Chapter 10
Thankfully, they made it in time.
Scott was waiting for them inside the theater. Oh, Gadiel had almost forgotten how handsome he was in person. As handsome as Will. More handsome, though Will’s shoulders were wider and he was maybe an inch taller. Will’s features were a little firmer too. Not that Scott’s weren’t firm—they were plenty firm, just more refined. Scott’s features were objectively more handsome. Will’s were a little rough.
“Hello, beautiful,” Scott said with a flirty smirk.
Gadiel glanced sideways at Will and wasn’t surprised to see that he looked unimpressed.
“Lower your damn voice and stop being so obvious in public,” Will ground out.
Scott rolled his eyes but lifted his hands in a placating gesture. “I’m sorry, Mr. Bodyguard,” he said with his usual sass. “I’ll behave, I promise.”He smiled at Gadiel. “Shall we? The movie will start in five minutes.”
Their seats were at the back, and to Gadiel’s relief, there weren’t any people around them.
He sat down, and Scott took the seat to his left. After a moment, Will sat down next to Scott.
Gadiel frowned a little. He kind of... he’d expected that Will would sit by his side. But this was probably better. Thoughtful of him to give him and Scott some privacy. It was very dark here, the atmosphere suitably ominous for a horror movie. They could maybe get away with some cuddling.
“Fuck, I hope it isn’t too scary,” Scott said with a chuckle as the movie started. “I hate creepy horror movies. I could barely watch the original Alien without pissing myself.” He took Gadiel’s hand and squeezed it. “You’ll protect me, right, babe?”
Gadiel’s forehead wrinkled. Personally, he loved horror movies, loved how freaked out they made him feel, the adrenaline and the nerve-racking tension, but he didn’t really see himself as the one who’d comfort his boyfriend and make him feel safe. He’d always wanted a boyfriend who would make him feel safe. It had always been something he’d craved: the feeling of security, home. Belonging.
Oh, well. Maybe it was a good sign that he and Scott were looking for the same thing. They could make it work.
“Sure,” Gadiel said with a crooked smile, patting Scott’s hand briefly. He considered holding it, but somehow it didn’t feel right. He glanced at Will over Scott’s shoulder, but from what he could see, his gaze was on the screen already. Gadiel turned to it, too.
The movie was scary. It was so scary that within half an hour Gadiel felt like jumping out of his skin at every little noise, his heart pounding and his instincts screaming at him—and the characters—to run. When the creepy alien thingy jumped onto the guy’s face and crawled into his mouth, Gadiel flinched, disgusted and freaked out.
He glanced sideways and froze.
Scott was clutching Will’s arm. It was dark, but Gadiel was certain of it. Scott was clutching Will’s arm. And Will was letting him.
Gadiel glowered at them, feeling peeved. If Scott felt like clutching someone, why was he clutching Will? And why was Willlettinghim? Will was his bodyguard, not Scott’s! If anyone had the right to clutch Will, it should have been Gadiel. Will was paid to make him feel safe. This was— unfair !
“Will!” Gadiel hissed, trying not to sound like an angry cat in front of his date. “Come over here.” He patted the seat to his right.
“Now?” Will said.
“Yes. I need to tell you something. It’s important.”
Muttering something under his breath, Will freed his arm from Scott’s death grip and moved to the seat on Gadiel’s other side. “What?” he murmured, leaning to Gadiel’s ear.
He smelled good. Such a nice aftershave.
Gadiel reminded himself that he was annoyed with him. “I didn’t bring you here so you could hog Scott’s attention,” Gadiel hissed, his lips brushing against Will’s stubbled jaw. “Why were you letting him hold you?”
“He seemed scared. And it would have been rude to yank my arm away.”
“What’s rude is that you’re my bodyguard but were bodyguarding someone else! You should have been protecting me. I’m supposed to be your priority.” Gadiel was embarrassed by the whine that entered his voice. But then the ear-splitting scream from the screen made him jump, and he grabbed Will’s arm, his embarrassment forgotten.
“You are,” Will said. “My priority.”
The words made something warm and vicious curl in his stomach.
“That’s right,” Gadiel said, turning back to the screen. “Don’t you forget that.”
He didn’t let go of Will’s arm.
Over the next hour, Gadiel found himself squirming closer and closer to Will until his entire torso was pressed against Will’s side and arm. It was probably embarrassing that he was behaving like a big baby, but screw it, he didn’t care. He felt so much better this way. His heart was still beating fast, but he’d stopped jumping at every sudden noise.
“Kid, you’re nearly in my lap,” Will said.
