by KD Ellis
Teddy’s friend stepped forward, puffing out his chest. “What do you care? It’s a free country.”
Ian gave Teddy’s friend a once-over before dismissing him, turning his attention back to Teddy. “You’re too young. How’d you even get in? Zade cards at the door.”
“I’m eighteen,” Teddy grumbled. “As long as I’m not drinking, I’m allowed.”
Ian hesitated but finally released the younger man’s arm. “Huh. Eighteen? Really? When did that happen?”
“It’s his birthday, asshat.” Teddy’s friend rolled his eyes. “And you’re ruining it, so…fuck off.”
“Shiloh!” Teddy’s face heated.
“Teddy!” His friend rolled his eyes. “Just because he’s hot doesn’t mean you have to let him manhandle you.”
Teddy’s blush deepened to full crimson. Shiloh eyed Teddy as well then laughed. “Or maybe you do.” Shiloh shoved Teddy forward until he bumped into Ian’s chest.
Ian instinctively gripped Teddy’s arm, keeping him from tumbling over.
“Have fun. Be safe.” Shiloh waved and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Teddy and Ian staring at each other. Ian wasn’t sure which of them seemed more startled.
“I can—” Ian started, just as Teddy said, “Do you want—?”
“Oh, I want,” Ian muttered, unable to resist. He drew Teddy closer, out of the path of a drunk man pushing his way through the tightly packed bodies behind him.
A grin spread across Teddy’s face. It was hypnotic. Ian couldn’t look away. “The picture was blurry, you know,” Teddy finally said, his voice breathy.
“Should’ve been faster,” Ian replied. He lifted his hands from Teddy’s arms. He didn’t think he imagined the disappointment that colored the young man’s face. It faded when Ian curled his hands around Teddy’s hips, tugging them closer to his own.
Teddy’s breath escaped in a moan. Ian knew the young man could probably feel the effect it had on him where they were pressed together. “Say the word,” Ian said, his face tilting down. “Tell me to give you back to your friend. Tell me to leave you alone.”
“No,” Teddy said on a sigh, tipping backward and parting his lips.
Ian longed to capture them, to steal his breath into his mouth, to explore the taste of his skin. Then he realized there was nothing stopping him. Teddy was a consenting adult—a consenting adult who was currently leaning into his embrace, all but begging for him to close the scant few inches that separated them.
So Ian did. He took what Teddy was offering so sweetly. He caressed the seam of Teddy’s lips with his tongue until they parted, granting him entry. He tightened one hand on the boy’s slender hips like he was afraid of letting go and lifted the other to gently clasp the back of Teddy’s head. Ian used it to angle him back, opening his mouth farther. He tasted of mint, but when Teddy moaned, it became fire.
Until Teddy’s mouth broke from his and he was tugged out of Ian’s grasp by his friend.
“TMZ is here,” Shiloh said, tugging on Teddy’s arm. Teddy blinked, looking for all the world like Ian was the sun and he’d been caught staring at him too long, until his gaze sharpened and he blinked.
“Shit,” Teddy breathed, breaking the intense stare he and Ian had been tangled in to turn to his friend. “Did they spot you?”
“I don’t know, maybe. We gotta go.” Shiloh tugged on Teddy’s arm, glancing nervously over his shoulder.
Teddy turned back to Ian, an apology in his eyes.
“Don’t worry,” Ian said, lips curving up. “I know where to find you.”
Teddy flushed at the reminder but allowed his friend to grab his hand and lead him off the dance floor. Ian watched until he was out of sight, regret burgeoning in his chest. He didn’t mind going home alone, but going home alone and knowing that Teddy was right next door might kill him.
* * * *
Ian spilled his release into the shower drain, telling himself it was the last time he was going to use thoughts of his sexy neighbor to get off. At least, it was the last time he was going to use thoughts of his sexy neighbor to get off alone. The next time, he fully intended the young man to be there with him—preferably naked.
