WHEN HIS HEART GOES WRONG のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 31 - チャプター 40

LEONARD: I woke Bernard the next morning with my loud knocks. I had returned home the night before, but I didn’t sleep. Not really. Lucia’s scent in his home had kept me restless. He had said his phone was in repairs and would be delivered today, but I was too impatient to wait for the delivery…or for Bernard to send Eric’s pictures as he promised. “Leo?” he yawned weakly. Aftereffects of drunkenness. “Let’s go,” I said, pulling him out of the door and into my car. “Where?!” “To your phone.” Bernard needed a shower. A hot bath, if I were considerate. He reeked of alcohol and tears, but I didn’t care. His protest didn’t reach my ears. We got his phone, and unable to bear his slowness, I snatched it and powered it on myself. “What’s going on with you?” he asked, bewildered…just as the repairer looked at me strangely. Instead of responding, I shoved the phone to his face to unlock it. “Do you mind telling me why you’re on edge?” “There are no pictures,” I said, ignoring his

LEONARD: I pulled up to the building, rode the elevator, and knocked as if I’d rented the whole apartment for Eric and his crew. I knew Erica would be inside…she’d have left the office with Jimmy the moment news about our wedding escalated, except she had come straight to this crib. The nerd opened the door and immediately slumped to the floor in shock. This is worse than I thought—he urgently needs rejuvenation. It’s becoming abnormal for a man to be so fragile. I wasn’t wrong. Erica stood behind the couch, taking in the scene with a shaky body. “Eric!” I called into the room, ignoring both of them. “Eric!” A door creaked, and Eric stepped out. He was still in the gown, eyes puffy, skinnier than he had been minutes ago. He looked pale, like he could collapse at any moment. My heart constricted at the sight. Yet, I coldly crossed the room to him. His eyes found mine. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it again. I hesitated, wondering whether to ask if he needed time to grab a

LEONARD: The instruction was to grant his requests, but not let him leave the hotel. I didn’t want him out, not only to protect him from hungry reporters but to prevent this exact kind of collapse: him pulling me into a whirlpool of anxiety and shock. My hotel management would pay for putting me in this state of helplessness and breathlessness. “Should I let him in?” Tracey asked. He was already inside, slipping his cap from his head. Eric stood behind Tracey, and even as I looked past her, she hadn’t noticed. I couldn’t blame her. Eric looked like a walking ghost. With his dull eyes, pale lips and a too-thin frame, he was hardly visible. He wore a full male outfit—simple, casual—but disarmingly beautiful: a soft linen shirt with sleeves slightly rolled. The fabric clung just enough to hint at his slender body without flaunting it. Nothing about him screamed for attention, yet I found him seductive. Even the slim leather bracelet at his wrist seemed to whisper something persona

LEONARD: Dropping my jacket on another couch, I sat on the glass table in front of Eric, taking in his radiant face. It was still unbelievable how a man could be so beautiful. With naturally carved-sleek eyebrows, long lashes, full lips, and flawless cheeks…Eric could easily pass a woman. He did, clearly. Even as I had witnessed the thing between his legs, I still swore to myself that he was a woman. When I thought of it, Bernard was the one who had fallen for the wrong gender. He was the gay one, not me. Because all I did was fall for the woman in front of me, while he fell for a woman… claiming she was a man. Okay. I’m also becoming senseless. I lifted my hand to his hair, brushing the fallen strands from his face. Though he kept it short, it was still long enough to give him a feminine edge. He shifted at my touch, stretching and parting his lips slightly. The attraction came at once. The force—that pull to those lips…magnetised my reasoning. Before I could stop myself, I lea

LEONARD: Without breaking the kiss, I scooped him up, strapped him across my waist, moved and pinned him to the wall. His body slouched against me, lips hungry and desperate. The staff finally scattered. I didn’t need to look—their retreating footsteps and muffled gasps told me enough. They should have stayed. Watched me claim the only thing I wanted. The feeling I craved. The man I desired. I carried him into the bedroom and sat, lowering him onto my thighs. His legs wrapped around my hips. He tore open my shirt and tossed it aside. I gripped his ridiculous kitchen uniform, ready to rip it off. But he broke the kiss, holding my wrists, his eyes wide and trembling. “I…I’m not Lucia,” he breathed. “I didn’t come for her.” “Leonard…” Tears streamed down his cheeks, and I wiped them as he did mine. “I didn’t think of her this time,” I whispered. “I only thought of you, Eric. Always you.” He laughed through his tears, leaning into my hand. “And I want you,” I added. “You can ha