Chapter 17
17
ERIC
I barely remember to put the Mini in Park before I race into the house. I know I’m in a rush to wake up the drunk pup to question his ass, but wrecking my car into the side of the garage would not be a good way to do it – mainly because I don’t want to deal with the increase to my insurance premium. The front door slams against the shoe rack in the entry hall, making me wince as I kick my ankle boots in that general direction. I really hope I don’t wake everyone up, but my brain is in hyperfocus mode. I need to know what the fuck is going on, who our new neighbor really is. The grumbling and noise coming from up the stairs tells me I was unsuccessful in keeping this between me and the pup, so I head up.
“You are a BAD puppy, Tobias Grady!” I call out as I reach the landing for where most of our bedrooms are. If I’m going to wake everyone up, I might as well do it right.
The door at the end of the hall cracks open to show Lucky in his footie pajamas rubbing his eyes and sucking on his rainbow binkie. His crochet Asexual flag Mothman is clutched under his arm and he’s looking at me like he wants to cry. I send him a smile and do a little fairy wave to make him giggle. I’m not mad at him. I know if he had put it together, he would have told me.
Spencer stomps down the steps from the third floor to come up behind his little boy, looking relieved. But I’m pissed at him as well. Based on his texts, he put it together just like Toby did. Only the difference is Toby doesn’t know who “Lewis Barnes”, professor of economics, could be to me. Spencer does.
Scott, Jace, and Shiloh come out into the hall while two sets of footsteps come up the stairs behind me. I turn to see Eli and Jay approach with different looks on their faces. Jay looks relieved to see me, but Eli looks guilty as fuck.
Does he know, too?
The only person who isn’t here is the one who set me off.
“TOBIAS ANDREW FUCKING GRADY!” I yell and stomp my foot. I feel bad when I see Shiloh wince and run to hide behind Jay and Eli, but my anger rolls right over the shame. I’ll feel it later, I’m sure.
The door to Toby and Shiloh’s room creaks open further to give the pup room to crawl out with his head hung low. It’s obvious he’s in the horrible state between drunk and hungover where your head is spinning, but your brain is coming back online.
Good .
I don’t soften a damn thing, not my voice, not my glare, not my stance when he gives me his puppy dog eyes and whines.
“I don’t give a flying fuck how much you had to drink last night. Why am I only finding out now that our new neighbor is your economics professor from last semester?”
Glancing around at the people who I trust most in the world, the feeling of betrayal inside of me is growing as I see the looks of guilt on Eli and Spencer’s faces.
“And whose bright idea was it to make sure I know nothing about our new neighbor to the point that I wouldn’t know I was picking him up at the club last night? Eli, Spencer? Any ideas on that one?”
The only sound that can be heard is the rhythmic sucking from Lucky with his binkie as I wait for someone to confess. Is it wrong that I still have hope that they didn’t make the connection? Oh, God, please let them say they didn’t realize…
Lucky gasps and his binkie falls from his mouth, making everyone turn to face him.
“Is Professor Barnes our new neighbor?!”
He’s so innocent at times it hurts. I reach out to pull him into a hug while the tension in the room breaks with a few chuckles.
“Yes, Lucky,” I tell him with a kiss to the top of his head. “Your Professor Barnes is the guy who moved into the back lot last week.”
Raising my head to glare at the two Doms who knew, I add, “And your Daddy and Uncle decided to not tell us who he is.”
Lucky gasps again and turns on Spencer and Eli. I wouldn’t have risked upsetting him if he was big, but little Lucky has no problem with feeling things. He’s come a long way, actually. Stomping over to the other men, he punches Eli in the stomach and kicks his Daddy in the shin.
Everyone is taken aback by that. One thing our resident little is not is violent .
“You are both assholes of the highest order for this!” he yells at them, obviously no longer little. “If you ever fucking hide things from me again, I will… I will… I’ll poop on your heads!”
Keeping my laughter silent has tears coming to my eyes. He was doing so well, too.
Spencer pulls his boy into his arms for a hug while Eli ruffles his nephew’s curls. I know Lucky won’t stay mad at them, but his outburst took a lot of my ire away. Very few people in my life have felt anger on my behalf, so when it happens, I really take the time to commit it to memory.
“As adorable as this all has been, why is the brat queen screaming at bird thirty?” Scott yawns, leaning back on Jace. “Do we all have to bear witness to you holding court, your majesty? Or can I go back to sleep? I have at least two more hours before I have to be awake and I gotta test four games today.”
