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Because he was barely back from Interlaken, flying high on patching things up with Kat, rabbiting on like there was no tomorrow—and then he suddenly stopped in the middle of a sentence. Looked at Eric. Then at Adrian. And back at Eric.
Eric held himself very still, carefully not glancing at Adrian beside him on the sofa. Last night had been weird. When Eric had gone off to bed, Adrian didn’t seem interested in starting anything, maybe already bored. But they’d run into each other this morning in front of Eric’s room. One of them had moved first, not even clear who, and then they were kissing, and since Eric’s bed was right there—well.
During breakfast, their feet had kept bumping under the table even as they chatted with Adrian’s parents. Afterwards, they’d come up to the common area together, Eric working on lyrics while Adrian had brought some paperwork. So, they were fine. Except Kojo wasstaring at them like they’d grown sparkly antlers and a lovely tail to match.
“What?” Eric asked after the silence had dragged on for several seconds.
Kojo’s face cleared. “Oh my God.” He shot Eric an accusing look, voice loud. “You’re fucking the porn star, and you didn’t tell me?”
“Why,” Adrian began calmly while Eric choked on air, “do you assume it’s him doing the fucking?”
“Getting fucked, whichever, like I care.” Kojo waved a dismissive hand. “My point stands—there is fucking, and I wasn’t told.”
“Indoor voice, please?” Eric sank back into the sofa cushions, the fireplace crackling merrily as though it was laughing at him. “First off, you didn’t tell me about Kat. And secondly, how the hell did you even know?”
“I am magic,” Kojo declared grandly.
“I sincerely doubt that.” Adrian sounded amused, and it gave Eric the courage to glance at him. They’d said it would be their little secret—or rather Adrian had said it. Only that had never been realistic for a repeat arrangement, not with Kojo around.
“You don’t mind him knowing?” Eric asked Adrian.
“I told Martin,” was Adrian’s response, and … oh. He had? Eric wasn’t sure why it made him feel shy.
“How did he react?”
A strange glint shone in Adrian’s eyes. “With enthusiasm.”
“Excuse me,” Kojo said with emphasis. “Can we get back to how you”—he pointed at Eric—“are fucking a porn star? Or getting fucked, it’s all the same to me.”
Eric shook his head. “It’s not about the porn star thing.”
“Enlighten me,” Kojo said.
It seemed like Adrian had gone rather still, so Eric didn’t dare to look at him as he chose how to reply. “I don’t—Adrian hasn’t done that in years, and it’s not even relevant. Like, I don’t see him like that. It’s not what it’s about.”
Kojo’s eyes narrowed in consideration, something heavy aboutthe way he weighed Eric. Then his gaze slid to Adrian. “You do that often?”
Adrian straightened slightly, a challenge in the tilt of his head. “Define ‘that’?”
“Fuck employees. Or guests.”
“Jesus,” Eric interrupted. “Kojo—filter.”
Kojo frowned. “I’m just asking.”
“I hardly think it’s appropriate,” Eric told him because Christ, it wasn’t. Adrian didn’t owe explanations—they weren’t like that.
“It's fine.” Adrian sounded unperturbed. “And the answer is no. Thought I’d already mentioned that hooking up with guests would be a recipe for disaster? And I’ve never hooked up with an employee before. I wouldn’t have either if Eric hadn’t made the first move.”
“Did you.” It wasn’t quite a question, Kojo’s gaze flicking to Eric with sudden, sharp interest that made Eric shift in place, too aware of how quiet the room was with the soft crackle of the fire and snow still blanketing the world outside, dampening the sound of a car passing on the road.
“So what?” Eric aimed for a devil-may-care grin—not his specialty. “I am a strong, modern guy and there is no shame in taking the first step.”
Kojo pursed his mouth. “Indeed.”
For a beat, no one said anything.
Then Adrian moved slightly closer to Eric and placed a hand on his thigh, their eyes meeting briefly before Adrian turned to Kojo. “This isn’t going to be a problem, is it?”
