Page 4

Reggie fucking Ferris. Beau wanted to put his fist through a wall. That was a familiar feeling, but he never expected that guy. Reggie’s whole “ he’s a criminal ” bit was funny as hell, considering he was a world-renowned piece of shit. Everyone in certain circles knew who the drug dealer to the stars was here. Beau sold guns. Reggie preyed upon people at their weakest. He had called Beau a criminal. Beau couldn’t stop laughing about it. Like, what the fuck? Did he think he wasn’t?

Kylo padded through the living room to the kitchen. He looked like hell, but also like he had been up and gotten ready for the day. Beau shook his head. His hyper independence exhausted Beau. Beau couldn’t even begin to imagine how tired Kylo must be.

“I need to get you a bell or something, so you’ll stay in bed and call for help.”

Beautiful light blue eyes with dark circles beneath turned his way. “That feels a bit pretentious. I can still walk.” He stepped into the kitchen, leaving Beau behind. Then he poked his head back into the living room. “Good morning, by the way.”

Beau’s cheeks ached, making him realize how big his smile had gotten. He followed Kylo into the kitchen. It was out of his control. Kylo had him on an invisible leash. “You know, I hear hyper independence is a sign of trauma.”

Kylo paused in the middle of pouring himself a glass of water. “I read; you know you’ve finally healed from your trauma when you stop wearing only black.” His gaze deliberately dropped to Beau’s shirt before meeting his stare again.

Beau couldn’t argue. He did always wear black. “Touché.”

“Do you want breakfast?”

“I know you’re fucking joking.” Beau didn’t bother to hide his irritation. Kylo was set on killing himself.

Kylo’s mouth lifted in one corner. “I planned to order something. You don’t want me to cook. I’m a disaster.”

“Oh.” Beau felt a bit dumb. Kylo had just proven to be so damn difficult. He expected the worst. An idea struck. Kylo had been a lot more open and willing to be cared for while in his playroom. “I noticed a little table and chairs while in your playroom yesterday. Dress however you want and let me order us breakfast. You can just take it easy.”

The longing was in his eyes. Kylo wanted what he offered. He twisted his fingers. “You’re my guest.”

Beau shook his head. “I’m your nurse. Doesn’t the nurse usually deliver the food?”

“No. I’m pretty sure the hospital food service people do that.”

Beau snorted. “And again, does smart ass-ery win you friends?”

Kylo looked confused for a second. “I’m pretty sure I was just pointing out the obvious. Nurses don’t have time for that shit.”

Beau took a step forward, invading Kylo’s space and backing him against the counter. Kylo never looked away, but his lips parted in surprise. Beau was tired of being disobeyed. “I gave you an order.” He touched his lips to Kylo’s. Beau planned to brush lips and send Kylo on his way. The neediest shaky breath he had ever heard caressed his ears. He wasn’t sure it wasn’t his. The next thing he knew, he held Kylo’s hair, keeping him in place while he devoured Kylo. He plundered. Beau explored. He kissed Kylo like he was already buried inside him. Desperation poured through him. It had been literally years since he felt genuine passion. Since someone wanted him back. He had to make himself stop. Beau pulled away a hair. “Do as you were told.” He swiped another sweet kiss across Kylo’s lips.

“Okay, Daddy.”

Holy hell. The possessiveness he felt at those whispered words would send Kylo scurrying away if he saw inside Beau’s head. “Good boy.” He took a step back and pulled out his phone. Beau needed to focus on ordering food. Everything else was unsafe territory. Kylo was in danger. He would see that soon.

Kylo waited patiently in his favorite pink pajamas with the unicorns. He stared at nothing. His mind took turns between going completely blank and seeing an image of a man running around waving a giant red flag. He was in trouble. Kylo recognized all the signs. Yet here he sat, waiting for the trap to snap closed around him. The thing was, unhealthy attention was still attention. As long as it didn’t physically hurt, then Kylo would spoon that shit up like a kid in a vat of ice cream. Unless someone had never been loved, they could never understand the lengths a person would go. His lips still tingled from the abuse. God, he wanted to do it again.

“Okay. We have a variety of things.” Beau appeared with two bags of food. He sat next to Kylo and went to work, pulling various items out. “We have eggs, sausage, and bacon. There’s also fruit and cinnamon rolls.”

Kylo’s ears perked up at that last one.

Beau obviously didn’t miss a thing. He chuckled. “I expect you to eat some real food first.”

“I like eggs and fruit too.”

“Do you not eat meat?”

“I do, but not anything pork related. It makes me sick. I don’t know if it’s an actual allergy or anything, but I always pray for death after I eat it.”

