AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A shiver rolled down his spine, but he shook it off impatiently and poured another shot. “I can’t believe you still come here.”
Parker lifted his brows, his eyes mocking. “I sawyouhere not so long ago. It’s not like I’m drinking by myself today, Lambchop.”
Jerk. He hated the nickname, and Parker knew it.
As the second shot warmed his chest, he shook off the irritation. He’d come here to feel better, and dammit, he would.
Parker put a hand on his arm. “Grab the bottle. Come with me. There’s a private room in the back.”
Why the hell not? He clutched the bottle to his chest while Parker grabbed the shot glasses and lemon wedges, then led him to a roped-off back door. The security guy standing there didn’t so much as blink as they passed.
His thoughts drifted back to Matt and the woman at Closing Time. What were they doing now? Did Matt leave with her? Did he take her home?
Parker snapped his fingers three times. “Are you high right now, dude?”
Robby swatted the guy’s hand out of his face and joined him in a shiny leather booth. “Cut it out. I don’t do drugs anymore. Just give me my shot glass.”
Parker slid it across the table, then reached out and rested a hand on his arm. “It’s still kind of unreal seeing you again. When you stopped coming around, I thought maybe you’d found a new Daddy or you moved back to where you came from.”
His skin itched beneath Parker’s touch. He pulled his arm away. “I don’t need a Daddy. And I’m never going back to where I came from. You know better.”
Not many people knew the whole of his story, but Parker had been one of the only friends he’d been able to talk to during his early years in Atlanta. When Robby had been with John, Parker’s boyfriend had been older as well, though markedly different from John in other ways. They’d gone to all the same parties, the same clubs. They had the same hardships, the same…restraints, though in many ways, Parker’d had it worse. At times, it seemed like no one could understand what his life had become more than the man sitting with him now.
It had felt natural to share secrets back then. Dreams. Hurts, both past and present, of the body and the heart.
Parker knocked back a shot, not bothering with the sugar. They’d left it in the main part of the bar anyway. He stared at the glass as he set it back on the table. “Never say never, my friend. Sometimes, new problems can make the old ones seem a lot simpler by comparison. Your old man might’ve thought you were property, but he never tied you to the—”
“Don’t.” He barely recognized the low timbre of his own voice. It brooked no room for argument. He ground his teeth against the vicious words rising in his throat.
His old friend held up his hands in surrender. “Okay,” he agreed as he poured them both another shot. “You didn’t stick around here. You didn’t go home. Where did you go?”
Robby downed his drink, then sucked a lemon wedge. Going through the motions gave him the chance to calm his pounding pulse. He dropped the rind on top of the small pile growing in front of him. “I didn’t go anywhere.”
Parker raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“I didn’t,” he repeated. “When I left John, I didn’t have any money. I didn’t have much more than when I left my parents’ house.” But there was one major difference.
He turned to face Parker fully. “Only it wasmychoice to leave John. I didn’t even recognize myself anymore. I couldn’t live that way for another second.”
“I get it. You weren’t happy, but when you left, John was really hurt.”
Robby laughed darkly. “Johnwas hurt.” He shook his head. “Do you have amnesia or something? They treated us like toys. To be played with and traded off.”
Parker rolled his eyes. “Maybe it got worse in the end, but you’ve got to admit, it was a sweet ride in the beginning.”
Heh. Not sweet. Livable, but not sweet. “The first time I walked into his apartment, I thought I had it made. It was the nicest place I’d ever been in. Big TV mounted on the wall and everything cream colored and perfect. But he let me know from the very beginning, I was there to cater to him. His hands were gentle, but don’t fool yourself. The first night, he had me naked and crawling just for the honor to suck him off. And the worst part—I was so grateful, I thought it was a gift. Because I could have a hot shower and a soft bed. I didn’t think I deserved anything better.”
A shudder went down his spine. “John cared more about his knock-off Rolex than he did about me. God knows, he took better care of it.”
Another shot slid down his throat before Parker clutched his fingers around the bottle.
“Please.” Parker sneered. “You don’t even know how good you had it.” His hand shook as he tipped more vodka into his glass, and a few drops spilled. “John has a reputation for taking care of his own. You always had food to eat, new clothes to wear.”
Heat climbed the back of Robby’s neck. “But at what cost?”
Parker slammed a fist against the table. “Not the kind of cost I had to pay with Harry, that’s for damn sure!”
“Then, it’s a good thing Harry’s dead.” His own time with Parker’s ex had changed him in ways no one knew about to this day. They never would.
