Chapter 6
ABEL
“Sorry, Margaret, give me just a second.” I give her a smile as I walk away from the counter to take the call coming from Harvey—another one of my clients.
I step out into the blistering wind and wrap my arms around myself to help ward off the chill as I swipe to answer and press my phone against my cheek. “Hello?”
“Oliver, darling.” I wince, and okay, sometimes I regret using his middle name as my working name, but I was really fucked up the first time, and now, I’m stuck with it. But I don’t hate it entirely. Sometimes… sometimes it makes me feel just a little bit closer to him in some fucked up way.
Okay, a lot of fucked up ways.
“Yes, Harvey?” I say sweetly, rolling his name around on my tongue while trying to keep my teeth from clacking together. Motherfucker, it’s cold. All of my muscles are tensing up and making it hard to speak.
“How would you like to come away with me this weekend? Nowhere far, just into the city. I’ve got some business to attend to, but I don’t wish to be alone all weekend, so I’d love for you to accompany me.”
“And keep you entertained between all of those boring business meetings, hm?” I ponder the request, drawing my brows together. Surely he must know how much it’ll cost him for the whole weekend…
“And you’ll do a brilliant job of it,” he says sweetly, and I grin.
“You know I’m not cheap, baby.”
“Of course not. Wouldn’t dream of it.” I can hear his smile through the phone.
“And I love room service,” I quip as I stare out at the grounds. At the trees devoid of leaves. The sky cloudy and dark gray. The grass dying and dead in spots.
“As you wish.” This time, he chuckles into the line, and the vibration would send goosebumps skittering across my arms if I didn’t already have them from the cold.
“Amazing. When do you want me?” I ask, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth as I work logistics out in my mind.
“Tonight through Sunday afternoon. I can pick you up and bring you home, darling.”
My muscles tighten even more than they already are from the cold. None of my clients know where I live—and that’s not about to change now.
“No… you know the rules,” I chastise Harvey lightly, keeping my tone low and enticing, even as my teeth clack together.
He chuckles. “Ah, well, yes. Shall I provide you with a little extra for fare then?”
I smile triumphantly. “Yes, please.”
“Such good manners.”
“Always,” I retort, and Harvey laughs lowly.
“Sure, darling. I’ll send you the address, and I will see you tonight, then?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Mmm. Good. Safe travels.” And with that, there’s a soft click of the line as he ends the call. I stare down at my phone, blinking a few times before I force my way back inside before I freeze my ass off—literally.
“Everything okay?” Margaret asks as I step back inside, teeth clacking and muscles frozen stiff.
“Yes, sorry. Just a work call,” I tell her as I follow her into the lounge so we can get set up for bingo—one of the residents’ favorite nights of the week.
“Oh. Everything okay?” she asks as she blows some of her blonde hair out of her face.
I swallow heavily as I clamp my fingers around the edge of the table. “Yeah. I’m just going to be away for the weekend. Do you think Morana will be okay?”
Her brows furrow, but she smiles. “Yes, of course she will, Abel.”
“Sorry, I know that. I just don’t like being away from her for so long.”
Her frown morphs into a soft smile that makes my chest ache because I’m pathetic. “I know, honey, but I promise you she will be okay. That’s why she’s here. We always take care of her.”
I smile gratefully at her, feeling my chest swell with something I can’t name. “And I can’t thank you all enough for everything you guys do for her. You’ve… you’ve saved her life. And mine.”
“Abel…”
“No, seriously. I don’t know what I would’ve done if…” I shake myself out of it. “Mo was in a really bad place, but being here has been so good for her, and that’s all I want. For her to continue that happiness and to heal and be whoever she wishes to be in this world.”
I blink down rapidly at the speckled tile floor, trying to clear the blur in front of my eyes, but it’s fruitless.
I startle when a hand wraps around my wrist, soft and cold and gentle. I glance up through damp lashes to find a warm, soft smile aimed at me. “She’s really lucky to have family like you.”
And that makes my heart shatter. “She should’ve had me for so much longer, but we lost each other for too long, and I… I didn’t know…”
“You can’t blame yourself, Abel. You were a kid, too.”
“I wasn’t though. I had a responsibility—”
“To protect yourself, too. It’s okay. Don’t blame yourself. You’re both here now and that’s what matters, right?” Her blue eyes are soft and searching, and I can’t stand them on me any longer, so I nod and clear my throat.
“Right.”
“Good. We’re one big happy family now. And it’s about to get crazy with all this bingo up in here,” she remarks with a smirk aimed at me, which I return, trying to push past the weight in my chest as I help her rearrange the tables in rows wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and the help of aids.
Once we’re all set up, Margaret and I look at each other with matching grins of exasperation.
“Here we go,” she says with a giggle that I can’t help but return.
During the drive to the hotel, I find myself staring out the slightly fogged over window. At the rush of traffic and the bare state of the world as it passes by in a blur.
For November, it’s blistering and frigid, and I curl tighter into myself as the driver pulls off the interstate and into the city.