“Am not,” Gadiel said, hugging Will’s bicep tightly. It was marvelously firm without being ridiculously thick. Will was so fit. Obviously Gadiel noticed that because it was important for a bodyguard to be fit and firm everywhere. After all, his purpose was to protect Gadiel and keep him safe.
Gadiel smiled absently, rubbing his cheek against Will’s shoulder. He really smelled so good. Someone in the movie was being eaten alive, but Gadiel didn’t even flinch, just cuddled closer to his bodyguard. He felt like purring from how comfortable he felt, his chest warm and his mind wonderfully empty of any worries. Safe-warm-protected. So good. He could stay like this forever. “And don’t call me kid,” he said belatedly. “It’s baby.”
He could feel rather than hear Will’s chuckle. It was nice.
“Gadiel?” came a voice from his other side.
His eyes widened. Right—Scott!
Gadiel straightened up a little and turned to him.
Even in the semi-darkness, he could see something like bemusement on Scott’s face as he eyed him and Will. “Why are you cuddled up to him?”
“He’s my bodyguard,” Gadiel said, refusing to be embarrassed. “I was scared. It’s his job to make me feel safe.”
“Right,” Scott said, throwing an indecipherable look over Gadiel’s shoulder at Will. “You can sit closer to me if you’re scared.” He smiled, his white teeth flashing in the darkness. “I’m scared shitless too, to be honest. We can be scared shitless together.”
Gadiel didn’t move. He was aware that he was wasting a golden opportunity to cuddle with Scott, but he didn’t feel like moving.
“Nah, I’m good,” he whispered. “The movie is ending soon anyway. We can’t risk getting caught snuggling when the lights turn on.”
“Right. That... makes sense.”
None of them said anything else for the rest of the movie. When the credits rolled, Gadiel relinquished his grip on Will’s arm and got to his feet.
“That was fun, wasn’t it?” he said, turning to Scott with a grin.
Scott returned it after a moment. “If by fun you mean nightmare inducing, sure.”
Gadiel laughed, though it wasn’t all that funny. Weird. He’d remembered Scott being much funnier during their previous meeting.
Will laid his hand on his nape, steering him gently toward the exit. Gadiel relaxed into the touch and, pulling his phone out, checked his messages, trusting Will to get him to their destination.
There was a message from his eldest brother’s wife reminding him about the family dinner in two days’ time. Fuck, he’d forgotten about it.
“What’s wrong?” Will said, guiding him through the door.
“I’m supposed to attend a family dinner the day after tomorrow,” Gadiel said with a sigh. Looking at Will, he pulled a face. “At my father’s.”
Will’s gaze was sympathetic. “You can’t skip it?”
Gadiel laughed a little. “No way. Unless you’re on your deathbed, you don’t miss family dinners.”
“Personally, I love family dinners,” came from his other side.
Gadiel flinched and looked at Scott. “It must be nice,” he said, unable to imagine enjoying family dinners.
“My family is great,” Scott said with a wide smile.
Gadiel returned it weakly, trying not to feel envy or resentment. He failed. Did that make him a horrible person?
He looked back at Will and caught a wistful expression on his face. Their gazes locked, and something like understanding flashed through Will’s eyes. His hand on Gadiel’s shoulder tightened slightly, the touch becoming almost comforting—at least Gadiel took comfort in it. He leaned into the touch, stepping closer to Will as they walked toward the car.
It was such a nice evening, not too hot or windy.Gadiel smiled to himself, feeling happier than he’d felt in ages.
When they reached their car, Will dropped his hand and stepped away. “You need a ride?” he asked Scott over his shoulder, getting into the driver’s seat.
“Yeah, thanks,” Scott said before opening the back door for Gadiel and smiling. “Shall we?”
Trying to ignore a twinge of disappointment—he wanted to ride shotgun—Gadiel nodded and got into the car, and Scott followed him in.
“Put on your seatbelt,” Will said, meeting his eyes in the mirror.
His disappointment forgotten, Gadiel smiled at Will and stuck his tongue out.
Will snorted. “You really are a baby. Seatbelt, Gadiel.”
Rolling his eyes, Gadiel did as he was told. He would have put on the seatbelt anyway, but he liked ruffling Will’s feathers.
“You too,” Will said as he started the engine, glancing at Scott.
“Your bodyguard is a tyrant, Gadiel,” Scott said with a teasing laugh.
