"Hey, George?"
"Yeah?"
"I like the ducks."
George groaned, his humiliation complete. He hadn't realized until that exact moment that he'd grabbed his boxers with the little smiling ducks print on it.
"No, seriously," Leon said. "They're cute."
Cute…peachy. Just how he wanted to be referred to. Why couldn't the man of his fantasies think of him as smoking hot?
"So, what's on the agenda tomorrow? Are we headed down to lottery headquarters?"
"Yeah." George sighed before rolling over to face Leon. "They'll deposit the money directly into my account, but I still have to go in with the winning lottery ticket and sign the papers. We'll need to stop by the bank first so I can get the ticket."
"You put it in the bank?"
George nodded. "I put it in the bank after I signed the back of it and took a picture of me holding it. Ford thought that would help prove I was the winning ticket owner."
"That's actually pretty smart."
"I wasn't taking any chances."
Leon grinned. "I can understand that."
George was glad someone could.
"I just want you to know, I'll be armed tomorrow, so don't worry about anyone trying to take it away from you. I won't let that happen."
"I think I'm worried less about someone trying to take the ticket away from me before I get to the lottery office than I am of someone coming after me once I get the money. No one except you, Ford, his parents, Uncle Allan's lawyer, and Alpha Barker even know I have the ticket."
That was actually quite a few people.
"We should keep it that way for the time being."
George wholeheartedly agreed. "I kind of don't want to tell anyone else even after I turn in the ticket." It wasn't like he had that many people to share with after all. "Ford is my best friend, and he already knows, as do his parents. I only told Alpha Barker and Uncle Allan's lawyer because I had to. There's not really anyone else to tell."
Leon's eyebrows drew together. "Surely you have other friends besides Ford."
"No, not really." He didn't make friends easily. People either tended to be intimidated by his size or picked fights with him because they felt the need to prove themselves by fighting the biggest man in the room.
After a while of that crap, George had started keeping to himself. He still went out and did stuff with Ford and his aunt and uncle, but he didn't engage people beyond casual conversation. It just wasn't worth it. It also made meeting anyone for a long-term relationship pretty impossible.
"Well, I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends now."
George lifted one eyebrow. "Are those really the kind of people I want as friends?"
Leon chuckled. "Maybe not, but you have to admit, with some money in your bank account, you'll be able to experience things you wouldn't if you had no money. That means you'll be exposed to more people. You'll make friends."
George wasn't so sure of that, but he wasn't going to share his doubts with someone he barely knew. Leon seemed to have an overabundance of confidence. George bet he had friends all over the world.
"We'd better get to sleep," George said as he started to roll over. "We have a pretty busy day tomorrow."
"Hey." Leon grabbed his arm before he could get all the way rolled over. "I want you to know I'll keep you safe tomorrow. I don't want you to worry about that."
George sent him a small smile. "I'm not worried.”
And for some reason he couldn't fathom, he really wasn't worried. Leon made him feel safe. It wasn't as if George was terribly worried about his safety at the moment. Not many people messed with him, but after he became rich and famous, that would most likely change.
Especially once his parents learned he had money, and they would. George had no doubt of that. He had suspected for some time that they were keeping tabs on him in some manner. Not because he had seen anyone following him or anything, but because they had given up way too easily.
Once he had escaped through the bathroom window, he had never heard another word from his parents. He had thought they had moved on, but after a while, he started to think that they were merely biding their time until they could force him to go back. He wouldn't, but that didn't mean they wouldn't try. That would be even more so once they learned he had money.
"Good night, Leon." George rolled over and faced away from the enticing man on the other side of the bed.
If he was lucky, he'd sleep like the dead until morning. Unfortunately, his luck just didn't seem to run that way, so he wasn't holding his breath. The best he could hope for was to not end up wrapped around the man come dawn's early light.
Again, he wasn't holding his breath.
