Chapter 18
Zeke
This house is the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. On par with the luxury and well-built construction of Summit, but blended with modernization. I’ve never seen anything like it. And while it’s stunning, the opulence overwhelms me.
I don’t belong here.
With my boss…who’s ten years older than me…worth God knows how much money…and that I’m attracted to.
But I’m unable to dwell on those thoughts for long because as soon as I follow Talon through the door, Eloise is guiding me around, giving me a tour.
“Kitchen is there, obviously,” she says, as Talon moves past us down the hall. “Living room is here. There are a bunch of other rooms, but let’s get you to your bedroom, shall we? You look a little pale. How are you feeling?”
I hate how exhausted I am just from being vertical.
“I’m fine. Just tired,” I reply.
“And you probably need to eat,” Talon says, scaring the shit out of me because I didn’t realize he’d reappeared behind me.
I jump, and the sudden movement causes pain to rip through my torso, making me double over.
“Shit! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. El’s right, let’s get you to bed.” Talon gently wraps his arms around me, offering support as he guides me down the hallway to a door on the left. “Hey, El, could you start some soup or something?” he calls over his shoulder.
“It’s already in the crock-pot,” she calls back. “It’s ready whenever you are.”
“Don’t know what I’m going to do without her when she goes home tomorrow,” Talon says to me.
Goes home?
“She…she’s not staying?” I stammer. I’d told myself this proximity would be okay because it would be the three of us.
I was counting on Eloise to be a buffer between Talon and me.
Although there have been sparks, I know controlling myself physically isn’t a problem—especially now.
It’s the emotional tailspin I experience in Talon’s proximity that has me concerned.
The wanting of things I can never have.
The way my mind deceives me and makes me believe there’s interest in his eyes or heat in his touch.
“No, we um, we all have places back home in New York, and she has to get back to work,” Talon says with a small smile and a flush to his cheeks.
“You don’t have to be embarrassed about having money,” I tell him.
“I’m not embarrassed,” he clarifies. “I’m just acutely aware of the excess. Come on. Let’s get you settled.”
Following him into the room, I stop dead in my tracks because his scent envelops me even more so than wearing his clothes. Eloise told me the hoodie I’m wearing belongs to Talon, and the thought comforted me, even if I’m trying like hell to keep some distance.
The dark colors on the walls match the heavy green and gold comforter he must’ve pulled back while Eloise was showing me around.
Rich chocolate sheets are visible underneath, inviting me into the queen-sized bed.
The gas logs are turned on in the room, keeping the chill out of the air, and the lighting is low, creating the warmest ambiance I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
“Do you like it?” he asks, his voice low and quiet, with a note of hesitation, as though he’s afraid the answer will be no.
“Very much,” I tell him honestly. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” And then a thought occurs to me. “Isn’t this your room, though?” It certainly smells like it’s his room.
“It was, but the other bedrooms are all upstairs, and I didn’t want you to have to travel that far or work that hard to get to the kitchen or living room.”
“Talon, you’re already doing so much for me. I don’t want to kick you out of your own bedroom,” I argue.
“You didn’t kick me out. I moved voluntarily,” he says, moving to the bed. He pats the sheets and holds out his hand. “Come on.”
An open door to my right catches my eye, and Talon sees me staring.
“Do you need the restroom? It’s fully stocked, and everything in there is yours…but if you don’t like something, Eloise picked it all out. Just remember that,” he says with a wink.
I huff a laugh because anything more causes sharp pain.
“I’d really like to take a shower,” I say, realizing I’ve had nothing aside from a poorly done sponge bath in the last four days. I guess it’s a good sign that I have the energy to feel disgusting. Before now, I couldn’t be fucked to care.
“Of course,” Talon says easily, crossing to the bathroom and flipping on the light. “Eloise set out fresh towels for you. She wasn’t sure if you preferred neutral scents, flowers, or heavier scents, so she got a variety.” He stops talking and pins me with a stare. “Do you need help?”
Probably.
“I think I can manage. Thank you, though.”
He nods.
“I’ll wait in the bedroom, just in case. There’s a large, stone bench seat in the shower if you need to sit, and the showerhead on the right comes off the wall as a handheld unit if you need it.”
