Chapter 11
LUCAS
The next morning, I woke with my arm wrapped around Ezra—me spooning from behind.
I’d slept better than I could remember in a long time.
Breathing in his familiar scent, I swooned.
I tightened my hold on him. We had things to discuss before I left.
Namely, where he would stay while I was gone.
I didn’t trust an order of protection to stop Tate from trying to see him.
He murmured and lifted his head. “Is it morning?”
“It is.” I kissed his shoulder. Waking up with a woman in my bed felt the same, except I wasn’t usually spooning them. I’d never cared for a woman the way I did for Ezra. Was it supposed to feel different? Maybe I should have that talk with Mason’s friend Rowan. I wouldn’t question it now.
Clanking filtered in through the door.
“Shit, I think Evan’s up making coffee and shit.” I widened my eyes. What would he think about this? Last time we’d talked about Ezra, he’d teased me about liking him.
“What do you want to do?” Ezra rolled to his back and sat up, the covers falling to his hips, exposing his bare chest. “Are you going to tell him?”
“I think I have to.” Hopefully, he wouldn’t chirp on me too badly. My gaze took in Ezra’s slender frame, the muscles of his pecs and abs. No denying he was male. He’d liked it when I touched his nipples. Heat burned low in my belly, the moans he’d made last night filling my head.
“Will he have a problem with this?” Ezra creased his forehead.
With a smirk, I shook my head. “No, he’ll just tease me. It’ll be okay.” I focused on his chest. Fuck, I wanted to touch him. Biting my lower lip, I skimmed my hand up over his abs and fingered his nipple. It hardened under my touch.
His breath hitched, and his pupils flared. “What are you doing?” Leaning over, he grabbed my nape and claimed me in a harsh kiss, his tongue sneaking between my lips. “Playing with my nipples turns me on.”
“I know.” I rubbed the hard nub, and my cock ached and swelled inside my briefs. We hadn’t slept naked and now I regretted it. “I saw last night.” I shifted closer to him.
“Hey, breakfast is ready.” Evan rapped on the door.
“Fuck.” Resting my cheek against Ezra’s chest, I huffed a sigh and called out, “Okay, be right there.” We’d better go out and face him. It would have been even more awkward if we’d had sex beforehand.
“Let’s get this over with. What do you say?” Ezra’s gaze met mine, and he planted a hard kiss on my lips.
“Sure.” With a scowl, I threw my legs off the bed, opened my dresser drawer and slid a pair of joggers on. Having a roommate was proving to be a pain in the ass.
Ezra dressed in pajama bottoms from his backpack and stepped to me. “When do you leave today?”
“Not until this afternoon.” Maybe we’d find time to be together before I left. I could hope. I strode to the door and braced myself with a deep breath. “You ready?”
“Yes.” Ezra squeezed my hand. “You’ve got this.”
I opened the door and stepped into the hallway, with Ezra following. As I rounded the corner with him in tow, Evan looked up.
Evan turned from the stove, stared, and then gaped. “Oh, shit.” A wide smirk swept his mouth. “I guess you turned gay on me?”
I stopped at the kitchen island, planting my hand on my hips. “Bisexual is more how I’d describe it.” I glanced at Ezra, stepping to my side. And by the look on Evan’s face, this was blowing his mind. Finding him with a guy would blow my mind, too.
“I knew it.” With a cackle, Evan faced the stove, picked up a spatula, and pushed scrambled eggs in a frying pan. “I have bagels on the counter there and cream cheese. Coffee is ready.” He pointed to the corner of the kitchen, where an opened bag of bagels rested next to the coffeemaker.
That’s it? “Um, you don’t have questions?” I strolled into the kitchen with Ezra following and then poured coffee into a mug.
“Nope. You two hooked up and you look happy about it, so I’m good.” He scooped eggs onto a plate and sprinkled shredded cheese on top of them.
“Huh.” I handed the coffee to Ezra, who arched a brow at me. That was…easy. Now on to the next topic. “How do you feel about Ezra staying here while we’re gone?” I poured another cup of coffee.
“Lucas, that’s unnecessary. I’ll get an order of protection tomorrow.” Ezra added creamer to his coffee and sipped it.
Evan glanced at Ezra. “Dude, I don’t have a problem with you staying here, and if it keeps Lucas from worrying about you and focused on the game, I’ll insist on it.” He flashed Ezra a grin.
With his eyes glistening, Ezra dipped his head. “You both are too kind. Thank you.”
Hooking an arm around Ezra’s waist, I kissed his cheek. “He’s right. It’ll keep me from worrying about you.”
Evan did a double take of us. “Wow, Lucas, it’s a little weird seeing you kiss a guy, not going to lie.” He pushed the plate of eggs toward us. “Here, eat.”
