Ever didn’t really even understand what Discord was. Only that Arsen seemed to meet up in certain rooms to play with certain people. It was all very confusing for Ever. He just liked playing the games, even if he was terrible at it. And Arsen said he liked showing him off.
But his popularity wasn’t the only reason he was there. Jericho had a plan. A plan Arsen hated but that they’d all admitted had merit. The only way the dead cop could have known Ever’s name was if he’d heard it through the neighborhood or he was watching him online.
Maybe a combination of both. Either way, Jericho wanted Ever front and center—a way to safely use him as bait to see if that cop was all talk or if there really was a “boss” they needed to take out in order to keep Ever safe. And others.
It was the others that scared Ever. How many other boys were living like him? A domestic servant to a narcissistic lunatic? A sex slave to a monster, having their bodies traded for money? How many kids were snatched from their mothers so young they couldn’t even remember them? That was why Ever didn’t mind being the bait. He was free. So many others weren’t.
With each passing day, Ever grew more uneasy. The silence was almost worse than the attack. It was like living every day with a sword swinging over his head. He wanted this over with. He wanted to be normal. Atticus was working on securing a new birth certificate and social security number for Ever, something that took more time and money than Ever could even fathom.
He’d offered to pay him, but Atticus had waved him off, saying there was no benefit to being as disgustingly rich as he was if he couldn’t use it to help people who needed it. It was so weird. Arsen insisted the Mulvaneys were psychopaths, vicious murderers who tortured people for their crimes. But they just seemed so…nice.
Only when the noise of the game quieted did Ever realize he’d zoned out. He quickly reached for the gummy worms in the bag in front of him and put one in his mouth, tipping his head up to show Arsen the half dangling over his chin.
Arsen looked down and smiled, dipping his head, teeth scraping against Ever’s lips as he stole half of Ever’s treat, smirking as he chewed it triumphantly. Ever slapped his cheek softly, glowering until Arsen reached over and took another worm, swinging it in front of Ever’s mouth.
Ever took the apology worm, chewing and swallowing, then showed Arsen his empty mouth. Arsen swooped in, kissing him deeply, sucking the sour taste from his tongue until Ever moaned low, his half-hard cock now fully at attention.
Arsen continued to plunder his mouth, his hand sliding beneath his t-shirt, fingers skimming his belly in a way that made Ever’s stomach swoop. He heard the chime signaling that the people watching were “paying” Arsen—a strange sort of online currency the platform converted into real money twice a month. That was what Arsen called it: a platform. He said Ever’s appearances made him lots of tips because the world loved Ever.
Ever only cared that Arsen loved him. He said he loved him, had whispered it a hundred times a day since that night. It had only been four days, but it felt like just yesterday and a hundred years ago at the same time. He loved Arsen like they’d known each other in every lifetime, comfortable with him in every way. But no matter how much time they spent together, no matter how many times he let him into his body, it just never seemed like enough.
Ever’s hands slid along Arsen’s jean-clad thighs. Arsen gripped his chin, holding him in place so he could taste his mouth at his leisure. They should stop. They were on camera in front of roughly six hundred people at last count. All watching Arsen tongue-fuck him with enthusiasm.
That should bother Ever, right? People watching Arsen kiss him, touch him, manhandle him. But it didn’t. He wanted everyone watching to know Arsen was taken—not just the ones online but the girls who showed up at the shop, giggling and flirting. He wished they could see him, too. Maybe they could. Maybe they were watching.
Good. They needed to know Arsen was his. Just his.
And Arsen proved it every night, fucking him long into the early morning hours, then dragging himself out of bed to go to work, just to do it again the next night, sometimes even during lunch. Ever almost felt guilty about how sleep deprived Arsen was. Almost. It was hard to feel guilty after several mind-numbing orgasms. Arsen buried inside him was quickly becoming an addiction.
Arsen pulled his mouth away, but then dropped three more kisses in rapid succession onto Ever’s slack mouth. He looked at the camera, a dopey grin on his face. “Streams over. See you next time.”
He signed off quickly, pushing the buttons to take them offline. Ever glanced once more at the chat log on his monitor, heart stopping at the second to last row of comments.
Ever. Ever. Ever.
I seeeeeee you…
See you soon.
He slapped Arsen's arm and pointed, the words sticking in his throat. It could be just another online creep. It wasn’t the first weird thing someone had said to him. It wasn’t even the first weird thing that day. Levi said the chat section was the wild west, and the only way to deal with it was by blocking, reporting, or ignoring the bad apples.
But this seemed different. Malicious. It left Ever feeling like he needed a shower. Arsen took a screenshot then turned off the monitor. “Don’t worry about it. It’s probably nothing.”
He was lying.
And they both knew it.
A muffled shriek cut through the fog of Arsen’s dreamless sleep, shooting his heart rate into the stratosphere before he was even fully conscious. He reached for Ever, eyes still closed, sitting bolt upright when he realized he wasn’t beside him. He glanced around the darkened room, his brain trying to decide if what he’d heard was real or simply some kind of panicked hallucination. When another shrill scream came from far away, Arsen grabbed the gun on his side table and ran barefoot to the glass wall that overlooked the garage below.
Relief flooded his system as soon as his gaze landed on Ever, but the excess adrenaline pumping through his body made him light-headed. He sagged against the wall, heart still hammering, dropping the weapon to his side, taking a few deep breaths, willing himself to relax.
Below, Ever sat on the couch—the couch Jericho had dragged out of storage just for him—with Nico perched above him on the back, working one of those spider-like scalp massagers through Ever’s hair. Ever shivered and squealed, seemingly delighted at the sensation. Arsen remembered the first time Levi had used one of those things on him. It left a feeling like running water that he found both pleasant and disturbing.
Felix was also there. He sat beside Ever, doing his best to hold Ever’s arm still as he dragged something along his skin. Arsen couldn’t even imagine what it was this time. Stickers? Temporary tattoos? It could have been anything.
Arsen’s friends—the friends who always claimed they had school or work as an excuse to not hang out—seemed to have infinite time when it came to Ever. They were there every day. Every. Single. Day. Not always together but all of them, usually once a day, made an appearance. At first, Arsen thought maybe they worried he couldn’t protect Ever on his own, but now, he realized they just wanted to be around him.
They seemed addicted to bringing Ever his next first experience. And there was no shortage of experiences. Boba tea. Sushi. Garlic bread. Coloring books. Lake’s chunky monkey muffins. Seven’sbabcia’s pierogi recipe. A slinky. A furby. The list went on and on. Arsen tried not to be jealous. After all, Ever had let Arsen give him the ultimate first experience. But still, he was greedy with all of Ever’s firsts.
