Page 19

Chapter 19

Benji Morrison

The gym Eli took me to today was one of those fancy places with celebrities casually walking between machines, warm towels that were spritzed with eucalyptus, and personal trainers that looked like Greek gods. I didn’t care much for all the glitz and the glam in a place where everyone should be sweaty and messy, but I could also see the appeal.

“Want to start with some cardio?” Eli asked. He looked like a damn snack today in tiny blue shorts and a black tank top, his hair having been freshly cut so that the blond curls were perfectly trimmed and styled.

“Sounds good to me,” I said and followed Eli to the treadmills.

It had been a couple of weeks since the incident on Broadway. Maybe Nomad felt like they’d gone too far because they were lying low ever since the bomb threat. Eli hadn’t had any more weird DMs or sketchy letters in his mailbox. Even then, I still told him to be more careful in the coming wakes. I wasn’t sure if this silence was a precursor to good news or bad.

One of the things I asked Eli was to never go anywhere alone. It didn’t matter if it was me with him or Zack or even his roommate, Fran. I just wanted someone around him as often as humanely possible. There was safety in numbers, and I didn’t want Eli taking any unnecessary risks.

Something else that had changed since the bomb threat? Eli had been spending more and more nights at my place. It wasn’t every night, but it was enough for me to take notice and leave me with a smile every time we went to bed together.

I loved those nights. The circumstances under which they happened weren’t ideal—obviously—but fuck , I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy with the way things were going.

Eli just… he had it all. He was funny, he was hot, he was passionate, he was intelligent, he was kind. Time flew by whenever he was around. Yes, a lot of that time was spent naked, our bodies doing most of the talking, but even when we weren’t fucking, I found myself happier than I’d been in a long, long time.

It was almost frightening. The connection formed itself practically overnight. The last time I felt this drawn to someone was… well, it was Michael.

I uncapped my bottle and took a chug of the ice-cold water. Eli finished stretching and hopped onto the treadmill next to mine. They were pushed up against a window that looked out on the busy Fifth Avenue. Rain streaked down the glass as people huddled together under umbrellas and tossed on their hoods.

“What do you think about the gym? Like it?” Eli asked as he adjusted his settings on the treadmill.

“I do. I’m not used to working out in a place that offers complimentary massages after your workout.”

Eli laughed, flashing that megawatt grin that wrecked me every damn time. “Yeah, my membership is kind of a splurge, but I spend so much time here. Gotta stay fit.”

I raised a brow, keeping my tone light. “You trying to impress someone?”

He shot me a sideways look. “Maybe.”

I shook my head, chuckling. Fucking tease.

We settled into a steady pace, side by side. Neither of us was pushing ourselves today so we could keep the conversation flowing without being short of breath.

“What part of Jersey did you live in?” Eli asked.

“Paramus for a little bit until we moved in with my grandma in Newark. I was always out of the house by then, biking up and down the street with my best friend, Michael.”

“Sounds like a great way to get into some trouble.”

“Eh, we were pretty good kids. Only got in trouble for trespassing once, and it’s because Michael wanted to show me this cool tree house he found. Except it was in someone’s private yard. The homeowner came out wearing just underwear and holding a shotgun.”

“Holy shit. Jersey doesn’t play.”

“No, no they don’t,” I said, laughing. The memories of those days were warm and tinged with rose-colored gold. My life hadn’t been easy by any stretch of the imagination. I was a rebellious teen struggling in school and dealing with problems at home that could crack even the most stable of foundations. But hanging out with Michael helped me forget all of that. Our silly adventures were enough to lift me out of the pit of despair and depression my life had become.

Only for me to be tossed right back in once I lost him.

“Are you and your friend still close?”

Eli’s question was innocent enough, but I still nearly tripped over myself and went flying off the treadmill. “He passed when we were in our senior year of high school.”

And I was there to witness it all.

Holding Michael as he took his last, rattling, bloody breath… fuck. I braced myself on the sides of the treadmill. The rain kicked up, a flash of lightning reflecting off the windows of the building across the street.

“I’m so sorry,” Eli said. I sucked in a deep breath. My jaw clenched tight. So tight that I was scared I was seconds away from chipping a tooth. I forced myself to relax, stretching and massaging my jaw. Eli must have sensed it was a heavy topic for me because he didn’t dig any further.

Good.

Not that I wasn’t comfortable enough to talk to him about it. I just… I physically couldn’t speak about it. There was an invisible boulder lodged in my throat. It blocked the words from ever forming.

“Come,” Eli said, turning his machine off and slowing to a complete stop. “Let’s go work out some arms. Sound good?”

“Perfect.” I stopped my treadmill, grabbed my towel and water bottle, and followed Eli toward the weight room. The entire gym had the same vibes of a five-star resort. Expensive pale wood paneling, modern strips of bright lighting, accents of black and deep greens blended together to enhance the clean aesthetic. Everyone here looked like they were models or at least trying to break into the industry.

Yeah, it was no wonder this place cost three hundred dollars a month.

We found a pair of benches in the weight room that were unoccupied. As I was looking for dumbbells to work out with, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I grabbed it, my chest tightening when I saw the email header.

Background Check Results – Damon Reyes

Fuck.

I stopped next to the bench as Eli slid weights onto the bar, swiping to open the email. I’d requested this weeks ago, but I’d had the wrong last name initially, which had delayed the results.

