LOGINGabriel's POV The blinding morning sun hit my face like a slap, making my headache ten times worse. I rolled over, reaching out for the heat that had been anchored against my side all night, but my hand just smacked flat against cold, empty sheets. Derek was already gone. I groaned, getting ready for the usual annoying routine of fumbling blindly around the nightstand to find my glasses. But when I blinked against the glare, my stomach did a weird flip. Everything was sharp. The crisp lines of the ceiling, the wardrobe across the room... I could see every single thing. I reached up and touched my face. The plastic frames were already sitting perfectly on my nose. Derek must have slipped them back onto my face while I was completely passed out. For someone who spent ninety percent of his time acting like a brutal, unfeeling dick, that little move hit me straight in the chest. It felt like a silent sign that Derek was actually changing, he isn't that bad anymore. Or maybe he ne
Gabriel's POV It was past midnight, and the silence in my room felt heavy, I stared up at the dark ceiling, my chest tight as Mr. Miller’s words from dinner kept looping in my head like a threat. Derek, you need to find a new partner. Gabe, do you have a partner? The absolute reality of it was staring me right in the face. Whatever this unhinged, messy thing was between Derek and me, it had an expiration date. Little by little, I needed to accept that we were playing with fire. It had to end before it completely consumed us. After all, I was the nobody here. If everything blew up, Derek would be protected by his father's billions, and I would be thrown out on the street. I rolled onto my side, staring at the empty space on the mattress. Where the hell was he anyway? I hadn’t seen him since he left the dining room. A sick, bitter thought crept into my mind was he already out there somewhere, looking for the kind of mannered partner his dad wanted for him? A second later, t
Derek's POV The basketball dug into my palm, the textured surface rough and familiar against my skin. I took two heavy dribbles, the sharp thud echoing off the high walls surrounding the court, and drove hard toward the hoop. I jumped, pouring all the twisting rage in my chest into the movement, and slammed the ball against the backboard. It clattered off the rim and dropped through the net, bouncing away into the shadows. "Fuck!!!" The word tore out of my throat loud and violent in the empty yard. I stood beneath the hoop, my chest heaving as I rubbed my face with both hands, my skin hot and slick with sweat. I couldn't stop my mind from dragging me right back to the dining room. Specifically to Gabriel’s mother. He is straight. My son is straight. I bit my lower lip so hard I could taste the sharp copper tang of blood. That useless bitch. What kind of a mother does he even have? It was bad enough that she treated him like trash, but to top it all off, she literally hat
Gabriel's POV The dining room was so quiet you could hear the microscopic scrape of metal against porcelain every time someone moved their hand. I kept my eyes glued down to my plate, pushing a piece of broccoli around in small, meaningless circles just to look busy. Across the table, my mom sat perfectly straight cutting her meat neatly. Next to her, Derek’s dad, Mr. Miller, was eating with a slow, precision that always made me feel like he was calculating the net worth of everything in the room, including us. Ehm. Ehmm. Mr. Miller cleared his throat, the sound sharp and sudden in the quiet room. I didn't want to look up, but my neck moved out of pure survival instinct. Beside me, Derek didn't even pause his chewing. He looked completely detached, like he was watching a boring movie instead of sitting at his own family dinner. Mr. Miller picked up his glass, took a slow deep gulp of water, and set it down. He dropped his spoon and fork onto his empty plate. He leaned his forea
Gabriel's POV It was the next morning and we had already driven home. The second I stepped out of the car, I looked up at the massive mansion and my stomach just turned. Fuck, I hated this place. It was way better when it was just me and Derek back at the apartment. Now I had to survive a whole weekend with his sly dad and my absolute asshole of a mom. The gravel crunched under my sneakers, the huge pillars of the house looking more like prison bars. My chest instantly felt tight. We got inside the house, and as soon as my mom sighted us, she rushed straight over to hug Derek tightly. Derek flinched, but she didn't care, she still pulled him into her fake embrace. "I missed you so much," she said, her voice pitched way too high and excited. I just stood there watching my own mother treat another guy like her son while her real son was completely an outcast to her. She didn't even look at me. Not a single glance. Then Derek's dad came downstairs. He shook hands with
Gabriel's POV "Arghh!" I gripped the table tightly, my fingers digging on the wood as Derek kept fucking me with a brutal force he had never used before. My bare chest slammed flat against the cold, polished desk with every single heavy thrust, knocking the air straight out of my lungs. The room was filled with the frantic sounds of our colliding bodies, his low, animalistic growls vibrating against my back as my own ragged moans drowned out the room. It was deafening. The wet noise bounced sharply off the dressing room mirrors, filling my ears until my mind went completely blank. He suddenly gripped my neck and yanked me toward him, as my legs was still wide spread. His fingers locked around the back of my neck like a vice, pulling my upper body back until my spine arched painfully. A sharp gasp tore from my throat as he drove himself all the way in, stretching me completely past my limit. Fuck, making Derek mad was totally the best thing I have done today, I was seein







