“And what he feels like doing always seems to be what you want him to do. Funny how that works.”
*
Connor did what he didn’t want to. As soon as the car started moving, he fell asleep and woke hours later with a crick in his neck. He stretched with a groan and looked around himself. Trevor was in the driver’s seat, sipping a takeaway coffee and scrolling through his phone. He looked at Connor as he orientated himself.
“Pit stop?” Connor asked with a yawn.
“Final destination. You slept the whole way. Here, eat this first and have some Lucozade.”
Connor looked around himself as he did. They were parked outside a large house with a massive driveway encircled by tall stone walls covered in vines. There were two cars parked aside from their own one.
“How long have we been here? They’ll call the guards if someone randomly pulls up to their house and sits there.”
“I’ve spoken to Tracy already. She offered you a guest bedroom to rest if you need.”
“Not typically what moms say to someone that assaulted their kid.”
Early in the case, the people defending Connor said it was Tracy Sullivan trying to frame him to further her political career. Connor was less interested in her role than he was in Peter’s.
“No,” Trevor said. “It isn’t. Do you want to wait here while I go in and talk to them?”
“You can talk to Tracy, and I’ll talk to Peter.”
Connor expected a warning or a word of caution, but Trevor nodded. “Okay.”
They got out of the car and approached the house. Connor couldn’t help himself. “Aren’t you going to tell me not to beat him up?”
“Laurence isn’t here for him to insult, so I’m sure Peter is safe enough,” Trevor remarked as he raised his hand to knock.
“Laurence is the worst gossip.”
“He does talk a lot…but there is also the fact that someone filmed your scuffle at the docks.”
Connor cursed. “Did it catch me throwing the punch?”
“It also capturedwhyyou threw it. The video has already gone viral, so it’s an established fact that you’re not a bigot.”
“Just violent.”
“In that situation, anyone can understand an emotional reaction.”
“I thought about it first,” Connor said. “I decided that I’d hit him once. I figured you wouldn’t get mad at that much, and,” he looked at him sideways, “I can see I was right.”
Trevor’s lips twitched as he fought a smile. He wrapped his arm around Connor’s shoulders and pressed a fond kiss to his crown. Connor’s brow creased in confusion. What about that admission had earned such a reaction, he didn’t know, but Trevor’s features were relaxed when he straightened. The smile he’d fought allowed him to win as he cast Connor an amused look, his eyes glittering.
“What?” Connor asked, his bad temper clear in his voice.
“Needle as much as you like; it won’t make me angry. I’m glad you stuck up for Laurence.”
“You’re glad that I assaulted a guy?” Connor heard the petulance in his own voice. Even his dad would be provoked to anger if he spoke to him like this. Edith would have lost the plot at him long ago.
“You don’t like people seeing you in a positive light, do you? Or perhaps it’s just that you’re not used to it. I would guess it’s a bit of both, personally. And you can test and test, but you won’t change my mind about you,” Trevor said conversationally. He glanced from Connor to the door as footsteps approached. His arm remained around Connor’s shoulder.
Connor tried to mask his irritation. He hadn’t been purposefully trying to test Trevor. It just didn’t sit well with him that Trevor wasn’t at least giving him a lecture about why throwing that punch had been a terrible idea, given his situation. “Shouldn’t you bring up the case, at least?” Connor snipped, irritated at himself for not being able to let it rest. “Remind me I’m already sitting on an assault charge? Bring up that repeat offenders get harsher sentencing?”
“If you were boasting about it, I might have given a lecture… I had to give Laurence a talk.”
The door opened. Connor, deeply unsettled, turned his attention to the young man in the doorway. Peter’s bleached hair was currently a pristine white, his ears were filled with studs of silver, and his bottom lip had a lip piercing that he chewed at. Hazel eyes glanced over at Trevor and turned nervously to Connor. There was clear apprehension in Peter’s expression.
