Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
It’s Saturday night, and everyone is trying to make me feel better. I haven’t looked at my phone all day, and honestly, I don’t really care to. Paulie may have even hidden it from me.
He’s pissed, mostly because my feelings are hurt, but also because Hailey is visibly distracted by how upset I am. She keeps wandering over to me and taking my pulse.
This has clearly taken away the time he wanted to spend wooing her.
I’ll make it up to him.
First, I just need to figure out what to do with myself when I head back to campus and have to see him around.
I don’t know how to fucking act. Do I ignore him? Do I say something?
Will my eyes wander down to his lips? Will my cock grow hard despite my heart hurting?
I don’t know if I want to find out.
I just want to stay here forever and never leave. I don’t want to face it.
“We should go out!” Hailey suggests. “A bar, maybe?”
“No, because I can’t go,” Desiree pouts.
“Fine, that’s a bad idea. Maybe a restaurant then. Get some good food, have a few beers, and then smoke?”
I stare at my sister and shake my head. “Hailey, I can’t smoke. I’m an athlete on scholarship.”
“Right. Ugh, so boring.”
“But you and Paulie should go out. I think I’m gonna go lie down. I don’t feel well.”
“Myles,” my mom begins, but I shake my head, standing up and wandering down the hallway. Their noise is making my head throb, and I just want some silence. Just for a minute.
Or for the entire night, really.
I flop down on the bed and close my eyes, listening to the storm rage outside. Kind of like my mind, my heart.
Everything that I thought I knew has changed, and now I’m forced to reckon with it.
I must doze off because someone is shaking me awake.
“Myles. Myles. Hurry. He’s here.”
Desiree is jostling me so roughly that I nearly fall off the bed, and I groan, picking myself up and brushing a hand through my hair.
“Who’s here?”
“Him. The man we hate, but also kinda love…” I cock my head, my heartbeat thumping in my ears. “You just need to see him.”
I push past her and make my way to the front room, seeing my mom in her robe first, her head bowed low as she speaks with him.
Colton. He’s here.
I can sense him before I see him.
And then my eyes make contact, and I inhale sharply.
His eye is black and blue, and there’s a cut on his bottom lip. He looks tired and worn. Like he hasn’t slept.
Like he’s broken.
My eyes roam down his wet clothes, and I wonder if he walked here. I mean…how the hell did he get here, or better yet, how did he know where my mom lives?
“Colton,” I whisper and move toward him, my hands reaching out to touch him before I stop myself. He hurt me.
He kissed someone else.
My hands fall to my sides, and he winces.
“Hey, Myles,” he says, his voice rasping. “Sorry to just show up like this. I…” He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. “I didn’t know what else to do. Shit, I didn’t even bring my stuff. I just ran.”
“Of course you are welcome here, sweetheart,” my mom coos. “Come on in. Myles, get him a change of clothes. Maybe a hot shower. I’ll put on the kettle.”
I want to argue, but Colton shivers, and my body propels me forward.
“Come on,” I say, nodding toward the hallway.
I can hear him following me, and my stomach churns. In excitement and trepidation. Why is he here?
“You’re probably wondering how I found out where you were…”
“Don’t really care,” I murmur as I open a door to my left, the small bathroom we all share. “Go on. Shower. Towels are under the sink. I’ll leave you some clothes on the counter.”
I try to move around him, but he stops me, a hand on my hip. I can feel his touch through my shirt.
“Myles, let me explain. You have no idea…” He clears his throat, and his eyes close. “You have no idea.”
My throat thickens, and I nod.
“Fine. Shower first.”
He looks relieved as he turns to close the bathroom door, and when it locks, I lean against the wall, listening as the water turns on.
Fuck. What don’t I know?
And why am I going to let him explain?
I wait in the other room with my mom, who has a perpetual arch in her eyebrow.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“He has a black eye. He came all the way here. I hope you give him a chance.”
I run a hand over my face, but she has to know she raised me better than that?
