“Apparently, he and Colin know one another. Come on, let’s head over there.” Blake gave Corey and William a nod as they passed us. Corey looked shaken, but William was comforting him. One of the coolest things about working here was seeing how much of a family it was. Yes, they were a couple, but here, it didn’t matter that William followed Corey behind the bar, whispering in his ear between customers.
The mood in DeSires was uncomfortable. Whatever had happened obviously hadn’t gone unnoticed. Blake said hi to a few people he knew on our way to the bar. All of the guys were huddled around one stool, and I knew without being able to see the guy that they were right to be concerned. There was no other reason for everyone to gather the way they were.
Behind the bar, Colin was visibly shaken. I kissed Blake’s cheek and told him I was going to check on my friend. We didn’t hang out off the clock or anything, but he was the only person here who didn’t have someone to look after them.
His eyes were glazed over and his was face pale. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice me approach. Colin jumped when I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, you holding up back here? Do you want to call your guys to see if they want to come down?”
“No, I’m fine,” he insisted. I didn’t call him on the obvious lie.
“You know him?” I jerked my head toward the guy everyone was trying to talk to. I wanted to go over there and tell the Daddies to give him some space. If that was me, I’d be crawling out of my skin. If they were right and something had happened to him, the last thing he needed was a bunch of domineering men crowding him.
Colin nodded. “He was my roommate in college. Well, at least on paper. I should have done something last fall.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” With every new detail I learned, this felt more like a soap opera and less like real life. “Do you know the guy he was here with?”
Colin shook his head and swallowed hard. “I saw him once, but we never actually met. Justice wasn’t around the suite much. He lived with that guy. When we saw him, he was acting weird, and the guy gave me a total creeper vibe. But I walked away. How in the hell could I do that to him?”
I tugged on Colin’s arm, leading him to a stool at the opposite end of the bar from everyone else, out of their line of sight. I sat next to him. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up. It sounds like the two of you didn’t know one another well. And even if you had, do you think he would have listened to you?”
“No, but if I’d said something—”
I held up a hand to silence him. “Chances are you would have caused a scene and he still wouldn’t have listened to you. Maybe the fact that he’s here and they got rid of the asshole means he’s finally ready to make a break but wasn’t sure how to do it.”
“Maybe,” Colin conceded. “But I don’t know if he has anywhere to go. I know he and his family have a shitty relationship. I’m not even sure they know he’s gay.”
“Could he stay with you?” I suggested. If they knew one another—well, more than he knew anyone else here—maybe that would be the best solution.
“That’s probably not a good idea.” Colin slouched, propping his elbow on the bar. He kept shaking his head, as if he was arguing with himself. “He didn’t get along with most of the roommates. The few times he was around, he acted like he was better than everyone else. I mean, they’d probably be cool with it, but my parents are coming up this weekend and they already struggle with my living arrangements. God, that makes me sound like such a shitty human.”
“No, it doesn’t.” I draped an arm over his shoulders. “It’s not a bad thing to look after yourself. And I’m sure those guys are already working to figure out how to keep him safe until that douche forgets about him.”
“Maybe.”
Colin and I sat there talking a bit longer. I was trying to get him to open up about anything to keep his mind off what had gone down here tonight. It didn’t sound like there was a physical altercation or anything, but it still left emotional carnage in its wake. Hell, I had missed out on all of it, and I was still shaken. It was easy to pretend like our own experiences were what everyone in the community went through. Knowing there were people like that abusive dickhead out there shook a lot of us to our core.
I didn’t relax until Blake wrapped his arms around my waist, urging me to settle against his chest. “How are you holding up?”
“Better than most.” I was drained, and having sex was now the last thing on my mind. Tonight made me realize how lucky I was to have someone like Blake. He might be trying to kill me with the world’s worst set of blue balls, but at least he was doing it because he cared about me. We’d waited this long; we could wait until the sludge of tonight cleared so we could truly enjoy it. “Would it be okay with you if we just go home? It doesn’t feel right to…well, you know.”
Damn, I couldn’t even say the words. That was just fucked up. But Blake didn’t laugh at me or tease me. He held me tighter, easing me off the stool. As we walked back over toward the guys who I was beginning to respect as a found family of sorts, Blake kept me tucked carefully under his arm.
He let John know we were taking off, then kissed my temple. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. I’d like it if you packed a bag and came over to my place for a few days, just until we know there’s not going to be any trouble.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” I didn’t need Blake to protect me, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to sleep at my apartment knowing it was likely that Jag asshole was pissed off about what the guys had done tonight.
9
Blake
Fucking Jag.All of us wanted to track him down and treat him the way he’d treated his boy. If only we’d done more when we first realized how badly he was treating his so-called submissives, maybe I would have gotten some sleep last night. Instead, I held Danny while he slept, thanking whatever higher power might be out there that he hadn’t fallen into the hands of someone who would abuse him.
Yes, he had his own pain to work through, but from the sounds of it, Justice had practically been held captive. When he’d tried getting out, Jag had hunted him like prey and then punished him for being disrespectful.
I wasn’t happy that he’d left with one of Stephen’s biker buddies, but it was the best possible solution. No matter what I thought of them, I knew they’d do everything in their power to keep him safe until he could figure out what came next.
On a normal day, I would already be up and getting ready for work. Today was anything but normal. I’d done something I almost never did and called in, saying I had some personal matters I needed to attend to. It wasn’t a lie; today, I was going to spend every minute possible showing Danny what I wanted from him.
“Sleepyhead, it’s time to wake up,” I whispered, softly kissing my way down his neck and over his collarbone. I pinched one of his nipples and his back arched off the mattress. “Yeah, you like that, don’t you?”
