Shaking his head, Leo snatched his hands back. “No. I’m not doing this.” So many times Mac had talked his way back into Leo’s heart, and Leo into his bed. But not this time. This wasn’t Mac confirming Leo’s suspicions and the office gossip about what Mac had done behind his back. This time he had seen it with his own eyes. He’d seen the other man. He’d seen the lies and the cheating. They were done.
He took his keys from his jacket pocket. Never had the pile of metal felt so damn heavy. Looking into Mac’s eyes, he turned the keys over in his hand.
“Don’t,” Mac said.
If only Mac had been able to keep it in his pants. Leo had been happy in his little oblivious world. In his mind, he had been enough for Mac and they had been enough for each other. But he deserved better than this.
“I love you.”
“If you really loved me, this wouldn’t be happening. We wouldn’t be standing here having this conversation.” He separated the key to Mac’s apartment from the rest. Was he strong enough to go through with this? He looked at Mac. I deserve better than you. Pressing his mouth in a line, he freed the key from the keychain and held it out to Mac.
“Keep it,” Mac said.
Leo looked between the key and Mac. If he stayed, then what? How long would it be before Mac cheated on him again? He had to stick by his decision. For his own sake.
“I don’t want it.” As Mac wouldn’t take the key, Leo bent over and placed it on the floor. He let his fingers linger for a moment before he straightened up.
Mac rested his hands on his hips and eyed the key. “You’re giving up on us?”
“There is no more us, Mac.” He stepped forward and studied Mac’s face. God how he’d loved the man. Mac had been his Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome. Where had they gone wrong? “It wasn’t me that gave up.” He kissed Mac on the cheek. “Goodbye,” he said, then turned on his heel and walked away.
“Leo, wait,” Mac called after him. “Leo. You know you need me, right? You’ll be back.” He paused. “Leo!”
Leo didn’t stop until he reached the bottom of the stairwell. He glanced upward over his shoulder and listened. To his relief, he didn’t see or hear anything or anyone. If Mac had followed him out of the apartment, he wasn’t sure what he’d have done. His heart and head were all over the place. Three years. Three fucking years he’d just walked away from. Where had they gone wrong? Deflated, he sat on the bottom step. Was it him? Was he unlovable?
This was all Mac’s fault. Leo needed to remember that. So maybe he wouldn’t win any prizes for being the perfect boyfriend, because who the hell was perfect, but he had never lied to or cheated on Mac. Hell, if anything, he could be accused of trying too hard. With a sigh, he gazed out the apartment building’s doors. Through the glass he could see it was snowing again. Shivering, he rubbed at his chest. He felt like there was a block of ice clamped on either side of his heart, painfully squeezing the organ. Could someone die from a broken heart? Pressing his palm flat, he felt the gentle thump of his heartbeat.
Not completely broken.
The pulse beneath his hand reminded him there were worse things that could have happened to him today, not many, considering how he felt right now, but there were certainly some. A door opened and closed above him, and he heard voices on the stairs. The voices were female, and Leo guessed they belonged to Mac’s neighbors, a mother and daughter who lived across the hall.
He eyed the entrance. He couldn’t sit here all day, despite the sudden urge to curl into a ball and be damned with everything. He was only supposed to be on his lunch break, and he’d already spent a good amount of time thoughtfully selecting his ex-lover the perfect sandwich and standing in line for his salted caramel mocha. Ex-lover. That sounded pretty damn final.
I should have taken back the damn sandwich.
He blew out a heavy breath and got to his feet. He’d save the self-pity for the evening and have a full-on Bridget-Jones moment with a tub of ice cream and a breakup playlist. He straightened his tie. Not really his style. More likely popcorn and horror movies. As much as he’d love to see Mac chopped up into little pieces right now, it was never going to happen.
I’d never get away with it. He sniffed a laugh. Watching Freddy or Jason hack up a few people might help a bit, he figured. He sighed. He needed to get a grip, get back to the office, and hope to God nobody asked him how Mac was doing.