Doing my best to paste on an apologetic look, I give Scott and the others a nod that signals they don’t have to be here if they didn’t know. Jace and Scott both go back to their rooms, but Shiloh is clinging to Jay, who leads him downstairs with the promise of ice cream and video games.
Something pushing on my leg makes me look down to see Toby nudging me and looking up with tears in his eyes. A soft whine comes out of his throat, and I have to fight off my own tears. I know better than to be negative toward someone in subspace, or in his case pupspace, unless it has been properly negotiated with safewords and precautions.
“Go to bed, pup,” I tell him softly as I run my fingers through his tangled hair. “We’ll talk about this when you’re back to being people. You’re not a bad puppy, but you weren’t a very good friend.”
Toby pushes his nose against my palm before crawling back into his room. Pulling his door closed, I turn to look at the three people left. Spencer sighs and picks Lucky up in his arms. Heading for the stairs to the third floor, he tells us we should talk in the lounge up there.
“I didn’t mean to keep it from you,” Spencer says after putting Lucky to bed in their room. “I didn’t want to say anything in case the name was just a coincidence.”
I snort as I use their coffee maker to brew a cup. Lucky has excellent taste in coffee and creamers, so I take advantage of their stash any time I’m up here.
“Seriously, E,” he says as he pulls another two mugs out of the cabinet. “I went to check him out last semester when I went to pick up Lucky from class, and I didn’t see anyone who looked like the guy I remembered from when we were kids.
“Then, he was introduced to us as Matt when he moved in. He was one of Jackson’s friends, so I didn’t think anything of it. It wasn’t until Toby recognized him at the club last night that I put it all together. I raced after you, but you were already running away.”
The shame in Spencer’s voice is undeniable, but turning to Eli, I know who I should really be angry with.
“And you?” I glare at him as I sip my glorious liquid ambrosia. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
The smaller man sighs and collapses onto the sofa with his head in his hands. When he looks up at us, there are tears in his eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Eli in so much pain as he’s been these last few days, but I can’t let it affect me. Holding on to my anger is a struggle, but I somehow manage.
“I knew who he was after the first time I met him,” he confesses quietly. “Some of the stories he told with Jackson when we were drinking at Pegasus reminded me of some of the good stories you shared in the beginning about your childhood. I ran a background check on him, telling him it was for the rental.
“I didn’t want to let him slip away if he really was your Mattie, not before you could find out what really happened. I know how those what if and why questions eat at a person, and I wanted to at least let you have closure.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me ?” I hiss, slamming the coffee mug down on the counter. “You obviously knew it was him when you moved him in, so why did I have to play fucking Sherlock Holmes to figure it out after fucking him?!”
Tears start falling down my face at the betrayal. I can see how bad he feels, but my God! He knew my Mattie was less than a hundred yards away for all this time.
“You know . You BOTH know what Mattie has always meant to me. Why? Why would you do this to me?”
Eli speaks as Spencer pulls me against his chest.
“He doesn’t seem to remember you at all. I didn’t want you to get hurt, not this time of the year.”
Pushing away from Spencer I look at both of them in shock. How did I not notice it before? They aren’t any better than the asshole I escaped.
“What? Worried the little crazy boy is gonna off himself if his first crush doesn’t recognize him? Is that it?” I relish the looks of pain on their faces. How dare they try to control me like this!?
“Well, I’ll save you the trouble of your worry. I’m moving out today. I’ll send someone for anything I forget.”
“Eric, please,” Spencer pleads and reaches for my arm. I jerk out of his reach and stare at his audacity to even attempt to touch me. “It was wrong to keep the secret, but you have to understand where Eli was coming from. We were planning on doing something in a couple weeks to get you guys introduced.”
Inwardly, I wince at the harshness of my laughter, but I know I look like a cold hearted bitch. Sassy makes one hell of a mask when I am dying inside. I have perfected how to be a different person, hiding the screaming little boy inside.
“Fuck you both,” I spit at them. “Don’t even think of guilting me into staying somewhere I can’t trust the people living with me. You did this. Remember that when the others ask where I am.”
Managing to hold my anger until I reach my room, I break as soon as I open my door. I don’t want to say goodbye. I don’t want to leave Manor Drive. I know the intrusive thoughts will win if I leave, but they pushed me into this.
Happy Birthday to me.