Karim got them both boxers to slip into and then discarded their towels in the laundry basket.
“Let’s get you to bed,” he said, turning down the comforter to get Luis in.
Luis sighed when he was lying down again, Karim tucked up against his side. Already he was drifting toward sleep.
At some point Julien returned to them. Luis felt only the whisper of a kiss to his forehead, couldn’t even open his eyes to look.
“Sleep well,” someone said. Luis did.
Chapter Thirty
“I’m going to crush you,” Karim said the second Julien had disappeared behind the door in the back of the bar. He pulled out his phone.
It was Friday, and they were at The Last Drop for drinks. Luis laughed and reached for his own phone in his pocket. “When you’re down fifty-seven points? I’d love to see how.”
Karim rolled his eyes and started tapping at his phone. Luis left him to it, scanning the bar idly.
It was a mistake. He accidentally made eye contact with a man who’d been leaning on the far wall, sipping a drink. He was tall, dark, and handsome. He smiled at Luis, one brow quirking in question.
His face reacted before he meant it to. Luis looked away, but it was too late. The man pushed off the wall and started in his direction.
Luis cursed under his breath.
“Hm?” Karim asked, but eyes were on the phone.
“Hey, I’m Marcus,” the man said when he got to Luis. He was dark skinned and even more handsome up close. “Can I buy you a drink?”
Karim’s head jerked up. He took in Luis, then Marcus, and bristled with anger. “Hey, fuck off buddy, this one’s mine.”
Both brows went up, and Marcus stepped back. He held up one hand in a peace gesture, scooping his drink back up with the other. “Oh, hey man, didn’t mean to offend! Didn’t know he was taken, sorry. Have a good night.”
And just like that, Marcus left.
But Luis was suddenly having trouble getting a breath in his lungs. The memory of last time, of Eric’s bright white teeth and that stupid smile of his was suddenly choking him.
Luis reached for his drink with a shaking hand and stopped. What if it was drugged? What if–?
“Hey,” Karim was suddenly around the table and standing next to him. “Hey, it’s okay. Breathe Luis.”
A warm hand slipped into Luis’s, the other wrapping around his back.
“It’s okay,” Karim said, a sure and steady presence at his side.
His lungs unlocked and he got a breath in. It was okay. It was okay. Karim was here; he wouldn’t let anything happen.
“I’ve got you, you’re safe,” Karim said. And as Luis tilted his head up, he could see Karim scanning the bar in a bulldogish stance. It loosened the tension in Luis’s chest.
“Sorry,” Luis got out, “guess I’m still a little jumpy.”
“Anyone would be.” The arm around him squeezed and Luis melted into his side. “But I’ve got you,” Karim said, bending to drop a kiss to his temple, “No one’s going to hurt you anymore.”
Luis believed him.
##
“Let’s go home,” Karim said when Julien returned.
Only Julien had had a drink so far, but the man looked between the two of them, how Karim was still stuck to Luis’s side, and just said, “I’ll get the bill,” and turned to find the nearest server.
