by Ally Blue
“Hey, wait.” Scotty grabbed his wrist, the movie-star smile still in place. “You’re not really leaving, are you?”
“Yeah. It’s late, and I have an early class tomorrow.” Adrian tried to pull his arm free and frowned when Scotty’s grip tightened. “I’m serious, Scotty. Let go.”
Scotty’s brows drew together. “But… You want it. I know when a man’s turned on, and you are.”
What the hell was he supposed to say to that? Sorry, but I was thinking of someone else? As much as he valued the truth, Adrian couldn’t bring himself to be that harsh.
He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
Sighing, Scotty opened his hand. “Man. So close, and yet so far.”
A smile tugged at Adrian’s mouth. “That’s just not my thing.”
Scotty’s eyebrows went up. “Noodles?”
“One-night stands.”
“Ah.”
Silence fell. The fact that Scotty said nothing about more than one night told Adrian all he needed to know. He cleared his throat. “Okay. Well. It was nice to meet you, Scotty. I’ll, uh. I’ll see you around. I suppose.”
“Yeah. See you around.”
With nothing more to say, Adrian turned and made his way through the crowded room to the hallway leading to the front of the house, his half-empty cup still clutched in his hand. Every square foot of space seemed to be occupied by couples making out or groups of people discussing some subject or other. Adrian had to stop every couple of minutes to greet a person he’d met earlier or talk to someone he knew from one of his classes.
By the time he stumbled out the front door into the October night nearly twenty minutes later, he felt wrung out and tense as a bowstring. How did the popular people stand this constant pressure to be pleasant, polite and personable? It was exhausting. It didn’t help that someone had put on the latest rave music and turned it up so loud Adrian was hoarse from trying to talk over it. The only good part was, the adventure of getting out of the house had taken his mind off Greg long enough for his cock to deflate.
Draining the last of his drink, he tossed the red plastic cup into an overflowing trashcan and descended the steps onto the sidewalk. He started walking without much thought to his destination. He didn’t care where he went as long as there were no other people there. What the hell had he been thinking? He should’ve known he would manage to feel uncomfortable even surrounded by a bunch of physics majors and assorted other scientific types.
He knew why. After all, how many people could say they’d accidentally opened an interdimensional portal with their mind at age eleven, nearly causing the deaths of everyone they loved? The horror and guilt of it had shaped him more than any experience before or since.
He aimed a savage kick at a particularly large chestnut in his path. It made him angry sometimes to think he’d spent so much time and energy keeping everyone around him safe from his abilities that he no longer had any idea how to connect to other human beings. Still, he wasn’t sure he would change anything even if he could. He’d done what he had to in order to protect his family, himself and everyone around him from a very real threat. He didn’t regret it, despite the damage to his personal life. A little hard work and the right partner could overcome that.
Right?
Lost in thought, he almost passed right by the Forest Theatre before the raised voices from inside registered. He stopped. It was none of his business, but a thread of fear laced through the anger in one of the voices. There was no harm in hanging around for a moment just to make sure everything was all right.
Moving as quietly as he could, Adrian retraced his steps until he reached the top of the wide, shallow stone steps leading to the stone archway that marked the entrance into the open-air theater. The voices were much louder here, angry words echoing off the surrounding rock. The thin sliver of new moon overhead lent minimal illumination to the scene, but Adrian could just make out two male figures standing face-to-face in the flagstone courtyard beyond the arch. One figure waved his arms in the air as he spoke, the sound of his frustration rising and falling in the night air.
Adrian frowned. The man’s voice sounded vaguely familiar. Using the trees as cover, Adrian sidled as close as he dared. Did he know this person?
The other man growled out something with a distinctly threatening tone. The familiar man turned and walked away, striding toward the steps. “Leave me alone,” he called over his shoulder. “If you ever contact me again, I’m taking out a restraining order.”
This time, Adrian knew exactly who it was, and his stomach dropped into his feet. He scrambled to hide behind a tree. Getting caught was the last thing he wanted. Before he could move, though, the second man leapt forward, grabbed the first one, whirled him around and punched him in the face.
