Page 37 of Tender
“Promise me,” Emmett had told him, “you’ll come over here if it’s too much for you.”
He could. He could make it in a run. He didn’t even have to bother either of the men. He knew where the guest room was.All he needed to do was slip in, take off wet clothes, then climb in the bed.
They wouldn’t mind. Emmett would be thrilled, and he didn’t think Cosimo would hate him for it.
CRACKBOOM CRACKBOOM!
This time, the thunder didn’t stop. It was one long, continuous rumble that he felt in his sternum.
Then he felt a jolt, and it took him a moment to realize it was wind. It was blowing so hard now it was making the house shake. Fuck, this was not how he wanted to die.
Grabbing one of the thinner blankets off the bed, he bolted from the pool house and ran. He was drenched almost immediately, but he made it to the back door without being struck by lightning, so that was a win.
It took a few tries to get it open with wet hands, but soon enough, he was slipping inside the dark kitchen.The house was entirely quiet. He wanted to go to the room, but he was still so wet, and he wasn’t about to ruin the sheets.
He could wait a few minutes.
Miles crept into the informal living room and curled up in the corner of the sectional.The room had a massive window where he could see the beach, and the storm began to rage as he watched.
He felt safer there—secure.He wished he wasn’t alone, but that was something he was going to have to get used to. At some point, he was going to have to leave. At some point, he’d be on his own again.
He watched the rain lash at the beach.The waves wrecked the sand, and he saw a few roof tiles start to peel away on the pool house.It was awe-inspiring now that he was behind windows so thick he couldn’t hear the wind outside.
His eyes started to close, and then there was another noise coming from the kitchen, echoing off the tiles.It was a voice,very stern—almost cruel. And dear god, he could make out every word perfectly.
“You think it’s okay to misbehave even if things are different?”
It was Emmett.For a moment, Miles assumed he was on the phone with his daughter.
And then came, “No, Sir.”
“Really? Let’s try this one more time because I feel like you’re not getting it.You went against my direct orders.I told you to leave it be, and what did you do?”
“Disobeyed.”
“Right.I should have expected it.Someone like you—small.Weak.Pathetic.Just because I can’t punish you the way I want doesn’t mean I’m not going to paint your ass as red as the whore you are the moment I get the chance.You’re just delaying the inevitable.Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir.”
For the first time in his life, Miles wished both of his processors were broken—or shitty enough that he couldn’t recognize Cosimo’s voice, and the tremble in it.His heart was beating a mile a minute, and everything felt so…so wrong.
How could Emmett say that?How could hedothat?
Was that the reason Cosimo was the way he was?He was being abused?
Is that where Selene had learned it all?
Miles shuddered, feeling absolutely helpless.
“Go fill two glasses with water and bring your ass to the bedroom. I'll be waiting for you there.Hey.Eyes on the ground.You definitely haven’t earned the privilege to look at me right now.”
“Yes, Sir.”
A moment later, Miles heard footsteps in the kitchen.He wasn’t always a man of impulse, but he was often enough toget him in trouble.He moved without being consciously aware of it, and he found himself staring at Cosimo who was wearing nothing but a pair of tight boxers.
His mouth watered at the sight of his ass, and he hated himself a little for it because this was no time for that.At all.
Cosimo turned from the fridge and jolted so hard, he sloshed water all over the floor.“What the fuck are you doing in here?” he snapped.
