No Place Like Home (Men of Steel #2)

Chapter One

Justin Ashton sat alone at a table in the dimly lit club, watching his friends dance and have fun. Henry was on his third dance partner and looked like he couldn’t be happier. Next to him, Maddox and his boyfriend Emmanuel cuddled close, swaying to the music. He should have been having a great time, too, but he wasn’t. What he was, was burned out. Work had really picked up lately and they’d been incredibly busy. He didn’t mind though; he loved his job at S he wanted what they had. In the six months that they’d been dating, he’d never seen his best friend happier or more relaxed. He almost never stressed out anymore. Justin knew that was because he had Emmanuel to go home to, to help him unwind. He needed that, needed someone to share his life with, not just his bed.

“You look like you’re having a great time,” Maddox said teasingly upon looking him over.

“I’m good.” Justin thanked the waitress for his beer then took a long drink.

“Hey, cutie.” A man came over to them. “Wanna dance?”

Justin turned to look at him. He was of medium height and trim with golden-blond hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He was cute, in a boy-next-door kind of way, which Justin was usually really into. “Thanks, but I’m kind of just hanging out with my friends tonight.”

“Too bad,” the guy said in a flirty voice. “I’ll be around if you change your mind.” He walked away, looking over his shoulder to wink at Justin.

“You okay, Justin?” Maddox questioned. “Normally you’d be all over that offer. He’s totally your type.”

“Yeah, well.” Justin shrugged. “I guess I’m just having an off night.” He looked at his friends. Maddox had his arm around Emmanuel’s waist, holding him close to his side.

“I need a break,” Henry said exaggeratedly, flouncing down into an empty chair and fanning himself. “This was a great idea, Justin. I’m having a blast. How about you guys?”

“There’s something wrong with Justin,” Maddox spoke up. “See the guy at the bar in the red shirt with the ponytail?”

Henry turned to look. “Yeah. And?”

“Justin turned him down,” Maddox answered.

“Why? He’s totally your type.” Henry looked quizzically at Justin. “Are you sick or something?”

Justin rolled his eyes. “Just because I don’t feel like fucking some random guy tonight doesn’t mean that something is wrong.”

“Of course it does,” Henry insisted. “So, tell us what it is.”

“There’s nothing to tell.” Justin shrugged, again looking over at Maddox and Emmanuel. He shook his head. He couldn’t have that. He had way too much baggage for anyone to want more than sex from him. Five years ago, his stepfather, Aiden, was involved in a horrible car accident that claimed his life. Justin had dropped out of college and given up everything to come home and take care of his mother and young sisters. And who was going to want a guy with three kids that lived with his mother?

Emmanuel leaned over and whispered something in Maddox’s ear. Maddox smiled and nodded. “Would you dance with me?” Emmanuel asked Justin.

“Sure.” Justin grabbed Emmanuel’s hand and led him to the floor. “Thanks for saving me from twenty questions.”

“Can I ask you one?” Emmanuel looked worried and Justin wondered why. He nodded and Emmanuel continued, “Have I done something wrong?”

“What? No.” Justin was quick to assure him. While Emmanuel had gotten a lot better and gained a ton of self-confidence, Justin knew that he still struggled with the trauma inflicted on him by his ex-boyfriend. “Why would you think that?”

“You keep staring at me, and you don’t seem happy,” Emmanuel answered quietly. Justin noticed that his body was a little tense and he seemed anxious.

“I’m not upset with you, Emmanuel.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Do you want to know the truth?” Justin sighed. “I’m jealous.”

“Of what?” Emmanuel wondered.

“You and Maddox. Of what you have,” Justin answered. “I want that. I don’t want it all to be about sex anymore.”

“You want to fall in love,” Emmanuel said softly.

“Yeah, but it’s not going to happen,” Justin said sadly.

“You shouldn’t give up. You just haven’t met the right person yet,” Emmanuel offered his opinion.

“I don’t think it’s in the cards for me, man.”

“You never know,” Emmanuel told him. “Sometimes it happens when you least expect it.” The song ended. “Thanks for the dance,” Emmanuel said as they headed back to the table.

“I think that’s it for me, guys,” Justin told his friends before they could further inquire about his odd mood. He didn’t feel like talking about it, so he’d leave it to Emmanuel to fill them in.

“What? Why?” Henry pouted.

“I’m wiped out. Later.” Justin walked away without another word.

