Page 57 of Just A Little Love

“What’s done is done. I hope you got your occupancy stuff updated?”

“Yeah, I did it before I left the building. Justin tried to text me again last night, but after the third message, I blocked him. There’s nothing we need to say to each other. My life doesn’t have space for him. That space is reserved for Rory.”

There was a spate of movement on the stage at the end of the room. From my seat, I had an unobstructed view of the show that was being set up. A backdrop of painted hearts was set upin accordion-style panels. They had writing on them, but it was difficult to see. Anders walked out on the stage, looked me dead in the eye, and then broke into a shit-eating grin. I couldn’t stop myself from returning the smile. My suspicion that shenanigans were afoot was confirmed, but hope bloomed in my heart that my relationship with Rory was salvageable.

Anders took the stage, and I was riveted.

“Could I please have your attention? We are going to get to the karaoke party in just a minute.” Anders allowed the clapping and whistles to die down. “Before we get to that, we have a special performance first.” Jakob popped from around the curtain with a chair that he centered in front of the stage. He searched the crowd until he focused on me. He scowled, but pointed at me and then the chair. Jakob didn’t wait to see if I complied, but turned around with a militarily precise snap and went back behind the curtain. I hurried to the chair with Reed close on my heels.

When I gingerly looked around, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I half expected a bucket of slime, or pig's blood, to end up on my head. There didn’t seem to be any of that either. It gave me time to read the candy hearts. There had been text-speak messages of love with the occasional heart that said D+B or G+R. It gave me hope.

The lights flickered, and the music started up. I straightened myself in the chair and waited for the show.

The curtains parted, and there was Rory.

Oh sweet Jesus, there was Rory dressed as cupid toga, complete with bow and arrow. He walked to the microphone. And then he…. sang. Sang might be a generous description, but it was in the neighborhood of singing.

I had a wacky thought, went a little nuts,

Thought you cheated, had my brain in knots.

But now I see, it was all in my head,

I blame too much Netflix, and too little bed!

I’m sorry for the crazy thoughts I had,

Jumped to conclusions, got a little mad.

I know now you’re faithful, my fears took flight,

We can laugh it off, make things alright!

The entire room was quiet. I wasn't sure if they were in shock from the lyrics or from the caterwauling. Shrieking could be a better description. Regardless, the room was silent. Rory stood up on that stage and simply waited. When I glanced down at his hands, Rory had twisted his fingers around each other. The skin was stark white and taut. My boy had flayed himself open for me tonight.

I jumped out of my chair and rushed to the stage. It had been two long weeks since I had my mouth on him. We were frantic for each other, and our mouths melded together in a messy, frenetic crush. My tongue demanded entry into his mouth, and he ceded immediately. I dimly recognized that other people were in the room and heard their whistling and clapping, but the only person who mattered was the man in my arms. Our tongues twisted and turned, plunging and retreating, and it still wasn’t enough. My hands migrated from his hips to cup his jaw.

When our lungs were close to collapse, we broke apart with panted breaths. I kept my hands on him in case he got the urge to run away from me again. I kept a hand on him until I was sure that wouldn’t happen. Up on stage, in front of the entire club, was not the place for the discussion.

“Bunny, as much as I want to keep this part up, we need to talk.”

“I know, Daddy, I know.”

With his agreement, I grabbed his hand and dragged him off the stage. Barrett had shown up at some point and was standing there with Anders, Reed, and Jakob. As we left the stage, he tossed me his key card. I nodded my understanding, and with Rory’s hand firmly in fine, I dragged him down the hall to Barrett’s office. We both were eager to get away from prying eyes, so our quick strides devoured the distance. At the office door, I scanned the card and pulled Rory in with me. Once we were both inside, I slammed the door and turned the lock. We weren’t leaving this room until every single thing was hashed out.

“Bunny, what’s going on here?” I wanted to give him space to say whatever he needed to put into the universe.

“Gabriel, I was wrong. If I had stopped and thought about it for even half a second, I would have recognized there was no damn way that guy was living with you. I’ve wandered through your house. He wasn’t there, and neither was his stuff. I should have trusted what I knew about you, not jumped to conclusions. When I finally came to my senses. I felt so damn foolish. How could I accept what he said and leave?” Rory’s voice cracked, and he choked back his tears.

“Bunny, no. Someone was there and from what I saw, he had made himself completely at home. What else would you think? I think it would be more outlandish that my ex from years ago broke into my apartment. It’s a wild ride. Why would this scenario cross your mind?”

Rory dropped his head to my shoulder, and the tears he’d tried to blink away rolled down his cheeks. It had been too long since I held my boy. Leaning up against the door wasn’t the place to do this. I maneuvered us over to the couch to sit and then pulled Rory into my lap. He immediately grasped his arms around my neck and cried in earnest. His sobs broke my heart. There was nothing for me to do except murmur shushing noises and wait him out.

“Bunny, I’m sorry.” I repeated myself until his sobs gradually tapered off into nothing.

“Why are you sorry?”

“I’m sorry because I didn’t tell you I loved you before I left. If I had done that, you’d have no reason to question my loyalty.” Rory’s eyes were the size of saucers and were watery with unshed tears.

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