“You don’t think he might have snuck out for a hookup?” Keno asks.
I glare at him.
Keno raises his hands. “Just asking, Lo.”
“No, he wouldn’t do that.” The words grit between my teeth. There’s that irrational anger again. I really shouldn’t get this defensive, should I? It’s just because it’s Caulder and I know how much this is fucking with him. My. Caulder.
“What’s the plan? There’s been zero answer to her claims,” Horny says.
I shrug. I’m not even withholding information because I don’t know. Caulder doesn’t know. Between his agent, his new lawyer, and the team, he’s sitting quietly locked away in his house. Which isn’t good for him.
He’s not alone today, though. He has practice and then his friends are going to his house. Which is good. Hopefully they make sure he eats. They can’t do anything about him notsleeping, though. The bags under his eyes, just two days since he learned about this, are dark.
“I don’t know, but I believe him. His coach believes him. His agent believes him, and his entire team believes him. If you know Caulder, you know this isn’t something he’d do. Not something he’d risk for a fucking hookup.”
Never mind that he’s never touched a girl in his life. He’s never touched anyone in his life. Except me. My possessive caveman DNA really wants to keep it that way. Keep this man as mine. So his hands ever only touch me. His dick only touches me.
More importantly, I’m the only one who will ever touch him. Please him. Comfort him. I’m positive that this man is my soulmate. I sure as fuck won’t be letting him go.
“We’re just curious, Lo,” Hilt teases, tossing one of my random throw pillows at me. I swat it away. “No need to get all papa bear on us.”
Taking a breath, I nod. He’s right. They’re just asking. It’s conversation. They’re not accusing. “Sorry. It pisses me off. It would piss me off if this was directed at anyone, but someone I know? Especially someone like Caulder. It extra pisses me off.”
“If it was someone like the crazy Max Latham was, I’d probably not believe him if he said it wasn’t him,” Keno says, “But yeah. Not even knowing Caulder personally, it seems… out of character. At least, out of character based on what he presents to the world.”
“He’s exactly like what he shows, but humbler. Kinder. Caulder’s a really good guy.” I stop there or I’m going to start gushing about how amazing my man is and they’re going to know that this isn’t just me being affronted for a new friend.
“Cool,” Keno says.
“I think someone should be saying something, though,” Hilt comments. “The silence just makes him look guilty.”
“This is Buffalo’s way,” Horny says. “Remember with the trio? It was like fucking weeks before they were allowed to live their lives again and not shut themselves away because it was more comfortable for the world. But the silence came first.”
“It’s not just Buffalo. Max’s thing? Absolute silence for months. I can’t imagine the hell he was going through.” Hilt sighs, shaking his head.
“Remember the football player who was having an affair? I think there was a kid involved on one side or the other. If I remember correctly, it was on the affair side. But yeah, silence there too,” Etna agrees.
“I think the silence is used to gather the facts and then using them to create a plan,” Hilt says. “I’m going to pretend that’s why there’s been no statements.”
We nod in agreement. In Caulder’s case, I know that’s the reason. They’re hoping the hotel can somehow dive deep into their virtual trash bins to pull security footage of the hours in which the team was there back in November.
But that was four months ago. Unless they have a reason to keep that footage, they don’t keep it. It just takes up room on the server.
I get it. From a business standpoint, I absolutely understand. As a man watching his boyfriend freak out a little more every hour from hundreds of miles away and helpless to do anything to comfort him or make it go away? I understand it less.
CHAPTER 27
CAULDER
My favorite thingabout waking up is opening my eyes to see Lo’s face on my tablet screen. He’s already awake, watching me. Not that I slept much. I feel like I was awake all night. Probably tossing and turning. The way I can feel my blankets tangled around me, I think that’s the case.
“Morning, sweet baby boy,” Lo greets, his voice low and quiet. There’s no sleep in it, so I think he’s been awake for a bit.
Despite the weight sitting on top of me, making it feel impossible to even turn over, I smile. Because of his words. His smile. His voice. I love that he’s here.
Well, nothere,but here. He hasn’t declared that this is too much drama for him, not what he signed up for, and broken up with me. It’s a thing. People do that. We’re in a world where so many just want everything to be easy. Everything. And that’s just not the reality of life.
“Morning,” I answer.
