38
Will woke to his phone alarm buzzing. He reached across the expanse of the king-sized bed to silence it. Behind him, Gabriel sighed and rolled over, wrapping his arms around Will’s waist. “It can’t be time to get up,” Gabriel murmured in a tired voice.
A smile overcame Will. Because he hadn’t been made to sleep on the couch. Because when they’d gotten back from the bar, Gabriel had been holding his hand, and he’d brought him into the bed. And he must have forgotten those rules he’d set, because he’d pressed warm kisses up and down Will’s neck before drawing Will tight against him for sleep.
Will squinted at the time on his phone. “I have a few minutes.”
“Good.” Gabriel pulled him closer, bringing their bodies together.
Gabriel’s breaths slowed, tickling the back of Will’s neck with each exhale.
“Was the date alright?” Gabriel asked, surprising Will. He thought he’d gone back to sleep.
“It was more than alright,” Will whispered back. “Was it okay for you?”
Gabriel chuckled. He raised himself up and kissed Will’s shoulder, meeting his eyes as he said, “Perfect.”
That one word was enough to warm Will’s entire body. He didn’t even care at all that they wouldn’t go further than this, because this was enough. It was more than enough.
Will’s alarm buzzed again. He hit it off with a sigh and rolled over to Gabriel. He took him in, head on the same pillow as his, hair messy and tangled, his stubble a shadow over his jaw. “I don’t want to go.” He reached out to feel the prickle of stubble against his fingertips and traced the outline of his lips.
“You could call in sick,” Gabriel suggested, blinking back the sleep from his eyes.
“Vinny knew I had a date,” Will said reluctantly. “I don’t want him to think I’m skipping.”
“We’d better get up then,” Gabriel said, his voice matching Will’s reluctance.
“Yeah.” Will didn’t move.
Gabriel didn’t move.
If Will could stay like this with Gabriel forever, he would.
*
Will was ready for a long, long sleep when he got home. His feet dragged as he walked up to his front door. He had his evening planned out: Text Gabriel. Then Sleep. Will couldn’t get Gabriel off his mind at all during training. It wasn’t just the physical stuff he was thinking about; it was everything about him. Feeling wanted. Feeling good about himself. It was—
“Where were you last night?” Leah stood at the foot of the stairs with her arms crossed.
Will stopped short. “Last night?” he asked in his best attempt at a normal voice. Had Dad noticed he was gone? There were no texts on his phone from him.
“Yes, last night. Where were you?” Leah repeated the question.
There was no doubt in her voice. She knew he hadn’t come home. But how? She was meant to be staying at Mom’s place in the city. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”
Leah didn’t back down. “Answer the question.”
“Why don’t you tell me why I’m being interrogated the second I step in the door?” Will asked back. He was stalling. He hadn’t come up with an alibi for last night. He didn’t think he’d need one. His heart rate picked up as he tried to come up with one.
“Your room wasn’t slept in,” Leah said. “I know you didn’t spend the night here.”
Will relaxed a little. “What do you mean it wasn’t slept in?” he walked past her, trotting up the stairs. “It’s left in the same state every morning.”
Leah marched up with him, passing him to enter the room first. She pointed to the bed where a hoodie was lying over the covers.
“Yes, that’s my jumper,” Will said wryly. “I see where you’re going with this.”
“It’s in the exact same spot it was the other morning,” Leah said.
“Leah, you’re sounding a bit crazy.”
“Will.” Her voice was so sharp he froze. “Did you, or did you not, spend the night with Gabriel?”
It was like ice had been injected directly into Will’s veins, freezing him solid. His breath shuddered out of him, and his voice wavered when it came out. “What the hell are you talking about?”
But Leah was examining him now. Looking him over, and her eyes went to his sports bag. She pointed. “Let me see that.”
The clothes he’d worn on their date were inside it. “No.”
Her eyes flashed up to his face.
“You’re acting crazy. You’re the one pining after Gabriel, remember?”
Hurt filled her eyes, only to vanish a moment later behind a hard look. When she spoke, her voice was low, but steady. “Gabriel is a grown man, and you are only seventeen years old. He’s taking advantage of you when you’re going through a—”
“Leah—”
“—a hard time. You can’t even take care of yourself, let alone think clearly about a man,” she talked over him. “He’s taking advantage of the power he has as your tutor to…to…” Her face fell as she saw his neck. Will knew there was a hickey there. “Did he make you have sex with him?”
