Tilting his head as he regarded his friend, Kyle innocently asked, “Why? What’s wrong with Hunter and Ryder being together?”
Jake’s jaw dropped, and he could only stare at his friend in disbelief. It was too much to process, on top of everything else. “Are you telling me that you’re okay with Ryder fucking that bastard?” Jake quietly inquired, his voice flat and controlled.
Shrugging, Kyle stammered, “I—I don’t have a problem with it.”
Jake was once again enraged. He turned on Ryder, grabbing him by his shirt to yank him close to accuse, “And now you’ve managed to get Kyle to turn on me, too? You fucking bastard!”
The sight of Jake getting ready to attack Ryder made Kyle frantically try and tug them apart, as he pleaded, “No, that’s not—come on, please, Jake! Please don’t do this!”
Ignoring Kyle’s desperate pleas, Jake looked at Ryder as he sneered, “Well, I guess it’s the new you. Hunter turns you against me, you turn Kyle against me—”
“We aren’t against you!” Kyle insisted, but it did nothing to calm Jake.
Ryder shoved Jake hard to break free, not missing the way it made him grimace. He didn’t have time to question it since Jake shot back at Kyle, “Oh, so this bastard’s fuck buddy,” pointing at Ryder for emphasis, “almost breaks my damn shoulder and neither one of you give a shit?”
“You shouldn’t have fucking touched him!” Ryder spat, wondering what terrible thing Jake must have done to cause Hunter to physically retaliate. “You shouldn’t have been there at all!”
Jake stared at Ryder in shock at his reaction, stunned by the fact that his friend was blaming him for getting injured. Kyle made it worse when he softly stuttered, “I-I’m sure that you’re exaggerating. Surely Hunter couldn’t break your shoulder while you were…um…”
Wanting to get back at Ryder, Jake started to vindictively make a vulgar clarification. He sounded particularly vicious as he started to say, “You mean while we were fu—”
Unable to handle what Jake was saying, Ryder shouted, “Shut your goddamn mouth, Jake!”
Narrowing his eyes in anger, Jake continued in a threatening tone, “Aw, does it upset you to know that he was with me?”
“I don’t want to hear it!” Ryder snarled, not sure he could hear the details without hurting his friend.
Ignoring Ryder’s comment, Jake asked, “Do you still intend to go back to him?”
The non-sequitur threw Ryder off, and he asked with some amount of exasperation, “What difference does it make to you?”
Getting physically closer to Ryder, as if that would somehow intimidate him, Jake wanted to know, “Are you still going to see him even after knowing that I was with him? Knowing that I had him screaming my name?” Sure, it was a bit of an exaggeration, but Jake was hoping to invoke a reaction from Ryder, even if the means were a bit underhanded. It was worth the embarrassment if it meant Ryder never went back to see Hunter again.
A nasty flash of jealousy coursed through Ryder, making it hard to breathe for a moment as he struggled to get control of himself. The nauseous feeling returned, even stronger now, his emotional turmoil seeking any outlet for release.
Ryder couldn’t speak, so Kyle was the first to respond, “Oh, Jake, you didn’t!”
“And if I did?” Jake goaded with a particularly dirty leer. “If I made him beg like the pathetic whore that he is?”
The mental image of Hunter begging for Jake to stop pounding into him finally succeeded in breaking Ryder, and he tackled his friend to the ground with a vicious growl. He had successfully managed to pin Jake down when he hissed, “Don’t say another fucking word!”
The position prevented Jake from fighting back, and the sudden jolt and pressure on his shoulder made his vision start to blur. He regretted divulging his injured shoulder, because Ryder was using the injury to his full advantage.
“What, you can’t handle it?” Jake sneered. “Even you can’t deny that he’s a whore by profession.”
As Ryder used Jake’s shirt to pull him up and slam him back down against the hardwood floor, Jake’s head made a sickening sound on contact. Kyle tried to pull Ryder off, but Ryder didn’t pay any attention to Kyle. He could barely hear anything over the roaring outrage that was demanding he avenge Hunter in some way.
“He’s not like that!” Ryder protested, shaking with his anger.
