“Why not?What aren’t you telling me, Sami?”
Sami slung one arm around his chest, supported the elbow of the other on it, fist against his mouth.Brimming with something he still didn’t say.
Baz dared to reach out.He glided his hand down the too-loose jacket on Sami’s upper arms, untwisted them.
Sami’s mouth opened.No sound came out, but his fingers slid between Baz’s.For the first time in days, Baz felt warm again.Whole.
“Tell me.Please.”
Sami shook his head.“I can’t.”
“Why?”If they both meant what happened between them, why did Sami still have to hold back?Why couldn’t they be together?What was Baz missing here?
Sami’s thumb swiped across his jaw, tender, as if Baz was a delicate piece of art he couldn’t resist touching.Silence.
“Please, Sami.Hayati.Help me understand.”
Sami’s lower lip trembled.“I—”
The hinges of the door squeaked.Oh, come on!Had Aya grown that impatient—Ian stood in the doorframe with his arms crossed, his lip curled into a snarl, his eyes hard as stone.
Baz’s heart stopped.Sami jumped away as if he had burned himself on Baz’s skin.
“My, my.Isn’t this heartwarming?”Venom dripped from Ian’s every word.
“It’s not what it looks like!”Sami yelped.
“You little slut.”
The words hit Baz like a slap.A violent heat rushed into his head.He stepped in front of Sami.“Don’t talk to him like that.”
“Or what?”Ian scoffed.“Are you gonna protect your little boyfriend?”
Baz clenched his jaw to stop himself from spitting on Ian’s condescending face.“Yes.”
“News flash.You’re not the first he’s seduced, and you won’t be the last.Look at him.He doesn’t give a fuck about you.He only does what I tell him.”
No.Baz would not fall for that again.Sami had just said that this had happened on his own terms, and Baz believed him.Ian must have overheard it and tried to exploit a weakness, that had to be it.
“You can shove your head up your—”
“It’s true,” Sami declared.The sniffle was overshadowed by the faintest of smirks that transformed his face into the aloof mask Baz had never wanted to see again.Not targeted at him.“Mediocre sex means nothing to me.It’s best you leave, before you embarrass yourself even more.”
Bullshit.That wasn’t the real Sami talking, it was Ian’s influence.What was he so scared of?Didn’t he see they could fight him together?
“You don’t have to pretend—”
“Who’s pretending?Seriously, Baz.You need to get out, because this is pathetic.”
A burning pain tightened Baz’s gut.Who didn’t trust who now?“Sami—”
“Go.”His glare left no room for arguments.
Fine.If that was what Sami wanted, he’d go.But not without crashing his shoulder against Ian’s on his way.
Pathetic.Mediocre sex.Please!As if Sami would have kept coming back as often as he had if he had such a terrible time—actually.All he had said was that he wouldn’t care about mediocre sex, not that theirswasmediocre.Either Baz was delusional enough to cling to a technicality, or that meant—
“You’ve been screwing him this whole time?”Ian’s growl permeated through the door.
