5. Seven
The moment Seven entered the apartment, there was a target on his back.
The group rarely met up at Levi and Nico’s place anymore since it was cramped quarters with Shiloh and Mal living there, too.
So, he should have known something was up when they’d asked if he wanted to come over to “watch a movie,” but he’d been in a weakened state.
He didn’t bother knocking before he walked in.
On his right, Nico, Levi, and Mal were sitting on the beat-up sofa, smug looks on their stupid faces.
Well, two of their stupid faces. Mal just kind of…
stared. He was often just staring, usually at Nico.
Nico was often staring back. Seven wished they’d just admit they were dating.
They were both too fucking weird for anyone else, anyway.
Movement in the kitchen snagged his attention. Shiloh stood in the kitchen watching the microwave count down like it was a ticking time bomb. When he caught Seven’s eye, he wiggled his fingers with a smile. He was way too good for Levi, but just damaged enough to understand him.
“I heard you were having dinner with my boss tonight,” Levi said, voice filled with mock innocence.
Seven pulled a face, then gave him the finger as Shiloh entered the small space with a huge bowl of popcorn. “Want some?” he asked, tipping the bowl in his direction.
Seven was about to refuse when Nico started making grabby hands at the bowl. “Sure.”
He plucked the bowl from Shiloh’s fingers then sank to the floor, making sure he was just out of reach of the others. If they were gonna be assholes, they could starve. Shiloh shrugged and dropped down into Levi’s lap, looping his arms around his neck.
“So…” Nico prompted, poking Seven’s calf with his bare foot.
He heaved a heavy sigh, shaking his head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Oh, we’re definitely gonna talk about it,” Ever said, emerging from the bathroom.
Seven instantly softened when he saw the boy.
He was only a few years younger than them—well, as far as they knew—but everyone spoiled him rotten.
Spending most of his life in a closet meant everything was always new and exciting for Ever.
And no, that wasn’t a metaphor. Ever had been kept in a literal closet for years with no identity and no name. He’d named himself.
Ever looked adorable in a bubble gum pink Barbie crop top the same color as his hair and a pair of baggy jeans. Seven could see his socks peeking out. They were blue and had waffles on them. Fuck, he was so cute.
His face instantly flared as a memory surged to the surface.
“God, you’re so fucking cute.” That was what Enzo had said to him that night.
Seven fought an involuntary shiver and made an angry noise, instantly regretting it when Ever’s face fell.
Seven shook his head rapidly. “That wasn’t directed at you.” He looked to the others, pointing his thumb in Ever’s direction. “Who let the baby out unsupervised?” To Ever, he asked, “Where’s your fiancé?”
“He volunteered to pick up the pizza. Fucking losers wanted us to pay nine dollars for delivery plus a fifteen percent tip. What are we, made of money?” Nico asked, sounding like an old man.
Mal just continued to gaze at him like he’d invented the internet or something.
“Stop trying to distract us,” Levi said. “It’s not happening. What chain of events had to occur for you to be having dinner with your late-night hook-up?”
Exactly. That was what he’d like to know. Seven hadn’t been invited to dinner so much as summoned. It clearly wasn’t a request.
Ever collapsed, sitting cross-legged beside him. Seven took the opportunity—abandoning the vat of popcorn on the floor—to plop his head into Ever’s lap. The boy giggled, then smooshed Seven’s cheeks.
When Ever relinquished his face, Seven waved his hands in the air. “It’s…complicated.”
“We’ve got time,” Ever said, his sweet smile upside down.
Seven couldn’t get mad at Ever. Nobody got mad at Ever…well, ever. “Is it really that weird? We do work together.”
Maybe they’d leave it at that.
“No, it’s still really fucking weird,” Shiloh said. “Actually, that makes it even weirder.”
Or maybe not.
“Fine,” Seven huffed, then blew out an angry breath through his nose. “His mom…” He closed his eyes. He was never living this shit down. “His mom…called my mom.”
Ever gasped.
“Like an arranged marriage?” Shiloh asked, trying to hold back his laughter.
Seven whined. “Don’t even joke about that. You think I’d marry that douchebag?”
“Tomorrow,” Nico deadpanned.
“Before he even finished popping the question,” Levi added.
“You guys suck,” Seven shot back, sulking.
“Stop teasing him,” Ever chastised.
Seven gave him a grateful look. “Thank you.”
“I’m sure it’s stressful meeting your future in-laws,” Ever cooed, making them all laugh.
All but Seven.
The sad part was, before the contract fiasco, he had managed his expectations just fine.
Okay, not fine, exactly. But he knew seeing Enzo again probably wouldn’t happen again, and if it did, it would end up being another hook-up.