The insistent ringing of the phone woke William Harper from his deep sleep. He groaned and looked at the time; five thirty in the morning. What the hell could be so important at this time of day? He’d had a very late night with his man and hadn’t gotten home until around three. He tried to ignore it, but it just wouldn’t stop. William made a frustrated noise and grabbed the phone. Scarlett Ivy, his best friend, and the advice columnist at the paper he worked for. He hit the answer button.

“This better be important,” he said grumpily.

“Oh, it is.” She sounded a tad pissed off. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” she demanded.

“Tell you what?” He yawned.

“Get your ass out of bed and to your computer. The Sun broke the story this morning.”

“What story?”

“You’ll see,” she told him.

“Fine. I’m going.” He stretched then grabbed his laptop off the nightstand, pulling up the tabloid. And there he was, splashed across the front page with his arms around his famous boyfriend. “Damn. We weren’t ready to go public yet.”

“You better read the article,” she advised, her voice sympathetic.

“‘Baseball superstar Sebastian Evans was seen at a downtown New York apartment building cuddling up to a man who was identified as William Harper, the sports reporter for the Herald ,’” he read. “Dammit, Sebastian is not going to be happy about this.”

“Keep reading, love.” She sounded sad.

“Okay.” He continued, “‘When reached out for a comment, Evans stated he was just escorting the very drunk reporter home. He claims Harper got completely wasted during the interview and he didn’t feel comfortable leaving him to helplessly fend for himself. So, he did what any decent human being would do and got him a cab and made sure he got home. Once there, according to the newly engaged Evans, Harper hit on him, but he turned him down, saying that he could never hurt his fiancé Mark that way.’ What the hell?” The hurt William felt down to his bones must have been evident in his voice, but he continued reading anyway. “‘We reached out to the Herald , but they declined to comment. Harper was also unavailable for comment.’ How the hell could he do this to me?” William was outraged. “I had no idea he had a boyfriend or that they were engaged. I thought the secrecy was just because he just didn’t want to make it a big thing in the press.”

“I’m sorry, sweets, but it gets worse,” Scarlett told him.

“My heart just got ripped out. How much worse can it get?” William asked with a groan.

She let out a sigh before answering. “Well, there’s paparazzi outside your building and the office, and Martha wants to see you ASAP.”

“Fuck!” He blew out a hard breath. “What the hell am I going to do?” he said, more to himself than his friend.

“Hope your building has a back exit,” she offered.

“I park in the garage, and the only access to it is through the building. But what am I going to do once I get to work?” William grumbled.

“Looks like it’s a baseball cap and dark glasses,” Scarlett suggested. “I’d tell you to hide out inside until this dies down, but you really need to get your ass up here.”

“I’m on my way.” He hung up and covered his face with his hands. How could Sebastian do this to him? The bastard was in a serious relationship. Just last night, he had been telling William that he couldn’t live without him and that he loved him. Suddenly he felt very sick and had to race to the bathroom.

After he purged the contents of his stomach, he turned on the shower and climbed in. His wobbly legs were incapable of holding him up, so he sank to the shower floor and emotion overtook him. William cried hard. How could he have fallen for that? He thought he and Sebastian had something real. He had no idea that he was just a good-time fling for the engaged man. It hit him that he was something he never thought he’d be, the home-wrecking other man. William’s heart ached and a wave of fresh tears came on. Realizing that he couldn’t spend the whole day in his shower crying, he reminded himself that Sebastian was nothing but a lying asshole, and he stood. Besides, he had to get to work and do some damage control.

He got out and went back to his bedroom to dress. Scarlett had suggested going incognito, but that just wasn’t his style. He pulled on a pair of black slacks and a light-blue dress shirt, put his press pass around his neck, and grabbed his briefcase. He left his apartment, locking up behind him, and made his way to the stairs that led to the garage. It was still early, and the overhead lights cast an eerie glow over the space. Quickly, he made his way to his sports car.

“Mr. Harper?” A voice came from the shadows behind him. “William Harper?”

William turned, thinking it was just one of the parking attendants, but there stood a man he’d never seen. “Who’s asking?”

“Taylor Chase with the Sun .” He extended his hand, but William declined to take it.

“What do you want?” William asked through gritted teeth.

“There are three sides to every story, man. Yours, his, and the truth. I’m here to get yours.” Taylor pointed at him.

“How did you even get in here?” William wondered. He did not need this. He thought he’d be safe until he got to the office, that he would at least have the drive to get himself together.

“I get asked that question a lot.” Taylor smirked. “The same way I got into Sebastian’s. Money talks, man.”

