“He watched a couple races with me, but then got jealous, so I stopped inviting him over. He...” Ezra pulled back to look at me. “He made himself a copy of my key. I didn’t give it to him.”
I saw the fear in his dark eyes. “When did Ty start abusing you?”
“When I tried to break it off the first time. That was in May.” Ezra’s chin began to quiver. “I didn’t know about the key yet, so when Ty left, I thought that was it. That it was over. Until he showed up the next day.”
Seth grunted from behind me. “Tell him, Ez. Tell him the truth.”
“What truth? What aren’t you saying?” I whispered, afraid that it wasn’t just hitting him. “Princess, you said he didn’t hurt you like—”
“He didn’t,” Ezra burst out as tears welled in his eyes. “He just...he said I was only good at one thing and that was sucking cock. Selling my body and being a camboy. He found my OnlyFans account. Subscribed before we started dating. We made a video together.”
Jealousy rushed through my veins. “A video?” I whispered.
“Yeah, just one, and he hid his face so no one would see it was him, but he kept the original. The one where I called him by his first name. He... he said he was going to send it to you if I didn’t break up with you. I’m sorry, CC. I should have told you the truth. I was afraid of what you would say.”
I wanted to murder him. I was going to cut Ty from taint to earlobe and drop his body into the ocean, just like Dexter Morgan. Should I plan a kill room?
“CC?” Ezra touched my face with the palms of his hands.
I looked down to see tears streaming down his cheeks.
“Oh hey, don’t do that,” I murmured. “You’re so much more than what Ty Graham thinks of you. He’s a bully, a liar, and not worthy of the ground you walk on.”
“Is he, though? I mean, what else do I have going for me? I make a lot of money showing myself off, CC. Shoving dildos up my ass and talking dirty on camera. It’s how I got you, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s not. I was already into you before that video. I wouldn’t have let you kiss me the first time if I wasn’t.”
Ezra grabbed my hand. “The night at the club. You were already into me?”
“Pretty sure I was, yes.”
His eyes lit up like a roman candle.
I leaned down so that my lips were against his ear. “I happen to like that filthy mouth, which is just an added bonus.”
Ezra’s mouth had formed a perfect circle. “Did you know beforehand, or did you just figure it out?”
“I’m figuring out a lot of things today.” I tucked a piece of hair behind his ear. “Ez, he put you in the hospital. What happened that night? You told me you didn’t know who it was.”
“Ty told me he wanted to talk, to apologize, and I was in a bad way, CC. Wait, what happened to Seth?” Ezra asked as he looked around the kitchen. “He left without saying goodbye?”
I turned his face back to mine. “I think he knew we needed this time to ourselves. Text him later. Back to Ty, please.”
“Ty said he wanted to talk. To apologize for everything. Deep down, I knew it was a bad idea, but I agreed anyway. Except he was drunk, and when I tried to leave, he followed me out to my car. When he’d hit me in the past, he would slap me around a little, but this time, he punched and kicked me. He hit me so hard that I blacked out. Someone from the restaurant saw what was happening and called the cops. Ty was arrested, and I was taken to the hospital.”
I closed my eyes. “Jesus Christ, Ezra.”
“When I woke up, I was confused and scared out of my mind. I wanted to reach out to you, but I was afraid you had blocked me. I called Seth instead. He brought me clean clothes and convinced me to at least get the restraining order, which Ty obviously doesn’t care about.”
I grabbed both of his hands to bring them up to my lips. “I wish you had called. I would have come. I would have dropped everything for you.” My throat suddenly felt tight. “I would have been there for you, boo.”
Ezra gripped my wrists. “I’m sorry. I am so sorry I didn’t tell you the truth about Ty. That I ran away that night because I couldn’t face my feelings and that we didn’t speak for months. Carson, I love you. I love you so much that it hurts, and it’s okay if you don’t love me. I want to be with you. If you want to be friends with benefits, I’m down. I’ll take whatever you can give me. I just want you.”
I splayed my fingers into his hair and tipped Ezra’s head up. “You really think that I don’t love you more than a friend, princess? That what we’ve been doing is just a friends-with-benefits thing?”
“Say it then, Carson. Say what you mean instead of hiding behind words I came up with when we were kids because I was afraid to tell you the truth about how I felt about you.” Ezra raised his chin. “Don’t say it all upset and angry because I forced you to.”
I leaned my forehead against his and stared into his dark eyes. “I’m in love with you, Ezra. I’m so fucking crazy about you that it drives me insane. I love you.”