“Just because he’s your lover doesn’t mean shit. He does that with anyone who pays him,” Jake pointed out, even though the force of the hit had made him dizzy and his vision was still swimming. “When are you going to figure out that he’s just using you, Ryder?”
“He’s not!” Ryder vehemently protested, his grip on Jake’s shirt tightening. “He wouldn’t do that!”
“He’ll do anything for money,” Jake countered, “including you, apparently.”
Kyle desperately tried to think of something to break them apart. “Please—”
“Stay out of it,” Jake told Kyle. The way Ryder was straddled on top of him was entirely too sexualized in light of his confrontation with Hunter, and Jake suddenly needed to get free. It brought too many awkward reminders of Hunter’s taunts about Jake being jealous of Ryder. He would have shaken his head to clear his mind if he weren’t afraid he would pass out from the action.
Taking a calculated risk, Jake murmured at Ryder, “So is this what you do to him?”
Whether Ryder’s cheeks were flushed from embarrassment or shame was unclear, but his expression was clearly indignant. “Why do you want to know?” Ryder asked, shifting his weight forward and putting more pressure on Jake’s shoulder. “That’s between us.”
“There is no ‘us,’” Jake argued. “It’s you and every other customer.” He continued, “What’s it going to take for you to realize that he’s just a dirty slut who will spread his legs for anyone with a big enough bank account?”
Jake’s goal was to piss Ryder off enough to make him stand up in disgust, but he got more than he bargained for. Ryder physically reacted before he even realized that it was his fist connecting hard with Jake’s face. He got in a second punch before Kyle grabbed his fist, while Jake cried out in pain as he held the part of his face that Ryder had assaulted. Ryder struggled against Kyle’s grasp as Jake yelled, “Why the fuck did you hit me when all I’m trying to do is protect you from that manipulative bastard?”
“The only person I need protection from is you!” Ryder shot back, still struggling against Kyle, who was clinging to him for dear life to prevent another retaliation. “You act like you’re protecting me from something, and I don’t need it! You keep claiming to be my friend, and yet you didn’t listen when I asked you to leave! And now you’re going to come into my apartment and insult Hunter on top of it? Go fuck yourself, Jake! I don’t need your protection, and I don’t need you as a friend!”
“You would really choose that asshole over our friendship?” Jake incredulously demanded.
“If you were really my friend, you wouldn’t make me try and choose,” Ryder coldly replied, finally standing up in disgust and jerking out of Kyle’s grasp.
“What? You’re going to walk away?” Jake asked as he stood up, trying not to sway on his feet. “So that’s it?” Jake incredulously question.
“I have nothing else to say to you,” Ryder practically snarled, “other than get the fuck out of my apartment, and stay the fuck away from me until you grow up.”
Jake continued protesting, but Ryder didn’t listen to a word of it as he walked down the hallway to his room, feeling only a small twinge of guilt for leaving Kyle alone to deal with their irate friend. Even though he wanted to slam his bedroom door to make a point, Ryder resisted the childish urge and instead rested his back against it before sliding down to sit on the floor.
Curling up on himself, only then did Ryder feel the throb of pain in his hand from punching Jake, but it paled in comparison to the pain in his heart over the situation with Hunter. He still had no clue what Jake had done
to Hunter, and all the horrible scenarios he could imagine were torturing his heart.
Even though Ryder had been up for barely an hour by the time he dragged himself into his industrial psychology class, he was already filled with dread. He’d barely slept at all last night, too tormented by horrible dreams about Jake and Hunter engaged in things that he was better off not thinking about. It made Ryder’s blood boil with rage and his stomach turn with pain, but he needed to find out what really happened. Hunter had seemed so confident that Jake couldn’t do anything to him, but Ryder found that it was hard to place his trust in that, largely because of Christophe’s totalitarian reign.
Christophe was a whole different issue that gave Ryder a new kind of anxiety. His skin crawled at the memory of those large fingers on his skin, and he tried not to think about what the man had offered. It made Ryder wonder what Christophe had done in the past to Hunter, what he might still be doing to ensure that his adopted son continued working at the brothel.