I’m giving him an opportunity, despite what I saw online. Despite what he wanted everyone to believe on that live.
“Don’t worry, you can still feed him tea and ply him with questions.”
My mom rolls her eyes, and a moment later, Colton makes an appearance. He looks timid, shy even, and it makes my chest clench. Goddamn him.
“Thanks for having me, Mrs. Witkoff. Sorry to just show up like this. Looking like a mess.”
“Oh, you look gorgeous,” my mom says, and then bustles over to the stove and pours him a cup of tea. She hands it to him and leads him over to the table, and I sit opposite him, not wanting to get too close because then I’ll want to touch him.
And I can’t touch him. Not until I have an explanation.
His hands cup the mug, and he peers down into it, saying nothing. And my mom is weirdly silent.
I stare at her, and she nods toward the hallway.
She’s the most unsubtle woman on Earth.
“You wanna talk in my room?” I finally ask, and Colton’s shoulders sag in relief.
“Yeah, if that’s okay?”
“Oh, this is a great idea,” my mom says, and then shuffles out of the room. “See you both in the morning.”
She says both with emphasis, making sure that I know she wants him to stay.
Fuck. My mom sometimes, I swear.
Colton follows me down the hallway, and I open my bedroom door for him. He steps inside, looking around before lowering himself onto the edge of the bed.
He’s invading my space in all ways.
He still has the teacup in his hand, but hasn’t had any of it yet. He just stares at the swirling steam coming from the top of it.
“I really am sorry that I just showed up like this. I mean, I did let you know, but I assume you didn’t listen to the voicemails.”
“I did. The first couple, at least.”
“Ah.”
He peers up at me, that black eye dark and swollen.
“Who did that to you?” I ask, reaching out, trying like hell not to touch it, but it’s so fucking hard to resist. The tip of my finger brushes against it, and he winces, but still leans into my touch.
“I don’t fucking know.”
His voice cracks, and a tear slides down his cheek. I stare at it for so long that I think I’m hallucinating. But then another joins it, and I gently take the cup of tea and place it on the bedside table. I pull him into me, our bodies sliding easily together.
“Fuck. I’m sorry. I feel like I’m going crazy,” he whispers, his voice raw and rough.
“What happened?”
He buries his face in my neck, and I feel the wetness from his tears soak my skin.
“I don’t know.”
“You have to know…”
“I was drunk, but I swear I saw it, felt it, but the more I think about it, I could be hallucinating.”
“What do you mean?”
I shift him closer, his legs now straddling my lap.
“My stepdad…he was standing over my bed. He tried to strangle me…I fought back…”
“Colton.” It’s a gasp, fear welling up within me.
“I know. It sounds insane. Just like thinking they killed my dad, but I swear I saw it. I felt it.”
He leans back and pulls his shirt down slightly, exposing his neck. I stare at it.
“There’s nothing there. There would be if he really tried, right? Maybe I’m making it all up.”
I touch his neck gently, letting my hand thread up through his hair, massaging his scalp.
“Not having marks on your neck doesn’t mean you’re making it up. Maybe he wants you gone so he can have full control of the company…”
Colton’s eyes widen. “How do you know that? I didn’t tell you about my involvement with the company.”
My eyes close, and I feel my cheeks grow hot. “Shit. I’m sorry. I let it slip to Maya. She did a little investigative work. I did tell her not to tell me too much—”
He cocks his head, and I realize that I’m unable to read him. “What did she tell you?”
I roll my lips between my teeth. “How you own fifty-one percent of the company.”
“Yeah. The ownership trust my dad left me. The shares in it just kicked in this year. I think that’s why Erick wants me out of the picture now.” His lip quivers, and he shakes his head. “Fuck. Sorry. I know I sound paranoid. I’m just so fucking tired. I haven’t slept. I thought I was going to die.”
My thumb brushes his cheek, and he leans into me, seeking comfort.
“You’re here. You’re safe.”
“Tell me what else she told you.”