He spun off the shower and wrapped a towel around his hips, heading back into his bedroom. He paused in the doorway, a smirk crossing his mouth. He hadn’t drawn his curtains yet, and while the darkened room would keep him in shadow, if he turned on the light…
He crossed to his window, the one that faced his not-so-secret admirer. He leaned his forehead against the cool glass.
He’d never really paid attention to the room across from his, except to notice that he could see into it, and occasionally to read a note or two Teddy had left—usually, some message he wanted Ian to pass on to his brother. He’d never dared stare longer.
He remembered when he’d first noticed that the walls were pink and the curtains were lacy, and that far too often, the girl on the other side had looked sad.
But he couldn’t pinpoint when that had changed. At some point over the years, the window on the other side of his had become just a window. Looking now, he noticed the changes. The walls were a not-quite-blue, not-quite-gray shade that looked perfectly bland, and posters he couldn’t quite make out were scattered across them. He couldn’t see the bed, but he saw that the vanity had become a dark oak dresser.
While he didn’t know when the room had changed, he remembered the exact moment when the girl had.
Ian had been fourteen and finding himself more interested in boys as well as girls. He’d never paid his younger brother Lucas’ friend Thea much attention. She had been a kid, too young to be much fun, even if she did follow him around a lot while Mama was babysitting her. And she was always pouting—not whining, not really bothersome, just generally unhappy. Ian hadn’t known much about girls, except that normally, they got a pinched sort of look on their face when they were talking to him and he wasn’t really listening, so maybe unhappy was the default setting for girls.
But then one day, he’d come home from football practice and stood, confused, in the doorway to the living room. His younger brother hadn’t had a lot of friends. He’d been overweight and acne-spotted. Neither were what had kept him from making friends, though. It was the fact that his brother was so concerned about both of those things that he lashed out at classmates before they could lash out at him for either.
So, he had been surprised to see a beaming boy lying on his stomach on the carpet, cheerfully inspecting a collection of Pokémon cards spread across the floor. It took him an uncomfortably long time to realize that his brother’s friend Teddy, the happy boy with the shaved head and the obsession with 3D puzzles, was the same friend who used to be called Thea.
He’d long ago stopped thinking of the sad shadow of a girl who had followed him around like a puppy.
He didn’t miss her.
Through the other window, Ian saw the door crack open and the bedroom light flick on. Teddy and his friend were both frowning as they entered Teddy’s bedroom. Ian found himself frowning as well. He didn’t like the jealousy that reared his head at the thought of Teddy being with someone else, though he knew they owed each other nothing. A single kiss did not a relationship make.
The frown vanished, though, when Teddy’s eyes lifted immediately to the window in a way that spoke of routine, as if his first thought upon entering was to seek Ian out for comfort—though Teddy’s eyes widened, like he hadn’t actually expected to see Ian peering at him through the glass.
Ian knew that the towel wrapped around his hips provided enough privacy that he didn’t need to be concerned about showing too much. Even without it, he doubted his room was light enough to reveal more than a suggestion anyway. It didn’t stop the red tint from filling Teddy’s cheeks, nor did it stop Ian from wanting to see it closer. He wanted to trace the blush with his fingers, follow its path along Teddy’s skin and see just how low it went.
Instead, he lifted his fingers to his lips and blew the y
oung man a kiss, then winked.
That night, he left the blinds open.
Chapter Seven
“Your neighbor is hot…with a capital H-O-T,” Shiloh said, the morning after Teddy’s semi-disastrous eighteenth birthday. Only semi, because kissing Ian might have been the highlight of his decade. It more than made up for the drunken fit his mother had thrown the morning before, and the high-speed chase that had ended in a high-priced ticket for Shiloh afterward. Today, they were in a little boutique in the Second Street District, one Teddy wouldn’t have stepped foot into without Shiloh’s urging. He preferred the vintage shops on South Congress or other, less expensive stores.
“I know,” Teddy sighed, his mind already pulling up a dreamy image of Ian, as if he could have possibly forgotten what he looked like already.
“I am sorry I interrupted your big moment, though,” Shiloh added, twisting his face slightly. “I probably could have waited a few more minutes… Let you at least get his pants off.”
