Page 30 of Due Dilligence (Takeover)
Chapter Eight
Todd could have chosen another bar, but a part of him was fucking furious at the quivering contradiction that was Fazil. So here they were, at the hottest club on Capitol Hill, packed in with beautiful men dancing and flirting and kissing. It was staffed by even more gorgeous men wearing outfits that were a jacket shy of a full tux.
This place would have had him salivating and hard when he’d been nineteen. Fazil? He looked positively dazed.
Todd had never scored here, but only because he’d overdone the whole hookup thing after Fazil had left. While the sex had been okay—and occasionally mind-numbingly good—that whole time had left him hollow and jittery, as if he’d been on something. In a way, he had. Not alcohol or drugs. Todd had drowned his sorrow in fucking and being fucked by men. Lots and lots of men.
Not all of the trips had been good. He’d only pulled out of that life thanks to a chance encounter with a doctor named Martin. Bless his soul, wherever he was now.
“Wow.” Fazil’s eyes were wide—but at least they weren’t moist. Somewhere along the line, he’d put himself back together.
“Wait until you try the drinks.” They made their way to the bar and Todd ordered. The cocktails were served with a smile and a wink, and then they were back into the crowd, brushing past leather, silk, linen, business clothes, casual clothes—and them.
Todd hurt, the pain as deep as the marrow of his bones. All those wasted years!
Maybe thiswasrevenge against the guy with self-esteem issues who’d fucked his way through their high school friends and had the audacity to be mad at Todd for doing the same thing,when he hadn’t at all.
“Todd,” Fazil said. “This isn’t a beer.”
“It’s still a fucking drink.” Fazil had believed every lie the little shits had spread about him. His “conquests.” All the stories of thewomenhe’d had, because of course, a brainless idiot brute like him was only good for one thing. He took a swallow of his drink and didn’t taste it at all.
“Why are we here?” Fazil sniffed his drink and sipped. “I mean...” He waved his hand. “This isn’t quite what I had in mind.”
“You rarely ever say what you have in mind.”
Fazil looked at the floor, his brow furrowed and his knuckles white around his drink. “You rarely ever let me.”
Oh bullshit.“This is part of Seattle. Part of my life.”
Fazil took a longer drink and looked around the club.
“You left me, Z.”
That made him jump. Not much, but enough. He focused everywhere but on Todd. “I went to college. I didn’t leave you on purpose.” Fazil’s cheeks flushed, as they always did when he lied.
“In California.” Todd stepped closer and lowered his voice. “You had offers from MIT, Cornell, and Carnegie Mellon, plus the University of Pennsylvania... but you chose the school inCalifornia.”
“Stanford’s a great place.” Fazil swallowed and looked into his drink. “One of the best.”
“So were the others.”
“I didn’tleaveyou, Todd. I—”
Todd gripped Fazil’s chin, tilted it up, and stepped in so Fazil had no choice but to look him in the eyes. “Why Stanford, Z?” A whisper of words.
The mask cracked, just as it had at dinner and the truth, the painful,uglytruth poured out between gritted teeth. “Because you couldn’t drive there.”
“And I was too poor to fly.” They managed okay with the shop, but it didn’t leave much for luxuries like newanything, let alone a ticket to California. He’d thought about driving across the country, but that would have cost too much, between the gas and keeping his beater on the road.
Later, after he’d gotten a job out there, he’d made that trip.
Fazil tried to nod, but couldn’t manage much movement against Todd’s hand. “Iran. I didn’t leave, I ran from you.” The last word was rougher than sand.
Todd tightened his grip. “Why?” Anguish in his heart. He knew the answer. Everything Fazil believed had been built on a trash pile of lies. That’s where kids like Todd belonged. Not in college. Not in engineering, and certainly not in Fazil’s bed.
“I was sick of having my heart broken every time you left!” A couple near them started and looked their way.
“WhenIleft?” Todd’s grip was iron strong.
