Chapter Fourteen
Ravi
“Hey,Rav.What’s with the lothario?”
“Huh?”Simon’s question filters to me through the haze of near-pornographic “yum” noises I’ve been making over my breakfast burrito.I’m sooo freaking glad my stomach is finally working again.
Room service at the hotel where I’ve been staying is nice, but I’ve been craving one of Gil’s tofu scramble burritos all week.I hated not being here last Sunday, but I had homework to catch up on.I’m not letting that slide until I know for sure I can leave Belle Argo.
When I see where Simon’s pointing over my shoulder, my face falls.“Oh.Him.”
A quick check tells me my giant shadow is indeed still with me.For the past several days he’s followed me literally everywhere.Class, the gym, the hotel restaurant, the farmers’ market, and, of course, here to brunch.The only place I’ve had privacy is back at the suite, when I’m behind the locked door of my own room.Weirdly enough, I’ve gotten so used to Channing I sometimes forget he’s there.
I guess it was wishful thinking that if he stood against the back wall of Gil’s and didn’t talk to anybody, my fellow escorts wouldn’t notice a giant at our weekly group brunch.
By the expectant stares they’re all giving me, it was definitely too much to hope.
Christian, who’s had some past issues with an abusive boyfriend, seems especially wary.He’s leaning so far away from Channing he might fall off his chair.I give him my best apologetic smile.
“Sorry.That’s Channing.The guy who owns Shadow seemed to think I needed someone to keep an eye on me until the auction.As long as I don’t make a run for it, everything is fine.”
It still seems like serious overkill.So a guy offered me money to blow off the auction?I didn’t do it, did I?
A few of the guys give an awkward wave.Simon’s boyfriend has narrowed eyes and tightly pressed lips, as if he maybe doesn’t trust the guy.Which I don’t blame him for.My bodyguard has been mostly nice to me, but I’m not stupid enough to think he’s on my side.Channing responds with a tight grimace that could almost but not quite be classified as a smile.
Nico uses his breadstick to point from across the table.“Is he, like, one of those palace guards?He’s not allowed to make facial expressions or whatever?”
“You’d have to ask him.”I lift a shoulder and return to my burrito.
Not that there’s anything really wrong with Channing.He’s been perfectly fine, I guess, for a bodyguard.Staying in the nicest hotel in Belle Argo, nicer than anyplace I’ve stayed in my entire life, and getting to order room service for the first time ever?I certainly have nothing to complain about.
Staying away from Liam has felt unexpectedly hollow.Even when I was at the dorms I came home to do my laundry and eat on weekends.He’d call or text to check in.Being cut off from him completely, it’s almost like when my parents died.Someone I loved, just suddenly gone.Why I miss his presence so painfully after the way he’s treated me, I don’t understand.All I know is the closer I get to the auction, the more my nerves jangle in my stomach every day.
It’s a good thing I’m usually a stress-eater, or I’d risk being skin and bones by the time the big night rolls around.For all of Daniel’s predictions that I’m going to “fetch a pretty price,” nobody wants to fuck a skeleton.
I mean, maybe someone does?That’s probably not something I want to bother researching.
“Hey, you doing okay, man?”Next to me, PJ nudges me with his elbow.“You decide you’ve changed your mind about this thing, you say the word.We’ll bust you out of whatever castle tower they’ve got you in and fuck that giant bodyguard.”
In spite of all the chatter, both here in the back room and out front, Channing clears his throat behind me.I’ve noticed the big guy has ears like a bat.PJ might be scrappy, but I’m not sure he can take Channing down.After four years of living with a soldier, I know one when I see ’em.
“Really, I’ll be fine,” I assure my friend.“If you ask me, the security isn’t even necessary, but it is what it is.”
If Liam were here now he’d be telling me how stupid and dangerous this all is for the millionth time.I’m not as stupid as he thinks.Or as the rest of these guys might think, as well meaning as they are.
I’m aware the auction is a risk.Some guy might want to hurt me or push my boundaries past what’s comfortable.Who knows, though, I could like it, right?And even if I don’t, it’s only twenty-four hours out of my life.
I handled my parents getting murdered.I’ve handled Liam rejecting me over and over (and over) for nearly two years.I can handle this.Especially for the chance at a huge payoff.
It’s only twenty-four hours, right?I can handle anything for that long.
Next to Nico, Dean leans forward.“But, Rav, this shit’s no joke.There was that guy at the party who tried to put his hands on you, so maybe a little extra protection for the time being isn’t a bad idea.”
“Wait, who the hell grabbed you?”Alexis, one of Brennan’s female workers, asks as she, well, grabs my arm.Sweet of her to be worried though.
“It wasn’t a big deal.Some guy at a party wanted me to take money to skip the auction.”
“Oh hell.Brennan would’ve given birth to kittens.You know he’s going to take his cut of your payday.”This is from Prince, one of our newer escorts.Unlike a lot of the guys, who do dinner dates and charity events and all sorts of things aside from having sex with clients, Prince pretty much only has sex with the clients, from what I can tell.Given that he’s got more tattoos than I’ve ever seen a person, even on his knuckles and on the side of his face, I can see how it would be hard for him to simply put on a suit and blend in.
