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“What the hell, Eli? You invite me over and then toss me into that hornet’s nest? You’ve got one boy up there mad enough to eat nails just so he could spit them back out at you.” He nodded toward my crotch and added, “Straight in that direction. The other boy is devastated. I didn’t know who to fear more—the one with the curse words and threatening stance or the one with the tears.” He turned to walk toward his car. “Call me if you get your shit straightened out. You’ve got some good things up there that I’d definitely be interested in…but not if it’s going to turn the sub-wrath or twink-tears on me.”
Seth appeared. “That’s my fucking sub and husband you’re talking about, so you might want to shut the fuck up since I seriously doubt you could go hand to hand with me in a fight.”
McKenzie merely smiled. “Congratulations. He’s full of fire and loyalty. He’s definitely one to have beneath you and beside you.” Turning back to me, he asked, “I guess the other one was supposed to belong to you?”
“Yeah…Ari’s always been mine.”
“Not anymore, I’m afraid,” he answered before walking away. “Call if you’re still interested.”
I was interested in one thing and one thing only—making Ari understand—making Ari still love me, even when I probably didn’t deserve it. I stepped onto the elevator, punched in the code, and ignored Seth’s presence. I was so far past the point of worrying about who witnessed my downfall. As the floors ticked away, a numbness overtook my body and threatened to freeze my arms, legs, and heart. When the door finally slid open and I came face to face with a very disgusted Baker, any hope I had remaining vanished in an instant.
“You should have discussed this with me first, Baker,” Seth admonished quietly as he stepped off in front of me. He thrust his hand out to keep the doors from closing with me still inside. “Come on, Eli. Move it.”
Baker snorted. “Apparently there’s a lot of deception going on around here, eh, Eli?” With his arms crossed over his chest, he looked more threatening than I’d ever seen him. Of course, I’d never really seen Baker mad before…
“Not intentionally,” I answered.
“Bullshit. All lies are intentional. You just never planned on getting caught, did you? Well, guess what…you fucked that up and broke his heart in the process.” Seth placed a hand on Baker’s shoulder and whatever words he’d planned to abuse me with were instantly silenced. He had to gnaw the inside of his jaw to keep from continuing, but he managed it because of his love and respect for Seth. After a few seconds, he said, “We’ll wait out here for Ari. If he isn’t out here in ten minutes, I’m coming after him. Understood?”
Turning away, I didn’t bother to answer him. Hell, he wasn’t looking for an answer. Because of his love for Ari, he was furious with me. I couldn’t blame him for that. Ari deserved people in his life that protected and cherished him. I’d always thought I would be that person. I wanted to be that person.
I found him standing in the doorway of my playroom, his beautiful face streaked with tears and his eyes empty. He stared, but probably saw nothing. His hands hung to his side, and I noticed there was a slight tremor in his fingers.
“You lied to me, Eli,” he whispered, still not looking in my direction.
“Ari…”
He held his hand up to stop me. “Don’t bother with whatever you were going to say.” He still wouldn’t look at me, but a sad smile curved his lips. “All that talk about me lying to you, how I’d nearly ruined us both, almost turned you into a pedophile…all those words were just bullshit excuses, weren’t they?” He stepped into the spacious room and walked over to a web of red ropes. His fingers, shaking even more now, reached up and caressed the thick but soft twine. Of all the times I’d fantasized about him in this room, his perfection decorated with my ropes, it had never been anything like this. My heart broke because of the emptiness on his face…in his eyes.
“Ari, I didn’t lie to you…not…not…really.” My words sounded hollow, desperate, and pathetic. “I told you I wasn’t into the same scene as Seth and Baker and that’s true. What I enjoy is…”
He cut me off again. “I don’t care what you enjoy, Eli. I could fucking care less, actually.” He turned to face me. His eyes were no longer empty—they were blazing with fury. “And to think that when your door opened, and a beautiful man walked out, I thought you were cheating on me. Little did I know that you’d just been lying to me from the first moment you walked back into my life.” He laughed softly. “Did you know that I never really lied to you either, Eli? I never told you that I was or wasn’t eighteen years old when we were in college. You assumed it based on the fact I was in college in the first place, and I allowed you to believe whatever you wanted. It sounds familiar, doesn’t it?”