While Ezra spread cream cheese on bagels for us, I spooned eggs onto our plates. I thought back to yesterday and Evan’s comment about a date. “How was the date with Tabitha?”
“Great, but obviously not as good as yours. I didn’t wake up with her.” With a sharp laugh, Evan dropped into a chair at the dinette. “You need to fill me in on the latest.” He ate a bite of eggs. “I’m assuming the ex is still a problem?”
Ezra took the chair opposite Evan’s, setting his plate on the table. “He is.” He took a bite of his bagel.
“Tate showed up a few times yesterday, once at the studio and once at Ezra’s apartment. Ezra’s neighbor caught him on video being an asshole, so Ezra’s going to use it to file an order of protection.” I ate some eggs. I’d never dealt with this. How hard would it be?
“Yeah?” Evan drank his coffee. “I had to do that once.”
“You did?” Maybe he could help. I eyed him. “What happened?”
“Oh, you know, I had one of those puck bunnies who wouldn’t leave me alone.
This was my first year of juniors. She showed up at my billet family’s house, after I told her to stop bothering me.
She wrote I love you in pink chalk on the driveway in the middle of the night.
” Shaking his head, he scoffed a laugh. “She called me so many times, I had to block her.”
“But she wasn’t threatening?” I scooped eggs into my mouth and glanced at Ezra, who was frowning. What was he thinking about this?
Leaning forward, Evan locked his gaze on mine. “Dude, coming to my house in the middle of the night to proclaim her love on the driveway is some crazy shit. Especially when I’d told her I wasn’t interested multiple times. That’s threatening in my book.”
“Oh, guess so.” I slide my hand to Ezra’s, resting next to his plate. He was quiet. “You okay?”
With a nod, he said, “I’m fine. It just sucks that I have to deal with this.” He drank his coffee and cut his gaze to mine. “I’m fine.” He gave me a pointed look.
“Let me know if you need any help. You can do it all online.” Evan slid his gaze to Ezra. “I mean it, man. I’m happy to help any way I can.”
“Thank you, Evan. I’ll look it over today and if I have questions, I’ll ask for help.” He gave Evan a small grin.
Later that morning, I drove Ezra to his apartment, checking the grounds first to look for Tate’s car. We didn’t see it, so I parked, and we strolled to his place. “You should probably bring enough clothes to last you until I get home on Thursday.”
“I’ll pack a suitcase this time.” He huffed. “I really wish this wasn’t necessary.” Unlocking his door, we stepped inside.
This time, thankfully, no notes or gifts sat on the doorstep. I walked inside and paced across the room while he darted into his bedroom. Every second we were here could end in a confrontation.
Knocking filled the room, and my heart leapt into my throat. “Fuck. I’ll get it.” I stomped to the door.
“Yoohoo. It’s Stella,” she said, through the door.
I flung it open. “Oh, hi.” Should I let her inside? I stepped back.
“Who is it, Lucas?” Ezra strolled out of his room with a folded white shirt in his hands.
“Oh hello, dear.” She walked into the entryway, panning her gaze. “My, you have a cute place here.”
“Thanks.” Ezra peered at her. “Have you seen anything since we’ve been gone?”
“Yes, that’s why I’m here. I would have texted, but I saw you both here, so…” She pursed her lips. “The other man visited about an hour ago, acting like he was trying to break in. So I took more video and called the police.”
I widened my eyes. “Really?” I faced Ezra, the color draining from his face. “Good thing you’ve been with me.”
He didn’t look so good. “Did…did they arrest him?” He dropped the shirt to his side.
“No, I think he saw me in the window. He ran off before they got here. I reported the incident to the police. They might contact you. They left about fifteen minutes ago.” She winced. “I gave them your phone number. I hope that’s all right.”
“Sure, it’s fine. I’m filing an order of protection tomorrow, so this should help.” He drooped his shoulders, his jaw muscle tensing. “Thank you, Stella. It means a lot to have your help and to know you’re watching my place while I’m gone.”
“It takes a village.” She strode to him. “If my son were in trouble, I hope someone would look out for him too.” She placed her hand on his shoulder.
“Where is your son?” I stepped toward them. Having another gay son’s mother helping Ezra had to drudge up nasty feelings for him, since he hadn’t spoken to his own mother in so long.
“Oh, he lives down in Tucson.” She cocked her head, focusing on Ezra. “Are you okay, son?”
“I’m…I’m fine,” Ezra croaked, swiped at his eyes and straightened. “Listen, I’m packing some things and I’ll be gone until Thursday. Can you send me the new video?”
“Of course.” She glanced at me and made her way toward the door. “I’ll leave you both to it. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”