“He is,” Gadiel said, leaning forward and propping his chin on the back of Will’s seat. It brought his face close toWill’s hair. He inhaled deeply. Will’s hair smelled like Gadiel’s shampoo. It made sense, since the guest bathroom in Gadiel’s apartment had the same shampoo he used. Gadiel was pleased with himself for picking such a nice shampoo—it smelled even better on actual hair than he’d thought. Gadiel inhaled deeply again. “See, you’re such a tyrant that even a man who’s seeing you for the first time can tell.”
Will’s shoulders stiffened.
He didn’t say anything for a moment.
“Sit back, Gadiel,” he finally said. “You’re a driving hazard. Your breath is tickling my neck.”
Gadiel grinned and blew against Will’s ear. “Aw, are you ticklish? Is my perfect bodyguard scared of being tickled?”
“If we get into an accident and die, I promise you I’ll find a way to give you a hiding in the afterlife.”
Gadiel’s grin widened.“See what I have to put up with every day?” he said, turning his head to Scott.
Scott snickered. “Maybe you should fire him,” he said with another teasing smile.
Gadiel hummed, idly threading his fingers through the hair at Will’s nape. “Nah, I want to keep him,” he said. “He has his moments. Sometimes.”
Will made a soft noise that could almost be called a laugh. Gadiel grinned.
“I had fun tonight,” Scott said.
“Me, too,” Gadiel said, removing his fingers from Will’s hair with some reluctance—it was so thick and soft—and turning to Scott. “I haven’t been to a movie in ages. Thank you for inviting me.”
“Thank you for being a great date,” Scott said, reaching out and taking Gadiel’s hand.
“He was a horrible date,” Will cut in.
“Hey!” Gadiel said, snatching his hand away from Scott to slap Will’s shoulder with it. “I wasn’t!”
“You were. Youspent the entire movie clinging to me like a big baby and barely exchanged two words with him.”
Gadiel blushed. “I’ve changed my mind—you’re fired.”
“You can’t fire me for telling the truth.”
“I can, if I don’t like the truth,” Gadiel said.
Will glanced at him in the mirror. His eyes were smiling.
Warmth filled Gadiel’s chest. He’d started leaning forward again when Scott cut in, “It’s not the truth anyway. You weren’t a horrible date. I’m your date, so I think my opinion is the one that counts.”
Blinking, Gadiel laughed a little. “See?” he told Will smugly.
Will scoffed, but there was still some amusement in his eyes. “Get out.”
“What?” Gadiel said in confusion, blinking.
“We’ve arrived at your place. I’ll drop Scott off after you.”
Looking out the window, Gadiel realized that he was right: they were already at the underground parking lot.
“Um,” Scott said, glancing at Gadiel hopefully. “Any chance I could come up for a cup of coffee?”
Gadiel hesitated. But before he could say anything, Will cut in.“That isn’t a good idea. A movie is one thing, but coming up to his apartment after that would be too much. His brother wouldn’t understand. He has eyes everywhere.”
“Will is right,” Gadiel said. Leaning in, he kissed Scott on the cheek. He smelled great but unremarkable. An expensive cologne many men seemed to prefer, if the way it smelled so familiar was any indication. “I’ll text you.” He turned to Will and met his eyes in the mirror. “You’re coming back after that, right? I can get us pizza if you’re hungry.”
“Don’t wait for me,” Will said after a moment. “But of course I’ll come back. It’s my job.”
Something about his words rubbed Gadiel the wrong way. He leaned forward to murmur into his ear, “You aren’t supposed to leave me alone at all. Why did you even offer him a ride? You aren’t a chauffeur. You’re my bodyguard. He could have taken a taxi.”
Will shot him a look over his shoulder, his brows furrowed. “It seemed polite,” he said. The scent of his aftershave drifted into Gadiel’s nostrils, and Gadiel inhaled deeply, his fingers itching to trace the five o’clock shadow darkening Will’s angular jaw.Will’s frown deepened. “And I’m not leaving you alone.” He gestured to the substitute bodyguard stationed by the private elevator. “This is still my day off. Technically, I’m not your bodyguard until midnight.”
Gadiel wanted to pout, but he knew Will was right.
“What are you two whispering about?” Scott said with a small laugh.
“Obviously we’re badmouthing you,” Will said wryly.
Smiling, Gadiel straightened up and cleared his throat.
“Good night,” he said.
As the men murmured their goodbyes, Gadiel left the car and headed to the bodyguard who was waiting for him by the elevator.
All in all, the night felt like a success, though Will was right: he’d been a horrible date. He and Scott had barely talked or touched...He’d have to do better next time.
Gadiel glanced at his phone.
How long would it take for Will to come back?