Chapter 15 #2
“I don’t want to. I’m so fucking tired. Of all of this. Of pretending each and every day.”
“We have to pretend for now. I don’t want them having anything over you.”
“They already have so much. Will this even matter?” he asks in a whisper, but before I can ask what he means, he runs a hand through his hair and steps away from me, out of the closet and into the hallway. I’m left to adjust myself and follow.
How am I going to make it through this entire weekend with us acting like we’re nothing more than friends?
I don’t fucking know.
“I’ll show you your room,” he says without looking at me.
“All right,” I respond and follow him through the hallways and up the stairs.
“You’ll stay in this room,” he says, pointing, and then flicks his wrist and opens a door directly across. “And this is mine.”
I follow him inside, and he shuts it behind him. He glances around, and I take a step toward him, but he shakes his head.
“Bet they’re watching us,” he says. “I’m not giving them anything more.”
He says this loudly and pointedly. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
I know that my sisters don’t give me much privacy, but this is a little much. Are there really cameras in here watching him? Does he really not get a moment’s peace? If so, that is fucking disgusting and makes me hate his family even more.
“Make yourself comfortable. But don’t do anything you don’t want them to know about.”
He flips the room off and then meets my gaze.
“I’ll be back in a bit. Don’t wander off unless you want trouble. Never know what asshole you’ll run into.”
The door slams behind him, and I’m left alone.
I should sit quietly until he returns, but I end up texting Maya and then wandering around, looking for the hidden cameras, or anything that might tell me a little more about him.
But I don’t find anything. It’s all bland and boring, not a thing that would tell me about who he is or was.
It’s just another room, perfectly decorated.
I’m bored to tears in twenty minutes. There’s nothing here. Not a fucking thing.
I message my sister again, telling her I hid the mini camera in the room the best I could without being obvious, and have nothing left to do. She tells me to do what Colton told me not to. I can almost audibly hear her rolling her eyes.
“You have to go and dig up shit! Do it or you’ll regret it! Be brave, Myles! Be a man.”
I grumble, my heart pounding in my chest, but with her blessing and aggressive encouragement, I end up leaving the room.
I walk around the hallways of the massive house and get lost several times. It’s like a maze, a creepy one. There are no pictures on the walls, no plants. Everything is cold and hard, everything fake.
This is like a model home and not a place that’s really lived in.
My hand twists the knob of every door I pass, but most are locked. Some from the outside.
Fucking weird. This place is giving me the worst vibes.
I turn a corner and nearly bump into a man I don’t recognize. He looks surprised that I’m here. Were they not informed that I was coming? I know Colton told his mom.
“Who are you, sir?” he asks. “Are you lost?”
“Uh,” I mutter and then shake my head before nodding. “Kinda. This is a big house.”
“It is. Where would you like to go? I can show you the way.”
“Do you know where Colton is?”
The man’s eyes shutter. “He’s with his father.”
“Stepfather,” I mutter, and the man’s lips twitch.
“Yes, of course. He’s in a meeting and cannot be interrupted.”
I manage a small nod as the man turns away, leading me down a few corridors, and a moment later, we both end up outside. I blink in the sunlight. Despite the sun setting, it’s incredibly bright. The sky is purple, pink, and blue. It would be beautiful if I weren’t standing on this property.
The man beside me slips away, and I’m left in the garden, not sure what to do. I see a pergola in the distance and what looks like an outdoor pavilion beyond that. They must entertain a lot here. I can see it now: lavish parties, fake laughs, and drunken trysts. The life of the rich, I guess.
I step toward those structures and then stop, hearing a crash behind me. My heart thunders as my eyes dart around, trying to find the cause of it.
The back door creaks open, and Colton appears. I can see from here that his nose is bleeding.
I stumble, rushing toward him, his body visibly trembling.
“Fuck. Fuck,” he mutters as I stop right before him. I want to gather him into my arms, but I can’t. I don’t dare. Not here.
“What happened?” I ask, but before Colton can respond, I see his stepfather lurking in the window, his eyes narrowed, his hair askew. His thumb moves across his jaw, his gaze steady on the two of us.
“Fuck, I don’t know. He lost his temper in the meeting, and I was just the asshole who took it. I’m never strong enough when it comes to him. Why can’t I be? Why can’t I fight back? I know I can, so why don’t I?”
I stare at him and feel my chest constrict, and my face feels hot with fury. I fucking hate that this is happening to him.