Beau nodded along, looking like a loving father rather than the man who had wrecked his soul just minutes ago. “Noted.” He arranged the food so the eggs were facing Kylo. Beau handed him a fork. “There’re all these little packets of seasoning, if you’re interested.”

Kylo looked through them and added some salt and pepper. He swore he felt Beau’s gaze boring into him. A blush creeped up his cheeks. “What?”

“You favor pink. It looks good on you.”

Kylo already sat in his secret hideaway wearing pajamas. There was no reason to hold back. “I always preferred girl clothes. My mom, being my mom, let me wear whatever I wanted. She was a firm believer clothes aren’t gendered. I imagine she still is, but I’d have to see her to know.”

“I hate finding out that the Pride Jinko is a shitty mom.”

A soft laugh escaped Kylo. “I don’t know that she’s a shit mom, at least these days anyhow. She’s just busy.” He heard himself. Despite everything, he loved his mom. He didn’t begrudge her any of her fame... except when he did. “And maybe a little self-centered.” He flashed Beau a smile. “Maybe I am too, though. I don’t know.”

“Has she seen how talented you are? You should be on stage.”

“I was. Until I wasn’t anyhow. I’m sure she knew.” Kylo stared at nothing, seeing nothing for a moment, before shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me. Why aren’t you still on stage?”

Gah. His eyes were so gorgeous. He dug too deep. Kylo practically felt Beau burrowing beneath his skin. “I’m too old.”

Beau laughed.

Kylo didn’t.

Beau’s laughter died. “Wait. You’re serious.”

It hadn’t been a question, but Kylo treated it as one. “Very. Ballet is cutthroat. You have to be young, beautiful, and flawless in every way. There’s always someone younger and better, waiting to swoop in and push you out. I can’t complain, though. Over the years, I’ve done some of the biggest productions in front of massive crowds. I got to have my Broadway moment. Most people will never say that. Now I just dance for the love of it, in whatever role I want.” He motioned toward his crowd of stuffed animals. “With a much smaller audience, of course.”

Beau’s expression always screamed he saw too much. “I’d love to watch you anytime.”

Kylo shoved food in his mouth to hide the hope building inside him. He was more than a little certain he had missed his chance at finding the one. Kylo needed to stop hoping to find his soulmate in every man he met. They had to move on. “Tell me something about you.”

Beau chewed and looked thoughtful for a minute. Finally, he shrugged. “You already know I have two sons. Otherwise, there’s nothing good about me.”

The red flag guy was back. “That’s an odd way to state things.”

Beau held his stare. “No. It’s honesty. You had that crown delivered to me. The only way you pulled that off is if you know who I am. The only good thing I’ve done in my life is my boys. I don’t know if that’ll ever change. Maybe I’m every bit as cursed as the crown you gave me.”

Kylo’s throat swelled. He heard Beau. Despite how things always looked, Kylo wasn’t stupid. He just honestly thought he saw something in certain people they didn’t see in themselves. Maybe it was real or maybe he only saw what he wanted to see. Either way, he couldn’t leave Beau to suffer, and he was. Kylo saw it every time he looked at Beau. It was like looking in a mirror.

Like any wild animal, he had to lure Beau in a little at a time. He acted unbothered by the speech and continued eating. “The night you saved me, you told me your son owns The PlayPen. All I had to do was Google the owner, and I had a last name. With a name, it was nothing to get an address.”

Beau still looked entirely too serious. “So you’re telling me you know nothing about me except my name and address?”

Kylo smiled. “I didn’t say that. That’s just how I found you.” He took another bite of eggs. “Once I had a name and an address, a ton of news articles were only a click away. Of course, anyone with half a brain cell knows to take most of that stuff with a grain of salt.”

Beau had stopped eating. His full focus was locked on Kylo. “You sound unbothered.”

Kylo shrugged.

“Why?”

At Beau’s pointed question, Kylo set his fork aside. He suddenly wasn’t as hungry any longer. “I used to spend a lot of time with Reggie.” Even the name hurt his throat. He couldn’t talk about this, but it was stupid to stop there. “He never hid anything from me.” And his dumb ass thought that made him special.

“Were you two a couple?”

“No.” That was definitely true. Kylo was just an idiot.

“He told me you didn’t need a criminal here, endangering your life.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong. Still... “That’s rich.”

Beau laughed. It was good to see him smile. “Yeah. That was my thought too.” He set his fork aside. “Now, do you want a cinnamon roll or do you want to show me your toys?”

Affection washed over Kylo. He was in so much trouble. “Can I do both?”

Beau’s dark gaze moved over his face. He turned serious. “I’m pretty sure I’d let you do anything you wanted.”

Yep. He didn’t stand a single fucking chance. Needy had always been his middle name. Beau looked like just the man to fill him.