They broke up x
Liam drives as I go back and forth, messaging Mel. Information in bits and pieces isn’t his style; he needs it all together, so I gather as much as I can. When we arrive home, I have enough to deliver to him even if the details are lacking.
“He and Keegan broke up today. She said he came home from work unexpectedly and found Keegan with the stepbrother in bed. She said she’s known for a while there was something between them, but Keegan swore she’d stop. Freddie smashed his car, then left, but she doesn’t know where he’s staying.” I sigh. “I’ve asked around, but no one has seen him.”
Liam clenches his jaw and looks past me to the house. “Not with us,” he replies, and that’s all that really matters.
Freddie didn’t reach out to us.
I close my eyes. “We’ve pushed him too far away.”
“No. Not too far.Nevertoo far. We can still pull him back,” Liam says through his teeth. In the darkness of the car, I can still see the shine to his eyes. “And once we’ve got him, we’re never letting him go.”
13
Freddie
There’s a stain on the ceiling. A splattering of something that probably started out red but has faded to a rustic brown. Soup maybe? It would make sense considering the microwave is close by. Someone probably put in a container with an airtight seal, heated it on full power, thenboomwhen they popped the lid. It’s odd that I’ve never noticed it, but then again, I’ve never lain down in the canteen at work before.
I didn’t plan to end up here.
My goal had been a cheap hotel for the night, but when I checked my wallet, I found it empty. It doesn’t matter whether it was Alice, Nathaniel, or someone else inside the bar who took it, all that matters is it’s gone. I could’ve used my debit card for a room, but I’ve been burned before and didn’t want the hassle of contacting the bank when money started to be purged from my account.
I started the car, and the jingling of my keys gave me the idea.
Free place to stay.
Free car park.
Free toilets.
Still, I wasn’t sure.
I drove past the place first, making sure the lights were off and there were no other cars. We have security cameras, but no active guard, and if my boss were to ask, I’d claim I’d left something vital in my locker.
That vital thing still evaded me.
Medicine maybe.
I ended up in the canteen on the second floor, and having pushed a bunch of chairs together, I’ve made myself a makeshift bed. I have five chairs positioned on either side, with their backs facing out. It looks like an open-ended cot.
Each chair has minimal padding, and after a dull ache grows in my hip, I flip over to my back, nestling my head into my rucksack that I’m using as a pillow. The automatic lights dull, which is when I see the stain, then a few seconds later they go off and I’m plunged into darkness. There’s a faint buzzing coming from somewhere, but other than that, all I hear is the sound of myself breathing.
I don’t sleep, and although I can blame my back-aching bed, it’s not the reason. I’m thinking of Ryker, and I’m thinking of Liam, and I’m thinking what the fuck happened.
How it happened.
Why it happened.
I’m certain of the when, where, and who, but everything else is a kaleidoscope of shock, disbelief, and yes, if I admit it to myself, which I do in the darkness, awe. My fingers stray to my neck where I stroke the rash from Liam’s beard. He hadn’t kissed me, but I’d felt his lips against my skin, and his hot puffs of breath as he enjoyed working his cock against my back. My arms and shoulders no longer hurt from where he held me, but my neck burns when I rub where his bristles scratched. I’ve never feltanything like that before. I’ve had kisses and sucks on my throat, but the masculine drag of stubble shot pleasant tingles down my body. It was new, as was the firm grip on my cock.
I shiver hard enough the lights click on, momentarily blinding me. Ryker’s hand wasn’t dainty or soft, it was big, sightly callused, and he rough-handled me into coming.
I touch the other side of my neck where Ryker sucked purple patches into the skin. When I’d first seen them in the mirror, I’d baulked and cursed him. There was no way they could be covered, but the more I poke at them, the more I become fascinated with them, these perfect mauve ovals. He’s marked me, and of all the men I’ve seen him with, I’ve never seen marks on their necks.
I didn’t know what it meant. I still don’t.
The lights turn off again. I blink into the darkness and think about what happened. I wanted to hurt Ryker. I let him touch mesoI could hurt him by calling out someone else’s name. But I was hard before I decided on that. I was hard from being restrained by Liam and having Ryker crowd into my personal space to press me against his brother.