Teddy chucked the blue button-down he’d been holding up, still on the hanger, at his friend with a huff. “If I’d already had his pants off, you’d have been shit out of luck.”
“But you wouldn’t have been.” Shiloh grimaced at the shirt Teddy had been considering buying, the one that Teddy had used as a projectile, and hung it back on the rack. “I am not letting you wear that. Try this one.” He held out a fuchsia pullover instead.
Teddy fingered the soft material regretfully. “It’s pretty,” he admitted.
“So buy it.” Shiloh held it out.
“It’s too thin,” Teddy said, dropping his fingers.
“Wear your binder. No one will notice.” Shiloh shrugged and waved it at him again.
“It’s too bulky.” Teddy turned away from the offering and pulled out a different shirt. It was not quite so vivid and the material wasn’t as soft, but it had more drape and less cling. “How about this one?”
“I guess it’s not horrible. Did you schedule your surgery yet?” Shiloh eyed the fuchsia shirt, then shrugged and draped it over his arm instead.
“It was technically already scheduled. I just had to call and confirm that I hadn’t suddenly changed my mind because my age changed.” Teddy rolled his eyes and grabbed a pair of black basketball shorts to go with the shirt. “I’ll be going under next month.”
Shiloh beamed. “Then you can totally buy this shirt. It’s not like it’ll be languishing in your closet for the next ten years.” He held it out again then pouted when Teddy refused. He knew without even looking that the price tag was way over his budget. He was already pushing it with what he had.
“I’m going to go check out. Meet you by the entrance?” Teddy asked.
“Sure. I just have to grab one last thing.” Shiloh headed toward the lingerie.
Teddy got in line. He set his purchases on the counter and waited while the cashier removed the anti-theft devices and scanned the tags.
“That’ll be seventy-two dollars and ninety-eight cents,” The woman said, her voice bored.
Teddy pulled out his debit card and swiped it. The machine issued a loud siren of beeps, the screen flashing red, and he frowned. “Um, can I try it again?”
The cashier sighed. “Of course.”
He waited then swiped his card again when prompted. It was declined, again. He frowned, flipping the card over to examine the shiny magnetic strip on the back. It looked fine. It was brand new. He’d only just gotten it the day before. It must not have been activated correctly. That was the only thing he could think of. It wasn’t like he’d spent almost a hundred thousand dollars in two days. This was the first time he’d touched the account with his trust money in it.
“Sir, if you can’t pay, I’m going to have to ask that you step out of line. There are people waiting.”
Normally, the cashier’s automatic use of ‘sir’ would have been the highlight of his day, but he hardly noticed. He was certain he’d called to activate it. They’d given him a pin number and everything. Frowning, he headed to the front door empty-handed.
Shiloh met him a few minutes later. His friend frowned, “What happened? Change your mind?”
“I gotta run to the bank real quick. Something’s up with my card,” Teddy answered.
Immediately, Shiloh’s face grew wary. “Oh. Um, did you want me to go with you?”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll meet you back at the house, okay?” Teddy knew Shiloh had hang-ups when it came to money. They were the opposite ones that Teddy had, but that didn’t mean he didn’t understand. He’d been friends with Shiloh long enough to see people come and go from his life, nearly all of them users, looking for handouts. Shiloh, after all, was the only son of the CEO of BeckTech, a giant in the technology industry. A lot of kids seemed to think that meant Shiloh owed them somehow.
“Okay.” Shiloh, voice muted, agreed.
But everything wasn’t okay, because fifteen minutes later, Teddy was staring stupidly at a man in a sweaty polo shirt who was holding a receipt that couldn’t be right.
“What do you mean, there’s no money?” Teddy asked, not quite able to comprehend the teller’s words.
“I can go get my manager, if you’d like. She can explain it to you,” the man said, clearly exasperated.
Teddy nodded. “That would be great.”
