CHAPTER 3 KIERAN #2
Kieran was tempted to look Derek up to see where he was working now, but was stopped from doing that by his food arriving.
He dashed downstairs to the communal and was greeted by the delicious smell of his burger, and a guy who looked like he hated his entire existence.
All Kieran could do was thank him, then double his tip on the app and give him five stars.
Not bothering with crockery, he sat down on the sofa, unwrapped his burger, and bit into in.
Delicious, but it needed more ketchup, which would involve getting back up, so he ate it as it was before demolishing the fries and chicken wings.
Within five minutes, it was all gone. He let out an enormous burp, lying back on the sofa feeling stuffed.
The app pinged, but that was the last thing on his mind now he was carrying a food baby.
He looked at the phone out of curiosity.
It was Domtop69. Maybe he wasn’t so full after all.
Kieran ached all over, and not in a good way.
That the guy was basically a doppelg?nger for Derek had thrown him a bit, especially given they both had similar tattoos.
Kieran knew he had a type, which was a bit fucked up, but this was next level.
He’d been too stunned to register what the guy had been saying, and before he knew it, he was being tied down to the bed.
He should have used his safe word, but he didn’t want to come across as pathetic.
After their quick encounter in the hallway, Kieran had been expecting much of the same: a quick release.
But Domtop69 had other ideas, and Kieran wasn’t sure he’d be able to sit down for a week.
He’d been tied down and fucked until the guy was done with him, which hadn’t been until the morning.
He needed to get a shower. The guy knew how to use his dick, and the degrading comments he’d been shouting at Kieran had done it for him.
He knew the guy had tried to push his limits in other ways to test him, and he could have tapped out when he was uncomfortable, but he hadn’t because he’d been too in his head.
It was done with now, though. There was no point in having regrets about something he couldn’t change.
It wasn’t the first time things had gone too far with a guy, but he’d used his safe word in the past, which had always been respected.
There was a part of him that believed if he had used his safe word last night, the guy would have ignored him.
One thing was for certain: he wouldn’t be seeing him again and had already blocked him on the app.
Walking into the flat, he’d known Hassan and Sarah were working, so he was shocked to see Milo waiting for him.
“How did you get in?” asked Kieran.
“Where have you been?” asked Milo at the same time.
“I asked first,” said Kieran.
“Hassan let me in to wait for you. He was worried that you hadn’t come home last night.”
“I just fucked some guy I met online and stayed over. What are you doing here, Milo?”
“Have you had any sleep, Kieran? You look a state.”
“I just need a shower and to crash out. Can we do this another time?”
“I thought we could talk.”
“If it’s about Derek, I’m not interested.”
“I just wondered how you knew him. Hassan wouldn’t say anything.”
Kieran smiled at the thought of his best friend protecting him. Did he want to tell Milo what an arsehole his boyfriend’s best friend was? Not really, but he knew Milo, and he might look like a chirpy twink, but he was anything but that.
“Remember what I told you happened when I came out?”
“Your mum kicked you out.”
“Yeah, but who was the one who told her?”
“Your stepdad.”
Kieran nodded and gave Milo a look.
“No fucking way! Derek is your stepdad?”
“Was my stepdad. He and my mum are welcome to each other.”
“He’s not with your mum anymore.”
“Don’t give a fuck who he’s with.”
“He’s not with anyone.”
“Shame! Do you know what he did? He gaslighted me by saying he was bi so I’d come out, and then he told my mum. Who the fuck does that, Milo?”
“I don’t know what to say, Kieran, other than that he is definitely bisexual, so he didn’t lie about that.”
“That makes it even worse. Knowing what it’s like to come out and then taking that choice away from someone. And he can’t have told my mum he was bi, given what she said to me about being gay. There’s no way she would have knowingly married a guy who performed inhuman acts of depravity.”
It had been ten years, but he could still remember all the words she’d said to him, as well as the look of utter disgust on her face. It was something he’d never forget. If he ever had kids, he would never stop loving them, no matter what they did.
“I just can’t connect the guy you described with the Derek I know,” said Milo.
“So I must be lying? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Of course not, Kieran. I just don’t think he’s the same guy anymore. People can change a lot in ten years.”
“I don’t give a fuck who he is now. It doesn’t change what he did.”
“I agree, but it might be good for you to get some answers.”
“Have you been talking to Hassan?”
“No, well, other than when he let me in this morning.”
“I bet you two had a lot to say.”
“Kieran! Not everything has to be a fight, you know. Nobody’s saying you have to speak to Derek after what he did to you. All I am saying is that before you dismiss it, just think about it. I can give you his number?”
“Like fuck I want his number, and don’t be giving mine to him. Make sure that boyfriend of yours doesn’t interfere either.”
“Edward wouldn’t do that.”
“Hmmm.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I have doubts about him, given his taste in friends.”
Milo chuckled.
“It’s not funny. What other unsavoury people has he got in his inner circle, besides other politicians, which is bad enough, and now Derek?”
Milo was smiling. “If it weren’t for Derek, I would never have met Edward, so I’m biased.”
“I thought you met Edward online.”
“I did, but we used to get together at The Back Room.”
“And?”
“Derek owns it.”
“What the fuck!”
It was Monday morning and he was back at work.
Jez seemed to be in a bad mood, so Kieran was keeping out of his way.
Thankfully, Milo hadn’t hung around too long yesterday, and he’d been in bed by the time Hassan came home.
He still couldn’t get his head around Derek owning The Back Room.
He’d been a really successful lawyer when he was married to Kieran’s mum.
That was one hell of a career change. Kieran had heard about the place – what self-respecting gay in London hadn’t – but he’d never been there.