Will twitched. An anger he’d never felt before raced through him, spreading throughout his body with every beat of his heart. The way she phrased that made him want to scream. Gabriel was her friend. Even if they’d been fighting the last few weeks, how could she think Gabriel would force someone to sleep with them? His fingers curled into fists.
“I was with Dune.” Will got out through a clenched jaw.
Leah stopped her rant. “What?”
“I was with Dune,” Will repeated. “But that’s a real nice opinion you have of your friend there.”
“You weren’t with Dune.”
“I was with Dune.” He repeated for the third time. “We rented a place in Dublin, and I spent the night with him.” Will continued, just barely holding back his anger.
Leah took in a few deep breaths. “I know it might be hard to see, but try to look at this from my perspective. You might think he’s this saint, giving you attention, acting like he cares about you—but he’s a grown man, and he knows exactly what he’s doing by getting close to you like this.”
The fury in his stomach curled hotter and hotter. Every word out of her mouth was disgusting. He wondered how she could say it with a soft voice and a straight face.
“Fine.” Will dug out his phone.
“Fine?” Leah’s brow creased.
The phone rang, and Will put it on speaker. It rang again and was answered after only a second.
“ Hey,” the voice on the other end answered.
“Leah doesn’t believe we spent last night in Dublin together,” Will said.
He stared off with Leah with his heart in his throat. They waited. Please, Will prayed, please, please don’t let me down.
“ You told her about last night? ”
Will went slack in relief. Leah snatched the phone out of his hand.
“You were seriously with Will? Don’t lie,” she warned.
“ We used protection, if that’s what you’re worried about .”
Leah’s face went red, and Will stifled a laugh.
“Okay.” Leah shot Will a look. “In that case, you should come over for dinner.”
“ Alright.”
“And bring your parents,” Leah challenged.
“No problem. What time?”
“Seven.” Leah hung up. She handed the phone back to Will, and he could see that she still wasn’t convinced. Will realised then and there that Dune was the best friend he’d ever had.
“Do we have anything to feed our guests?” Will questioned innocently. “Dune’s family is a little high class for pot noodles.”
“Don’t make me into a bad guy.” Leah sighed.
“You attacked me the second I walked in the door,” Will pointed out. “Is that meant to make you the good guy?”
“I’m trying to look out for you. I am.” Leah turned to Will, her eyes wide and honest. “And I’m terrified that man is taking advantage of you, and that you’re not able to see it.”
The anger came back.
“Look, I don’t know what happened between you and Gabriel," Will said. “But I’d rather you didn’t drag me into the middle of it.”
“It’s hard not to put you in the middle of it when he comes over to make you breakfast every day,” Leah said, her voice regaining some of its sharpness. “I asked around campus about him, and I heard things from our mutual friends I never knew about him before. He put his own father into the hospital, and several others. Plus, he apparently screwed pretty much every guy in the city—”
“Shut the hell up.”
Leah looked at him, startled.
Will’s chest rose and fell quickly. He had tunnel vision.
Leah stepped away with a nod. “Fine. Get ready for dinner.”
Will stared at his closed door, fighting his instincts to run after her. He paced the room and waited until his breathing was back to normal before lifting his phone again. He dialled Dune.
“Thank you so, so much.” Will kept his voice low so that Leah wouldn’t overhear him.
“ I did fine?” Dune asked.
“You were perfect,” Will complimented. “She was too embarrassed to even ask for details.”
“ And the dinner? ”
Will thought it out. Leah was obviously not convinced by the phone call. “Could you…?”
“ And what are we pretending exactly? A once-off? Boyfriends?”
Will couldn’t help thinking about Dune telling him he’d had feelings for Will before, and he felt unfair asking him to pretend they’d been intimate. But the fear that he could get Gabriel into trouble far overshadowed everything else. “I’m sorry.” He closed his eyes. “Boyfriends?”
Dune paused. “ Okay. I’ll see you later. ”
Will hung up just as Leah’s footsteps carried her to his door. She didn’t knock before coming in. “Change and come help me cook,” she told him.
He could have lingered, given her attitude, and taken the time to call Gabriel and tell him what was going on, but he didn’t want to arouse even more suspicions. He kept his phone in his pocket, calmed his nerves, and went downstairs. He had to convince Leah that him and Dune were together.