The sharp crack of a fist against bone changed Adrian’s plans. Forgetting all about hiding, he sprinted down the steps toward the dark figure looming over the man huddled at his feet. “Hey! Leave him alone!”
The attacker straightened up. His face was a pale blur in the darkness. He spun on his heel and took off down one of the pathways leading from the theater into the surrounding woods.
Adrian shook his head. Coward.
Crouching on the cold stone, he laid a hand on the fallen man’s shoulder. “He’s gone. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Bastard can’t land a decent punch anyway.” The man pushed to a sitting position and felt gingerly along his jaw. “Thanks for chasing him away, I really appr—” He stopped, eyes going wide when they met Adrian’s. “Oh, my God. Adrian?”
Adrian drew a deep breath and let out the sudden rush of resentment, lust and fear along with it. “Hi, Greg.”
Chapter Four
For a moment, Greg stared in silent astonishment. Then a slightly stiff version of his usual teasing smile spread across his face. “So, what’re you doing out here at this hour? You heading someplace in particular or just looking for guys in distress to rescue?”
Adrian glared, irritated by Greg’s nonchalant attitude. “Drop the act, Greg. That man just attacked you. It’s okay to be a little shaken up.”
Greg opened his mouth as if to argue, took one look at Adrian’s face and let out a harsh laugh. “Yeah, okay, you’re right.”
“I know.” Reaching into his jeans pocket, Adrian fished out his iPhone. “I’m calling the police.”
Greg’s hand shot out to curl around Adrian’s wrist. “No.”
The skin beneath Greg’s fingers burned. Adrian drew a shaking breath. “Why not?”
“It’ll just set him off.”
Adrian shook his head. “Well, I’m sure he wouldn’t like it, but so what? If he didn’t want to go to jail, maybe he shouldn’t have attacked you.”
“No, it’s just…” Sighing, Greg let go of Adrian’s hand, pushed to his feet and walked over to the stone arch a few feet away. “I used to date him. I know how he is. I’ve already told him to leave me alone. If I let this go, he probably won’t bother me again. If I call the cops and they arrest him, he’ll be on my ass the second he’s out, and not in a fun way.”
“Oh.”
Unsure of what to say or do, Adrian rose, shoved his phone back in his pocket and went to stand beside Greg. He watched Greg from the corner of his eye. They’d only known each other for a few days, but Adrian had grown used to the witty, outgoing boy he saw every day at Groome Castle. It bothered him to see this silent, hunch-shouldered Greg who stared into the trees as if he were being hunted.
Maybe he is, no matter what he said about the guy leaving him alone if we don’t call the cops.
Heart thumping, Adrian laid a hand on Greg’s shoulder. “Why don’t you let me walk you home? Just in case.”
Greg turned to look at Adrian. “Can we stay here for a few minutes? I mean, if I go back to my dorm now, he’ll probably be waiting for me, but he’ll give up pretty quick and it’ll be safe soon, so…” He shrugged. “You don’t have to stay with me if you don�
�t want to, I know you probably need to get home yourself since it’s so late and all. But I’m gonna hang out here for a while.”
His tone was casual, but the scattered moonlight caught the pleading look in his eyes. Adrian couldn’t have said no to that look, even if he’d been inclined to leave Greg alone with a violent ex out there in the night someplace.
“I’m staying with you. And once you feel like it’s safe, I’m walking you back to your dorm.” Feeling a little bolder in the face of Greg’s vulnerability, Adrian slid his hand from Greg’s shoulder down to gently grasp his arm. “Come on. Let’s go sit down.”
Greg let Adrian lead him through the archway and across the small flagstone courtyard to where the ground began to slope away in a series of wide, shallow stone seats toward the stage below. The two of them settled side by side on the top step.
They sat without speaking for several endless minutes. A couple of cars rolled past on the road behind them. In the surrounding woods, gusts of wind rasped the dying leaves against one another.
A visible shiver shook Greg’s body. He rubbed his arms with both hands. “Wow. It’s getting cold out here.”
