Page 18 of Adonis (Salt and Starlight #1)

“Are you up for some company?”

Trevor asked him as they traversed the sandy path to the house.

Connor dragged his feet, the bite marks on his thighs throbbing with each step. “Depends on the company,”

Connor replied. He didn’t even have the energy to guess who Trevor meant.

Trevor snorted.

Connor glanced at him, spotting an amused grin on Trevor’s lips.

“What?”

“You look like you’re about to crash.”

“After I shower, I plan to do just that,”

Connor said. He thought about the question. “Is it Laurence? If it’s just Laurence wanting to watch a movie or something, I can manage that.”

“Think you can find the energy for bowling, too?”

Trevor asked.

“Ugh.”

Connor didn’t have the energy for it, not after two rounds with a definitely experienced Adonis, but he would probably struggle mentally with disappointing Laurence. “Yeah, fine. But I was swimming, so I have to shower first.”

And wrap up the bite marks. And maybe brainstorm if Adonis was trying to eat him or were the bites just a kink thing. Either worked for Connor, honestly.

A low-pitched horn rumbled from the ocean. Connor stopped on the porch and looked over his shoulder. A large barge sat in the water far out at sea. Its ugly metal hull marred an otherwise beautiful sunset.

“Unusual seeing one of those out here.”

Trevor shaded his eyes as he looked out, squinting at the ship. “I wonder if it’s coming in for repairs?”

“It’s been around a few days now,”

Connor said.

They both watched it. Connor wondered if Trevor found it as unsightly as Connor did or did he think nothing of it? Trevor turned from it without another word.

“Anyway,”

Trevor said, opening the back door. “Your friend from school turned up earlier. He and Laurence are in your room.”

Connor stopped on the porch. “My friend?”

he asked. Who, exactly, would not only come to see him but also be able to leave the boarding school during the mid-week? He frowned, none of his silent, complicit friends coming to mind.

Trevor paused when he noticed that Connor wasn’t moving.

“Which friend was this?”

Connor asked when Trevor didn’t elaborate.

“Austin,”

Trevor said.

Connor went rigid as his gaze jerked to Trevor’s face. There was nothing new in how he regarded Connor… just an extra dose of concern in his eyes. But who knew what Austin might have spouted off?

Trevor frowned. “Are you not friends?”

Connor hesitated. “We are.”

His voice came out stiff.

“I can send him away.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Connor walked past Trevor into the house, making for the stairs. “They’re in my room, you said?”

“Yes…”

Trevor was frowning. Connor was too on edge to hide it and ease Trevor’s concern. Ever since that night—since he’d apparently walked in on his boyfriend and Peter hooking up, he hadn’t heard a word from Austin. He’d waited. For an apology. For Austin to come forward and tell everyone there’s no way Connor was a bigot since they’d been dating for almost two years.

Connor’s door was closed. An image of Laurence and Austin in bed together flashed through his mind, sending a bolt of apprehension through him. He forced himself to turn the handle and open the door.

Laurence was sitting criss-cross style on the bed; Austin was leaning over the desk, looking out at the ocean. His slight frame turned as Connor walked in, his tanned face pointing toward him. His soft smile didn’t match his sharp, glittering eyes. Austin met his gaze, not a hint of worry or trepidation in his expression, like he didn’t even consider that Connor might go ballistic at him.

A wave of anger rose in Connor, threatening to choke off his reasoning. He’d wanted Austin to come visit him so many times. He used to daydream about Austin being here during his lonely summers—but now it was just infuriating. All those daydreams tasted rancid and sour, and Connor despised that he’d been so invested in someone ready to screw him over.

“Connor,”

Austin said, grinning. His bright gaze darted down Connor’s body before climbing up him slowly.

Connor simmered. He didn’t know that the one thing Austin could have done to piss him off even more was check him out. Connor forced himself to look away from Austin. He kept his expression level, despite his conflicted emotions simmering just beneath the surface.

“Do you mind giving us a few minutes?”

Connor asked Laurence.

Laurence frowned, his expression worried as his gaze darted between them. “Are you sure?”

he asked Connor.