The teller had to be wrong, because a hundred thousand dollars didn’t just vanish overnight. The manager emerged from a door behind the desk a few minutes later. She was tall and lanky, her blonde hair limp around her face, but she had a kind smile. “Ms. De Luca?”
“Mr.,” Teddy corrected.
The woman glanced down at the paper with a frown that cleared a moment later. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t notice the name change form. It’s right here. Well, Mr. De Luca”—she shot him a bright smile—“I see you have some questions about your account. Let’s see what I can figure out for you, hmm-m?”
She tapped the keys on the computer. “So, your ending balance for May, it looks like, was…seventeen dollars and forty-two cents. There have been two withdrawals this year, one for May and one for April, each totaling twelve hundred ninety-two dollars and forty-seven cents to PennyMac Loan Services. It looks like there were…three payments last year to the same firm, and… Well, actually, there have been a total of…twenty-three payments over the past six years. There appear to be payments out to the City of Austin, as well as several dozen payments to Austin Energy.” She clicked a few more times on the computer. “The payments were authorized by Olivia De Luca.”
Teddy clenched his hands tightly into fists and sucked in a breath. He closed his eyes to try to steady himself. “Okay, thank you. I didn’t realize.”
Teddy left the bank in a daze. He’d planned on calling an Uber, but with the only money he had the little bit he’d saved from his after-school job, he no longer felt comfortable spending it. Instead, he spent the walk home running his mother’s betrayal over in his mind.
She knew what he wanted that money for. He didn’t understand why she’d paid almost thirty thousand dollars to a loan service. The house was supposed to be paid off. If she’d taken out a mortgage, she would have told him, right? And the rest, the payments to the energy company and the city of Austin? Well, it sounded like she’d used his trust on bills. He wondered if that was the reason all the red-stamped envelopes had stopped coming.
Had she been funding her employment gaps with his inheritance? Each time she’d fallen back into the bottle hard enough to lose her job, had she done so because she knew his money was just there, conveniently waiting to bail her out?
The more he considered the possibility, the angrier he grew. It was like molten lava swirling in his chest, so hot that he knew his bones couldn’t contain it. His hands shook at his sides, even when he shoved them into his pockets, and his jaw clenched together so tightly that he thought for a moment he could feel his teeth cracking.
He was angry, but beneath the fury he felt a riptide of guilt, pre
paring to take his feet from under him. A small voice whispered in his mind that he couldn’t be angry. What right did he have to be pissed that she’d taken the money, since she’d spent it on bills? But he would have given it to her, freely if not happily, if she’d asked.
If she’d just sat him down like the adult she pretended he was and explained.
“Fuck,” he cursed, then bent, hands on his knees, at the sharp pain that swarmed his stomach. He had no idea how he would pay for his surgery now. It was only a month away and, even with a payment plan, they needed half up front.
He hadn’t come up with any solutions by the time he reached his house.
“Boo Bear,” his mother called from the living room. He ignored her, taking the stairs two at a time. He slammed his bedroom door behind him.
Shiloh looked up from where he was reading on Teddy’s bed. “You look like someone stole your lunch money.”
Teddy tugged off his sweater and threw it as hard as he could at his hamper, then stared at it. He kicked the damn thing over. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it tight across his chest. “Might as well get used to these…these…things, since they’re never going away.” He slammed his head angrily back into the door, ignoring the tears it brought to his eyes, then slid down it to the ground. “Fuck!”
The mattress groaned as Shiloh shifted, moving to a seated position perched at the edge. “What happened? Did your doctor call?”
“No. Fuck, I almost wished it was something like that, then I could just find another doctor or something. No, my fucking drunk of a mother emptied my trust.” Teddy shoved off his shoes, chucking them at his closet door, finding a dark enjoyment in the satisfying thud as they struck.
“She can’t do that,” Shiloh said immediately, before hesitating. “Well, I mean…not unless she was the executor, but…”
Teddy laughed coldly. “Yeah. Fuck my life. All this time I thought we owned the house free and clear and she took out a goddamn mortgage.”
Shiloh sat in uncomfortable silence for a long moment. “That sucks.”