Fastening the button on his suit jacket, Leo prepared himself for the rush of cold. He pushed open the door to the block and stepped outside. Fresh air swirled around him, and he took a moment to appreciate how invigorating the sensation was. Breathing deeply, he stood tall. Despite the solid feeling still lingering inside his chest, he felt somewhat comforted by the chilled world before him. He rubbed at his chest and took the three steps down to the sidewalk. There he stopped as a cold shiver worked its way up his spine toward his collar and beneath his hairline. It was a strange feeling, but one he welcomed. For some reason, it felt right.
People walked past him, wrapped in their warm coats, hats, gloves, and scarves as they hurried through the snow. A gust of wind caused the white flakes to twist and turn, and Leo narrowed his eyes as a flash of blue spiraled in front of him. Rubbing his eyes, he dismissed the spark of color. He was tired, but he still had lots to do back at the office. If he could, he’d have ditched the presentation in favor of something else, but as it was, not only was the presentation important to Mac, Leo’s future at Harding’s Toys also rested on it.
He glanced up and down the sidewalk and settled his gaze on a man walking toward him. The man stood out from the other people on the street. He didn’t rush like the people around him, who looked as if they were running from the cold in search of a hiding place. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it. He wore a short coat open over a pale blue shirt and dark jeans. His skin was fair, even more so set against his dark hair, and softened by the trimmed growth across his jaw. Something familiar leapt in Leo’s chest, but he was sure he had never seen the man before. He watched as blue spirals seemed to dance around the man, then their eyes met ever so briefly.
Clearly, Leo was imagining things, because the icy cold that had gripped his heart since leaving Mac’s apartment made way for sparks of heat. This didn’t happen to him, not like this. Sure he’d ogled plenty of handsome men, some had been downright fuckable, but never had a reaction been so strong to a simple stranger on the street. He was well and truly in lust.
A smile curled the man’s full mouth, and he looked over his shoulder. Leo’s attention was drawn beyond the man as someone seemingly slipped in the snow. The man’s smile widened as a second person fell on their ass behind him, then a third. Others stopped to help the fallen people, but all the man did was simply glance at Leo as he passed him. Intrigued, Leo stepped out. What happened next was a blur as his feet slipped from under him and he fell forward. His head hit the ground and all he remembered thinking was how shitty his day was turning out.
Chapter 3
“Hey, are you okay?”
Leo cradled his head and leaned back. He wasn’t sure how, but he was sitting on the cold ground with the building behind him. Blinking, he tried to focus, but all he saw was white blotted with blue.
“What happened?” he said. He rubbed his eyes, then touched his forehead. He hissed as he caught an open cut on his brow.
“You hit your head,” someone told him.
Leo blinked rapidly to clear his vision. He looked up, surprised to see the gorgeous dark-haired man from before. The man was even more amazing up-close, edged by the soft clouding of Leo’s gaze. Leo looked into the man’s bright blue eyes. Wow, so blue, so very gorgeous.
“I’m so concussed.”
The guy raised one of his neat, dark eyebrows, and Leo got embarrassed. He’d never meant to say that out loud. Oh God, did I say anything else?
“Do you want me to call somebody for you? Family? A friend?” There was a flash of concern in the man’s eyes.
Leo shook his he
ad and quickly regretted it as he suffered a burst of dizziness. “I have to get back to work,” he said. He patted each of his pockets until he found a tissue. He briefly pressed the tissue to his head, then looked at it. “Okay, so that’s quite a lot of blood.” He felt a little faint. He’d never really been all that good around blood.
The man leaned a little closer and took the tissue from Leo, covering the wound again. “Head wounds do bleed a lot. They’re often not as bad as they look.” He wiped at Leo’s head, causing him to let out a muted gasp. “Doesn’t look like you’ll need stitches, and I can’t see any skull or brain.” He grinned. “Keep pressure on it for ten, fifteen minutes.”
“Are you a doctor?” Leo asked.
The man smiled. “No.”
Leo gave a slow nod. His hero seemed a little too comfortable around blood. He considered asking what line of work the man was in, but was distracted by a twinge of pain. Uncomfortably, he shifted on the ground. His ass was wet and cold, though he seemed to be sitting on something. He curled his fingers around the edge of the material and then looked back at the man who was wearing a blue shirt and nothing else.
