Shiloh’s stomach churned, head spinning. “I-If I’m not going home, where am I staying?”
Levi scoffed. “You’re staying with me. Obviously.”
Levi tried to whisk Shiloh from Jericho’s office out onto the street without alerting his friends, but a voice called after him before he could reach the door, alerting him that he hadn’t been quite as discreet as he’d hoped.
“Hey, where are you going?” Nico cried.
Levi heaved a sigh. Clearly, his whisking needed work.
The last thing Shiloh needed was an interrogation, especially from Levi’s friends who had all the tact of a sledgehammer. Right now, Shiloh was too soft for them. He’d explode like an over-ripe watermelon under the weight of his friends’ irritating—if well-intentioned—concerns. Levi wanted to take him back to his place so he could rest.
“Back to the apartment,” Levi said, not slowing, tightening his arm around Shiloh’s shoulders.
“Hey, no fair. We want to meet him,” Lake called.
Levi rolled his eyes. “He’ll be with me at Jericho’s tonight. You can meet him then.”
“Really?” Arsen said, catching up and standing in front of them. “He got invite to family dinner already? Wow. When is wedding?”
Shiloh turned an adorable shade of pink but still refused to look up at the blue-haired mechanic.
“Fuck off,” Levi snapped. “You’re embarrassing him.”
“Don’t yell at him,” Seven admonished. “We have a right to be curious about how you came to be cuddling your attempted murderer.”
Shiloh’s head jerked up at that, big brown eyes going wide as he took in all of Levi’s friends.
“I-Is that what they think?” he whispered.
Before Levi could answer, Felix stood from the sofa, walking around to lean on the back, arms crossed. Shiloh’s mouth fell open. Who could blame him? How often did one find a man in a ten thousand dollar suit and a full face of makeup languishing on a greasy sofa in the back of an auto shop?
“Don’t act like you didn’t terrorize poor Ever the day you met him,” he said, his smirk letting Levi know Felix was just adding fuel to the fire for his own amusement.
Still, Levi took the bait. He always took the bait. “Terrorize? Hebitme!” Levi sputtered, unwilling to let this injustice stand. “I still maintain that I was the wounded party here.”
Ever suddenly appeared beside Arsen. Levi opened his mouth to apologize, but the boy just threw himself into Levi’s arms, trapping Shiloh in the hug as well. “I’m sorry. I just got scared. Everything was so crazy in my head back then.”
Guilt clawed at Levi’s insides. Why was Ever so fucking adorable? He used to find it infuriating. “I-I know. It was forever ago. It’s no big deal. You know that.”
Ever studied his face like he wanted to make sure Levi wasn’t placating him, but then he turned his attention to Shiloh. Thetwo blinked wide, owlish eyes at each other. It was like watching two baby deer meet for the first time.
Ever beamed at Shiloh. “I’m Ever.”
“Shiloh,” Shiloh whispered.
“I know,” he said. “You should come with me and let them fight about this. They’ll bicker for hours. I have candy. Do you like candy?”
“I—Yeah, I like candy,” Shiloh admitted, like it was some shameful secret.
Would Shiloh ever speak without second-guessing himself and stumbling over his words? Would he ever stop apologizing for just existing? Ever took Shiloh’s hand, threading their fingers together, pulling him up the stairs to the apartment overlooking the garage that he shared with Arsen. Something inside Levi eased. Shiloh was safe with Ever. He was the gentlest creature Levi had ever met.
When he turned back to his friends, they all stared expectantly. “What?”
“Well, what did he have to say for himself?” Cree asked.
And just like that, the ease was gone, the knot in his stomach back. He crossed his arms. “I’m not saying. You’re just going to be dicks about it.”
Cree sighed. “If Jericho’s cool enough with him to invite him to his place, we’ll give him a chance. But we still need to know what’s happening.”
