“Well excuseme.” He brushed past Trevor to drop into a chair, crossing his arms. “Ithought the nice thing to do would be to wait for you so we could eat together.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“But you should have.”
“Are you serious?” Trevor asked.
No. He wasn’t.
This wasn’t a great start to the calm, mature discussion he’d wanted them to have, but once Skyler said something stupid, it was hard for him to back down. He dug his toes into the plush carpet to try to ground himself as Trevor took off his jacket and threw it over the empty chair.
Trevor went to the hotel phone on the nightstand. “I can call room service for you. What do you want?”
“I want you to care more about me than you do your fake girlfriend.”
Shit. No.Skyler hadn’t meant to say that. God, what was wrong with him? He blamed the hunger.
“Come on,” Trevor said, sinking down onto the edge of the bed. “Are we really doing this again?”
“No.” He shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. I just wanted to talk to you.”
“Sure. What about?” Trevor asked. But before Skyler could answer, Trevor’s phone rang in his pocket. He grabbed it and held up a finger. “It’s my mom. Give me a sec, baby.”
Skyler nodded as Trevor stood, crossing to their tiny balcony. The balcony they weren’t even allowed to stand on at the same time. They were never allowed on hotel balconies together unless some of the other boys were there.
“Hey, Mom, what’s up?” Trevor said, sliding open the glass door. Then, with one foot outside and one still in—“Who…What? No!”
Skyler rose from his seat. “What’s wrong?”
Suddenly, Trevor was on his ass in the middle of the doorway, like his legs had given out. “No,” he said again, shaking his head. The phone dropped from his hand, falling a few inches to the cement balcony.
“Trevor!” Skyler yelled, rushing over.
Trevor didn’t respond, didn’t look at him, didn’t blink. He kept staring straight ahead, mouth slightly open.
Panicking now, Skyler knelt down and shook his shoulders gently, calling his name again. When he still didn’t get a response, he leaned over Trevor’s body to pick up his phone, the screen protector now cracked in a long diagonal line. “Hello? Who’s this?” he demanded. “What’s going on?”
And when the strange voice on the other end started speaking, Skyler barely managed not to drop the phone too.
Chapter Thirty-two
Now
SKYLER
Skyler is in themiddle of watering his plants, talking to them cheerfully as he does it, when he hears Trevor walking into the room. As he turns around, his breath catches in his throat, because he’s greeted by the sight of the man standing there with only a towel wrapped around his waist, wet hair dripping fat water droplets onto his shoulders.
He licks his lips reflexively, then smirks. “Did you forget where your clothes are? Or are you hoping for a round before we go? Because we don’t have time, but I wouldn’t mind being fashionably late.”
Trevor rolls his eyes, one hand clutching the knot in the towel to keep it up. “I realized I have nothing to wear to a party. Pretty much all I brought with me are sweats, T-shirts, and hoodies.”
“Hmm. I say you look perfect likethis.” Skyler can’t help the way his eyes rove over Trevor’s body.
“I don’t think a towel could be considered proper attire,” Trevor says, coming forward to kiss him.
Skyler takes the opportunity to snake an arm around his waist, slipping his tongue into Trevor’s mouth as a distraction before he deftly rips the towel from his body.
Trevor gasps, laughing as he tries to snatch it back. Skyler throws it to the floor and grabs his bare ass, squeezing until Trevor lets out a quiet moan.