And the question told Connor that he wasn’t hiding his emotions as well as he thought. Not if Laurence could see he wasn’t happy.

Austin leaned against the desk and looked coolly in Laurence’s direction. “We have a lot to catch up on,” he said.

“Go on, Laurence. I’ll be down in a bit,”

Connor said, moving out of the way of the door.

“Okay…”

Laurence paused as he passed Connor, searching his face, but went out the door. Connor waited until he was down the stairs before he reached out to close it.

“Why are you here?”

Connor asked.

“I was worried.”

Austin kicked off the desk and approached Connor. He ran a hand self-consciously through his silvery, pale hair and tucked an errant strand behind his ear. It drew Connor’s gaze to the tight corner of his jaw, the slope of his throat. Memories of having his lips against the curves there crossed his mind. “You didn’t answer any of my calls or texts—”

“And what about that made you think I—”

Austin cupped Connor’s cheeks, kissing him suddenly.

Connor froze, startled. Austin’s tongue pressed against the seam of Connor’s lips, beckoning them to open.

Connor gathered himself. He took hold of Austin’s shoulders and shoved him back. “That ship has well sailed, Austin,”

he said, his voice coming out low and angry.

Austin’s eyes glittered up at him, unperturbed by the rejection. “I was worried. I’ve been calling to see if you are alright, but it all went straight to voicemail.”

“Funny. You didn’t seem too worried when I was in jail.”

Austin bit his bottom lip. “I was—look, I was afraid you would be angry with me. I didn’t know how to approach you. I didn’t know that nobody else would come forward to help you, either.”

Needles stabbed at Connor’s insides. Having Austin, of all people, point out that nobody was willing to stick up for him cut deep. He shoved that down, not letting it show.

“Why would I be angry?”

Connor asked sarcastically. “Oh, right, the cheating thing? On my birthday? Real classy.”

Anger sparked in Austin’s eyes. “I wasn’t cheating!”

His voice squeaked. “I was—”

Austin caught himself. He took in a breath and continued in a controlled tone. “That was Peter. He came in drunk, and he’s, you know, he’s real pushy and big.”

The detachment in Austin’s voice had Connor’s inner voice singing, lie, lie, lie.

Connor didn’t remember what happened that night, but he could read Austin. And any doubts he’d had about the events of that night evaporated. Connor knew Austin well enough to spot the attempted deception a mile off, and when their eyes met, he was certain Austin saw that.

“Connor—”

“Don’t bother,”

Connor said coldly. “I know what happened already.”

Austin looked sharply at Connor, scrutinising his face. “You remembered?”

Connor’s inner voice was back, whispering a question. The night was a blackout for Connor, but how does he know that?

They stared at each other.

Doubt crept into Austin’s eyes. “You don’t remember.”

“And who said I don’t remember in the first place?”

The only person Connor had told was his lawyer, who had dismissed him for lying.

Austin blinked several times, tears filling his eyes. “If you knew, you wouldn’t be angry with me.”

Connor reminded himself what happened that night: the tears were a lie. Connor didn’t care about Peter—they weren’t friends, it had been no betrayal—the betrayal was all Austin. And to have him here trying to excuse himself only filled Connor with disgust.

“I have no interest in getting back with you now or ever,”

Connor said coldly.

“You’re only saying that because you’re angry.”

Connor didn’t get the chance to rebuff him; footsteps approached the door, followed closely by a knock. Connor reached out, opening the door, and Austin darted forwards, wrapping his arm around Connor’s waist.

Laurence peeked in at them, his gaze lingering at the point of contact.

It took a heavy dose of self-control not to shove Austin away. Connor gritted his teeth.

“Dad said you’re coming bowling with us?”

Laurence asked.

Connor nodded.

“We’re booked in for eight, so we’ll probably have to go in ten minutes or so to make it in time,”

Laurence said.

“Right. I’ll shower quickly.”

Connor glared at Austin, who clung to his arm now. “Do I need to call you a taxi?”

he asked through a clenched jaw.

Austin smiled coldly. “No need. Bowling was my idea after all. I’ll wait with Laurence downstairs. In a minute.”

