Page 46 of Alex
Hiseyes burn into mine as he shouts, “Well, you suck a lot of cock for a straightman!”
Ican feel my cheeks heat up, which just pisses me off more. “Just get the fuckout, Alex. This shit is on you, not me. I told you I couldn’t do it.”
“Yeah,all on me. I’m the one who kissed you—no wait—that was you. You kissing me,sucking me, fucking me, even pretending like you gave a shit. I guess thatwasn’t you standing up on a plane and announcing you love me, wasn’t your handwrapped around my cock in the ocean. All. Fucking. Me.” The look of scorn hegives me cuts to the bone. “I’ve been good to you. Loved you. I don’t deservethis shit and you know it.”
Thewalls rattle with the force of the door slamming behind him. “Is everythingokay?” I hear Kyle ask from the hall. Damn, I didn’t even know he was here.
“Everything’sfine. Ian’s just drunk. Go back to bed, kid.”
Theirvoices fade as they walk away, and I fall into bed, dragging a pillow over myhead to drown out the guilt already starting to set in.
Atap on my bedroom door wakes me Sunday morning. “Ian?” Kyle calls. “You up?”
“No,but come in.”
Hisexpression immediately tells me something’s wrong and I sit up too quickly, myhead pounding. Shit, I drank too much last night. And that’s not all I did. Thewhiskey soaked memories rush back, dancing with that woman, then taking herhome and fucking her. Yelling and blaming Alex when he didn’t do anything butcall me on my bullshit.
“What’swrong?”
Withouta word, Kyle hands me a piece of paper. “This was on your game console. Alexleft before I got up.”
Mydry eyes struggle to focus on the note, which is short, but far from sweet.
Ian,
I’mgoing to Alabama to help out with a client. I’ll be back in two weeks. Figureout what the fuck you want by then.
“CanI ask what happened?” Kyle asks.
“Igot drunk and acted like an asshole.” I peer up at him.
“Oh,well, can you run me back to school a little early? Kara wants to meet me atthe movie theater.”
I’mrelieved he doesn’t question me further. “Sure, kid. Let me grab some coffeeand we’ll go.”
ChapterSeven
Alex
“What’sgoing on, Alex?” Mason asks, after I explain what I want. It’s barely six a.m.but it doesn’t sound like I woke him with my call.
“Ijust need to get away for a while. Get out of the house. I’m sure I can beuseful somewhere.”
“Actually,you have good timing. I need someone in Alabama for a couple of weeks. I’llemail you the details.”
“Assoon as possible,” I plead. A few hours later I’m in my car on my way south.
Myphone hasn’t gone off once, but I find myself checking it anyway, hoping tohear from Ian. Ev said this day would come, that he would do something to pushme away. I guess I didn’t deal with it like she hoped, but I won’t deal withhim cheating. It’s not that I’m jealous, not of a woman, but we had a deal. Ifhe had tried to apologize, I’d have let it go, but instead he tried to turn itaround on me.
LikeI bullied him into a relationship he wasn’t ready for. I understand he’sstruggling to accept this new part of himself, and I expected some bumps in theroad, but I won’t be his punching bag when he’s upset. It took me years tocontrol my temper, and I swear he can push me to the edge with a few words.
Hehas two weeks. Two weeks until I return to decide what he wants. My chest achesat the thought of losing him, of moving out and living alone. I’ve been awayfrom him for six hours and I already miss him. Stubborn bastard.
Safehouses are all pretty much the same. Average house on an average street in anaverage neighborhood. I’m here to protect the client, set their mind at ease,and while I’m good at my job, it can sometimes be horribly dull. Mason emailedme the details while I was driving, and the reason he chose me is clear. I’mnot going to meet a woman. I’m going to stay with a man who was abused by hismale lover for years. It’s a unique situation, and I assume Mason thought theguy would be more comfortable with me.
Ican’t help but wonder what Ian would think if he knew I was staying withanother gay man for the next two weeks. I hope it would eat him up, but I havea depressing feeling he wouldn’t give a shit. He’s probably out fuckingeverything that moves.
WhenI meet Sidney Todd, my first thought is that Ian has nothing to worry about.He’s about as far from my type as you can get. A bodyguard named Gary opens thedoor before I can knock. I’ve met him before when he came up north to help out.“Alex, good to see you.” Gary shakes my hand then steps back so I can goinside.