“Your middle name. It’s fitting.”
“It was my dad’s name.”
“Yeah.”
His body trembles, and he murmurs. “I hate them. I hate them all. They’re making me feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“You’re not losing your mind. I don’t want you going back there without me.”
His eyes meet mine, and his eyes well with tears once more.
“You’re not ending this?”
I hold him tightly. “Does it feel like I am?”
He shudders and shifts even closer, holding onto me tightly.
“What you saw online—I can explain.”
His lips hit my ear, almost like confessing a secret. “Kiera is my best friend and so fucking gay. We’ve been keeping up this ruse of us being together for years because of her family. That kiss meant nothing. But she needed it to happen because her parents are getting suspicious.”
Part of me is skeptical, but the other part wants to believe him. I barely know the guy, and yet I want to. I want so badly for him to be telling me the truth.
“I know you don’t believe me, but I can prove it. I swear.” He leans back and fumbles with the phone in his pocket. He pulls it out and quickly taps on the screen, the video call ringing before it’s suddenly answered.
It’s the girl from the video. Kiera.
“You make it safely?” she asks and then gasps when Colton angles the phone so I’m in the frame. “Oh my god! You did go to him. Babe, he’s even hotter than that picture.”
“I know,” Colton says, his cheeks flaming. “But Kiera, love, I need you to tell him it meant nothing. The—you know…”
She glances around and then lowers her voice. “Yeah, Myles, babe, totally meant nothing. Just a little fake romance for my parents. They’re the biggest homophobes.” She moves into a closet, shutting the door and then whispers, “I have someone, actually. Just like Colton has you. A secret.”
Relief floods me, and I manage a small nod. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I want to be his, secret or not. And hearing that I am makes my heart flutter. Seems the longer I’m with him, the clearer this all is becoming.
Maybe it’s not complicated after all.
“All right.”
“Fuck. I can’t wait to meet you,” she says, and her eyes soften. “Colton told me so much about you. You’d think he’s more than obsessed—”
“I hope one day we can meet.”
That makes Colton’s hand tremble, and he presses his face into my neck once more. I hold him tightly, and the call ends with quick goodbyes.
“You mean it?” he asks, his voice wavering.
“Yeah. I’d like to meet her.”
His lips brush up my neck, and I feel his touch all the way through my body.
“Will you hold me all night?” he asks, sounding shy, embarrassed, almost. His vulnerability makes me melt slightly. I know I tend to take it from him, the greedy little bottom, but I like being the one he needs at this moment. I like taking care of him.
“Yeah, I can do that.”
We fall sideways on the mattress, his legs curled around mine, his arms cradling me. His forehead is pressed against mine, and his lips are an inch away.
“I missed you. Fuck,” he whispers. “I felt like I was falling apart the farther I got from you.”
“Yeah. It’s why I’m here. Paulie thought it would help distract me.”
“He’s a good friend.”
“He is.”
We stare into each other’s eyes for a second, and then he leans forward and lets his lips brush mine. It’s not really a kiss, but more of a promise.
“I hated my lips on someone else. I hated it. Even if it was my best friend,” he admits as his fingers curl against my back. “I had to get drunk to do it. I just wanted you.”
That makes something possessive well up inside of me.
“Yeah, I didn’t like seeing it. It felt awful, wrong.”
He nods, and my lips move onto his, kissing him softly at first because his lip is split, but he tells me he wants it to hurt, to remind him that this is real. So, like it always does with us, it intensifies. Tongues thrust, soft moans slipping from us, our hips rocking, cocks seeking friction.
It doesn’t take long for him to come, his cock exploding into the sweatpants I lent him. The scent of him, knowing he’s still trembling from his orgasm, has me falling over the edge as well.
We lie there, panting, not moving away, not wanting to leave each other’s arms.
Our kisses slow and finally, when we part, he whispers, “I’m afraid.”
I don’t know whether he means for his life or of what this is between us, but either way, so am I.
So am I.