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Laurie grimaced. “I know, but he’s….”
“Jesus. I was worried about you, and you were there fucking my brother.”
“Beck, I’m sorry. I didn’t plan this.”
“But you wanted it.”
“Is that so horrible?”
“Jesus. I don’t know.”
I turned the phone so Beck could only see me. “Don’t you dare blame Laurie for any of this. If you want to be angry, be angry with me.”
“Oh I am. I left you a message telling you he would be there in my place. He needed somewhere to go, and something came up with my internship last minute, so I couldn’t leave.”
“I got an earlier flight, and my phone died at the airport. I didn’t bother charging it because I’d have to ignore a gazillion calls from our mother. Then…well, I didn’t get your messages.” I understood why he was upset. I should have listened to his messages. I should have known my uptight little brother wouldn’t give me a present like this amazing man. No wonder he spoke so highly about Laurie/Laurence, he was incredible.
When I’d met him before, he’d been so shy he seemed to want to be invisible. Beck had told me he had an awful boyfriend who was likely abusing him. That had to be who’d hit him. That asshole better enjoy the next few weeks because I was coming for him. What I didn’t know was what I was going to do now.
The bed linens rustled, and I turned to see Laurie wrapping the sheet around himself.
“Don’t go. You and I should talk. Beck, I’ll call you back later.”
“No,” Laurie said. “This was…I was so stupid.” He ran out of the room, and I heard the door to the villa’s other bedroom slam.
“I thought you actually wanted to change,” Beck yelled. “I thought you wanted to get yourself together and do something with your life.”
“I’ve been trying to run the fucking company, does that not count as doing something?”
“Worth, he’s hurting. He just left his boyfriend, a man who’s been abusing him for years. Tommy had him trapped. Laurence hasn’t got any money or any place to go. I sent him to Aruba so he could have a chance to relax and experience some luxury before we figure out his next step. He already didn’t want to take money from me, and now you fucked it all up.”
“How did I do that? I didn’t hurt him; I didn’t do anything he didn’t want.”
“You thought he was a fucking escort.”
“He didn’t act like one, I just made a stupid assumption. I was early and he was naked—well he had on a robe, but it was open. Why else would there be a mostly naked man in our villa?”
“You could have let me know you were arriving early. That would have been nice, even if I was the one there.”
“You could have told me you weren’t coming yesterday.”
“I….”
“Beck?”
“I put it off because I thought you’d be mad, and then I’d have to lay down the law about Laurie.”
“Too late for that.”
“It’s not too late for you to keep your hands off him from now on. He’s in no place for more disappointment. He needs to figure things out on his own, and you…you should be done now anyway since you’re Mr. One Night Only.”
I’d said that about myself plenty of times, but hearing the words spat at me like that hurt. “I thought you wanted me to change.”
“Not like this. You’re going to have to fix this.”
I agreed, but I didn’t think the solution I wanted was the same one Beck did. “What do you want me to do? Apologize to him, then ignore him the rest of the time I’m here?”
“No, but you should probably get your own place to stay. This is not the time for him to be dealing with shit like you eye-fucking him all the time.”
