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“You took me to a sex club?” he hissed.
Parker chuckled. “Where did you think you were going? Narnia? I told you, Robby’s not the saint you think he is.” The asshole gripped his arm. “See the kid over there?”
A tear leaked down the cheek of a redhead, a veryyoungredhead. A man crushed the side of his head against the paneled wall, as he fucked him from behind. Matt’s stomach gurgled, threatening to cast his lunch on the floor.
“Kids like him, guys like the one doing him—they’re the bread and butter of places like this. You asked me how I knew so much about Robby’s sex life; it’s because I’ve seen him, just like this. And those were on the tame nights. Other times, he got downright kinky. The more drugs he did, the less he cared. I saw him take on two at once. Oh, and I hear he gives a hell of a blowjob.” He cocked his head. “Is it true?”
Shaking his arm out of Parker’s grasp, Matt tried to put distance between them. “Screw you.”
“But don’t pull his hair. Right?”
He stopped in front of a table of naked guys playing cards and spun back to look the blond viper in the eyes. “I don’t believe you. No matter how many disgusting details you throw at me. No matter how you try to get under my skin.”
Robby would never come to a place like this. At least, not the back room. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.
No. Parker was just using tiny truths to convince him of lies.
Flexing his fingers, he tried not to ball his hands into fists—and failed. “Obviously, you’ve got some ax to grind with Robby, but you’re wasting your time trying to poison me against him. He would never be a part of this sordid garbage.”
“You sure?” A wicked gleam shone in Parker’s eyes.
Matt lifted his chin. “I’d bet my life on it.”
“Yeah? You might want to rethink that bet.” Parker smirked and looked pointedly over Matt’s shoulder. “Your paragon of virtue is right over there, and it looks like he’s not leaving alone.”
Following the direction of Parker’s gaze, his heart stuttered, then shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.
Robby guided a teenage boy through the room, the kid wearing nothing but a pair of shorty-shorts and Robby’s distinctive new H&M jacket. As they turned toward the door, the kid reached back and grabbed Robby’s hand.
“There has to be an explanation,” he whispered and moved forward to get it.
Or tried to. Parker gripped his arm. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it matters.” He tried to shake off the other man’s grip, but Parker’s fingers dug in like a bear trap. “Maybe not to you, but to your baby’s mama. I know a dozen guys who’ll happily tell her all about seeing Robby here. One or two might be willing to testify to it in court.”
“Why?” he asked hoarsely. “What difference does all of this make to you?”
Parker released Matt’s arm and ran his hand over his hair. “Maybe it’s because Steve matters to me and Patty matters to him. Or maybe I just have a soft spot for children. I wouldn’t want your little boy wrapped up with someone as fucked up as your boy Robby.”
Bullshit.
Matt took in the debauchery all around him. The smell of sweat and lube. The wet slapping sounds. And something cracked deep inside of him.
Why had he ignored his own intuition? Why had Robby been with men like John? What kind of secrets did a man have to bury in a hole to live with?
Because he was hiding something he thought was unforgivable.
And while he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, Robby would have an explanation for all this—the man he loved was good and kind and true—he knew, just as surely, this could be the wedge Patty would use to take Jimmy away once and for all.
Matt had already put aside dreams to which he’d come so close. Of becoming an architect. Of finishing college. And he would do it all again a hundred times over for his son. His heart beat for his little boy. He would never abandon him. Never give up fighting for him.
Honestly, he’d never imagined he’d ever fall in love. Find a person who filled his heart and made his body come alive. That dream had seemed a million miles away, but with Robby, it had become a reality. And now, like he had with his other dreams, he would have to let it go.
Because he wouldn’t—he couldn’t—lose his little boy. He wouldn’t abandon Jimmy the way his father had abandoned him.
Even if it meant ripping his heart from his body.
Matt didn’t move, didn’t speak.
