“We knew all the ladies liked you,” he went on when Skyler didn’t respond, “but we didn’t know you likedallthe ladies.” He gave a pitifully forced chuckle that didn’t make his joke sound any funnier. “How many girls have we seen you out with in the last couple weeks?”
“Er, I don’t know,” Skyler finally answered.
“So are you going to tell us if one of them isthe one?”
The question made Trevor want to throw up, but he gritted his teeth as Skyler blinked at the man. “Huh?”
“Surely with all these dates you’ve been on, you must have found someone who’s good enough for a second date?”
“Oh,” Skyler said. And Trevor wanted to punch Brett, and maybe Maggie too, because this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Making the world think Skyler might be dating a girl was one thing. But making them think he was callously stringing along a bunch of girls was bullshit. That wasn’t Skyler at all. “I—I’m just having fun.”
Brett latched on to that with an all too pleased grin. “Oh, I bet you are.”
“It’s not—”
“Not what it looks like, huh?” Brett said with a conspiratorial eyebrow raise. “All right, I’ll pretend I believe you.”
Skyler shifted uncomfortably in his seat and Trevor sat on his fists to resist reaching out to hold his hand. Not that he could have anyway—since Maggie had made sure to separate them on the couch by both Jermaine and Noah. “Sorry, but I’d rather keep my personal life private.”
“Come on, though,” Brett pushed. “You’ve become such a hot topic. You’ve got to give us something.”
And that was it. That was as much as Trevor could take.
“He said it’s none of your business,” he snapped.
Noah whipped his head around to shoot Trevor a warning look, but it wasn’t necessary. He was already biting his tongue to keep from saying anything else.
Brett, to his credit, looked slightly ashamed. But he was probably more confused than anything else, because surely, he’d been prompted by Maggie to ask these questions. “Woah, I was only joking,” he said. Then he turned back to Skyler with a jovial laugh. “That’s sure a protective best friend you’ve got there.”
“Yeah.” Skyler had leaned forward, his eyes finding Trevor’s and holding his gaze even though they weren’t supposed to do that. “He’s the best.”
And, okay, it hadn’t been Trevor’s proudest moment snapping at an interviewer like that. And Maggie had looked positively murderous when they’d stepped offstage, but she hadn’t had time to yell at him because they were due somewhere else in thirty minutes and their car was waiting. It was probably coming later though.
But he hadn’t been able to control himself. It was like having his heart ripped out and tossed carelessly on the floor in front of everyone’s feet when he’d had to sit there and listen to Brett fucking Cunningham call Skyler a ladies’ man. His Skyler.His.
Fuck, he needed to work on this possessiveness thing. Skyler wasn’t his property.
But Skyler was the bee to his honey. He’d tattooed the door to Trevor’s home on his ribs. Gotten tattoo after tattoo, committed himself to Trevor in such a beautiful way. Yet what the public saw was some uncaring fuckboy who was hooking up with any young model, actress, or singer available.
Trevor knew how it affected Skyler to hear himself talked about that way. And he couldn’t do anything about it. He wasn’t going to help either of them by getting them into more trouble with their management. He had to play the fuck along, and it sucked.
And now here was Skyler, in bed being the big spoon, even though he preferred being the little one. Scratching his nails lightly down Trevor’s back because Trevor was sulking.
Trevor arched into the contact and sighed. “I’m sorry I opened my mouth tonight. I should’ve let you handle it.”
Skyler pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades. “No, don’t be sorry.”
“Maggie’s going to be up our asses again.”
“She’s not the one I want up my ass,” Skyler joked.
Trevor twisted his neck to give him a look. “I’m serious.”
Skyler kissed his cheek, snuggling in closer after Trevor rested his head back on the pillow. “I’m doing everything she wants. It’ll be fine.”
He didn’t say anything, and he felt Skyler’s body tense behind him.
“You promised it was going to be fine.”
