Milo #2
“There’s a small portion of people who are using this article to spread hate about your supposed sexuality, but those voices are mostly being suppressed by the Itty-bitties.
#roloforever is trending even more since this morning.
There’s also a group of fans who are very loud about you not owing an explanation to anyone.
Your sexuality is nobody’s business but yours.
We think if we stoke the fire a little more, the masses will all adopt this way of thinking.
At least enough of them will, for nothing else to matter. ”
His words leave me speechless. “You’re saying the fans don’t care?”
Ray laughs. “Of course they care. They care about your individual right to privacy. You may be their idol, but that doesn’t mean they’re entitled to every part of you. The times sure have changed.”
Ray’s grinning. It’s genuine, which means he’s really not worried about this becoming a major breakout scandal.
I’m still speechless. I had no doubt Ray would be able to take care of this—he always does—but I never thought the fans would handle the situation without needing much intervention.
Ray’s right about the times having changed. If this were when MYTHS was still together, any hint that we were even the slightest bit involved in a scandal would have thrown our entire group into total chaos.
It’s a part of the reason the group chose to break up when it did. To leave under a legacy that we’d simply outgrown, rather than parting with the MYTHS name stained with negative public opinion.
My chest pangs, this time for a reason that’s completely unrelated to Rowan. It’s unpleasant.
Rowan must sense a shift in my mood, because he’s instantly by my side. He takes my hand in one of his, using his other thumb to gently release my lip from my teeth.
I didn’t even realize I was biting my lip again, or how hard I was chewing, until the taste of copper touches my tongue. He wipes the blood away with his thumb.
“I hate seeing you hurting,” he murmurs, and his gentle caress washes away the unpleasantness that’d just been bubbling inside and fills it with sweetness instead.
“I think we left the ointment in the car on our trip to visit Ethel. I’ll go get it,” he says, then quickly tugs on his jeans and shirt right there in the living room.
He doesn’t bother putting on his underwear, and I’m going to have to pretend I’m not thinking about him going outside commando.
“You’re smitten,” Ray says when Rowan’s gone.
“Huh?”
I’m still looking toward the elevator as if I could still see the man.
“Fuck, it’s serious,” Ray mutters, and his tone has me turning toward him. “You love him.”
His accusation is a sure fact rather than an accusation, and I’m not sure how I feel about that.
“W-what are you talking about?”
Ray studies me with eyes that seem to see everything. Things that even I don’t see. It’s a wonder how a man who has the intuition of a psychic was so oblivious to Andrew’s cheating.
Then again, it’s like Ray turns off his brain when it comes to his love life. It’s the reason he’s been with one jerk after another.
“Fuck,” he mutters again and turns his face to the ceiling. “I thought you were just fooling around, but fuck. You know what? One fire at a time.”
I have a feeling those words were more for himself than anything else, but there’s one point I need to clarify with him.
“We are fooling around,” I say, though my words don’t sound certain even to my ears.
Sure, I concocted a plan to win over Rowan’s heart through his stomach, but when I say heart, I really meant it in the metaphorical sense. To make him think about me as much as I was thinking about him.
There were no thoughts of love.
Ray just gives me eyes full of pity, which honestly pisses me off. I’m about to ask what the big deal is, but Rowan’s returned with the ointment. He hangs my fob back by the elevator and strides to me with purposeful steps to smear the ointment on my lips like he did the other day.
His actions are gentle, and I can’t stop staring at him. He’s focused on applying the ointment to my lips, but I can still see his eyes.
Hazel.
They’re a swirl of colors that I got up close and personal with last night. And when he’s in the throes of passion, the gray takes over, melting into a dark heat that burns over my skin.
Right now, the gold flakes in his hazel glow warm as they cast their tenderness onto me. The air leaves me, and it’s only his leather scent that sustains me.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake! I’m still here!”
My eyes jolt from Rowan to Ray. He’s thrown his hands into the air, exasperated. I’m feeling just about the same. Usually, I want him to stay as long as he can, but today, I can’t wait to be alone with Rowan.
“Why are you still here?” I ask him.
Ray huffs out a breath and throws his hands into the air once more.
“Fine, I can take a hint,” he mutters, but there’s no heat behind his words. “And now that I’ve delivered an update, I have to get back to the office. Make sure to stay home for the next few days until things cool off and the paps get bored. Use this time to work on your new song.”
He gathers his items and hops off the stool to leave. Just when I think he’s going to leave quietly, he suddenly throws over his shoulder, “Oh, and text me if you need more condoms. The last thing we need is someone exposing a giant condom order and thinking you’re a sex maniac.”
“Fuck off!” I yell, face burning from Ray’s cackling. He’s gone the next second, but I’m left with the aftermath of his words. Not just the comment about the condoms, but what he said before, when Rowan left to retrieve the ointment.
The truth is one that’s startling. In the process of trying to win Rowan’s heart, I might have accidentally given up my own to him.