Chapter 5
Richard
After more silence from Kalin, I couldn’t take it any longer.
There wasn’t much I could do when they were on tour, but the night before had been their last concert, and like fuck was I sitting aside any longer and letting this animosity continue bleeding between us and staining the beautiful bond the three of us had.
So, I was doing something irrational. Something completely out of character. But Kalin drove me mad, and I was not letting him and Spike slip through my fingers. And I knew if I lost Kalin, I’d lose Spike, too. Because Spike would follow him, even if it meant breaking his own heart.
“They are here, Mr. Nightwork,” my bodyguard, Zen, announced. “Dalton’s mother just arrived in her van.”
Mrs. Temple, Dalton’s mother, always picked the boys up after their tours.
It was the one time the guys refused a company driver to deliver them home.
They liked Mrs. Temple, and she loved gushing over them and giving them a little taste of home once they were off tour.
And since most of them either had no mother figures or their mothers were letdowns, I knew Mrs. Temple was always a breath of fresh air for them.
I stood and slid my hands into the pockets of my slacks just as I heard the front door to the boys’ mansion open.
Kalin and Spike had given me a key months ago, but I’d never used it because I’d felt the need to protect them, which meant hiding our relationship…
even from their best friends/band mates.
But I was done hiding. So fucking done. I could not let these two boys slip through my fingers.
“I’m so fucking ready to crash in bed for the next century,” I heard Dalton say. “I’m fucking wiped.”
“Same,” Jesse said. “But I want a hot shower first. I need a decent shower after showering in the bus for months.”
“Well, we’re heading to bed, and don’t disturb—” Salem’s words abruptly cut off when the six of them made their way into the sitting room and he spotted me.
Immediately, he protectively tightened his arm around Tor’s shoulders and scowled at me.
“What the fuck are you doing here? And how the absolute fuck did you get in?”
“I have a key,” I said calmly, but I was no longer looking at him. I was looking at my boys. Spike had tugged Kalin slightly behind him, as if he needed to protect Kalin from me, which made my chest tighten so much, I couldn’t draw air into my lungs for a moment. “Kalin, Spike, we need to talk.”
Spike tightened his jaw. “Nothing to talk about right now, Richard. We just got home, and we just want to rest. Surely, you can understand that?”
I sighed, taking a step forward. Spike pushed Kalin a little further behind him, his shoulders tightening as if he could broaden his frame to shield Kalin from me.
It fucking hurt. I’d never hurt our boy. Surely, he knew that?
“Please,” I said softly. I wasn’t above begging. I’d get on my knees and plead my case if that was what it took, and I wasn’t the kind of man to get on his knees for anyone. But the fear of losing them was visceral.
“No,” Kalin suddenly snapped. He stepped out from behind Spike, his cheeks flushed with anger. From the corner of my eye, I saw Salem step closer, fully prepared to help Spike protect Kalin from me, but Spike shook his head at Salem, waving at him to back off.
“You don’t get to finally use your fucking key that I gave you months ago to demand my attention because I’m ignoring you,” Kalin snapped. “You don’t get to roll in here, in my safe space, and demand I give you some of my time because I now can fit into your fucking schedule.”
Tears burned in his eyes, and they gutted me. When one rolled down his cheek, I swore he sliced my fucking chest right open and started cutting off the arteries to my heart.
“Little one—” I tried, wanting to tell him what was happening, what my plan was, that I was no longer hiding them, but he shook his head, cutting me off.
Taking a step forward, he jabbed his finger roughly against my chest, making me wince. When I reached up to grab his hand, he yanked it away like I burned him, his chest heaving as more tears ran down his cheeks.
“I’m tired of hiding, and I’m tired of hurting. I’ve never been closeted. I’ve always been open about who I am and who I love.” I knew that. Even though he and Spike had never come out and told the world they were together, they never hid their affection for each other. Not once.
But I’d forced him into the closet.
Fuck.
“I will not put myself second again,” Kalin croaked, his voice strangled. A sob bubbled up in his chest. “I can’t keep doing this. We are over, Richard.” No. God, no, little one. Fuck. “I can’t keep letting you do this to me. I can’t keep doing this to myself.”
He spun away from me, intent on running, but I was faster. I gripped his upper arm and spun him back around to face me before I swung him into my arms, cradling him to my chest. He banged his fists on my chest and shoulders, dissolving into a puddle of tears in my arms.
“No,” I rasped. “We are not done, little one, you fucking hear me?” I looked at Spike. “Show me to your room. This is far from over.”
Relief flooded Spike’s features, fracturing across what was left of my heart.
Then, he nodded and quickly led the way, leaving his confused best friends behind us.
But I didn’t care about them. What I cared about was the boy in my arms who was splintering apart in my hold and hiding his face from me like he couldn’t bear to look at me.