Page 63

Chapter thirty

Rusty’s Secret Girlfriend

Gem

The sky was still dark when Gem roused to Rusty shaking his shoulder. “Gem, which shirt is this?”

With a whine, Gem curled into his blankets. “Go away. I’m sleeping.”

“I’m late for work, and you came on my shirt last night.” Rusty shook his shoulder again, and Gem grumpily opened two eyes to glare up at him. He was nothing but a shadow with reflective eyes as he shook dark fabric in Gem’s face. “Is this black?”

“Yes,” Gem muttered before he buried his face in his pillow once more.

“Thanks.” Rusty’s lips brushed over Gem’s temple. “Go back to sleep. I’ll see you at work.”

“M’kay,” Gem hummed as he tumbled quickly back into unconsciousness.

A few hours later, his alarm chimed, and he stretched, wincing at the delicious ache in his joints. Last night, they’d broken out the handcuffs at Gem’s suggestion, and Rusty had bound each of his arms to the headboard before he’d pressed Gem’s knees to his chest and taken him rough and wild.

Gem had been naked. Rusty had simply released his cock from his unzipped jeans and fucked him fully clothed.

It had been dirty and amazing, and Gem admired the scratches Rusty had left on his back and chest in the bathroom mirror.

He’d bitten the nape of Gem’s neck again, and Gem pressed his fingers into the tender bruise and shivered.

One day, Gem wanted him to bite hard enough to break skin. It would scar—wounds like that always did—but he would wear it with pride.

When Gem walked into the cafe an hour later, using the employee entrance, he came to a halt at the sight of everyone—except Rusty—huddled in the kitchen whispering. At his appearance, they all fell silent, and Gem shifted his weight uncomfortably.

“Hey, Gem,” Oliver said.

“Hi?” Gem studied all their expressions at once. “Did someone die or something?”

“No, of course not,” Zef said.

“Oliver was asking for our advice,” Willow said.

“About something personal,” Glyma said.

“Sex advice,” Tad said.

Oliver scowled at her, “Tad!”

“Oh, well, can I help? Is it like a”—Gem flopped his wrist limply—“problem? Or more of a”—he flapped his other hand aggressively—“problem?”

Looking rather horrified, Oliver said, “The first one I hope.”

“Well, it’s definitely the easier one to fix,” Gem said with a smile. “And it’s nothing to be ashamed of; it happens to the best of us. ”

“Maybe you could talk about it later,” Glyma said, and Oliver nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes, please. Later. Or never. Whichever comes last.” With a significant look at the others, Oliver motioned to the kitchen doors. “Better get to it. Can’t leave Rusty all alone out there.”

Gem followed the human out of the kitchen, four pairs of eyes tracking him. “You’re all giving off a very axe-murdery vibe, right now.”

When no one reacted, Gem hurried through the swinging doors, not wanting to risk actually getting axe-murdered.

He wouldn’t put it past Tad to do it. She’d probably harvest his organs to sell on the black market or wear his beautiful face as a mask to hide her identity as she robbed a bank or something.

“Are you sure that was about your depressed dick and not—” Gem broke off with a yelp as Oliver rounded on him, expression intense. “What in the deities is going on? Why is everyone acting like a serial killer? And where’s Rusty? Oh my gods, did you already kill him for his beautiful, silky pelt?”

Oliver grimaced. “What? No, he’s cleaning the bathroom. Someone’s kid got sick in there.”

At that, Gem gagged, brushing past the human to set his water bottle under the counter. “Ew, that’s disgusting! Children are a literal blight on this world.”

“Some would say they’re the hope for the future,” Oliver countered, and Gem grimaced.

“And those people would be wrong,” Gem said, before adding, “And stupid.”

“Right,” Oliver said, shaking his head as if to clear it. “Anyway, that’s not important. I need to talk to you. ”

“Of course.” Gem placed two hands on Oliver’s shoulders, adopting his most understanding expression.

“Now, I’ve never had that problem myself.

” He flopped his wrist again, just to make sure they were on the same page.

“But I had a brief friends-with-bennies situation with a guy who did, and we just had to get creative.

Honestly, it was a lot fun, trying new things to see what worked.

“The most important thing is not to stress about it or take it too seriously. And that goes for both you and Liel. It’ll just make it harder.” Gem sucked a breath through his teeth. “I apologize for the poor word choice, but you know what I mean.”

“Uh, not what I wanted to talk to you about,” Oliver said, face pink with embarrassment.

“Oh.” Gem dropped his hands to his sides. “Okay. Sorry. What’s up, Ollie?”

“It’s about Rusty,” Oliver said, and Gem’s stomach clenched.