The words practically leapt off the screen and smacked me across the face.

Restraining orders. Two of them.

Aggravated assault. Two charges.

A recent eviction.

No kind of education beyond a GED.

I clenched my jaw, scanning the details. Both restraining orders were from former partners of his—one cam boy, one dancer. Both had accused him of stalking, threats, and attempted assault.

“What is it?” Eli asked, towel draped around his neck as he wiped off his forehead.

“I got Damon’s background check back.”

“Can I see?”

My initial instinct was to say ‘yes’ to any kind of ask or demand Eli made. I’d drop to my knees and kiss his bare feet if he asked. But I didn’t see the need to freak him out. It was my job to hunt this Nomad down, and I felt like I was getting close to it. That’s all Eli had to know.

“I don’t want to give you more reasons to get spooked. Just know this puts me one step closer to figuring out who’s behind Nomad.”

Eli licked his lips. He looked skeptical, a small divot appearing between his blond brows. His forehead beaded with sweat, a drop of it sliding down the side of his face. “You not telling me is already making me spooked.”

“Just trust me.”

“I do trust you,” Eli said, cocking his head. The crystal blue eyes swam with questions. “Detective.”

He had said the word teasingly, and I gave him a playful roll of my eyes, although deep down, I was beginning to grow quite fond of the way he’d call me detective . It was becoming a pet name that also triggered a certain chain of reactions that started somewhere in my chest and ended down between my thighs.

“Go,” I said with a nod to the bench. “Finish up your set so I can jump in.” I mainly wanted him to stop thinking about Damon, but I also wanted to wrap up this gym session early. Maybe I could go and confront Damon before the day was over.

“Can you spot me?”

“Of course,” I said. Eli lay down on the bench and grabbed onto the bar, lining his hands up and bracing his chest. The weight room in the gym wasn’t as busy as the cardio section. There were four other people working out, all of them focused on their own routines.

Eli looked up at me. His devilish smirk was about a hundred degrees hotter from this angle. “Ready?” he asked.

“When you are.”

With a grunt, he pushed the bar up and started to do his bench presses. I moved forward, my crotch only a couple of inches away from his face.

Damn… if this were a private gym, all I had to do was lower my shorts and my cock would be right at sucking level.

I ghosted my fingers underneath the bar in case he needed help getting it back up. Eli had it, though. He made it seem effortless, pumping up and down until he finished his set, his breathy grunts striking a match inside my core.

“Nice job. My turn,” I said, swapping places with him. Eli took my spot and stood above me. It wasn’t until I finished up my set that I realized there was something else besides his hands helping carry the weight of the bar.

Eli’s bulge pressed against the steel rod. He wasn’t at full mast, but he was definitely turned on by watching me work out.

Fucking hell.

My blood turned to liquid fire, scorching through my veins, hot and passionate.

I sat up on the bench, swallowed hard, glancing around the gym. “Eli?—”

My next thoughts were wrong. So fucking wrong. I should have kept my dick in my shorts, used the brain in my skull to make decisions. Except that brain was slightly altered by the two shots of vodka I downed before meeting Eli for the gym.

I figured it’d help loosen the muscles.

It also helped loosen the inhibitions.

“Does this place have showers?” I asked.

He gave a nod. “Private stalls. Big ones.”

His fingers brushed my shoulder, just enough to make my cock throb in my gym shorts.

Fuck.

This was wrong.

I should have been more focused on the fact that Damon was a dangerous piece of shit. That I had work to do. That we were in a public space. That I was falling hard for this man who had no idea about the lengths I took to make a moment like this even happen.

What would he do if he knew?

What would I do if he left because of it?

Would he…?

Eli smirked, tossing his towel over his shoulder, giving me a look that was pure fucking sin. “The locker room’s this way.”

I was already off of the bench, following him.

The locker room was empty except for a guy blow-drying his hair by the sinks, oblivious to us as we quickly changed out of our clothes and wrapped warm towels around us. Eli, the tease that he was, took a little extra time wrapping his towel around his waist, letting me drool over his stiffening cock.

“You’re bad,” I said in a whisper as we slipped into the row of private showers. Eli pulled me into the farthest stall, locking the door behind us. We hooked our towels on the hanger before turning the water on.

“Quiet, Detective,” he whispered, pressing me against the cool tile.

His hands were already cupping my full balls, his lips ghosting over my jaw before he started to drop to his knees.

I let out a breath and gripped his arms, holding him up. “I’m hungry for your dick.” I swapped us around so that his back was against the onyx black tiles. His cock jutted out from between his legs, water dripping down his shaft, over his well-trimmed bush. It was a body I’d studied whenever I watched him online, memorizing the divots in his hips, the birthmarks around his chest, the tiny moon-shaped scar around his abdomen.

He grinned as I lowered myself down to the ground. The smooth black tiles were cold against my knees, but I didn’t care. I gripped Eli in a tight fist and slowly stroked, admiring how thick he was and how hard he felt. He licked his lips, eyes rolling back to his skull.

I wrapped my lips around him, sucking him deep in one smooth motion. Heat pooled in my gut. His taste crashed over me, dragging me deep into his warm, inviting waters.

Fuck.

I may not have been sure of much in my life, but one thing I was sure of?

This man was going to be the death of me.