Page 7 of Revenge
:Just stay out of sight for a minute. I’ve got an idea.:
Eli always had the best ideas, so Haruka decided to follow his lead.
Eli stepped out onto the path leading to the parking lot the teachers were leaving. “Good afternoon, professors.”
Hunter jumped like Eli was a monster and shied away from him. “Ahhh! I mean, hello, Eli. What are you doing here?”
“Just taking a walk. What are you two doing today?” Eli asked sweetly, playing up his innocent looks to their fullest.
Hunter backed up so quickly he bumped into Volkov. “Actually, we have a lecture to attend. We’d better get going before we’re late. Sorry, Eli.” Hunter abandoned Volkov and took off down the path at a pace just under a run. Volkov gave Eli an imaginary tip of the hat before following.
Haruka heard Volkov say, “He’s going to get you back eventually. You might as well just let it happen…” Before they got out of earshot.
:You are beautifully evil, my love.:
:I keep telling people I’m not sweet, but no one listens.:Eli was radiating self-satisfaction. He waited a few minutes to make sure the professors were long out of sight and not likely to return before saying out loud, “Come on, polpetto mio. We’re not done yet.”
“…Did you just call me your meatball?”
“I’m trying something new.”
“…”
“No good?”
The question was a trap and Haruka knew it. If he said no, he’d hear it every day until Eli grew bored with it. “It’s great,” Haruka said weakly.
“Come on,” Eli said and headed toward the parking lot the professors had exited.
It was small and far away from most of the campus, so Haruka wasn’t surprised to see only one SUV in it. It was a nice one though, which was probably why the owner had left it there. It had less of a chance of getting dented by a stray car door if it was in an empty lot.
“Jackpot,” Eli muttered.
Haruka raised an eyebrow in question.
“I’ve been trying to figure out where Professor Hunter parks his car for over a month. I got the idea when I saw him buffing it at the gas station. He treats it almost as good as you treat me.”
Haruka had a feeling he was going to like where this was going. “I treat you very well.”
“Yes, you do, polpetto.” Eli patted Haruka’s cheek.
When Eli turned his attention to Kamakura, Haruka covered his face and sighed. He was going to have to live with this nickname until he found a way to steer Eli to a new language that would capture his attention as much as Italian had that month.
“Kamakura, I need you to be our lookout. But, like, over there. Way, way over there.” Eli pointed to the other end of the parking lot. It didn’t escape Haruka’s notice that he was directing their guard to position himself out of earshot of Hunter’s car.
It didn’t escape Kamakura either, apparently. He gave a softhmphand left without a word, giving Haruka a look loaded with meaning. Haruka snorted and shrugged behind Eli’s back, pointing at his boyfriend as if to say,It’s his idea, not mine.
When they reached the car, Haruka said, “Not that I don’t like where this is going, but you know how I feel about fucking you in public, Eli.”
“You mean how you’d be wildly enthusiastic about the concept if no one could see me while you did it?” Eli held a hand over the hood of Hunter’s SUV, and a strange distortion formedbetween his hand and the vehicle. “I knew he’d have some kind of shield on this thing.”
Eli wasn’t wrong about Haruka. The thought of claiming Eli in public was high on his list of fantasies. But the thought of anyone seeing what Eli looked like naked and aroused made him feel homicidal, so it was staying in fantasyland.
“Check out the windows,” Eli said in a distracted voice. His hand began to glow as he formed his shield around it. That was when Haruka realized Hunter’s windows were tinted illegally dark. An outside observer wouldn’t be able to see anything happening inside. Eli tapped his hand against the hood, and the distortion on it flashed between Eli’s shield and the SUV. It flared brightly before going out with a softpop.
Eli smirked at Haruka. “Can you get it open if it’s locked?”
Haruka didn’t bother to check if the car was locked. He blasted the handle on the driver side door with a controlled burst of power, reached into the hole he’d created, and pulled the door open. “After you, kitten.”
