Wyatt: I don’t know what you did to Robby, but he’s gone full Britney 2007 and is heading straight into 2015 Miley.
Elijah frowned at the message.
Elijah: What?
Charlie: Oh, yeah. He got three *three* new tattoos, and he pierced his eyebrow and his frenulum.
Elijah: Frenulum? Is that a sex thing?
Charlie: No it’s that weird piece of skin just in front of your top two front teeth.
Wyatt: And also, the skin at the head of your dick, but we’ll have to wait and see if he got that pierced too. Oh and he also got drunk and started stripping at Topaz before some giant bouncer carried him out over his shoulder.
That was definitely not what their publicists had agreed upon. Robby was supposed to be going around town as the heartbroken victim, playing up his boy-next-door status. What the fuck?
Charlie: They are saying you cheating on him with the last highlander has really done a number on him. You broke his little baby heart and now he’s gone rogue.
Elijah: We were never even a real couple. This is not my fault.
Wyatt: Whatever you say, heartbreaker. Hope that dick was worth it. LOL.
Charlie: Yeah, you monster. You’ve ruined the preacher’s kid.
Elijah: I hate you both. Goodbye.
Elijah put his phone on silent and did his best to put Robby out of his head. They were never really dating. Why didn’t people get that?Sigh.Outside, rain started to fall, and Elijah watched the beads gather and slide down the window, pressing his forehead to the cold glass as the brake lights ahead blurred into red swerving lines.
The forty-minute drive had seemed to take hours and now that they were in the elevator, with Shep just a few hundred yards away, time moved even slower, the elevator car moving at a glacial pace. When the doors finally opened, Elijah had to force himself not to run to the suite. Beside him, Calder wore a smirk that would have infuriated Elijah on anybody else, but it was hard to dislike Calder even if he was never in a hurry.
Once Calder unlocked the door, he let Elijah enter, but then had him stand by the wall as he cleared the space. Elijah rolled his eyes. This all seemed so ridiculous and over the top. Things had been quiet since the death threat all those months ago. There was no horse head in his bed, no more concrete smoothies thrown in his face. His stomach curdled as he thought of the flowers that seemed to show up out of nowhere and the couple of crank phone calls, but he shook it away. It was nothing. An unnerving coincidence and a stupid prankster who probably had no idea Elijah was famous. Nobody was after him.
As Calder did his sweep, Shep walked from the bedroom, barefoot and shirtless, his gray sweatpants riding low on his hips. Elijah’s heart flip-flopped and something unknotted deep within him. Everything seemed okay again. Calder holstered his weapon and gave a salute before heading towards the front door. Elijah frowned. “Your room’s over there. You aren’t staying?”
Calder didn’t answer right away, just looked to Shep who gave a single nod. “No, kid. I have plans of my own. I think Shep can handle the night shift.”
As soon as the door shut, and they were alone, a shiver slid along Elijah’s spine as Shep walked towards him with purpose. “What’s going on?” he managed, his voice pitchy and breathless.
Shep captured his mouth in a kiss that curled Elijah’s toes, crowding him against the door and slipping his hands beneath Elijah’s shirt. “You’re cold,” Shep murmured against his lips.
“It’s cold outside… and raining,” Elijah mumbled.
“Come on. Let’s get you warmed up.”
Elijah didn’t protest as Shep led him to the shower. The hot water sluicing over his skin made him moan, but Shep’s soapy hands made him hard. He worked over every part of Elijah squeezing his aching muscles and teasing over his cock. Elijah just leaned against him, enjoying Shep’s pampering. He could definitely get used to being bathed. He smiled at the thought.
“Tonight’s the night, rabbit.”
It took a moment for Shep’s words to penetrate. “For what?”
“Tonight, you’re going to tell me his name.”
A jolt like electricity shot through Elijah’s body, his heart racing. “Tonight?”
Shep nodded, pushing his wet hair from his eyes so he could see Elijah’s face. “Yes. Do you agree?”
Did he? He’d begged Shep to make him tell just days ago, but now… now he wasn’t so sure. He knew Shep would never hurt him physically. He was sure of that. But he also didn’t know if there was any force on earth that could get his tongue to loosen enough to sayhisname. He’d built a wall around it so high it seemed insurmountable. But he had to try, right?
“Rabbit?”