“Tell me what happened?” I ask, letting my hands settle on his shoulders. Colton steps away from me, my arms falling to my sides.
“It’s fine. I just need to fucking pull it together so we can get this done and get the hell out of here. And don’t fucking touch me. He already…I think he already knows.”
“About what?”
“Us.”
His eyes meet mine, and his trembling lips curl up at the corners, cruel, mean. So like the Colton I knew all those weeks ago.
Fuck. It hasn’t even been that long since we’ve gotten to know one another, but it feels like ages.
“How did he find out?”
“He must have been watching. I guess we’re not as subtle as we think. Maybe he has a camera set up in my room at the frat. Or at least someone who is being paid to report back to him. Who fucking knows? He’s insane.”
His tongue peeks out, wetting his lips. His nose is still bleeding, dripping down onto his shirt.
“You should get that taken care of.”
“Probably should,” he says and then lifts his shirt up, using it to wipe the blood away. It smears across his cheek, and my eyes can’t help but fall to his abdomen that’s now exposed.
Heat slithers up inside of me, but I tamp it down. Now is not the time.
We aren’t winning right now. We aren’t even close to getting what we need from this place. All we’ve accomplished is getting his nose bashed in.
The fabric falls down, covering him once more, and he meets my stare.
“Don’t fucking look at me like that, Witkoff.”
It’s angry and smug. This isn’t the guy I fell for. I don’t like this mask he wears. I know it’s for protection, but still…this isn’t him. Not really.
“Fuck off, Cavanaugh,” I grumble back, and his lips twitch slightly with humor, pleasure.
Asshole.
I glance at the window and see that his stepfather is no longer lingering there, watching us. So I throw a thumb over my shoulder.
“We should find a place to actually have a conversation. I’m going to take a walk. You should go get cleaned up and meet me out there.” He looks like he’s going to argue with me, but then he nods and turns to head back inside.
I’m meandering through the vegetable gardens on the outskirts of the estate when I hear footsteps moving up behind me.
Anxiety rushes through me, but it dissipates when I see Colton running toward me, his cheeks flushed, his face freshly washed. He’s changed his shirt, too.
“Fuck, you walk fast. How did you get all the way over here? I was only gone like five minutes.”
“Either that or you’re a slow runner,” I respond.
“Think I’m faster than you.”
I eye him and I see the Colton I’ve come to adore peek out. “Wanna bet?”
His pupils dilate, and he bites his bottom lip. “Yeah. I fucking bet.”
“And what do I get if I win?”
“A blow job, right here.”
That makes my dick perk up even though I’m wary. But then again, I know it’s just a mask, one that will come off when we get naked. Plus, being with him, the feelings he evokes when all is bared, it’s worth it.
I think so, at least.
Fuck. No. I hope so.
“What about your family? Are we safe out here?”
“Yeah. My mother refuses to come out here, too many bugs. And my stepfather probably doesn’t even know that the cooks have a garden. He never pays attention to things that don’t involve him or his money.”
“The cooks seem rude.”
“They are. I don’t trust them at all.”
“Good. Don’t.”
He stands up after tying his shoe and stretches his back. “And what do I get if I win?”
I shrug. “What do you want?”
He rolls his lips between his teeth and lets out a long, shuddering breath. “I want you to eat my ass.”
My already hard dick perks up entirely.
“Seems I win no matter what.”
“Except losing would hurt your ego,” Colton replies and then bends his knees.
“Go on three?”
He counts down, and my heart thunders in my chest. When he gets to one, he dashes forward, and I’m left trailing, my mind telling me to lose, but my ego telling me to win.
Problem is, he’s faster than I am. Of course he is. He’s more lithe, wiry. And I’m more muscular. My legs can move me quickly, but I’m not as fast as him.
When he finally collapses against a tall evergreen trunk, he inhales deeply.
“Fuck. I won.”
“I let you,” I say, my chest puffing in and out with each breath.
“Ha, liar. You didn’t.”
His gaze meets mine, and then his hand falls to the button of his pants.
“Lie on the ground,” he tells me. “I’m going to collect my prize.”
My hard cock doesn’t soften. It just aches as I stare at him.
“We really shouldn’t. Not here.”
He glowers at me, and then he’s on me, his foot sweeping under mine, and my back suddenly hits the ground with an oomph.
Breath leaves my lungs as I stare up at him, dazed.
“Fall for it every time,” he says and then lets his eyes rove over me. They stop at my dick, which was flagging during the assault, but is now back in business.