“I’m not going anywhere, regardless of what Linc says or does. You’re stuck with me until we figure this mess out.”
And then what?Robby shook the thought away. He needed to just try to be happy for now. They could worry about the rest later.
While he ate, Calder cleaned the pans in the sink and put them away. He seemed to make more of an effort to straighten up with Robby there, but it was unnecessary. The place looked lived in but not dirty. Robby’s apartment was sterile. There was nothing there that represented him because it never really felt like home. He and Cas were always just taking up space. Here, Cas’s toys were scattered on the couch and rug and Robby’s pants were still on the bedroom floor where he’d lost them last night. Calder’s apartment felt more like home than anywhere Robby had ever been, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do with that.
When he finished shoveling food into his mouth and had set his fork down, Calder leaned over him, sliding his hands up Robby’s shirt to play with those steel bars in his nipples. He instantly melted back into the chair. Calder chuckled. “If it was up to me, I’d take you right back to bed, angel, but we gotta go. Go put some clothes on, and we’ll walk Cas and then take him with us to the office.”
Robby whined, dragging Calder down for a dirty kiss that had Calder plunging his hands into Robby’s pilfered underwear. Before he could even appreciate Calder’s groping, it was gone. “Now, who’s the tease?” Robby grumbled.
Calder chuckled. “Don’t pout. I promise, as soon as we get home tonight, I’ll do whatever you want to this hot little body of yours.”
Robby stood, wrapping his arms around Calder’s neck, pressing himself close. Calder’s arms went around him, grabbing two handfuls of Robby’s ass. “Anything?” Robby pressed.
Calder ducked his head, growling against Robby’s ear. “Mm, anything your kinky little heart desires. Spanking? Wanna be tied up? Want to sit on my face?” Robby whimpered at the last one, his hard cock already tenting his boxers at the words. “You like that one, huh? Well, be a good boy for me today and I’ll make it happen.”
“Fuck,” Robby muttered, pulling Calder in tighter. “Why does that get me so hot?”
“I don’t know, but I’m glad it does,” Calder mused. Robby jumped as a hand slapped his ass hard. “Now, go get dressed before I bend you over this counter and fuck you silly.”
Robby glowered at Calder before rubbing his smarting ass cheek as he walked away. “Yeah, big time tease.”
Robby dressed quickly, pulling on a pair of ripped black skinny jeans and reaching for one of Wyatt’s shirts before his gaze snagged on Calder’s closet. He wandered there instead, reaching up and snagging a black t-shirt with a white graphic for a tattoo studio emblazoned across the front and tiny pant platters everywhere. Robby smiled. Everything Calder owned was covered in splotches of paint. He pulled it on and threw on his chucks before frowning at his hair. Calder was right. He did look like a baby bird. He grabbed a white beanie cap hanging half out of Calder’s drawer and a gray cardigan of Wyatt’s and considered himself presentable enough for friends.
Robby grabbed Cas’s crate, but Calder scooped up the dog and opened the door. They still needed to walk him. When they were halfway down the apartment stairs, Calder grabbed Robby’s hand, and he was almost positive his heart became light enough to fly away. He was finally getting to experience life like a normal person.
Calder dropped Robby’s hand to push open the security gate and usher him through, and that’s when he spotted them…and they spotted him. He didn’t know how many of them there were—more than enough to converge on the two of them, surrounding them almost instantly with their cameras and microphones.
“Robby, have you and Elijah buried the hatchet?”
“Is this your new boyfriend?”
“How did it feel to kill a man?”
“Can you comment on your father’s harassment complaint?”
“Are you in a cult?”
“Is it true you’ve been fired from your show?”
“What will you do now?”
The questions came at him from all sides until he was dizzy, his head swiveling this way and that, trying to find a clear path so he could flee. Cas growled and yipped, but it was lost in the fray. Suddenly, Calder’s arm came around his shoulders as he bulldozed his way through the throng of media. Robby kept his head down, trusting Calder not to let him stumble and fall.
When somebody grabbed Robby’s hand, he snatched it back, only then realizing they had slipped him a note. His head jerked up as he scanned furiously through the crowd, his eyes lighting on a familiar face, the shock of recognition spiking his heart rate. “Rebecca?” he whispered.
But she was already fleeing, giving him one last look over her shoulder before ducking around the corner. He shoved the paper in his pocket so he didn’t lose it. What the fuck? Was that her? It had been so long since he’d seen her. Her hair was longer, and she was wearing jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt. He couldn’t recall ever seeing her out of her long blue frock with the white ruffles. Was it really her? Had he just imagined it?
He didn’t have time to really stop and ponder it. Calder was doing his best to get him to the truck. When Calder had finally gotten him inside with his seatbelt fastened, he just clenched his eyes shut until they were pulling out of the parking lot.
“You can open your eyes, now, angel. We’re good.”
Were they? “I’m sorry,” Robby said.
Calder took his eyes off the road briefly to frown at Robby. “Sorry for what?”
“That. Back there. You didn’t sign on for any of that. I-I don’t know how they found me.”
Calder scoffed. “That shit don’t bother me. If I had a problem with being photographed by paparazzi, I wouldn’t babysit celebrities for a living. You seem way more shaken up than I am. Are you okay?”