Cool as a cumberbun, he gathered the supplies to make himself a latte. “And what about Rusty did you want to discuss?”

“I’ve just noticed that he’s been acting strange lately,” Oliver said as he typed in a customer’s order.

“Strange how?”

“Well, for starters, he’s been in a good mood. Every day. For a while,” the human said as Gem started steaming dairy. “Like, he’s happy. All the time.”

Warmth bloomed in Gem’s chest, and he smiled down at the frothing milk. “You think so?”

“Yeah, which is kind of unlike him.”

“That’s a bit harsh,” Gem chided.

“Is it, though?” Oliver challenged .

Thinking back on the years he’d worked with Rusty before they’d really become friends, Gem winced. “Fair enough.”

“Anyway,” Oliver said as he handed a muffin over the counter to a waiting customer, “he’s been whistling at work and being nice to customers. I mean, last week, someone dropped their cookie on the floor and he gave them a new one for free without any snark.”

“How wonderful that he’s growing professionally.” Gem clasped two hands to his chest. “And it’s so sweet you’ve noticed.”

With a huff, Oliver cracked his neck. “Um, sure. Another thing, he’s been coming into work later than normal.”

“Good. Work-life-balance is important,” Gem said, and he swore Oliver barely held back an eye-roll.

“Oh god, okay. He trimmed three claws on his dominant hand.”

Gem grimaced. “Kinda weird for you to comment on someone else’s body.”

Oliver crossed his arms over his chest. “He’s wearing purple today.”

That made Gem pause. “Come again?”

“He’s wearing a purple shirt,” Oliver repeated. “In public.”

Oh shit, Rusty was going to kill him when he found out.

“It’s nice to see him branching out with his fashion choices,” Gem said, and Oliver’s eye twitched.

“Wow, they weren’t kidding,” the human muttered. “Rusty has arrived late for his shift numerous times the past few weeks, claiming he overslept.”

“About time. The man does not sleep enough, so if he’s sleeping better, that’s a win in my book. Oh!” Gem snapped several fingers. “That’s probably why he’s in such a good mood. A healthy sleep-cycle is the first step to a healthy life. ”

“Oh my god!” Oliver barked, making Gem jump. “Maybe he’s in such a good mood because he’s getting laid on the regular, and you understand what I’m saying!”

And Gem dropped the drink he was holding. He shrieked as coffee exploded from the open top of the to-go cup and splattered his and Oliver’s legs.

“Ah, I’m sorry.” Grabbing several towels, Gem crouched down and wiped at the mess. “I was just so aghast. Because that is new and unexpected information. You, Oliver, have officially ghasted my flabbers!”

Joining him on the ground, Oliver helped him clean up the spilled coffee. “What?”

“My flabbers are ghasted!” Gem cried, and Oliver startled. “What has brought you to this astonishing and serenbipatous—”

“Serendipitous,” Oliver corrected, but Gem ignored him.

“—conclusion that our dear friend Rusty has a parachute?”

Oliver blinked at him in utter confusion. “You mean, paramour?”

“Oh, honey.” Gem patted the top of his head. “I don’t think that’s a word.”

“It’s definitely a word,” Oliver grumbled as they both rose, coffee-soaked towels in their hands. “And why are you talking like an old Victorian woman?”

“I don’t even know what that means,” Gem said.

With a huff of exasperation, Oliver started counting off on his fingers.

“Rusty’s constantly in a good mood, he’s showing up to work late in clothes that aren’t his, he’s trimmed only a few of his claws, and he’s claimed that his tardiness can be blamed on the late tram system.

But he doesn’t take the tram! Which means he’s leaving in the mornings from a different location than his own apartment. ”

“What are you, a private investigator in your spare time? Seriously, Ollie, I think you need a new hobby,” Gem snipped, and Oliver released an impatient sound in the back of his throat.

“Jesus Christ, I thought they were exaggerating when they said it’d be like pulling teeth.” He ran a hand through his blond hair before he levelled Gem with an almost condescending expression. “Gem, we know, okay? We all know.”

Gem’s stomach dropped to his toes. “Know what?”

Before Oliver could respond, Rusty asked, “Yeah, what do we know?”

Neither Oliver nor Gem had heard him approach, and they both jolted, turning to face him.

He was indeed wearing the dark purple shirt Gem had made him buy at the thrift store, the hem coming to an end right above his round little snack pack that Gem loved rubbing his face on.

His pale eyes jumped between Oliver and Gem, before landing on Gem and holding.

“We know,” Oliver said, and even though Gem was pretty sure the cause was lost at this point, he still leapt in to try to save it.

“Yeah, we know, Rusty. We know all about you and your little girlfriend, you… floozy.”

Fuzzy, mauve eyebrows rose. “Excuse me?”