Page 11 of Beneath His Robes

The trailer didn’t have fucking steps.

I spoke for my mother, letting the lies flow off my tongue, all silky and smooth like every time prior.

“You don’t say. Well, Let’s get Doctor Mitter to take a look at you and get this set up for ya.”

I could hear the nurse behind the curtain chortling to the other patient. We weren’t given a private room, so some dumb fuck was on the other side of the curtain dealing with their ailments.

“Okay, sweet pea, you hold tight. Keep that ice on the cut, okay? I will be right back with my suture kit, but at least we got most of the debris out of it.”

The curtain opened, and the nurse exited the area. My world faded into slow motion, not because of her but because of the silent patient on the other side.

It was Elias.

He wasn’t in those ridiculous robes anymore. He had on a tight, black T-shirt and jeans that confirmed my suspicions of how sculpted his body had become over the years.

Damn.

The heat in the room rose, and I turned my back from the curtain.

My stupid ass birth giver chirped and scrambled off the bed, wobbling while holding her wrist. Her wobbling ass managed to get to the curtain and yanked it open so hard that I could hear the clips at the top as they snapped, and the sheet fell to the ground. She may be frail, but she was fast.

“Oh, my lord! It’s Father Cross. Look, Ronan, it’s Father Cross! You twos used to be real close. Best friends for so long ‘til–well–ya weren’t. Do ya ‘member him, Ronan? Hi Father Cross! Weird seein’ ya without ya bath towel thingy.”

I internally cringed at her words, not daring to look back. My one barrier from Elias was gone, and the full extent of his powerful gaze bore into me.

“Hello, Missis Saint Clare. I would say it is a pleasure to see you. However, not so much in this setting.”

His voice was soft and composed, nothing like our shared whispers or heated regret in the church. I sighed, swallowing the lump in my throat before turning around to face him.

Holy fuck, this man was beautiful. In normal clothes like this, he was unfairly godlike. The robes did little to dim his beauty, but this…

It made me instantly hard.

I adjusted myself, grabbing a stray pillow from my mother’s bed to shove over my dick before anyone noticed.

“Whatever happened with ya, Father Cross? Why’d you stop commin’ ‘round our place?”

Elias forced a smile, pain and anger clear in his striking blue eyes. “I did not want to impose on my sister’s time with her…boyfriend.”

I could laugh at the thought of dating Maria if the situation were anything else, but seeing the pain in his eyes made me ache.

My idiot mother furrowed her brow. Even her brain, which probably had two brain cells left, knew I hadn’t dated Maria Cross.

But Elias didn’t need to know that.

“Oh, I didn’t know they ever?—”

“Broke up.” I finished for her. “Yeah. We ended things. I forgot to tell you. Sorry, Miranda.”

To her credit, she looked confused as hell, clearly trying to piece my lie together in her fucked up head. All that alcohol and powder made her malleable.

She shook her head and shrugged.

“Oh. Sorry, y’all ended things, baby boy. I liked Maria. Does that mean you ain’t interested in bein’ with…ya know?” Her voice lowered as she shuffled closer to me, trying to whisper in my ear and yanking me down to her height level. “Men.”

I sighed. “No, Miranda. It doesn’t. And again, I’m not discussing who I fuck with you.”

She smacked me upside the head and gasped.

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