Roman twisted the beads so that they cinched the man’s throat and lifted him to his toes. Ezra worried he might actually hurt him. “Roman, let him go.” Ezra’s hands were shaking so badly that he dropped the tongs he’d been holding. Roman seemed trapped in a fury of drunken rage, so Ezra said it again, louder and with more force behind his words. Roman glanced over at him and slowly unclenched his fist.
"Get the fuck out of my house," Roman growled at the man. “If I see your fucking face here again, I’ll break your nose.”
The man straightened his shoulders and glanced once more at Ezra before heading toward the door. Ezra was so frightened. And soangry. At the man, at Roman. He didn’t know what to do. Roman was calling for Jay, asking who the hell let that guy inside. Ezra huffed and turned on his heel, heading straight for the door. He needed some fresh air and time to process. Then, when he got out to the sidewalk, he decided to just keep walking.
Roman didnotneed to interfere like that. He’d had it under control. Did Roman think he needed to save him every time someone called him a bad name? Did he even realize how often that sort of thing happened? Then Ezra started to wonder if Roman might think of him in that way too, if that was why he’d gotten so angry. Ezra wasnotretarded. And he wasn’t a helpless little kid either. He could take care of himself.
Someone from the crowd of people shoved into him and nearly knocked him over.
“Sorry, bro, didn’t see you there. You all right?”
“I’m fine,” Ezra shouted at the stranger. God, he really hated Mardi Gras!
* * *
“Who the fuckinvited that asshole in here?” Roman shouted at Jay and whomever else was listening. How dare he come into Roman’s home—his castle—and violate Ezra’s safe place. How dare he speak to his boyfriend in such a degrading manner. “Do you know who he was?” he demanded of his best friend.
“No idea, QB. Never seen him before.” Jay shoved a cup of water into his hand. “Drink up.”
“Where’s Ezra?” Roman glanced around. He’d turned away for one second and Ezra had disappeared.
“He’s probably in his room. You check there, and I’ll look upstairs.”
Jay jogged toward the staircase and Roman went over to Ezra’s bedroom and knocked on the door. No response. He jiggled the handle and remembered that he’d suggested Ezra lock it before company arrived to keep guests from straying into his room. “Ezra?”
Roman pulled a coin out of his wallet and used it to unlock the door. Ezra’s bed was made, and the lights were off. “Ezra?” Roman rubbed his temple, which was throbbing. “Fuck, where did he go?”
Jay came back a few minutes later to tell him there was no sign of him upstairs or outside by the pool. “Maybe he needed to walk it off.”
“Outside?” Roman pointed to the street. “There’s, like, a million people out there.”
“I don’t know. Try calling him.”
Roman pulled out his phone and dialed Ezra’s number. No answer. It just rang and rang. “Why isn’t he answering?” Roman was starting to really worry now. Jay walked over and picked up the vibrating phone on Ezra’s desk. “Why doesn’t he have his phone on him?”
“I don’t know, man. He probably forgot it. He seemed pretty pissed when he left.”
“Did you hear that guy?”
“Yeah, I heard him. Everyone heard him. Ezra was handling it, and you came barreling over like Godzilla with a wedgie.”
“I did not.”
“You kind of did, my dude.”
“Fuck.” Roman groaned, feeling lost and confused. Where the fuck was Ezra? “I’m going to take a jog around the block and see if I can find him. You wait here, all right? Call me if he comes back.”
“Will do. Be safe out there. And don’t start any fights.”
* * *
Ezra only madeit a couple of blocks before he had to turn around and head home. It was bedlam on the streets. People kept knocking into him and spilling their beer and asking him what they had to do for his beads. The answer was leave him alone!
He stormed back into the house and headed straight for his bedroom. The door was already unlocked. A quick survey told him nothing had been disturbed. He sat in the middle of his rug, Bakugan-style, and was still there stewing when Jay knocked on the closed door a few minutes later and asked to come inside.
“Yes,” Ezra shouted so he could be heard above the music.
Jay leaned on the doorframe and assessed the situation. “Hey, E-man, how’s it going?”
