Page 21 of Roleplay at Randy's
“I wouldn’t either.” He winces. “No offense.”
“None taken. I know it’s trash, but it’s what I can afford.”
Thankfully, he doesn’t focus on how awful everything looks; his attention is solely on me after a cursory glance around.
“What do you do? For work, I mean. I don’t think it’s ever come up.”
I roll my lips inward and lean back on the stove. “Odd jobs, really. I take up a couple shifts a week at this local cafe.”
He nods slowly, and I know how it sounds. Like I’m not doing enough to support myself. I’m letting myself flounder. Maybe I am.
Maybe I’m afraid of finding something permanent only to have to uproot my life for a third time.
“And, you know,” I find myself saying, tongue moving ahead of my brain. “I might post some stuff online.”
“What kind of stuff?”
Not the kind of stuff I should be admitting to a guy I’m trying really hard not to want to bang.
“Um. Sexy stuff.”
His eyes widen marginally, lips parting in surprise. “Like OnlyFans?”
A blush creeps its way up my cheeks. “Yes and no. I postpictures and videos, but they’re all accompanied by fantasies. Little stories and scenarios.”
Like one about a boy who danced with me in the park, who didn’t walk away and made love to me on the dewy grass.
“That’s actually pretty cool.”
My mouth drops open and an exasperated sound comes out. “You are … something else, Elias.”
It’s time for his cheeks to turn pink, and now he breaks his eyes away, wandering the apartment as if in dire need of escape.
It shouldn’t be as cute as it is.
He’s quiet and aimless for a moment, and when he turns back to me, there’s a hard resolve in his eyes.
“You’re not staying here.”
I flinch, slightly taken aback by how intense the words come out. “What?”
He crosses his arms and squares his shoulders. “You’ll come stay with me until we can get you someplace safer.”
Every coherent reply comes out a stuttered mess, so I settle on something a little more indignant. “That’s not your call to make.”
Now he throws on one of those sweet smiles. One that makes his dimples pop and my legs feel like jelly. He steps forward and sinks a hand into my hair, cradling the back of my head in a firm grip.
“You’re coming home with me, Matty.”
Oh no. Oh no no no.
My heart hammers. My ribs tense. I want him to close the gap between us so goddamn badly.
I’m so gone for this man.
6
ELIAS