Then there was Jake. Ryder wanted nothing to do with his so-called friend, but on the other hand, he didn’t like to leave things unresolved. Then again, the situation was as resolved as it was going to get without Jake having a change of heart. He wanted to think that Jake would realize the error of his ways, but Ryder had his doubts that that would happen any time soon—if ever.
Waiting for class to start, Ryder sat on top of his desk, looking over as casually as. He could every time the classroom door opened, to see who was entering. Ryder couldn’t shake the concern that Christophe was punishing Hunter and that he wouldn’t come in today, and Jake hadn’t arrived yet either.
As if summoned by thought alone, Hunter finally entered the classroom. Ryder was overwhelmed with relief. It made him feel a little ridiculous, that jolt of excitement over Hunter’s appearance. Looking up at him for some sort of acknowledgement, Ryder felt his heart drop when Hunter passed by without a word. Ryder looked down at the floor in disappointment, fighting back the crushing hurt that surfaced at the snub.
Thus, it came as a complete surprise when Hunter stepped in between his splayed legs without his messenger bag, which he had dropped off at his seat. “Did you really think I was going to ignore you?” Hunter asked quietly, looking around discreetly to make sure no one was watching.
Ryder was overwhelmed with the urge to hug Hunter, to be reassured that he was okay, but he couldn’t do anything except look up at him with watery eyes. “You were worried,” Hunter stated, as if it was a sudden realization.
“Of course I was worried!” Ryder shot back, his voice quiet despite the strength of his emotion. “I still am.”
The second assertion puzzled Hunter, but he didn’t question it as he reminded Ryder, “I told you I would be fine.”
“Telling me you’ll be fine and actually being fine are two different things,” Ryder muttered.
Leaning closer to Ryder until they were almost touching, Hunter murmured in his ear, “I appreciate it, even though it’s unnecessary.” From his vantage point, Hunter could see the door when it opened and his eyes widened when he saw Jake enter the room with a noticeable black eye and another sizable bruise on his jaw. “Oh, please tell me you did that to him and not our men….”
Ryder saw Jake out of the corner of his eye and was shocked when he saw the damage he had done. Making the softest noise of acknowledgement, Ryder dared to look into Hunter’s eyes, and was floored by the hungry look of appreciation in those expressive blue depths. Hunter whispered in his ear, “Remind me to properly thank you later.”
Clamping down on his urge to take Ryder right there on the desk, Hunter forced himself to take a step back for his own protection. He wanted to touch Ryder, wanted to take him away so they could express themselves in a more effective way, but that would have to wait for later. Hunter subtly trailed his fingers down Ryder’s thigh as he pulled away to return to his seat, sending desire flaring through his rival.
Only after Hunter had sat down did Jake dare to look over at Ryder, giving him a severely disapproving look. Surprisingly, Ryder wasn’t bothered by it. He could still feel the warmth of Hunter’s touch on his upper thigh.
RYDER WAS BEYOND exhausted as he sat on a couch in a private room at the student union, killing time before he had to meet with his academic advisor. Sighing heavily and resting his head on the back of the couch, Ryder stared vacantly at the ceiling. It was silent save for the sounds of the city below and the falling rain against the windowpane, which suited Ryder just fine. He just needed a break from everything.
He had been on edge ever since Hunter’s promise. After Hunter’s sensual suggestion of what was to come, they hadn’t interacted with each other—but just being near Hunter was enough to set Ryder’s nerves alight, his mind continually drifting to sexual thoughts. That, combined with Jake’s attitude, was wearing Ryder’s patience thing. They had pointedly ignored each other, which was fine with Ryder. He had nothing to say to Jake anyway.
Ryder’s solitude was momentarily disturbed by the door opening. He stayed perfectly still, as if it would help him to avoid being noticed. The door closed almost immediately and Ryder relaxed, thinking that the intruding presence had departed. He mentally swore when he heard footsteps approaching, and looked up to find Hunter walking toward him. Ryder’s pulse quickened as he admired how handsome Hunter looked in the darkened room, dressed all in black.
