Chapter 13
Yasu
After Itsuki finally made it to practice, I couldn’t keep my eyes off him. More like I couldn’t keep my eyes off the way that Ryosuke couldn’t keep his eyes off him.
Maybe I should have gone out with them the night before, because then I’d have a clue why Itsu suddenly seemed so bashful around our new bassist. If the man had done something to him, I’d break his fucking legs.
Not that I had any sort of claim over Itsuki.
I just didn’t want anything to happen to him.
Riku and Tatsuki didn’t seem any different outside of being more friendly and talking to Ryosuke a bit more. Maybe whatever happened between him and Itsuki happened after they left. That was assuming they left Itsuki alone with him.
Would they have done that?
I was the one who was distracted.
Practice usually went better, at least I could play it off as Itsuki’s late arrival was playing a part, but something much deeper was the root cause.
A different sort of feeling swirled low in my gut as I watched Ryosuke approach Itsuki after we were done leaning in close to talk to him. My jaw ached from the way my teeth clenched as I watched them.
Speak the fuck up, Yasu. This is stupid.
But did I? No. Of course I didn’t.
Instead, I let the anger continue to bubble in my belly as I watched them. They looked like they’d been best friends for a lot longer than Itsuki and I. The feeling was new, and it wasn’t one that I enjoyed.
Instead of continuing to dwell on it, I stormed out of the practice space, slamming the door behind me.
I didn’t make it very far down the hall before I heard Itsuki’s sweet voice calling out to me.
“Yasu. Yasu-san!”
My feet refused to move because I couldn’t deny him. I was soft for Itsuki in ways I wasn’t soft for anyone else.
Thin arms wrapped around me, and even though physical affection like that had always been unwelcome, it hadn’t ever bothered me when Itsuki did it.
There was something about his touch that brought comfort instead of making me squirm like it did with everyone else.
It was one of the few reasons I let him get away with it.
“Are you okay?” The way he echoed my words from earlier in the day made me relax.
I turned in his embrace, tucking a stray strand of dark brown hair behind his ear.
Itsuki’s big eyes blinked at me as I leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.
It wasn’t that odd. We’d always been that way with each other, but what was different was the way my best friend suddenly tensed under my touch.
Instead of letting it bother me, I answered his question. “I’m fine.” Was it stupid to brush it off using the same half-assed excuse he had earlier in the day? Maybe. But it didn’t stop me from doing it or trying to break free of his hug to walk away.
The air around us suddenly felt too thick to breathe, and I needed to get away and clear my head.
What the hell was I doing?
I couldn’t stay.
As much as it pained me to see the hurt on Itsuki’s face, I pulled away from him, running from the building. The biggest mistake was thinking that it would be that easy. I didn’t even make it two city blocks before a hand wrapped around my wrist and stopped me.
When I wheeled around, I met a deep stare and fiery red hair.
“What the hell do you want?” The words were laced with venom.
While I’d done my best to be friendly the day before, watching him take my place with my best friend brought it out. Ryosuke’s eyebrows furrowed as he watched me, but didn’t release me.
“What’s your fucking problem?” he asked, hand tightening around my wrist.
I struggled against his hold, but it didn’t do me any good. He had a hold of me and had no intention of letting go until he got answers. My nostrils flared as I looked at him, my breath quickening as I continued to stare.
“You. You’re my damn problem.”
Ryosuke laughed. It was dry and humorless as he finally let go of me and backed away, threading his long fingers through his hair.
“How long is this going to be an issue? I don’t know what else I can do to prove that I’m not out to destroy your precious band.”
I huffed, arms crossing over my chest as we continued to stare each other down.
“Maybe don’t fuck with Itsuki.”
Ryosuke’s eyebrows raised with curiosity. I knew I’d fucked up. I’d let him in on my biggest secret. That I’d do anything to protect our sweet little guitar player.
And that was all it took.
The next thing I knew, I was caged against the alleyway wall with one of Ryosuke’s hands on either side of my head. He was so damn close that his warm breath ghosted against my mouth. I wanted to spit at him. Scream. Anything to get him to back the hell away and leave me alone.
But then my body betrayed me. My gut tightened and my cock twitched because it had been too freaking long since I’d had someone close to me like this.
I secretly loved it when someone took command of me like that.
Too much of my life was spent being the one who called the shots, being in control.
It was nice to hand that over every once in a while.
That didn’t mean that Ryosuke was the right person to hand that over to.
“I’m not fucking with him. Everything we’ve done has been consensual.”
Shit. What had they done?
My mind raced, picturing the worst-case scenario. I could see Ryosuke tenderly holding Itsuki’s chin as he leaned in close and placed a gentle kiss against his lips, like I’d dreamed of doing so many damn times. That kiss was mine. Not his.
I growled, shoving against the hard chest in front of me.
“The hell does that mean?”
Ryosuke’s laugh was bordering on cruel. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I would.”
This was wrong. So fucking wrong, and I didn’t care. Ryosuke leaned in close. His body pressed against mine, I could feel the way he was hard. His erection pushed into mine, and it made my breath catch. I didn’t need this. It was the last thing I needed when it came to this cocky asshole.
“Nothing. You fucking prick.”
He pulled away, my eyes trailed down his front to the way his pants tented slightly at the front. It was nice to know that I wasn’t the only one affected by what was happening between us.
It was. So. Damn. Wrong.
Get away.
My brain screamed as I turned away from the bass player walking back out onto the main street.
No matter how much I tried to keep my cool, I kept picking up my pace, on the verge of a run because I didn’t want to keep talking to Ryosuke.
I didn’t want to know what the hell was happening to my body because I swore left and right that I belonged to Itsuki and Itsuki alone.
I didn’t stop until I made it back to my apartment, slamming the door behind me. My eyes closed as I took a deep breath and gave a short “tadaima,” so I didn’t scare Reiko again.
That didn’t seem to matter.
My sister still rounded the corner with a knife in hand. Her glare could have leveled the whole damn city. Maybe I’d taken too long to say anything when I’d come inside. It was something I’d need to work on.
“Yasu,” she huffed as she brandished the knife around.
“Sorry. I’m sorry. I needed a moment.”
She nodded and rolled her eyes before heading back to the kitchen. I kicked off my shoes and followed her.
“Is something wrong?” She asked as she went back to chopping up some bok choy adding it to a sizzling pan on the stove.
If I could talk to anyone, it was her. My sister knew all of my deep and dark secrets, even about my crush on Itsuki.
It was something we never talked about outside of the four walls of our home, but it was nice to have someone I could confide in.
I didn’t even get the chance to tell her what was happening when the doorbell rang. My eyes widened in horror because I hadn’t thought to make sure that Ryosuke hadn’t followed me.