“How much you got?”
He pulls out a stack with several rubber bands around it and I snatch it. It’s all hundreds and I run my finger along the edges, gleeful. Then I shove it at Joshy gruffly, too casually, like it’s nothing.
“Here,” I say, dropping it in his lap before he can even react. “For new legs or whatever. Since you came down the stairs for me.”
“Whoa….” Joshy’s eyes are owl-wide, and he looks at Young-gi like he expects my boyfriend to take it all back. But Young-gi is sitting in his desk chair now, leaning back into it, watching me like I’m his favorite television show. So he pays Joshy no mind. “Um, thanks dude!”
“You can stay with me until we get some fitted,” Bruce offers quickly, helping Joshy to his unsteady feet, helping him put the crutches back under his arms. “I don’t have any stairs, you’ll be much more comfortable. I’ve got a big couch so you don’t need to worry about where you’ll sleep.”
“Wow, that is so nice, today is my lucky day!” Joshy grins wide, innocent and friendly, happy in a way I’ve never been. Shining like a beacon despite his rough circumstances. The perfect sweet boy.
Bruce clears his throat and I have to cover my mouth to hide my laughter, because knowing Bruce? He just got a boner.
Our goodbyes don’t last that long, but it feels like ages before I can finally reassure Bruce that I’m super happy and not being coerced into staying here, reassure Joshy that I meant to give him the entire stack of cash and no I don’t want any of it back, and to get them both into the elevator and on their way down. Once the doors close between us, leaving me alone with Young-gi, my heartrate picks up and I feel awareness race through me like a flood in my veins.
“So that was Bruce,” Young-gi muses darkly, his voice drifting to me from his desk. I creep closer, fluttery excitement in my stomach.
“Mm-hm.”
“Not much to him, is there?”
I shake my head slightly. “Not for me. I told you that. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Young-gi’s eyes heat up and he pats his desk, inviting me closer. “I can see that. You don’t need a caretaker. Hm? You don’t need to be fixed. You need someone that likes the way you burn. Someone like me.”
“Y-yeah,” I say shakily as I lean over the desk, putting my elbows on the hard surface. I don’t even fight it. I want it so bad. Been wanting it all day.
“Someone that knows how to make you feel small.” Young-gi peels my pants down, and I shiver. “Someone that makes you like it.”
“Y-yeah.”
“Do you want me to prove it to you?”
“Fuck yeah.”
And he does.
Chapter 34
Tommy
Despite the whole blackmail mystery being solved, I’m still technically on the hook for this engagement gig. Young-gi and I–after I came down from the high of my spanking and all the deliciously dirty things he said to me while doing it–chatted about timeline strategies.
The Vandmorsons have been quiet, behaving because I’m a Sokolov now, and they don’t want to poke that bear. So, all I need to do is slowly start easing back, pulling away from Kira and her circle of attention and friends, until I’m forgotten. Easy-peasy, the engagement dissolves after nobody’s looking for me or paying too much attention to Kira anymore.
But for tonight, I’m still on her arm, playing my part. I don’t want to be too doting anymore, but still a good boyfriend, toeing the line between causing gossip and being perfectly forgettable. Not too dismissive of her, not too into her, just somewhere in between.
We’re at some mixer that her super-special, uber-rich private college is hosting on campus. One of their fancy-looking buildings is all sparkly and colorful with tasteful banners of the school logo and shit like that. Inside, we’re surrounded by pretty lighting in the marble room, tables with silk cloths covered in tiny little plates, professors and alumni chatting by a statue of some old guy near the entrance, and most of Kira’s age group lingering by the back.
We only got here a few minutes ago. And at first, it was fine. The professors seem genuinely happy to see her, mildly interested in me, and the alumni are polite but distant. But oncewe get towards the back, where Kira’s graduating class mingles around drinks and flowery decor, I feel it.
Something isn’t right.
I loop Kira’s arm in mine casually, trying to look around without appearing to. People are glancing at us, but like…everyoneis glancing at us, then turning their backs so I can’t read their lips and see what they’re whispering about. Instinctively, I look down at myself and Kira, but there’s nothing weird about our appearance. She’s wearing a dress as lovely and as elegant as anyone else in the room, radiant with her timeless beauty, and I’ve been forced back into a suit and match with every other guy here. We look the part. So what’s wrong?
Our interactions with her classmates are sticky-sweet and false, and they keep…
They keep looking atme. Their smiles are awkward or scandalized, and the way they look me up and down makes it clear that I’m the punchline of some joke I’m not in on.