Hunter sat down next to Ryder on the couch, their shoulders touching as they looked out the window at the falling rain. “How did you know I would be in here?” Ryder asked, glancing over at Hunter.
“I had a feeling,” Hunter replied with a smug look down at Ryder.
Ryder rolled his eyes before Hunter leaned over and captured his lips in the softest of kisses. It was bittersweet for Ryder, but he allowed it. After parting, they rested their foreheads against each other for a brief, beautiful moment.
Hunter was the first to pull away, but he cradled Ryder’s cheek with his hand. Ryder leaned into the caress, although he still felt uneasy. There were too many things that needed to be addressed, but Ryder doubted that he would get any straightforward answers from Hunter.
“We need to talk,” Ryder said, finally shattering the silence.
“I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine,” Hunter suggested.
It was an unexpected invitation and Ryder agreed, “Fine. What did Jake do to you?”
“Shouted a lot of nonsense before getting himself banned,” Hunter answered with a malicious grin. “What did he tell you that he did to me?”
“He implied that you—the two of you—he didn’t say exactly,” Ryder replied, hating how many times he was still tripped up by his embarrassment.
“Apparently he said enough,” Hunter said wryly.
Looking away, Ryder muttered, “I’m not proud of that.”
“You should be,” Hunter countered with a snort. “It’s about time that someone put the mutt in his place.”
“So you never…?” Ryder tried to ask, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. “I mean, the two of you never…?”
“I would never allow him to have the pleasure of being with me,” Hunter answered, leaving out the kisses and groping that had occurred during Jake’s visit. Hunter’s gaze softened slightly when he saw Ryder’s visible relief.
Hunter resumed his normal guarded countenance as he prepared himself to ask what had been bothering him ever since Christophe’s visit. “Did you meet a man last night?”
“The owner,” Ryder replied, causing Hunter to frown deeply in worry. “Is he your dad?”
Hunter knew that he had to answer in order to find out what he needed to know. “My adoptive father,” Hunter flatly replied, observing Ryder’s shocked reaction. “What did he say to you?”
Ryder didn’t even hear the question. He didn’t want it to be true. Had Christophe adopted Hunter for the sole purpose of forcing him into working at the brothel? The mere thought of it made Ryder feel sick and he looked
at Hunter with frantic eyes that silently pleaded for it to not be true.
Hunter didn’t like seeing Ryder that upset, but there was nothing he could do about it. “Answer my question,” Hunter quietly prompted, trying to refocus Ryder’s attention. “What did he say to you?”
Ryder’s mind was still reeling, making it hard to respond. “He warned me,” Ryder finally responded, but his voice was flat and lifeless. There were all sorts of questions that Ryder wanted to ask about Christophe, but they were too horrible to vocalize. He doubted he would get answers anyway. “Did he punish you for not doing anything with Jake?”
“No, the mutt was the punishment,” Hunter replied, although he still found it strange. That was one of the reasons he was so concerned about what had been said or done to Ryder. Christophe might have assumed Ryder would be a far more effective punishment, and Hunter was starting to fear that he might have been right. Ryder was becoming a liability, but Hunter was inclined to keep him closer, to keep him safe. “What did he warn you about?”
“That you were his,” Ryder finally confessed, looking down at his hands, “and if I didn’t remember that, he would punish you. Hurt you.”
“Bastard,” Hunter cursed. Now he had a whole new reason to loathe Christophe. Even though it was a standard threat from Christophe’s usual arsenal, it still angered Hunter. Ryder looked miserable, and Hunter got the sense that something important was still being withheld from him. “What did he do to you?”
Ryder’s skin still crawled at the memory of Christophe’s rough hands on him, and he shifted uncomfortably under Hunter’s intense gaze. He didn’t want to tell something like that to Hunter, although Ryder wasn’t sure why not.
Staying silent as he tried to formulate an appropriate way to phrase his thoughts, Ryder felt Hunter’s hand on his chin, turning his head to force eye contact.
“Tell me what he did to you, Ryder,” Hunter implored with a sense of urgency, although his tone was gentle.
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