Austin reached around Connor to push the door closed in Laurence’s face.

“You—”

“Did you fuck someone?”

Austin hissed. He shoved Connor, a surprising amount of strength in his smaller body, and Connor’s back struck the door with a thud. Austin gazed up at him intensely.

Connor stared back, revealing nothing in his expression.

“You mean like you did?”

Connor asked.

Anger filled Austin’s eyes. “We’re apart two months, and you—”

He jutted his hand at the door. “You fucked that little twink, didn’t you?! I bet he sucks your dick in here like a needy little—”

Austin hit his chest. Connor caught his wrist to prevent another strike, and after a few seconds of furious hisses and grappling, Connor had both of Austin’s wrists pinned. Austin was strong but not stronger than Connor.

“Shut up, Austin,”

Connor said, pissed off. “We’re not together, and I can get with whoever I like. Not that I got with Laurence. We’re brothers.”

“Who?”

“Nobody—”

“I know what you look like after getting your dick sucked,”

Austin said, furious. “Was it Edith’s new husband?”

“No—”

“That other brother then?”

“Fuck off!”

Connor snapped.

Austin glared at Connor like he was planning his murder. “Let’s pick up where we left off,”

Austin said, that furious expression still in place. “I know you had special plans for that night.”

Connor bristled. They were meant to have sex for the first time that night. It was supposed to be romantic and good, but it had turned into an utter shitshow. Kind of like this conversation…

Connor released Austin’s wrists and pushed him back. “Forget it, Austin. We’re done.”

He opened the door to find a wide-eyed Laurence frozen in place. Connor didn’t know how much of the argument he’d heard or if he’d picked up any of it. From the worried way he looked at Connor, he’d heard some of it.

“Let’s wait downstairs,”

Austin said pleasantly. Two-faced little minx, Connor thought. Austin snagged Laurence’s hand, pulling him along to the stairs. Laurence glanced over his shoulder to Connor, a little frown tugging down the corners of his mouth.

Connor watched Laurence and Austin go downstairs, the sight of the two of them together irking him greatly. Necessity deemed he shower; once out, he slapped bandages onto Adonis’s bites and changed clothes in a rush. As he left his room, Nick stepped out of his, too.

Nick spared him a glower before walking to the stairs.

Connor stared at the back of his head, and before he could stop himself, he grabbed Nick’s wrist.

Nick spun around, eyes sparking fire like he was about to take a swing at Connor. Connor regarded him calmly. “Don’t leave Laurence alone with Austin. That shit where they were alone in my room, with the door closed? Don’t let that happen. He may look sweet, but he’s far from it.”

Nick snatched his arm back from Connor. “Sounds like someone you’d be friends with.”

“You hate my guts, I get it. Just don’t let that happen again, asshole,”

Connor muttered, stepping around Nick to rush down the stairs. He found everyone in the kitchen drinking tea. Austin was chatting to Trevor while Laurence studied Austin with a furrowed brow.

Trevor looked at them as they stepped into the kitchen. “Ready to go, boys?”

“Can’t wait,”

Connor said dryly.

Trevor cast him a quizzical look. Before they headed out, Connor filled himself a takeaway mug with coffee; he desperately needed the energy, especially if he had to deal with Austin for a few hours. As he walked to the car with everyone, he debated just saying that he and Austin weren’t friends and sparing himself an evening of trouble. It wasn’t like Austin could say anything to harm Connor at this point… could he?

At worst, he could say they dated.

Austin chatted to Laurence the entire way to the bowling alley; whenever Austin noticed Connor looking their way, he cast him a smile, like he was pleased with the attention, so Connor stopped looking their way. At first, Laurence was clearly on guard, but Austin’s charm gradually softened him up. During a corner, Austin grabbed Connor’s knee to balance himself, and that hand stayed in place as the road straightened. Austin slowly slipped his hand up Connor’s thigh. A few months ago, the same action would have driven Connor insane; to be fair, it still did. But it was a different kind of insane.

Connor smacked Austin’s hand away.