Adrian took a good look at the shirt Greg wore. It had long sleeves, but the material appeared to be a cotton far too thin to keep out the night’s sharp chill. Another blast of wind moaned around the corners of the stone arch. Greg hunched over, teeth chattering, and Adrian wished with every fiber of his being that he’d worn a thinner shirt and a jacket instead of his favorite sweater.
Ignoring the wild hammering of his heart, Adrian scooted as close to Greg as he could and wound an arm around his shoulders. “I can’t just sit here and watch you freeze to death,” he said in answer to the startled expression in Greg’s eyes. “And I don’t have anything extra I can give you to wear, so…”
Greg’s expression softened into a smile. “Thanks.”
Adrian just nodded, unable to speak. Flirty, teasing Greg was eye-catching enough. Greg without his usual mask, however, was captivating. Adrian thought he could sit right there and stare into that open, unguarded face forever without tiring of it.
Unfortunately—or not, depending on how Adrian wanted to look at it—Greg sighed and rested his head on Adrian’s shoulder. “So. You never said what you were doing out here.”
“Um. I was walking home from a party.” Adrian fought to hold still. It felt so damn good to have Greg’s warm body cuddled against his side, soft hair tickling his neck. But he hadn’t been this close to anyone since Christian, and he’d never in his life held a relative stranger in such an intimate way. The conflicting urges to press closer and run away played havoc with his equilibrium.
“Tell me about it.”
For a terrifying moment, Adrian thought Greg had read his mind. “What?”
“The party. Tell me about the party.” Greg nudged his shoulder gently into Adrian’s ribs. “Sorry, is my extreme hotness scrambling your brains?”
In spite of Greg’s teasing tone, the words were close enough to the truth that Adrian couldn’t help laughing. Thankfully, the laughter broke his tension enough for him to realize that Greg simply wanted something to take his mind off what he’d just been through.
“It was a frat party,” Adrian began, tightening his arm around Greg. “Sigma Pi Sigma.”
“Oh my God, physics geeks.”
“Hey, I’m a physics geek.”
“I know. I like physics geeks. My cousin’s actually a charter member of that fraternity. Alan Reed? You know him?”
“Oh, yeah. He’s in some of my classes. Nice guy.”
“Yeah.” Greg squirmed into what Adrian assumed was a more comfortable position. “So. You were at a physics geek party. Continue.”
Adrian grinned. Weird, that he was actually enjoying himself more now than he had at the aforementioned party. “So, I went to this party, even though I don’t generally enjoy parties, because I’ve been turning into way too much of a hermit and I’d promised myself that I’d try to get out more.”
“And?”
“And, I found out that frat parties, even physics-geek frat parties, are definitely not my thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
A leaf drifted over to settle on Adrian’s right thigh. Greg brushed it off, his hand lingering just long enough to send Adrian’s temperature shooting up several degrees. “Why not?”
Adrian licked his dry lips. “It was loud. It was crowded. I hate crowds. I had to make small talk with a bunch of people I don’t know, and I’m terrible at that. And some guy I’d just met wanted to do perverted things to me with noodles.”
Greg snorted with laughter. “Okay, you can’t just say shit like that and not tell me more.”
Heat flooded Adrian’s face at the thought of repeating Scotty’s words to Greg. “I am not telling you any more than that.”
“Fine then, I guess I’ll just have to imagine what exactly he wanted to do.” Lifting his head, Greg grinned. “And believe me, I have a really good imagination.”
Part of Adrian was glad to see the wicked gleam return to Greg’s eyes, since it meant he’d recovered somewhat from the attack. A larger part didn’t much like being on the receiving end of Greg’s teasing. He scowled. “Leave it alone, Greg.”
In an instant, Greg’s smile vanished. He grasped Adrian’s hand in a grip just short of painful and pinned him with a hard stare. “I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that, especially after everything you’ve done for me tonight. It’s just…I do that, you know, I flirt and joke around and all, Mom says it’s my coping mechanism, not that that’s an excuse or anything, but…” Greg looked away, studying the play of light and shadow from the car headlights on the surrounding stone. “I’m sorry.”