“Your coat,” Leo stated. The man’s coat was soaked through. “You must be freezing.”
“I’m fine,” the man said and stood up. He folded his arms across his chest for effect, but he didn’t really look all that cold apart from the glistening white snowflakes that had settled in his dark hair. “So, do you want me to call somebody?”
Leo held the tissue to his head. His first thought was Mac, but he quickly realized that would be a stupid mistake. Mac would think Leo needed him. Maybe his mom. He had a flash of incense sticks and mint and cucumber smoothies. She’d have him chiming bells and performing yoga to vent the negative energy when she heard about Mac.
“I’ll be okay,” he decided. He just needed to get back to the office and he’d be fine. “Thank you…” He looked up at the man.
“Jack.”
“Thank you, Jack,” Leo said and smiled. “I’m Leo.”
Jack held out his hand. “Can you stand, Leo?”
Despite looking like he’d pissed himself, Leo believed he had control over the lower half of his body. “I think so.” He took Jack’s hand. He was surprised at how chilled the man’s palm was. For some reason, he’d expected it to be warm. He got to his feet with a little help. Jack held on to him, and Leo was grateful. For a moment, he felt lightheaded, but the sensation passed.
“Okay?” Jack checked and released Leo’s arm.
“Yeah.” People walked by without particular care, and Leo looked at the sidewalk. There must have been a patch of ice, or maybe he’d tripped on a raised slab. “Thank you,” he said again. “I’m having one of those days. So, thank you for stopping and helping.”
Jack appeared almost regretful. “I’m glad you’re not hurt. Well, not badly.”
Leo went to remove the tissue, but Jack stopped him.
“Keep pressure on it.”
Leo savored the delicious shiver he got from Jack’s cool touch. “Oh, okay.” He cleared his throat and briefly met Jack’s eyes. It was as if they were alight.
“Leo!”
Leo flinched at the sound of his name, and Jack pulled his hand away.
Oh shit, no.
“Baby, are you okay? I saw you out the window.” So Mac had watched him leave. He eyed Mac. At least he had all his clothes on.
Leo briefly looked at Jack and noted the expression on his face. He seemed disappointed.
“I’m fine,” Leo said and lowered his head.
“Come inside. I’ll check you over.”
“I said I’m fine.” He shrugged away when Mac placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Maybe you should let him,” Jack suggested. He lifted his eyebrows encouragingly. “Get cleaned up properly.”
Leo checked around him: anyone who had taken an interest in him due to the fall had moved along. He didn’t like the idea of causing a further scene, but he wasn’t going back inside with Mac. There was no way he was about to be drawn into the trap of letting Mac be his friend.
“Leo—”
“I said no,” Leo snapped.
Though Leo had kept his voice low, Mac was clearly surprised by the outburst. “Don’t be like that.”
Leo closed his eyes. He couldn’t deal with this. If anything, he wanted to crawl into his bed and sleep until tomorrow. He liked the idea of starting over again in the morning.
“Hey.” Mac grabbed his arm.
Opening his eyes, Leo looked at Mac. “Let go.” Mac’s grip was uncomfortable, as he had dug his fingers into the top of Leo’s arm.
Jack stepped in. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but he clearly doesn’t want to go with you.” He placed his hand on Mac’s and Mac pulled away as if he had been burned. “I’ll see he gets where he needs to go.”
The look that crossed Mac’s face was fueled by anger and suspicion. “And who are you, exactly?”
“Jack,” Jack said as if it answered Mac’s question.
“Jack who?”
“Just Jack.”
Mac narrowed his eyes. “Well, Just Jack, I’m Mac, Mac Donovan, his boyfriend—”
“Ex,” Leo interrupted quickly. He looked at Jack, who remained unfazed by the mention of a boyfriend, ex or not. “Ex.” He glared at Mac.
Looking between Leo and Mac, Jack’s brow creased into a frown. Chances were he was already regretting playing the Good Samaritan in this tale. He looked firmly at Leo. “Do you want to go with him?” Mac moved to interrupt, but without even looking, Jack raised his hand to stop him and asked Leo again, “Do you?”
