Page 41 of The Secret Experimentation
“Who?”
“Enough of this shit! I know you took him to the airport with Sam.”
“Sam? Doesn’t ring any bell.”
“Please, Kaiden. He’s not answering my texts and his phone is off.”
“There’s no line where he went,” I heard Sam’s voice.
Thank God, a sane person.“Sam! Where is he?”
“Look, he’s away with some friends,” he said.
“Friends? You mean Garret?” I asked.
“No. He’s with my cousin Ty and some guys,” he mumbled.Guys?The green-eyed monster suddenly showed his face. I knew I had no right to feel angry. But I was. Because he left. Without telling me. To go on a trip with someguys. Plural. This was my fault. But Fucking hell, I was furious. At him. More at myself.
“Yesss,” Kaiden added. “They are in a lovely cottage away from the urban noises and pussy-scared assholes,” he stopped, letting me know I was one of these assholes. “Where anything can happen,” he ended—suggestively.
“Kaiden, I swear to God if you keep talking I’ll make a U-turn and come to your place to shut you up…forever.,” I growl, anger fueling my tired body.
“Anything can happen? Really, Kaiden?” I heard Sam scolding him.
“Sam, where the fuck is he?” I barked, starting to freak out again.
“What’s it to you?” he replied, full of irritation. “You used him. Played with him. You selfish, closeted dick! And Mel deserves more. He’s no one dirty little secret. So, leave him alone.”
“The fuck I will! He’s mine. Mine.” I hit the steering wheel with the heel of my hand, after I pulled the car over.
“He’s not a toy.”
“He could never be an inanimate thing. Mel is sunshine and laughter. Warmth, joy, and everything lively in between. He’s…he’s special, okay?”
“Jesus. I think I just threw up in my mouth,” Kaiden was clearly disgusted by my confession. “Wait, when did I eat nachos?”
“Shut up!” Sam and I both yelled at him.
After hearing a quick muffled back and forth, Sam’s voice came back. “Then why did you hurt him like this? Why did you introduced him as your friend?” At his words, my heart dropped to my stomach. I remembered the way he looked at me at the bar with an icy coldness that I knew was hiding his pain. Before that, he always gazed at me with—not love, obviously—but a deep affection. While I’ve been yo-yo-ing him around.
And I had no right to be angry at his friends for protecting him—no right to be anything at all. But unfortunately, I didn’t give a flying fuck. I was surprised I didn’t trash my car, yet because I was this close to grabbing the jack from the trunk and having my way with the windshield.
“Come on, Russel. Get your head dislodged from your ass,” Kaiden muttered in a bored tone.Motherfucker.
“Since Mel left last night it has been hell. I miss him and I wonder if I’ve fucked it all up. Because I was scared and confused, and while I was taken by this new development in my life, I disregarded Mel’s feelings. Because I always need time to think and contemplate before acting. Because I’m a coward. Because I think he deserves better.” I inhale as much air as I can inside my lungs. “But I’m done with all of that. I want him. Under the sun. For everybody to see. And I don’t care if it makes me gay, bi, or pan or the Queen of England. I just want him.”
Silence followed for a moment, and then after some threatening words, Sam told me where to go.
Two long last-minute flights, and a like-a-bat-out-of-hell drive through endless dirt roads took me here. In front of Ty’s cottage.
It’s seven in the morning. I look like shit. My hair keeps falling on my forehead, my two-day beard covers my cheeks and chin. My clothes look shaggy and wrinkly. How I’m not shrieking in horror is beyond me. But since Mel has taken residency in every part of my brain, my self-care has become background noise. All I need is him.
Apart from the sounds of nature around me, I can’t hear any noise coming from the cottage. Maybe it’s too early, but my body is pumping adrenaline, and all the worst jealousy-inducing scenarios of Mel with those faceless guys push me to knock. And knock again. And again.
Finally, I hear footsteps approaching and a second later, Mel is in front of me. He’s wearing my huge t-shirt, that looks like a dress on him, and nothing else. The sight warms my heart, but a deep frown mars his face and is directed at me.
“What’re—”
I don’t let him finish. The need to touch him, to make sure he is actually here in front of me overwhelms me and it’s stronger than anything else. Stronger than myself. I push forward, my hands in his adorably messy hair, my lips on his strawberry ones. I kiss him hard.