Greg looked young and lost, and Adrian’s heart went out to him. “It’s okay. You’ve had a pretty rough night. I’m sorry I’m so prickly about things.”
The relief in Greg’s face was clear when he turned to meet Adrian’s gaze. “No big deal. I guess most people would probably agree with you about being teased like that.”
Adrian doubted it, but he didn’t say so. He saw no point in starting a petty argument when Greg was attempting to make peace between them.
Silence fell once more. The quiet felt companionable, though. When Greg leaned sideways, Adrian allowed their heads to rest together without much thought on the matter. Greg obviously needed the comfort of gentle human contact right now, and Adrian liked to think he wasn’t a big enough bastard to deny such a need. He preferred not to dwell on the hot glow currently pulsing deep in his groin or the undeniable fact that the warmth of Greg’s body and the clean scent of his hair lay at the root of it.
Adrian had no idea how many more minutes passed before Greg stirred, sighed and drew away. All he knew was he wished the tranquility they’d experienced between them tonight didn’t have to end. He had a feeling it wouldn’t be easy to get it back.
“Harrison ought to have given up on me by now,” Greg said, sitting back and raking his fingers through his hair. “It should be safe for me to go back to the dorm.”
“Harrison?” Adrian frowned. “Is that the guy who hit you?”
“Yeah.” One corner of Greg’s mouth tipped up in a bitter half-smile. “That sort of shit’s why I broke up with him in the first place.”
Adrian had no idea what to say to that. Pushing to his feet, he grasped both of Greg’s hands and helped him stand. “All right. Which dorm are you in?”
“Winston.”
Greg didn’t try to hang on when Adrian let go of his hands, but he looked as though he wanted to. They climbed the steps and crossed the road in silence. Greg chose to cut behind the theater and through the old cemetery. Adrian wondered why, when there would surely have been a shorter route, but he didn’t argue. Maybe Greg simply appreciated the peacefulness of the place. Or maybe he wanted to prolong the walk, in case Harrison hadn’t given up yet after all. The thought made Adrian draw closer to Greg and cast un
easy glances at the dense shadows shrouding the trees and the taller headstones.
Adrian breathed easier once they reached the light and bustle of South Road. Even at near midnight on a Tuesday, students wandered the sidewalks in pairs and groups, and cars passed with enough frequency to lend an air of liveliness to the area.
“Do you see him anywhere?” Adrian asked as he and Greg strode down the sidewalk. “Harrison, I mean.”
Greg glanced around. “No, I don’t. Hopefully he’ll just leave me the hell alone.”
Adrian studied Greg’s face. In the yellow glow of the streetlights, the developing bruise stood out deep red on his jaw. The sight made Adrian want to find Harrison and do painful things to him. It was a disturbing impulse, especially since Adrian had never felt the urge to physically hurt someone he didn’t even know.
They made it to the South Road entrance of Winston Hall without incident. Greg stopped at the door and turned to face Adrian. “Thank you. For everything.”
Adrian smiled, blushing. “No problem at all. I’m just glad you’re safe.”
“Me too.” Greg glanced sideways and nodded to a couple of girls who thumbed into the dorm. Once the door swung shut behind them, he returned his attention to Adrian. “Would you go out with me?”
Adrian’s heart lurched. “Go out?”
“Yeah.” Greg moved closer, his gaze fixed on Adrian’s face. “You helped me out tonight, Adrian. You didn’t have to, but you did it anyway. I want to show you how much I appreciate that.”
“I know you do. You don’t have to take me out to prove it.”
“How about if I take you out because I like you?”
The soft words made Adrian’s head spin. He leaned against the dorm wall, trying to make the movement look casual. “You do?”
“Yes.” Shoving his hands in his front pockets, Greg hunched his shoulders against a particularly vicious gust of wind. “Look, we got off on the wrong foot on Sunday, and I’d love to start over. I swear I won’t…you know, try anything.”
No matter how hard Adrian tried, he couldn’t find a reason to turn Greg down. And just how sad is it that you were looking for a reason not to go out with a guy you want this badly?