When they arrived at the bowling alley, Laurence had friends waiting there. The girl, Anna, that Connor had seen before, and two big guys. All of them cast curious looks in Connor’s direction; pretty much everyone in the bowling alley did when they realised who he was. It used to be that whenever he went out with Austin, everyone would stare at him, drawn in by his silvery hair and elfin features.

Trevor and Edith bowed out of the match, saying they would watch as they ate. Connor checked that Austin was talking to the group and not one-on-one with Laurence before approaching the food counter. Apparently, being irritated didn’t spoil his appetite, and after everything with Adonis—he was desperate for the energy.

“It’s your turn,”

Laurence said as Connor sat down with a packed tray of food.

Connor unwrapped the burger and nodded at him. “Can you do it for me?”

Laurence glanced nervously at the scoreboard, where he was tied for last the first round through.

“Throw it in the gutter, Laurence.”

Austin pipped up. “Connor’s stupid good at bowling.”

Connor ignored Austin, taking a bite of his burger.

Laurence double-checked that Connor wasn’t moving to get up before he picked up a bowling ball. It ended up in the gutter, and Laurence’s cheeks turned bright red. Connor repressed a grin. “On purpose, was it?”

he teased.

Laurence’s neck turned red, too. Connor exhaled an amused breath. He patted the spot next to him, and Laurence happily trotted to his side. Nick shot them a glare, but Connor had stopped caring about Nick’s glares weeks ago.

“It…was on purpose,”

Laurence said.

“I see,”

Connor said, amused. “Do you want to go surfing this weekend?”

Laurence jerked his head to Connor, eyes brightening. “Really?”

“It’s meant to be sunny. There’s a big beach not too far down the coast that we can go to if Trevor doesn’t mind us taking his car,”

Connor said.

Laurence twisted around in his seat, going onto his knees and leaning over the back of the chair. “Dad,”

he called, getting Trevor’s attention from where he sat at a dining table with Edith. “Can we borrow your car on the weekend? Connor said he’d take me surfing.”

“I don’t have a problem with it… though you did promise to help me run our food truck at the docks.”

“Food truck?”

Connor questioned.

“The Spring Festival is this weekend,”

Trevor explained. “We were asked if we could run a food stand for it.”

Ah, Connor had forgotten about the festival. Summer was approaching fast.

“We’ll go in the morning,”

Laurence said. “And Nick can help you until we’re back in the evening.”

Connor saw Nick’s expression change. Of course, he wouldn’t be on board with Connor and Laurence going off alone together.

“If you’re going, I’m going,”

Nick said.

“Nick,”

Laurence said, irritated. “You have to stay and help Dad.”

“Surfing sounds fun,”

Austin remarked. “Could I join in, too?”

“As much as I would love to have you,”

Connor said blandly, “I only have two surfboards.”

Austin met his gaze head-on. “You can’t take turns?”

“I don’t like sharing.”

Laurence’s friends had continued with the bowling, but they were obviously listening in. If Austin was embarrassed at being turned down publicly, it didn’t show. He sat back and shrugged. “Fine. We’ve got all summer.”

He turned his face pointedly away from Connor, and Connor gritted his teeth, annoyed that Austin was baiting him and that he was biting.

“All summer?”

Connor asked.

“Dad’s renting a place on the coast, so I’ll be in the area.”

“And what about school?”

“I’ve got a private tutor. School was too boring without you,”

Austin said.

Connor narrowed his eyes at Austin, trying to read his expression. There was no hint of a lie in that coy smile. And Connor didn’t know what he was playing at. If he was willing to leave school and move here to be closer to Connor, then why did he act the way he did that night? Why had he made plans with Peter and then stayed silent when accusations flew Connor’s way?

“So… Dad, we can take the car?”

Laurence asked. He cast the same puzzled look at Austin that Trevor did. Everyone had to find that remark strange. Even Nick took a break from glaring at Connor to send a hard look Austin’s way. Maybe voicing that he liked Connor was enough for Nick to dislike him.