He was fine with that. Enzo had rocked his fucking world that night.
He probably would have done almost anything to have a round two.
Until the dickhead had to go and ruin it by saying the quiet part out loud. It was one thing to know someone saw you as nothing more than a convenient dick appointment. It was another entirely to have that someone ask you to put it in writing.
“Et tu, Ever?” Seven muttered.
“Sorry,” Ever chirped, not sounding sorry at all.
“Seriously, though. Why does Mama Conti want you to come to dinner…with your mom?” Nico asked.
“She’s just torturing Enzo,” Seven said. “She thinks he needs to be humbled.”
“By you?” Levi asked.
Seven narrowed his eyes at his friend from Ever’s lap. “That feels like an insult, but I don’t know why.”
Levi rolled his eyes. “I just mean it’s weird, no? Like…she got you this job so he had to look at you every day. Now, she’s inviting you to Sunday dinners with your mom. That just seems like more than teaching her slutty son a lesson.”
“You know the woman better than I do. When she got me the job, she just told me not to go easy on him, and if I decided he was worthy of my time, that I shouldn’t take him back until I’ve…” Seven’s ears burned.
“Until you…” Shiloh prompted.
“‘Walked him like a dog,’” Seven muttered. “Her words.”
“Damn. How much of a player do you have to be when your own mother thinks you’re an asshole?” Nico mused out loud.
A knife twisted in Seven’s chest. “The coward probably won’t even show up.”
“What do you mean?” Nico asked. “You said he’s been following you all over the office.”
He had said that. At first, Seven just thought it was a small office, but then it kept happening. Or maybe that was wishful thinking on Seven’s part. But what the hell was he wishing for? He refused to be paid for sex.
“Wait, really?” Ever said, a terrifying smile spread across his face. “Dish.”
“Shiloh is a bad influence on you,” Seven said, wagging his finger.
Said bad influence stuck his tongue out at him.
“Not, like, actually following me,” Seven tried to explain.
“At least, I don’t think so. He’s just…always there.
If I need to make a copy, suddenly, so does he.
If I’m getting coffee, there he is again.
If I go to lunch with the other interns, he shows up at the same restaurant with one of his clients. ”
“So, he’s…stalking you?” Levi asked, sounding slightly less amused.
Seven groaned, kicking his feet dramatically. “I don’t know. The other day, I had to skip lunch and when I came back from the bathroom, there was a protein shake on my desk. Yesterday, when I mentioned my phone charger broke, there was another one on my desk when I came back from lunch.”
“He’s a considerate stalker,” Levi corrected.
“Oh, my God. He’s courting you,” Nico cried, clasping his hands together like he was fucking Snow White or something.
“That’s definitely not what he’s doing,” Seven said, his face heating up and some unseen force clutching his heart in its fist.
Nico looked at Mal. “It’s like the red-sided garter snake, right?”
Mal nodded solemnly.
“What are you two babbling about?” Seven asked, his mood souring by the minute.
“The red-sided garter snake leaves protein for its potential mate,” Nico answered, acting like that was something swoonworthy.
“Oh,” Ever said, getting swept up in Nico’s fantasy. “And penguins leave shiny pebbles for theirs.”
Seven shook his head adamantly. “No.”
“What else could it be?” Shiloh asked.
“I don’t know but”—he floundered for a second—“not…that.”
“Maybe it’s an apology?” Shiloh suggested.
“For what? Propositioning me? I already told him it wasn’t a big deal. The more he bugs me, the more it pisses me off that he tried to make me his sugar baby in the first place. I’d feel better if he just…left me alone.”
Levi snorted. “Liar.”
“He feels bad,” Mal stated, his voice as monotone as always.
“What?” Seven asked. “How do you know that?”
Mal shrugged. “We’re…friends? I guess. He was my attorney, remember? That’s how you met.”
“Oh, yeah.” Seven hadn’t forgotten, exactly. More like he’d just put it out of his mind. “This is low-key your fault.”
Mal blinked at him. “When I had lunch with him last week, he wouldn’t stop grilling me about you.”
“Why didn’t you say anything to me?” Nico asked, looking hurt.
Mal shrugged again.
“What’d he ask?” Nico pressed. “Be specific.”
Mal heaved a sigh, closing his eyes for a long moment before saying, “‘How is he? Is he eating? Is he sleeping? Is he getting to school okay? Did he say anything about me? Does it seem like he hates me? Is he dating anyone?’”
Why would Enzo be grilling Mal about Seven? What did he want from him? Besides the obvious.
“What did you say?” Seven asked, feeling like someone had kicked him in the solar plexus.
“That I barely know you?” Mal answered.
“Oh, right…” Seven muttered, deflating.