“You’re the one who wrote that piece of shit article, I’m guessing.” Taylor nodded smugly. “You can go to hell.” William turned and walked over to his car.

“Hey, wait.” Taylor jogged over to him. “If you think it’s a piece of shit article, tell me your side and I’ll make sure you get heard. If you don’t talk to someone, people are just going to believe what he said. So, tell me what happened.”

“No comment.” William opened the car door and got in. Taylor stopped him from closing it.

“Come on, man.”

“You want a quote? How about this one? Screw you.” William pulled the door closed and started the engine. Fuck. This is going to be a really, really bad day. Taylor knocked on his window. He ignored it and dropped the car into gear, getting the hell out of there.

It was exactly eighteen minutes from his apartment to his office, and those eighteen minutes were hell. William’s stomach was in knots. He had a hard enough time dealing with one reporter, let alone the masses that Scarlett had described. Then once he managed to get through that, he had to go to Martha’s office. That was never a good thing. She mostly came by their various desks. Someone had to really mess up to get asked up to hers. He knew he was about to get the ass-chewing of a lifetime and who knows what else. He made it to the office to see three news vans and a few reporters milling around the entrance. William parked and took several deep breaths, trying to brace himself for the onslaught. It started the minute he got out of the car.

“Mr. Harper, what were you doing with Sebastian Evans?”

“Mr. Harper, were you drunk like Evans claims?”

“Mr. Harper, were you having an affair with Sebastian?”

“Mr. Harper, we need a quote.”

“No comment,” William said, head down, passing them as quickly as possible. The security guard at the glass doors stopped them from following him into the building. “Thanks, Eric,” William told the man.

“Good morning, Mr. Harper.” Eric nodded at him.

William slowly made his way to the elevator, which was at the end of a short hallway, and pushed the button for the third floor. He had never been someone who suffered from claustrophobia, but as the door closed, fear clawed at his chest, and breathing became a little more difficult. It was all he could do to hold himself together. Thankfully it was a short ride and the doors opened before he totally lost it. The whispering started as soon as he got off the elevator and it was all eyes on him.

“There you are.” Scarlett rushed to his side. “Martha has been in a mood waiting for you. This is bad, Will.” She squeezed his hand.

All William could do was nod and force himself to continue to Martha’s office. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before knocking.

“Get your ass in here, Harper,” she shouted.

William closed his eyes and swallowed hard over the lump in his throat. He crossed the threshold, and holy hell did his boss look pissed. “You wanted to see me?” He did his best to keep the quiver out of his voice.

“Close the door,” she said harshly, and he did. “Sit.” Martha pointed to the chair on the other side of her desk. William again did as instructed. For a long while, she just stared at him. Her look was one of disappointment, disgust, and anger. He withered a little under her gaze. “What the hell, Harper?”

“I know it looks bad, but—” William started.

“Bad is an understatement,” Martha cut him off. “You’ve single-handedly thrown the credibility of this entire paper into question. To have one of my reporters featured in a story in the Sun is unacceptable.” Her distaste for tabloids was well-known throughout the company. “Unforgivable, really.”

The fear he’d felt in the elevator was nothing compared to what he was feeling at this moment. “Please just let me explain.”

“What’s there to explain? Either one of two things happened. Either you were drunk on the job, or you were sleeping with a source. Both are grounds for termination.”

“Termination?” William’s palms were sweating, and he felt light-headed. This couldn’t be happening. “What are you saying?”

“That you’re fired, Harper. Take your pick of reasons.”

“But—”

“There is no but.” Martha shook her head. “It’s obvious that you don’t understand the severity of this situation. Not counting the gossip rags, there’s not a serious newspaper that will touch you right now, I’ll see to that,” she sneered. “I hope it was worth it because you just ruined your career. Collect your things and I’ll have security escort you out.” Her tone was dismissive.

William rose in a daze. He couldn’t believe that this was real, and he froze. What the hell was he supposed to do?

“Was there something else?” Martha asked coldly.

“No, ma’am,” he managed.

“Then get out.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head before picking up her phone.

Scarlett was right outside the door waiting for him, everyone else watching from their desks. “You’re completely pale, sweets.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward his desk. “Don’t you people have work to do?” she snapped at those they passed. She pushed him down into his chair. “Talk.”

“I got fired,” William said softly.

“Oh, Will.” Scarlett pulled him up and hugged him. “What are you going to do?”

“I have no idea.” Will shook his head.

