The tension in his shoulders eased slightly as he glanced at each one of the men gathered in his apartment—his family in every way that mattered. Here they were, making plans to face the worst of his nightmares, ready to navigate some dark and intense days, and yet there was light. There was always light with them.
Twenty-five
It’dbeenadaysince they returned from playing at Resurrection Fest and Tuska Festival on almost consecutive dates.
Two concerts in two countries that couldn’t be more different if they tried in terms of weather, gastronomy, language, and overall culture. Yet, Noah living here with Kaj in his apartment, coexisting twenty-four-seven for the past ten days and not arguing or being remotely hostile toward each other was even more baffling. Where were the days they communicated with sarcasm and backhanded compliments?
Not that Kaj was going to complain. This felt so normal, so good… Maybe it was because he hadn’t experienced this type of emotional stability and coziness in forever, but he almost wanted to make this permanent—cat hair included and all. Seriously, he was so high with this rush of endorphins that the cravings for other drugs were barely a distant murmur in the back of his head.
This could be the reason they said to refrain from having a relationship—changing one vice for another—but he didn’t care. Not when it was reciprocated and they were finally where they should have been years ago.
The only thing that had the drummer a bit on edge was waiting for the police to find something on Jesper and put him behind bars.
It had been four days since they’d reported him for stalking Noah. Kaj knew it was too early for that. Though, honestly, not so deep down, he hoped that asshole fell in a ditch somewhere far away from civilization and slowly rotted under the sun. Considering the shit he’d been forcing on them for months, and the whole ordeal of having to report him to the authorities, it was the least he deserved.
You’d think that since you’re the victim, it would be easy, but no.
After their talk, Niels and the private investigator had spent several days gathering all the screenshots, emails, and text messages Jesper had sent Noah. And although Kaj hadn’t been allowed to be present during the questioning—no one was other than the manager, really—he knew something was off the moment they walked out.
Noah had been evasive at first when they asked, but Aksel was enough of a pain in the ass to make him talk while they hung out that same evening.
“What type of relationship did you two have?”
“Have you considered changing your number and email?”
“Have you answered any of his messages?”
“When was the last time you were in contact with him?”
“Is it possible that you did something to make him mad?”
“Why do you think he contacted you again after twelve years of no contact?”
Kaj got it—with his jaw and fists clenched, unsure about who he wanted to punch harder, that cop or Jesper. But he got it. He really did.
The police most likely just followed a script with all their downright intrusive questions in cases like this, hating it when there was nothing they could do or when they realized it was a fake report that was taking attention away from the real victims. But none of that diminished the bitter taste it left in their mouths.
“I was sitting there, getting picked apart, having my integrity and my every word questioned, as if I’m partly guilty for what’s happening to me. It fucking sucked.”
That was what Noah had said, giving Kaj yet another reason to not even try to report his abuse.
But it was done. With the amount of information they’d handed the police, it was only a matter of time until they found something. Jesper could be a fucking snake, but there was no way he wouldn’t have left some sort of digital trail behind him. Knowing his identity had to make a difference, right?
“What are you doing?” Noah said, bringing Kaj back to his room, to the sight of him sitting up against the headboard of his bed, lazily stroking his cock.
Kaj had frozen on the threshold of the en-suite while drying his chest, going on some sort of astral trip.
“Sorry.”
With a smile, he tossed the towel on the floor and walked toward Noah.
Kaj knew his body intimately by now, but it never ceased to amaze him how beautiful he was. All of him. Every freckle and scar, like the one on his knee that he’d gotten on a day they’d gone a little wild and he fell off his bike. The softness of his happy trail. The dips on his lower back. The birthmark on the outside of his left asscheek. Every line of ink. How ticklish he got when he was tired and Kaj caressed his sides. The way his grin got wider on the left side when he was really having fun.
Kaj climbed on the bed and straddled Noah’s lap, trapping his fist under him. Tilting his head as water fell from the ends of his hair and slid down his collarbones, Kaj held onto the headboard, caging Noah between his arms. He loved the way he reacted to him. The sharp intake of air. The endless darkness in his eyes. His lips swollen from their heavy kissing in the shower.
Waking up beside this man, having breakfast, and then brushing their teeth together before visiting Trine and Sigrid that morning, healed something Kaj didn’t know needed to be restored. But this moment, them alone in a room with all the time in the world for each other, was unparalleled.
“So… where were we?” Kaj rasped.