“I’ll think about it,”

Trevor said. He looked at Edith, a question in his eyes. He reached across the table and enfolded her smaller hand in his. Connor straightened in surprise, seeing the look of cool disgust she had fixed on Austin. He’d only ever seen that level of hate directed at himself. And despite Austin expressing that he liked Connor, he hadn’t misbehaved in any way. Nothing that would lead to Edith labelling him as a ‘”bad kid.”

But then again… maybe the fact that he claimed to be Connor’s friend was enough to earn that classification.

Laurence turned back around and surveyed the burger in Connor’s hand. “Is that… they serve veggie burgers here?”

he asked, shocked.

“It’s pretty good, too,”

Connor confirmed. Given that the bowling alley served very basic chipper food, he understood Laurence’s surprise.

“I have to try it,”

Laurence said. He glanced toward the food counter where there was a long line.

“Here,”

Connor offered the burger, reaching for the chips on his tray instead.

Laurence took it, smelling the patty before he took a modest bite from the side. Connor watched his face for his reaction.

“Mhm,”

Laurence nodded and took another bite. “It’s beetroot, isn’t it?”

“And chilis.”

“Fuck, that’s super good.”

“Laurence,”

Trevor warned.

“Sorry!”

Laurence said through a mouthful of food.

The rest of the night was smooth sailing as far as Connor was concerned. He didn’t have to engage with Austin, made sure he didn’t have the chance to make plans with Laurence, and they headed home after Austin’s lift arrived. Connor didn’t see who was driving the black BMW that pulled up; their windows were all tinted dark enough to be illegal, so Connor’s curiosity grew. All he knew about Austin’s dad was that he was filthy rich, a stuck-up snob, and Austin hated him. Hated him enough that he could never hide the sneer that would overtake his features whenever he talked about him.

Connor got into the back of the car; Trevor joined him as Laurence and Nick said goodbye to their friends and Edith used the bathroom.

Trevor turned to Connor.

“You two aren’t friends, are you?”

Trevor asked.

Connor thought about Austin showing up at the house while he wasn’t there and being alone in a room with Laurence. There was no way Laurence was equipped to deal with the devil Austin could be. “No,”

Connor said. “Next time, just send him away if I’m not there.”

“Nick said you weren’t happy about Austin and Laurence being alone in a room together.”

Connor snorted. That warning didn’t take long to get reported, did it? “No. Like I said to Nick, he looks nice, but he’s not. And Laurence can be very soft.”

Trevor took that in. “That’s more than just not being friends with him.”

Connor didn’t have the chance to get into the part about Austin screwing him over, not that he would have, because Laurence opened the door and hopped into the car, scooting into the middle seat. He looked at Connor.

“You’re not friends with Austin, are you?”

Laurence asked.

Connor almost snorted. Trevor did.

“Dad, I’m not saying that to be mean. It’s just—”

“I know, son. I’m just after saying the same thing.”

“You saw it, too, right?”

Laurence frowned at Connor. “I wished you’d mentioned it earlier. We could have come up with an excuse so that he couldn’t come…or you could have stayed home.”

“It’s fine, Laurence.”

Connor blamed his tiredness for the fact that both Laurence and Trevor picked up on his discomfort. If he hadn’t been wrecked, he might have been able to put on a more convincing mask. Although…he suspected that both Trevor and Laurence were good at reading his facial expressions regardless of whether he tried to hide them or not.

“Did he hit you in the room?”

Laurence asked.

Trevor’s head whipped back to them. “What?”

he asked, alarmed.

“No, no,”

Connor said quickly, shooting Laurence an irritated look. Technically yes, but for the sake of peace, no.

“Connor—”

Trevor began.

“No, stop. I’m too exhausted for an interrogation.”

Connor put up his hand to ward off Trevor. “Use your head. That would be like Laurence trying to punch you. He couldn’t hurt you even if he tried.”

Trevor’s dark eyes were serious, and his mouth set into a grim line. “So he did hit you.”

Connor groaned. His head thumped back against the headrest. “Laurence, you’re annoying.”

It took a solid hour to talk his way out of Laurence’s reveal, and even then, Connor knew Trevor had only let it go because Connor was ceaseless in making sure he did. Austin, however, was banned from the house.