Page 5 of A Series of Rooms
A bad night,he had said when Liam asked him before. The redness around his eyes had mostly faded since their bathroom encounter, but in the light, there were more prominent signs of distress: dark circles under his eyes, a grayish pallor to his skin. There were loose fringes of thread at the hem of his shirt, small tears in the fabric, and an air of hunger radiated from his frame.
“You were crying,” Liam said softly. “Was it...?” He gestured uncertainly. What was he even trying to say?
“It doesn’t matter.” The tight press of Leo’s lips formed an even less believable smile than before. “I’m fine now. Let’s just start over.” With what appeared to be great effort, Leo uncrossed his arms and took a step toward Liam.
Liam, instinctively, took a step back. “I think you’re misunderstanding,” he said.
“It’s fine.” Leo took another step forward, a lithe, syrupy grace to his movement that hadn’t been there before. He moved close enough to touch Liam’s hand, to take it into his own. “We can do this however you want.” There was clearly an attempt at seduction in his voice, but Liam could hear the tremor underneath. He could feel it where their fingers touched.
Liam pulled his hand free and Leo froze, reducing him to the rapid rise and fall of his chest.
“I’m sorry,” Liam said again. “I don’t want to.”
Leo was still for a long few seconds. Then, to Liam’s horror, his eyes filled with a glassy sheen. He turned away before tears could fall, swiping at his face.
“Oh, hey. That sounded bad. I’m sorry.” Liam started to reach out a hand but retracted it before he could make contact. “It honestly has nothing to do with you, I—”
“Fuck.” The word was whispered into the palms now covering his face, so quiet Liam almost didn’t hear. Then, louder, “Fuck.”
“What’s happening?” Liam said. He was beginning to get the feeling that whatever this was went deeper than hurt feelings. He waited out the tense silence, helplessly watching this almost-stranger fight to control his breathing.
“Please,” came his muffled whisper. “I need the money.”
A sick feeling lurched in Liam’s stomach. “They didn’t pay you?”
That was the wrong thing to say. Leo dropped into a crouch so fast that Liam thought, at first, that he had fallen. Leo pushed his hands into his hair, blunt fingernails scraping over his scalp hard enough to leave marks.
“I messed up,” he said, over and over. “I know better. I know.I know.”
Liam felt the uptick in his own anxiety, watching him fall apart with no idea how to help.
“Listen,” Liam said, kneeling beside him. “You’ll get the money. All of it, okay? I’ll make sure of it. It’s not your fault my friends are assholes.” When Leo didn’t immediately respond, or even look up at him, Liam continued. “You can just take the money and go. Consider it a paid night off.”
Bloodshot eyes peered up at him, wary and tired. “I’m booked for the night,” Leo said.
“You’ll get the full amount,” Liam promised. “How much is it?”
For a few long moments, the hum of the air conditioner was the only sound in the room.
Leo pulled his eyes away before he answered, as if bracing for a negative response. “Five hundred,” he said.
Fucking Nathan.
“Okay. That’s fine. I’ll get it for you. I’ll go now. Wait here?”
Leo hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Liam waited until he was seated back on the bed before he left. He spent the walk to the shared room dreading the altercation ahead of him, and still reeling from the one behind him. He really wasn’t in the mood for whatever rehearsed commentary they had planned for his return. He could already hear it, predictable as ever: “Jesus, Cassidy, we knew you’d finish quick but that’s gotta be a world record.”
But when Liam opened the door,their hotel room was dark and empty. He stopped short, pulling his phone from his pocket. There was a singular text from Ben waiting for him.
Meeting friends in Wicker park,it said.Have fun, killer.
It shouldn’t have stung. He didn’t want to admit that it did, but he found himself momentarily frozen by the hurt. It hadn’t been enough to lose him at the first bar of the night. Now they had created a diversion that allowed them to leave him behind without feeling guilty, if they were even capable of such a thing. Had this been the plan all along? To useLiam’s birthday as a viable excuse to borrow daddy’s credit card for the weekend, then ditch him for their real friends?
He clicked his phone off without responding.
Any hesitancy he might have had about digging through Nathan’s bag had faded, at least. He dropped onto his knees by the duffel on Nathan’s side of the bed and tore through the pockets. Nathan always carried cash, and thankfully he carried extra when he was out of town. Liam counted out four-hundred in large bills and sighed. He pulled out his own wallet, already knowing it was a bust, and found two twenties. It was the best he could do for now.
