“Thanks.He did stop by the room to ask if I needed anything.I don’t want to go bothering him any further, though, if he’s dealing with personal stuff.”
“You’re definitely on the VIP floor if a manager stopped by the room,” Michael throws in.
“Honestly, I think Wes could use the distraction,” Mr.Monroe counters.“We don’t talk about personal stuff as much as we used to, but I get the impression he’s having a hard time.”
“Hey, remember when your brother followed PJ in here and threatened him a while back?That was kind of hot.”Adam asks as he licks the frosting from his cupcake wrapper.
“I wasn’t here that day, but thank you so much for the reminder.”Mr.Monroe gives Adam that same talking-in-class look.
Honestly, Adam’s comment gives me the urge to look around the restaurant.I’m a little surprised Liam hasn’t tried to find me here.He knows it’s my favorite place.Maybe he’s finally decided he’s done keeping tabs on me.
Which is a good thing.Except I don’t like the way thinking it makes my heart sink.
From behind I get a tap on the shoulder.
“Mr.Corvus wants to speak with you.We need to go,” Channing says.
Just like that, whatever peace I felt being in one of my favorite places with people I know disappears.The look on Channing’s face tells me whatever this is about isn’t anything good.
Chapter Fifteen
Liam
I’m stationedoutside the building where Ravi’s literature class takes place, bright and early on the Monday before the auction.The second I see him, I want to throw him over my shoulder and drag him out of there.That fucker he’s with is big, but I can take him.I’m certain.
By the time Ravi notices me standing here, the big guy behind him is already glaring.This must be the security Daniel mentioned.
“What are you doing here?How did you know where my classes are?”Only seconds before spotting me, Ravi had been chatting with the large man next to him and laughing.Laughing.I haven’t seen him laugh in at least a year.
“Wasn’t easy.”Bev hacked admissions to get me his schedule.She wasn’t thrilled about it, but some situations require creative solutions.“I’d have tracked you down earlier if you hadn’t left your watch at home.”
“You mean the GPS tracker you put in my watch without even letting me know?That was pretty fucked up, Liam.”
A frustrated breath punches its way out of my chest.“Ravi, I’ve told you?—”
“Yeah, yeah, your responsibility to babysit the little orphan because of your ancient friendship with my dad, blah, blah.I’m not your job.You can stop.”
My heart’s fucking aching right now.Doesn’t he understand?Protecting him is the one thing I’ve done sort of right in all the fucked-up shit I’ve been part of.I need that rightness, especially now.
“Everything okay here, Rav?”
Rav.His fucking security guard is calling him Rav, as if they’re pals.He’s walking around with one of Daniel Corvus’s oversized goons on his six, but when I try to protect him, I’m an overbearing asshole.
To my surprise, Ravi rolls his eyes and says, “Everything is fine, Channing.”When he turns back to me, his expression hardens.“Seriously, Liam.What are you doing here?”
I hand over the bag I’ve been holding.“Since you haven’t come home and you haven’t been back to your dorm, I thought you might need some things.”
He takes the bag and briefly inspects the contents.Some clothes, his phone, his watch, and a couple of his sketchbooks, because I know he likes to draw when he’s having a tough time.A ghost of a smile crosses his face, but he quickly wipes it away.
Ravi spent days on end drawing when he first came to live with me.Wouldn’t talk much, but he’d have his pencil scratching on paper for hours.Days.I found the old ones in his room when I gathered his things.Mostly pictures of his folks.Some animals.A new book had pictures of me.Fantasy images of the two of us together, entwined and sleepy.I’m not proud of it, but that particular sketchbook found a new home in my dresser drawer.
“Thanks,” Ravi says.“But…you know I couldn’t stay.Not the way things have been.”
Once again I’m assaulted by the memory of my hand striking against his ass.The heat of his skin.The way I made him?—
Dammit.As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right.Things would have gone berserk if he’d stayed.They’d already departed wildly from anything resembling sanity.
“Last time…”His cries and moans.The way his hips bucked every time my hand came down on him.