Caught in Shower

ERIC:

And how am I supposed to claim Leonard?!

I shouldn’t have agreed to this. I shouldn’t have let Lucas talk me into it. I should’ve run like I intended.

“Running won’t tackle your feelings,” Lucas said, reading my thoughts.

Staying won’t help them either. I have no idea what to do. A straight Leonard was one problem, but me…with history with his friend…was cancerous.

“I warned you,” Lucas said, syncing with my thoughts again. “I never supported you with Bernard. You didn’t listen.”

“What are you now? A vampire?”

“Your nerdy best friend.”

I smiled. Of course, he was. And because he was, that’s why I am doing this. Why I’m about to ruin my life.

“Doing nothing will ruin you more.”

“Seriously, Lucas. Did you gain some strange powers?”

“If only they could win me Erica. If I could read her mind and know what she thinks of me.”

Lucas was deeper in love with Erica than I could explain. Sadly, there was nothing I could do to help him. Whether I win Leonard or not, if Erica wasn’t into Lucas, nothing could be done.

We had no plan. Lucas gave none. Matters of the heart aren’t games or plots. This would only begin when I finally moved to meet Leonard. And that was the challenge—I wasn’t ready. Missing him wasn’t enough to send me racing back. I wanted to take my time, to prepare for the worst.

Days passed. Erica hadn’t called or come home since hearing I’d left the hotel. Her determination to win Leonard outweighed even our birth mystery. She had paused the search. All her energy was on Leonard. Lucas also said she was taking online cooking classes…he still hadn’t stopped watching her from his computer.

I never watched with him. I didn’t summon the courage to ask about Leonard either. But Lucas knew I needed to hear. So he told me. Said Leonard looked colder than ever—strangely distant, withdrawn. After work, we went straight to bed until the next day. No shower. No dinner. Erica’s cooking lessons never brought him to the table. He didn’t talk to her. It was just work and his bed.

My heart froze.

Could Leonard be missing me that much? Maybe he was worried about my sudden disappearance after I’d promised I wouldn’t run. Maybe he was angry, keeping to himself until I showed.

“I don’t think that’s it,” Lucas said. “I mean, he knows where we live now. If he was mad, worried, or missing you, he’d have come back to threaten my life.”

That was logical. It had been two weeks since Leonard last came to the house, and he hadn’t returned. If Lucas’s logic was correct, then something bigger was going on.

“I need to go to him,” I told Lucas.

“You should…but now? Just like that?”

“Do I need an entourage? I thought you’d be pushing me on.”

“I am. But you haven’t seen each other in weeks. You shouldn’t just barge in as Eric. Or do you still want to cling to the Lucia lie?”

Right.

“So what now?”

“Your choice.”

“Lucas, do I look like I have one?”

He sighed. “Do you want to go as Eric or Lucia?”

I exhaled.

As much as I wanted to tell Leonard the truth, this wasn’t the time. Going as Eric would spark conflict and explanation. I wouldn’t get to know what was truly going on with him. But as Lucia, his anger over my disappearance would be softer…there’d be room for a warm conversation.

“Lucia…I suppose,” I shrugged.

“Good choice. Dropping the Eric bombshell on him isn’t wise at the moment.”

So I prepared as Lucia.

However, the thought of his starvation wouldn’t leave my mind. I wanted to make him a proper meal…cook enough to last him. Maybe he’d heat it when I wasn’t around.

Not wanting to touch Erica’s seasonings to avoid provoking her, I went grocery shopping. Bags in hand, I headed to Leonard’s earlier, during the hours both he and Erica were at work. I wanted to cook in a quiet space and await their return afterwards.

I refused to think about how Erica would take my presence. Or how Leonard would react, seeing both of us in a frame. I only cared about him…and why he was falling apart.

Food done. I went in for a shower. After hours in the kitchen, I didn’t want to meet Leonard smelling like fried chicken.

“Lucia…?”

I paused. His voice.

Could he be back? No. Lucas said he never returns midday on his watch. That day was merely a coincidence; I was fated to be discovered.

His voice in my head was a reminder of how much I missed him.

I smirked under the heated water, chuckling at myself. I couldn’t believe I was fantasising about his presence.

“Lucia…?”

The voice echoed louder against the water…and I ended up getting hard. Maybe this was a sign. A sign to release all this longing in his essence. I wanted him so badly. And with Erica returning with him, there wouldn’t be a chance to burn out.

The thought sank deeper, making me harder. I took more shower gel, rubbed it on my cock, pumping slowly, moaning quietly…when the door slammed open. A hand…the hand I knew too well yanked me around and thrust me hard against the wall.

*************

Water splashed around us, soaking the floor as our heavy breaths filled the bathroom.

Leonard’s eyes widened between shock and disgust. He stared at me, frozen, unblinking, water streaming down his face.

“Leo…” my voice broke out in whispers.

Tears slid down my cheeks, hidden beneath the shower’s downpour.

He spun me around, roughly…harshly, slamming my face against the wall with a heavy thud.

I twisted toward him, but he pinned me back, hands roaming all over me.

“Leo…”

He jerked me around to face him, his gaze dropping down to my cock…which was still shamefully hard and protruding.

“Leo…”

He seized my wrist, dragging me out of the bathroom, leaving the water running. I staggered behind him into the bedroom.

He shoved me onto the bed. I scrambled up immediately, reaching for him.

He pushed me again. Harder. My hip collided with the bed frame. Pain jolted through me as I gasped for breath, but he showed no sympathy. He ripped off his jacket, tore at his tie like a madman, then dragged me back up only to throw me against the wardrobe. His arm pressed hard against my neck.

“Leonard…”

His grip tightened, cutting off my air. I clawed at him helplessly, but he only pressed harder until the edges of my vision blurred. Then he released me.

I crumpled to the ground, coughing, choking, sobbing.

He paced the room in circles, yelling, cursing at the air.

When I finally lifted my head, he yanked me up again, choking me with both hands this time.

This was it. I was going to die. The man I loved was going to kill me, and no one would know. Maybe Lucas would, if he was watching. But what could he do? Call the cops? Even they would applaud Leonard for ending a fraud like me.

“Stop…” I rasped. “Please…”

His grip tightened as he watched me fade.

“Leo,” I tried again, tears streaming freely now. “I love you…”

The words tumbled out at the worst moment. But they saved me.

Leonard faltered, his grip loosening. He shoved me backwards—again, my hip cracked against the bedframe. Pain shot through me like lightning.

Before I could face him again, his heavy steps stormed out of the room.

Seconds later, the sound of crashes filled the house…plates, food shattering. The meal I had cooked for him was being destroyed.