Ah, was it the one toothbrush that gave it away?
“He’s at his brother’s.”
“Why?” Calvin pressed.
I turned away to push aside some of the books that were strewn across the couch before sitting. “Because we broke up,” I said quietly. “Last night. I wasn’t happy anymore.” I glanced up, watching Calvin push his coat back to rest his hands on his hips.God, he’s so sexy when he does that.
“Does he still have his keys?”
“Huh? Yeah. He hasn’t finished moving out yet. I told him to take his time.”
“And the Emporium?”
“I haven’t gotten back either key. Why are you asking?” Almost the same time I spoke, it dawned on me where Calvin was going, and it pissed me off. “You think Neil did this?” I stood back up.
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, but you think it.”
Calvin looked at me, his expression as hard as stone. “I’m thinking a lot of things right now.”
I didn’t speak. Neither did he. The building was quiet, only the distant sound of the pipes knocking as the heat turned on, breaking the stillness. The energy between us crackled. Any minute we were either going to fistfight or fuck.
Calvin moved forward, dropping his hands from his hips and reaching out to cup my face.
I wrapped my hands around his wrists. “You can’t do this to me. You can’t be sweet and caring in private and then treat me like a disease in public.”
Being so close, I could see the painful way Calvin swallowed, the way his Adam’s apple jumped. I could see how his gray eyes looked like a storm was raging behind them. His mouth was tight and drawn.
“I’m in the back with the prom tux,” he whispered.
“What?”
“In your stupid closet,” Calvin said. “I’m… so far lost in the back I can’t… find the door.” He leaned forward to press his forehead against mine. “I’m sorry, baby.”
“Calvin….”
“I’ve never felt like this for a guy. Goddamn it, Sebastian,” he said without any malice.
“I just got out of a relationship with someone who hid me from the world,” I said.
“I know. I’m not asking you to go through that again.”
“I ran into Quinn when I left this morning.”
Calvin was quiet for a minute. “I know what she said.”
“You’ll get in trouble if someone finds out.”
“This is an active case,” he agreed automatically, but it didn’t seem to faze him. That wasn’t his concern. The fucking closet was.
“Why do you have to be so nice?” I groaned. “It makes it even harder.”
He smiled but looked sad. “I can’t change who I am, just like you can’t.”
“Change being nice or change being closeted?”
He paused for a beat. “Both.”