The weighty ice-cold feeling was in his chest again. Leo shook his head. Okay, was it right that he felt like some princess whose prince had just swooped in to save her from the big, bad dragon? Leo would never claim to be shy or timid, particularly with his family and friends, but there had always been something oppressive in the way Mac treated him, and damn if he wasn’t feeling it right now.
“Then that’s settled.” Jack focused on Mac. “He’s coming with me.”
Curiously, Leo watched as Mac stepped back and visibly shivered. Was Leo imagining things or was the swirl of blue light back, this time flickering on either side of Jack’s shoulders? Leo had clearly banged his head harder than he realized.
Mac backed away and up the steps of his building. He was clearly perturbed by Jack, but relented anyway. “I’ll phone you later. We still need to talk about what happened.” Mac stiffened as he eyed the two men. He looked like he had more to say, but instead, he turned and headed inside.
When Mac had reentered the building, Leo felt a twinge of sadness, though he knew he shouldn’t. Leo glanced at Jack, then shyly lowered his head.
What the hell am I doing? I’m insane.
“So, your ex?” Jack broke the silence that had settled between them.
Nodding, Leo said, “Yeah, as of ten minutes ago.” Could this day get any worse? He held his head and pressed his other hand to his chest. It felt tight at the thought of Mac.
“Are you all right?” Jack asked and looked into Leo’s eyes. He seemed to lean back and wore a puzzled expression, as if he had seen something he didn’t like.
“Feeling a little tense.” Leo took a deep breath. He didn’t do panic attacks, and Jack didn’t need any more reasons to think Leo was a fruit loop. “Stressful day.”
“I’m sorry.” Jack winced as he spoke. “And I’m sorry about your head.”
“It’s not your fault.” Leo sighed and checked his watch. He had so much to do.
“Maybe. But…” His eyes held an apology. “Anyway.” Jack dismissed whatever he might have said. “Where were you headed?” He picked his coat up off the sidewalk and looked at the wet item of clothing.
“You don’t have to walk me.” Leo was sure Jack had plenty of other things he’d much rather be doing right now than babysitting him.
Jack folded his coat over his arm, then ran his
hand back through his damp hair, brushing away the snow that had settled there.
Straightening up, Leo smiled to himself as light hit the snow still clinging to Jack’s beard—bright white in contrast to his dark coloring. The man had such a calm and gentle aura about him, warming almost, and yet Leo couldn’t help but note the ice-coldness that surrounded Jack as if he was able to absorb the heat right out of the air. Hell, with the bang to the head, Leo swore he could see the chilling silky, silver-blue waves playfully dancing between them. Blinking, he became aware he was maybe letting his gaze linger a little too long on the other man.
Whether Jack noticed, Leo wasn’t sure. Jack certainly wasn’t giving anything away as he inspected his coat.
“Where do you work?” Jack eventually asked.
“Harding’s,” Leo said.
Jack shrugged.
“Harding’s Toys. We’re on Free Street. We design, well, toys, among other things.” The company had been established in 1920 by Mr. Peter Harding and his son, David, and had retained the name when David Harding passed away, though he was survived by only a daughter, Rebecca, who married one Oscar Donovan. Donovan, as in Mac Donovan, who just happened to be the youngest of Rebecca’s grandchildren. Mac wanted to do big things within the company and, with Leo’s help, aimed to make a name for himself within the family business.
Crap. How were he and Mac going to be able to work together after this? Mac was either going to be a dick or super nice in the hope of getting back together. And the gossip. His life was going to be hell.
“Toys?” Jack said. He seemed surprised. “So you’re an elf.” Jack made the statement without so much as flinching.
Leo raised an eyebrow. Was he serious? “Erm…” He had no idea what to say but noted the curve of Jack’s lips as he clearly tried to suppress a smile. “Don’t do that. I thought you were serious.” If anyone was going to run into an escaped mental patient believing in elves, it would be him and it would be today.
Just Jack Page 2