The drive is accompanied by the soft drawl of music that I can’t really make out, but that’s fine.
My mind is whirring too much anyway for me to make out much of anything.
“We’re here,” the driver says after a while, and I startle from my reverie, noticing we’re in front of the hotel, and it’s fucking busy.
“What the hell is going on here?” I ask absentmindedly, and the driver snorts.
“Basketball game or something, I think.” And I stiffen from head to toe.
It better not fucking be…
I swallow the bile threatening to rush up my throat at that thought. How fucking disastrous would that be?
“Goddamnit,” I mutter and hook my bag around my shoulder. “Thank you.”
“No problem.”
And with that, I exit the car and stare up at the massive building in front of me, watching people bustling in and out, and sure enough, a lot of them are clad in attire for the different teams—vast arrays of red and black and gold.
“Oh, this is not good…” I mutter to myself as I make my way inside and toward the front desk. The wait takes a while, but I don’t bother getting ahold of Harvey. He told me everything would be taken care of with a card waiting for me at the front desk.
“Hi, how can I help you?” the receptionist says with a bright but tired smile. I can see the weariness in his eyes, and I just hope it doesn’t make my life any harder than it needs to be.
“Hello, my name is Oliver, and Harvey Morgan told me there would be a card waiting for me?” I phrase it like a question, and his—I look down and notice his name, Calvin—eyes narrow at me marginally, and I just know there are going to be issues.
“Well, let me have a look here.”
“Sure thing.” I give him my brightest smile, already knowing all he sees is some fucking punk in front of him, so I pull out my phone and open the app to call Harvey.
“Hello, darling. Have you made it safely?”
“They’re giving me trouble at the front desk,” I say, eyeing the receptionist as I say it. His eyes widen slightly at my words.
“Give me just a moment.”
I hang up and wait. Three seconds later, the phone is ringing, and we both look at each other. I quirk a brow, lips curled inward. “Are you going to answer that?”
“Hello, this is—”
Calvin’s face pales slightly, and I can’t hide my snicker. “Yes, sir. I’m so sorry about the mix up—” he pauses again, and I wait, watching the array of emotions play on his face.
People who have money can have so much fun, and it makes me slightly jealous… but it is fun to watch it play out.
“Yes. Yes, Sir. Right away.” He hangs up, blowing out a breath, and swings around to throw the brightest, widest smile at me, and I can’t bite back my laugh.
“All good now?” I ask cheekily, and his left eye twitches.
“Of course. Here is your card along with a complimentary spa weekend. I do hope you enjoy your stay at—”
“Thanks,” I swipe the card from him and leave before he can finish his sentence, feeling light on my feet as I make my way to the elevators.
The ride up is filled with people bustling with excitement, and my throat feels tight with emotion, but when I reach the floor I need, I swallow it down and force it into the back of my mind because this is business.
There isn’t any room for personal feelings right now, even if all of these familiar colors surrounding me are making me feel sick to my stomach.
I wave the key in front of the door and push it open. I don’t even make it a foot in the door when I’m swept up into two strong arms.
“Well, don’t you look delightful.”
“Thank you,” I sigh softly, letting my head fall against his chest. Harvey reaches up and grabs my chin, lifting my head until our eyes meet. His eyes are the darkest brown, and you can really get lost in their depths if you let yourself.
“What do you do for work?” I ask, surprising both him and myself with the question. I usually steer clear of all personal shit, but this hotel, on this day…
“Oh. Well… I’m a sports technology operator.”
“What the fuck is that?”
“It’s kind of hard to explain,” he says with a chuckle. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.”
I frown. “That’s insulting.”
“You don’t get insulted, darling.”
That makes me smile. “I suppose that is true. When do you have to go to work?” I ask, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth.
Harvey’s grip tightens on my chin, forcing me up on my tiptoes. I suck in a breath as he skims his lips across mine in nothing but a whisper of a touch. “Soon.”
“Too soon?” I ask as I slowly sink to my knees on the lush carpet, pulling a condom out of my pocket as I do. It’s a cushion against my kneecaps, which is a nice change of pace.
“Never too soon for that, darling,” he says breathily as he drags his thumb across my bottom lip and tugs it downward, exposing my crooked teeth. I part my lips and let him see the piercing I know he wants.
He presses his thumb against the flat of my tongue and drags the pad across my tongue ring. I curl my tongue around the digit and suck it into my mouth, drawing a sharp breath from him.
“Oliver, darling,” he sighs heavily, and I smirk around his thumb in my mouth, tongue twirling around it as I suck it harshly, ensuring to drag my teeth along his blunt nail.
I release it with a pop. “Yes?”
“Suck me, please.”
“Oh, manners. I like that.” He reaches down and tugs on my hair hard enough to jerk my head back and make me hiss, but I laugh, too.
“Brat.”
“Always.” And then, I undo his trousers and let them pool around his ankles. I slip the condom down his cock before I take it into my mouth because that’s what he paid me to do, and that’s all I’m really good for.