“Mr. Harper.” Eric was suddenly next to them. “I need you to come with me please.”

“Give him a second to process,” Scarlett told the guard.

“I would, but Mrs. Murdock wants him out of here in the next ten minutes.”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Scarlett muttered under her breath then turned back to her friend. “Tell you what, sweets, just shove the important stuff into your briefcase and I’ll bring the rest to you later. If you walk out there with a box of stuff, the paparazzi will be all over the fact that you got fired.”

“Thanks, Scarlett. I don’t need that in the papers.”

“Tonight, when I come over, we will be talking about this,” she informed him.

William just nodded and turned to gather his important paperwork and favorite trinkets. When he was done, he hugged Scarlett and followed Eric to the elevators. “I’m sorry about this, Mr. Harper,” Eric told him as they rode down. “I always enjoyed your articles.”

“Thanks.” It took everything he had to mutter that single word and not break down.

“I’m going to have to ask you for your badge, too.” Eric held out his hand for it. With a sigh, William handed it over just as they reached ground level. “Would you like me to walk you to your car? I could try to keep some of the press off you.”

“Thank you, but no. I’ll be alright. See you around.” William steadied himself and held his head high. He had to get home before he could let any of this affect him. The reporters were all still waiting for him.

“Mr. Harper, did you change your mind about a statement?”

“Mr. Harper, what happened in there? Why are you leaving so soon after arriving?”

“Mr. Harper, did you get suspended for your conduct?”

“Just leave me alone, please.” William refused to look at any of them, keeping his focus instead on the waiting safety of his car.

“Mr. Harper.” He heard them calling out to him as they followed him to his vehicle. He got in and locked the doors, lest some ballsy reporter try to open one. He cranked up the engine and took off a little faster than he probably should have.

“What the fuck?” William shouted angrily, banging the palm of his hand against the steering wheel. “This can’t be happening to me.” But it was. He’d just lost his job and his boyfriend all in one day. He needed to talk to Sebastian, but he knew he couldn’t until he got home. He knew he would break down if he did. He made it home in record time. As soon as he was inside, he took out his phone and hit Sebastian’s contact.

“Hello,” Sebastian’s deep voice answered.

“What the hell, Sebastian?” William yelled into the phone.

“Who is this?”

“You know damn good and well who this is,” William said through gritted teeth. He knew it was over between them, but to have his lover act like he didn’t even know him was too much.

“Don’t call here again.” Sebastian hung up on him.

William threw his phone onto the couch and covered his face with his hands. Feeling dizzy, he sank to his knees, all but hyperventilating. He tried to take deep breaths in an effort to calm down, but it wasn’t working. His life was in complete shambles. Slowly, he pulled himself over to the couch, flopped facedown, and cried himself to sleep.

He was woken by a knock on his door. William sat up and rubbed his eyes, before going to answer it.

“How are you holding up, sweets?” Scarlett came through the door with a box he assumed contained the rest of the stuff from his desk.

“Not good.” William’s voice was unsteady.

She sat the box on the floor and pulled him into a hug. “Oh, honey. I am so sorry.” Scarlett led him back over to the couch. “Tell me what happened.”

“Sebastian is a bastard, that’s what happened.” Will shook his head and sighed.

“I want to know everything.”

“We’ve been seeing each other for like six months. I thought we were in love. I can’t believe he would do this to me.” William closed his eyes, trying to hold back his tears. “Now I look like an asshole because he’s engaged, and a drunk who doesn’t know how to keep it together on assignment.”

“I took the liberty of calling a few other papers, pretending to be your assistant, but I got turned down. They said they would be happy to print your side, but that they had no openings,” Scarlett sadly reported.

“Dammit. Martha said she was going to make sure no one else would hire me. Guess she wasn’t bluffing.”

“Oh, sweets.” Scarlett took his hand.

“No job equals no money, which means no car and no apartment. I can’t believe this,” William said bitterly. “I never thought that falling in love could ruin your life.”

“You know I’d let you stay with me, but I already have a roommate.”

“Yeah, and Stacy and I don’t exactly get along.” Even though Scarlett’s roommate knew he was gay, she obsessively hit on him. Every time he turned her down, she was pissy with Scarlett for days. No way was he putting either of them through that.

“So, what are you going to do?” Scarlett wondered.

“The one thing I don’t want to do.” William knew he sounded defeated, and in all honesty, he was.

“And that is?” she asked.

“Call my father.” William sighed heavily. “I’m going to have to go back home.”