Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“To find him? Yes. To blow him?” Leo snorted. “No.”
*
An hour later, Mike was truly getting anxious. They’d even checked in the garage and on the rooftop, and in most of the rooms Arden could have entered. The boy had either gone off the clubhouse property, or had become a moving target aware of their search, which would have been an extremely shitty move on his part.
Zolt, who joined the hunt as well, returned from a tour of the parking lot empty-handed, and just as Mike was about to shut down the party and put everyone to work, Rain called his phone.
He was annoyed at first, but had the good sense to pick up and ask, “Have you seen my boy?”
“Your boy is at our place. Sort it out tomorrow when you’re both sober. I don’t wanna be in the middle of this drama.”
“I’m coming there right now,” he said, fear dispersing like air from an opened balloon. He swatted Zolt and Leo’s shoulders, showing them a thumbs-up before swiftly making his way toward the open gate. It was fortunate Rain lived close by, but it still unsettled him that Arden had walked there on his own in the middle of the night.
Mike hadn’t drunk that much either, so Rain’s suggestion that he needed to sober up was worthless. What he needed was to see Arden, kiss those gorgeous lips and make sure his kitten was okay.
Mona, Rain, and their twins lived in a bungalow with the only neighbor being their cousin Melody’s family. It provided the kind of privacy the Hellers needed. No one would spy from nearby windows when shit hit the fan.
It took Mike all of fifteen minutes to reach Rain’s home on foot, and he walked past the fence he and Dad had put up for the children’s safety, accidentally kicking a toy in the dark before reaching the door.
He knocked, on edge like an addict missing his next hit.
Rain opened the door slowly, glaring at him. Her black hair was a bird’s nest, and she wore just a tank top and pyjama pants. “Seriously? What part of tomorrow do you not understand? But since you’re already here, let’s get this over with. He’s in the guest room down the corridor. The kids are sleeping for once, so keep it down.”
Mike showed her his palms, gaze already drawn to the door that had some kind of picture attached. He shook his head and stepped across the threshold. “Three people searched for him for over an hour,” he complained but kept his voice quiet, because the twins had very healthy lungs, and he didn’t want to risk attending their next concert. Not so late at night.
Whatever Rain might have said next would have only been a comment and couldn’t influence his decision, so he rushed down the hallway and stopped to wave at Mona, who watched him from her elegant vanity chair with a discontented expression. They’d travelled together, so he’d seen her take makeup off before, no need to get prissy.
The picture on the door depicted a Mediterranean landscape, so maybe the room was meant for visits from Mona’s family members, but Arden was in there now, so Mike rested his ear against the door and knocked.
“Come in,” Arden said, but as soon as Mike opened the door and peeked in, the invitation was revoked. “No, not you!”
Mike pressed his finger to his mouth, wordlessly asking for silence as he slid into the spacious room with a set of simple furniture, decorated with yet more watercolor landscapes and some artificial flowers. Arden sat on a double bed, twisting his lips with a miserable expression. He still wore the outfit that had provoked Mike's lust, minus the wings, which lay on the side table like a symbol of lost innocence, but he'd washed off the dark makeup, and his curly pastel hair was set free. The tiny crystal stud in his nose was the last bit of glam left on him, and he still looked beautiful.
“Mike, I’m sorry, okay?”
The door shut with a quiet creak, and Mike rolled his shoulders, trying to relax them when they unexpectedly went rigid. He didn’t mean to accuse Arden of anything, but now that he faced him, the hurt deep in his heart was impossible to deny. “I’ve been so worried. Why did you run off like that?” he asked, keeping his voice down.
Arden wouldn’t meet his eyes at him, head hung low. “Because I can’t help myself around you. I’m so ashamed. I was the one to tell you I don’t want to go into sex, and I did again. Just like last time, I pulled you into it. I’m such a fucking sex pest.”
Mike snorted. This was too ridiculous. “Sex pest. I like that,” he said, approaching the bed in slow steps, like a predator knowing its prey couldn’t run. But that was okay, because his little lamb secretly wanted to be devoured.