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His boss had been shocked, but not as shocked as Romeo was when he asked to take Romeo out on a deep-sea fishing trip to change his mind.
Romeo should have known then that something was wrong. He should have never gotten on that boat, but he had thought that his boss really was trying to persuade him to stay and he’d thought he could get a raise out of it. For the right amount of money, he’d decided that he might be willing to stay.
At least, until his boss hit him over the head and knocked him unconscious.
Romeo groaned in pain as he came to, finding himself sprawled facedown on the deck. He tried to sit up, but that’s when he realized he couldn’t move his hands. They were tied behind his back. He didn’t understand what was happening, and the very first thing that popped out of his mouth was, “Is this because I quit?”
“No, you piece of shit,” his boss seethed. “This is because you’re fucking my wife!”
“What?” Romeo’s eyes widened, and he fought against the throbbing in his head to think clearly. “You think I’m sleeping with your wife?”
“I know you are! I ain’t dumb!” His boss growled and grabbed a length of rope, binding Romeo’s ankles together.
“Whoa, whoa!” Romeo tried to kick out, but he wasn’t fast enough. “Hey! Listen to me!” He flailed around until he had managed to roll over onto his side, pleading, “I have no idea who your wife even is! I’ve never seen her before in my fucking life! And oh, by the way, I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but I’mfucking gay!”
“Fuck you! I’ve seen the pictures!” his boss countered. “I hired one of them private detectives to figure out who she was boinking! I suspected it was you for a real long time, but now I have proof!”
“Bullshit! There’s no way—!” Romeo grunted as his boss shoved a phone in his face.
There was a picture of a dark-haired woman kissing a young man with black hair and rich olive skin. The young man was sort of cute, maybe could have been a brother or a cousin, but it was definitely not Romeo.
“That’s not me, you fucking idiot!” Romeo shouted. “Look at me! My ears are fucking pierced, his aren’t! My lips are definitely fuckin’ fuller—”
“Fuck you, it’s you! I’m sick of listening to your bullshit!” His boss tied the other end of the rope to something, and then he stood up with a long sigh. “I’ve had to look at you every damn day for months, knowing what you’re doing with my wife—”
“Does it not matter at all to you that I’m gay? Hello? That I likedick? That even though you’re a raging asshole, you’d have a better chance of sleeping with me than your fucking wife?”
“No more.” His boss grabbed whatever was tied to the other end of the rope. “No more fuckin’ lies.” He grunted with obvious effort and threw it off the side of the boat.
“Wait, wait, you motherfuck—!” Romeo gasped as he was suddenly pulled down into the water. He didn’t even have a chance to get one last breath in, and he pulled at the ropes as hard as he could.
Whatever his boss had tied to the rope was heavy enough to sink him fast, and the water was getting dark and cold. It was then Romeo realized he was going to die. He was going to drown out in the middle of the stupid ocean for something he didn’t even do.
Anger filled Romeo as quickly as the water flooding his lungs, and he screamed as loudly as he could. Terror came next as his vision started getting dark. He thought this was the end, and he closed his eyes, waiting for whatever was going to come next.
God, his boss was such an asshole.
That was his last thought before…
Somethinggrabbed him.
He wasn’t sinking,no—he was rising upward, back to the surface, and fast. The weight of whatever was dragging him down was gone. Several of the mysterious somethings had grabbed him, winding around his legs and arms, and Romeo couldbreathe. It should have been impossible, but the fire in his lungs had been extinguished and he sucked in big mouthfuls of water to catch his breath.
He was close enough to the surface now that he could see again, and he gasped when he saw what was wrapped around him.
Tentacles.
Thick, spiraling tentacles.
They were attached to…
A man.
Mostly.
The general shape of the creature’s upper body was human, but from the hips down was a giant bundle of tentacles. His skin was a mottled purple that matched his tentacles, and his long dark hair looked like seaweed floating around his head. His eyes were a bright green, his teeth were sharp, and maybe Romeo had brain damage from almost drowning, but the man parts were very beautiful in a slightly terrifying sort of way.
The tentacles were also appealing, but Romeo couldn’t immediately say why.