Instead of feeling suffocating, his concern and proximity bring comfort, despite the frustrating feelings I have. It’s not just the differences in our sexual orientations; we come from completely different worlds, and although I wish I could fit into his, I just don’t.
A week later, Talon and I are finally starting to find a rhythm. He’s gotten me a new phone, put the whole thing in my name so it couldn’t be taken away from me, and paid for five years of service up front—which I didn’t even know you could do.
After that, he’d tried to take me car shopping, but I adamantly refused until he gave up. There may come a point where my not having a way to get around independently is a bigger burden on him than borrowing his money, but we aren’t there yet.
Besides, Rebecca said she’s happy to bring me home any day I need her to once I return to work.
She has many questions about Talon and me, but it helps that she knows who he really is. All of Summit does now. But they don’t know about Derek or the abuse, or that I’ve moved in with our boss.
I caught up with Gio and everyone from the theater and really sold the lie Derek told about me being sick.
I guess that part is kind of true. A splenectomy can happen for various reasons, and thankfully, no one asked for details.
However, I haven’t been back to the theater itself.
Not even Talon knows that’s where the night of horrors started.
My stitches came out yesterday, and I’m working on adjusting to this new life.
It’s still cold as hell, and this morning is no different. Sliding out from under the covers, I pull on one of the pairs of sweats Eloise picked up for me, grab a T-shirt, and slide into Talon’s Harvard hoodie. I hope he knows he’s never getting this back.
After brushing my teeth, I make my way to the kitchen. Talon’s banging around out there, and I swear the man is going to kill me with his adorable, incessant need to feed me.
It’s not until I’m about to step onto the tile kitchen floor that I realize I’m still in bare feet.
I brace myself for the cold only to find…
“The floors are heated? That’s a thing?”
How the fuck have I missed that this past week?
I’m caught so off guard by the warmth radiating up the soles of my feet that I completely miss the sight in front of me until Talon opens his mouth.
“Pretty sweet, huh?”
“Oh, holy shit.”
Christ. Way to not make it weird, Zeke! I mentally berate myself.
“What’s wrong?” Talon asks obliviously.
“Uh, wrong? Nothing. Problematic? Your outfit,” I say honestly. If we’re going to be roommates, the man needs to know.
Talon looks down at his black Henley—with the motherfucking sleeves rolled up, I might add—and gray sweatpants.
“What’s the matter with it?”
“Talon, I’m gay.”
“So?” he asks, still not getting it.
“You really need me to spell it out for you?” I ask, taking a seat on one of the barstools while he holds up a pot of coffee, questioning if I want a cup.
I nod as he says, “Guess I do.”
“Well, your sweatpants leave nothing to the imagination, which I’m more than fine with, but you may find a bit uncomfortable when I can’t hide my reaction.
” One that I’m starting to feel stirring.
It’s a relief as much as it is concerning.
“And if you didn’t already know, Henleys and sweats are the absolute Achilles’ heel of the girls, gays, and most theys I know… and you’ve just paired them together.”
“They’re comfortable,” Talon says with a nonchalant shrug, sliding a mug across the counter to me.
“Okay, so I’ll be staying in my room for the foreseeable future,” I tease.
The light-heartedness I feel this morning is so foreign, but it’s like someone finally cracked the curtains in my life, and the first rays of sunlight are poking through.
But that’s Talon. He is the sun.
“Wow, jokes and a real smile this morning? It’s amazing what a decent night’s sleep and purging the poison from your life can do for a person,” Talon jokes back.
Or maybe it’s you and those fucking sweatpants, I think.
“Who said I was joking?” I ask, bringing the mug to my mouth, my heart warming at the cream and sugar he put in my cup. A slow, achingly sinful smile spreads across Talon’s face as though he likes the idea of me being attracted to him. “Talon, I can’t handle that smile.”
He instantly plasters a stoic look onto his face, making me snort.
“This better?” he asks, propping a hip against the counter.
“Marginally.”
My answer makes him grin, and he turns back to the fridge.
“I’m making breakfast. How do you like your eggs?”
I stare at Talon’s back, searching for words as I wonder, how the hell did I end up here, and how long before it all goes to shit?