Page 29 of The Himbo and the Lord
Does Ru have friends to hear him out after I was a world-class asshole to him? Is he being consoled and pampered this morning just like I’m getting attacked and put in my place?
At least I’m pretty sure that’s what’s about to happen, because if it was anything else, they would’ve brought coffee.
They know me better than anyone, and that means they know how vulnerable I am without caffeine.
This is not going to be pretty.
“Who was that guy last night?” Tony asks finally, and it surprises me how serious he sounds. Not like he’s about to make fun of me, not like he wants the dirty details, but really, actually serious. I see a glimpse of the unmovable force he’ll make one day when he takes over the family business as CEO.
I open my mouth to... I don’t know, defend myself? How could I ever possibly achieve that? But Seth stops me.
“Don’t bother lying.”
I step back from them and sit at the foot of the bed. Look away.
“I never hooked up with the waiter,” I confess. And like a cork popping out, the whole story spills out of me. The first meeting when Ru was being such a pompous asshole but I found him attractive for some reason, the elevator, that night, and then seeing him at the restaurant.
They don’t interrupt while I squirm and skip over most of the details—that’s not like me, I’ve never had any issues sharing information about one-night stands with them.
But this wasn’t that, the voice in my head insists.It was so much more, and that’s what’s scary.
“Nate.” Kit sighs out my name when I finish the story. The disappointment ringing in that one word makes me cringe back. “You’re not only a serious asshole for that, but also, such a fucking idiot.”
“Wh-What?” I sputter.
“You obviously like him more than normal, so what’s the big deal?” Tony demands, confused.
“No, I?—”
“Shut up and listen,” Seth shouts, and my mouth clams shut automatically. He’s never spoken to me like that, and I resist the urge to pout. “You talked and talked and gave us every made-up reason you could think of as to why you acted like a piece of shit last night. If I were you, I’d consider myself lucky that we know you well enough to know you wereactinglike one but aren’t actually that big a dickhead. So now you get to listen, okay?”
He bends over, hands on his knees, as he gets right in my face.
I lean back a little more and nod my head. I’m a little bit scared of what he’s about to say if I’m honest.
“You acted that way because you’re a scared little bitch.” His measured tone doesn’t help with the metaphorical slap across my face. I can only gape at him as he looks steadily at me.
I want to protest. I want to deny, deny, deny, but...
He’s not wrong, is he?
The thought of what Ru representsisscary—someone who I like for more than how he fucks, someone who makes me smile, someone who brings out the tender side of me, someone who seems to listen to me when I speak, really listen.
I know damn well what’sexpectedof me, just like I know that if I do spend more time with Ru, I might not be able to let him go.
I already don’t want to be far away from him. I’ve been feeling that discomfort all damn week, but I was able to walk away.
And I don’t think I would if...
Realization hits.
“There you go,” Seth murmurs.
I spring up and sprint to my suitcase. “I need to find him.”
“We’ll help,” Kit shouts excitedly.
* * *
