“I stand by what I said.” Eyes blazing, Wolf grasped him by the shoulders. “Talk to me. Tell me your secrets like I told you mine. Open up to me.” The buzzer sounded, and Wolf stomped away. “Fuck.” He hit the button and spoke to the doorman, and Spencer used the time to escape to the bathroom.
“Be right back.”
His appetite gone, Spencer splashed cold water on his face, undid his tie, and opened his collar.Breathe.He sauntered out to join Wolf at the island and pulled out the food, chopsticks, and soy sauce.
“This looks delicious. Sushi is always my go-to when I don’t know what I want to eat.” He tried to ignore the fact that Wolf hadn’t moved, and continued to fill the silence with conversation. “Have you ever had wasabi ice cream? I tried it once, and it almost blew my head off.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Wolf grabbed his arm, dragged him to the couch, and pulled him down to sit. “I swear if I have to listen to any more of this nonsense, I’ll be forced to tape your mouth shut.”
“Don’t knock it till you try it. I wouldn’t mind a little role-playing.” He grinned, but Wolf didn’t shake his head in his usual disgusted manner. Instead, he played dirty and turned tender.
“Why won’t you talk to me?”
Oh, hell no. Wolf acting kind and considerate? Gentle? Concerned? No fucking way.
“I liked you better when you were a bastard. You were more fun then.”
“I’m still a bastard. But you’ve dropped enough hints to let me know you’ve got something you don’t want anyone to find out. Which is fine for the rest of the world. But not me. I’m not just anybody.” Wolf’s fierce kiss surprised Spencer because he initiated it, but he had little time to think deeper as Wolf slid a hand through his hair to anchor their mouths together. The kiss turned demanding, and Spencer held on to Wolf’s shoulders.
“Damn right you’re not. Let’s go to the bedroom.” He pushed Wolf’s suit jacket off, but Wolf took hold of his hands and held them firm.
“Don’t do that.”
“What, say I want to fuck you? You want it too.”
Wolf’s hard jaw tightened. “You’re using sex to put off talking to me. Sex isn’t a shield.”
“Since when are you a psychologist?” Spencer brushed the hair off his face.
“Spence.” Wolf gentled his voice. “After everything that happened today, if not me, who else?”
He’d never spoken about it. But with Wolf having already given him the gift of his trust, maybe Spencer could let go of his private hell.
“In case you didn’t know, I was bullied pretty mercilessly in school. One day I was in the cafeteria, walking with my tray, looking for a place to sit, when someone stuck their foot out and tripped me. Everyone laughed when I fell and got a face full of food. Other kids dumped pudding in my hair and God knows what else. I wouldn’t let them see me cry—they could go to hell. I left and went to the gym to take a shower. When I came out, my math teacher was waiting for me.”
Wolf blinked and paled. “Go on,” he whispered and held his hands tighter.
“He gave me towels and put his arm around me. He talked to me. Told me he’d seen what happened and that I was the bravest kid. That it took a real man to know when to walk away.” He hung his head. “He said he was proud of me. No one had ever said that before.”
Wolf pulled him close, and Spencer curled into his chest, finally safe.
“Can you imagine how I felt? Here was this teacher, who’d taken the time to tell me he thought I was worth something. He asked me about my mother, and I didn’t cry until then. Talking to him was like having a friend.”
“Teachers aren’t friends. They’re in a position of authority.”
“I was sixteen. My mother had just died, and I had no one to talk to. What did I know? He said he’d spoken to my history teacher, and I didn’t have to go to my next class. He asked if I wanted to go to his car and talk. Because it was safer there. I said yes.”
“Of course you did. You thought he was there to help you.” Wolf stroked his hair, his back. “You trusted him, and he abused that trust, didn’t he?”
“He was the only one who seemed to care. He said he was lonely too. So…we…I let him…” He couldn’t say it.
“Shh. It’s okay. It’s okay. You’re safe with me. I’ll never let anything happen to you.” Wolf soothed him, and he took a deep breath, curiously lighter and free. “How long did it go on?”
“Almost a year. I saw him at the mall one day. I was working, and he came in with his wife—his pregnant wife and a child in a stroller. I ran to the bathroom and got sick. I had to leave because I thought I would die. I never met up with him after that. He tried to get me to talk to him at school, but I let him know that if he didn’t leave me alone, I’d tell his wife. I left for college, and later I heard he was fired for inappropriate sexual relations with a student.”
“Thank God he was stopped, but it hurts to know you were abused like that.”
“A lesson learned.”
