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“You only want to get there early because you want Saugy Franks,” Renzo accused as he turned off his monitor and grabbed his keys.
Matty grinned at him. “I’m going to get four hot dogs.”
Renzo choked. “The hell you are. You’ll be crop-dusting the plane the entire flight.”
Matty slapped a hand over his mouth to hold in his giggles. “I will not,” he said through his fingers.
Renzo rolled his eyes. “Fool me once, bud. Fool me once.” They turned the corner to reach the elevator when a figure appeared, and Renzo came to a skidding halt. His heart began to beat so hard he felt light-headed, and the moment was made worse with the way Matty grabbed his hand and squeezed.
John’s gaze was as cold as ever, his smirk as cruel as it had been the last time Renzo had run into him months and months ago. He locked eyes with Renzo and then did the inevitable. He raised his hand in a wave and started walking toward them. Renzo knew he was too far from the elevator or the stairs to make a quick escape, and although Matty was now shaking, there was no way to get out of this.
“Don’t be scared of him,” Renzo murmured. “He can’t do anything to you.”
Matty shook his head and looked up at Renzo with an imploring, terrified gaze. “Please don’t get arrested.”
“Arrested? Who’s getting arrested?” John drawled.
Renzo absently pulled his brother closer. “Don’t worry about?—”
“Renzo said he’d get arrested if you ever looked at me again,” Matty declared. Which was true. He had said that to Matty several times and to John once during their worst and final argument before the divorce hearing.
John just laughed and leaned his shoulder against the wall. “Is that so?” He used his patronizing baby voice he’d always used on Matty, and Renzo really did want to punch him.
Matty tugged on Renzo’s hand again. “Emil’s waiting. Please don’t go to jail.”
At that, John immediately straightened. “Who’s Emil?”
“None of your damn business,” Matty spat, and Renzo almost burst into half-hysterical laughter because apparently, seeing John again was what it would take for Matty to swear openly.
John’s smile widened, and Renzo felt a sudden and furious wave of protectiveness rushing through his veins. For their entire relationship, John had always looked for Renzo’s soft spots—the tender underbelly where he could dig his nails in to hurt him. Only this time, Renzo wasn’t afraid. Even if John could get to Emil, Renzo would die before he let anything happen.
“Boyfriend, is he?”
“None of your beeswax, you ugly?—”
Renzo squeezed Matty’s hand to quiet him, and before he spoke, he made sure his tone was dry and emotionless. “We have places to be. Have a great day and happy holidays.”
He started to walk away, and then John cleared his throat loudly. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
Renzo didn’t stop walking until a cruel hand gripped his shoulder and pulled him to a stop. Renzo took a breath. John wanted him to fight back. He wanted Renzo to make a scene so he could go back to calling him unhinged.
Luckily, he’d had enough therapy to know how to deal with what John wanted. Very slowly and very carefully, Renzo stepped out of John’s reach, then looked at him with a completely blank expression. “I hope you have a nice New Year.”
John’s eyes flared, and Renzo knew it was working. “I didn’t have a choice, you know. You were so fucking impossible. You made my life so damn miserable, I had to do something.”
“Okay,” Renzo said flatly. He could feel Matty staring at him. He knew Matty was waiting for him to do something, and he couldn’t explain right then that he was. That he was battling someone like John with the only weapon that would ever be effective: apathy.
John’s jaw clenched. “Does your little boyfriend know how frigid you are in bed? Does he know your dick only stays hard for half a minute?”
Matty sucked in a breath, but Renzo squeezed his hand again. He glanced to the right, and he could see the entrance to the stairs. It was only three flights down, and he knew Matty could make that easily. After that, it was a hundred feet to his car, and then John would be in his past again and Emil in his near future.
“Are you even listening to me?” John snapped.
Renzo blinked, and then his lips twitched in a barely there smile. “Sorry, no. I have a flight to catch. Happy holidays,” he repeated robotically. He tugged on Matty’s hand again, and this time, John didn’t try to stop him.
Renzo kind of wanted to laugh, and he kind of wanted to cry. He felt a little foolish for being so petrified every time he saw John on campus smirking at him from across the quad. If only he’d known back then that there was nothing left to hurt him.
All of that pain was a memory, becoming more and more distant every day.
