice interjects. “Michael had beaten me regularly from the time I hit middle school until I was taken to the hospital shortly after I graduated high school. I was there for two weeks before they kicked me out. I had healed up enough to satisfy thebare minimum standard of care and the charity that had been paying my bills had no more money for me.”

“Eli spotted me as I was limping by McKinley’s on my way back to that shithole the cops pulled me out of. I didn’t have money for a ride and with it being a Sunday, the busses that I needed had already stopped running for the night. He pulled me inside the bar and before the night was over, I was given a room at Kink Manor.”

61

DONNIE

It’s been a little over a week since we had our twenty four hours of emotional blowout between the three of us. That morning, I had Jessica run the shop while we spent our time really getting to know each other better. Hearing all of the fun stories about their found family at Kink Manor makes me thankful that I got to know them at all.

The soft whoosh of the door opening makes me smile as Matt comes in for his mid-morning caffeine fix. I have to remember to thank Toby for so thoroughly destroying the damn bell at the beginning of the semester.

“The usual?” I ask the harried looking professor as he starts patting himself down frantically.

“Fuck! I forgot my wallet in my office,” he says throwing his head back in exasperation. “Eric is planning three different Halloween parties and he’s been driving me insane by insisting that we not only need to havecouple costumes, but that each party needs a different costume.”

Chuckling, I finish making his white chocolate mocha with an extra shot of espresso and double whipped cream. “Do you really care or is his stress giving you stress?”

He laughs as I hand over his drink. We both sit at my reserved table half hidden behind the counter and I yell for the new guy, Sid, to take over the counter if anyone comes in. I ran into him when I was finishing up my morning run a few weeks ago and he asked if I was hiring. I’m glad I gave him a chance because he has definite management potential.

“You know it’s just him freaking out that’s getting me all worked up,” Matt tells me after taking his first sip. “It doesn’t help that he just found out that after the holidays, his room at the manor house will officially have a new resident.”

“You think he’s regretting moving in with you?” I don’t even try to hide the incredulity in my voice. If there was ever a perfectly matched pair of individuals, it would be Eric and Matt.

He gives me a smirk and rolls his eyes. “I’m pretty sure it’s the fact that he loses that security net and it makes living with me real in a way that it wasn’t before. Plus, I think he’s afraid everyone in the house is moving on without him.

“Spencer is busy with Lucky. Shiloh moved in with you, and Toby might as well join him if the last week isany indication. My boy doesn’t do well with big changes.”

Matt and I spend the rest of his morning break discussing the Halloween party being thrown at Kink Manor. It’s apparently going to be a pre-welcome party for the new resident before he officially moves in during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. I have to admit, Eric really outdid himself with this one. I’m just lucky that I have a costume that fits the theme and won’t have to go out shopping.

“I’ll let him know you don’t need his assistance with the costume,” Matt calls out before disappearing out the door. Shaking my head, I head back toward my office to try and tackle some of the paperwork to see if I’m any closer to meeting the margins I need in order to secure the funding I need for the expansion. I’d love to turn Walt’s Coffee Shop into a café and offer real food as an alternative to the restrictive hours and limited options of the dining halls.

“What thefuckdid you just say to him?!”

Toby’s angry shout has me jumping up from my desk and racing to the front. One thing I’ve learned over the last week is that my pup is very much a guard dog for those who he deems to be his people. He also has a tendency to act first and think later, so I hope I’m quick enough to stop him from killing a customer.

As I clear the corner, I’m shocked to see Sid holding a snarling Toby back from Jessica, my assistant manager. Taking a quick glance around the shop, the students whoare in here are all regulars whose expressions range from smug to livid.

What the fuck have I been missing in my shop?

“It’s not worth it,” Sid is saying to Toby while struggling to retain his hold around the smaller man’s waist. “I’ve been called worse. At least the guys in high school were creative in their bigotry.”

Before I can say anything, Jessica snarls out, “I don’t need a fuck toy fairy-boy to protect me from a boy who can’t even stick to his own race. What’s he gonna do? Sic his thug boyfriend and his gangbanger cousins on me?”

I see red. There’s no fucking way that one of my employees, one ofWalt’semployees, could be so fucking hateful, but I can’t deny what she just said. My eyes roam the shop and a few students meet my gaze. The looks on their faces show that this isn’t a recent occurrence.

“YOU ARE FUCKING FIRED!”

My words cut through the tension and Toby stops fighting against Sid’s hold to escape. All eyes in the room focus on me. Jessica looks smug while Sid looks like he’s going to be sick as the silence lengthens after my outburst.

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