Outsider (33 page)

Ethan
wasn’t sure when he’d nodded off, but the sun filtering in through the back
patio door woke him the next morning. He lifted his head from the back of the
sofa and massaged his neck as his muscles protested the uncomfortable sleep position.
Carlos was asleep beside him, curled around a sofa pillow, his face smashed
against the armrest. A weather anchor on television predicted another hot one
while Ethan rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and wondered if Carlos had any
coffee.

He
was rummaging through cabinets in the tiny kitchen when a knock sounded on
Carlos’s front door.

“Carlos?
You in there, man?” yelled a man with a deep voice before he knocked again.

Carlos
sat bolt upright on the sofa, his eyes wide but unfocused. Ethan didn’t
recognize the voice, so he headed toward the door to investigate.

“Carlos,
get in the fucking van!” the unknown visitor shouted. “Did you forget we have
to be in Laredo by four?”

Ethan
was almost to the entryway when Carlos sprang from the sofa and dashed in front
of it, barring the exit—and the man on the other side—from Ethan’s curiosity.

“Who’s
that?” Ethan asked, nodding toward the door behind Carlos. Carlos held his arms
splayed wide, as if he could actually stop twice-his-size Ethan from opening
the door.

Carlos’s
gaze shifted to the floor, the far wall, and the kitchen before settling on
Ethan’s chest. “No one.”

“Carlos!”
No One shouted before rattling the door handle. “We can’t be late. Come on.”

“I’ll
be right out,” Carlos yelled back. “Wait for me in the van.”

“I’m
going to kick your ass if you fuck this up, man.”

“I’ll
be right out!” Carlos repeated. Footsteps receded from the door, and Carlos let
out a deep breath. He sucked it in again when Ethan grabbed his arm. Ethan’s
my-brother-is-up-to-no-good senses were tingling.

“What’s
in Laredo?” Ethan asked, knowing that the border town of Laredo wasn’t the
safest place on the continent.

“None
of your business,” Carlos said, yanking free of Ethan’s hold and running for
his bedroom. He shoved some clothes into a bag and pulled a small black case
from beneath his bed before heading to the door. He grabbed a set of keys off a
hook and tossed them at Ethan, who caught them in one hand.

“Make
yourself at home, but lock up behind you,” Carlos said. “I won’t be back until
tomorrow.”

“What’s
in Laredo?” Ethan asked again, but Carlos was already outside.

Ethan
followed him, determined to stop his brother from heading down a dangerous life
path, but the short little shit was surprisingly swift. By the time Ethan
caught up with him, he was already in the passenger seat of a beat-up white
van. A large black man in mirrored sunglasses sat behind the wheel, and three
additional Latinos were crammed into a the second row. They all wore yellow
bandanas.

“Carlos?”
Ethan called after him, fear for his brother squeezing his throat.

“Go!”
Carlos shouted, and the van sped off with a belch of noxious fumes.

Ethan
waved a hand in front of his face and coughed, his eyes automatically fixed on
the van’s New Mexico license plate. He committed the plate number to memory
before turning to go back to Carlos’s apartment. How pissed would his brother
be if he started snooping through his belongings for clues? Not as pissed as
his mother would be if Carlos got himself killed in a gang war.

“He’s
doing
what
?” Reagan shook her head, unable to take one more turd piled
on the mountain of shit she was currently dealing with.

Inexplicably
fully clothed, Trey sat on the mattress beside her. He sported jewelry in every
piercing except her favorite one. Why did he look like it was time to take the
stage? It wasn’t even time to wake up yet.

Trey’s
smile faded, and he lifted an eyebrow at her as if he didn’t have a clue why was
livid. “He’s telling his family about his sexual orientation.”

Which
meant one less roadblock to the world knowing everything. She knew where this
would lead. Trey and Ethan would unite against her or at least against her wish
to keep their relationship under wraps, and she’d be the only one left fighting
for their privacy. Just thinking about the fallout exhausted her. She’d counted
on Ethan staying on her side.

“Why
would he do that all of a sudden?” Reagan asked. If coming out had been on his
mind, surely he’d have mentioned it. Then again, this was silent-suffering
Ethan they were talking about here.

“He’s
doing it for me. For himself.” Trey presented a palm to her. “For us.”

“
Us
?
If this was for
us
, he’d have consulted
us
before he left for
Texas.”

“He’s
allowed to do something for himself, Rae,” Trey said, mouth tight. Reagan could
see a rare glimmer of fury behind his green eyes. “And you should be
supportive. This isn’t an easy thing for him to do, you know.”

“I
know that. Better than you know it. His family, his community, they aren’t so
open to things like this.” Much like her own. Mr. Rich Boy from Southern
California had no idea how close-minded much of the world could be. “Besides, you’ve
never even
met
his family.” Last time she’d visited, his brothers had
made countless derogatory gay jokes, and she knew it had bothered Ethan to have
to pretend they were funny. Hell, it had bothered her, to the point that she’d
told them several times to knock it off.

“I
hope to remedy that soon,” Trey said. “And you
don’t
know better than
me. You have no idea how hard it is for a man to come out as gay.”

“Bisexual,”
she corrected, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Even
worse. Especially at his age.”

His
stare of disapproval pissed her off.

“And
with the added difficulty of the woman he loves against it.”

“I’m
not against it. It’s just . . .” She stared down at her hand,
where her fingers were picking at the sheet tangled around her naked waist. “The
timing is bad.”

“You’re
right; he should have told them sooner. But I’m sure he’d rather his family
find out directly from him and not have to read about something that personal in
a fucking tabloid.”

“He
can just deny any bullshit story the tabloids print,” Reagan pointed out. That
was what she planned to do.
If
she ever answered another of her father’s
calls. She still had him blocked.

“Maybe
he doesn’t want to deny it anymore.”

And
that was exactly what Reagan was so worried about.

“Maybe,”
Trey continued, “he’s realized there are things more important than what other
people think about him.”

“Maybe,”
Reagan said through gritted teeth, “he’s going to regret revealing this secret but
then find he won’t be able to take it back.” She was sure Ethan hadn’t thought
through all the potential repercussions.

Trey
sighed and slid a hand across his face. “Well, if he can’t count on you for
support, he can count on me.”

She
felt as if he’d slapped her. She’d never argued with Trey before, so wasn’t
sure how he was so good at cutting her to shreds. “He can count on me. He can
always count on me!”

“You
say that, Reagan, but I just don’t see it.” Trey pulled on his shoes and stood.
“I have a date. See you later.”

“A
date?” What the fuck? She squinted at the clock on the bedside table. “At nine
a.m.? Really?”

“The
truth doesn’t matter,” he said, his back to her as he strode to the door. “As
long as Reagan doesn’t get her feelings hurt.”

She
stumbled from the bed, dragging the sheet with her. “What’s that supposed to
mean? Are you going somewhere that would hurt my feelings?”

“I
prefer to keep that a secret.” He let himself out of the hotel suite, the door
clicking shut behind him.

Trey
was twisting her wishes and desires into something they weren’t. Yes, bending
the truth was important in certain instances. Yes, she wanted to keep certain details
about her personal life a secret. But she didn’t want lies and secrets to be a
part of her
private
relationships. Angry enough to spit fire, she
wrenched open the door and peered down the corridor. Trey was just stepping
onto the elevator at the center of the hallway.

“Wait!”
Reagan said. “We are not going to leave it like this, Trey Mills. I’m not
finished talking to you.”

The
elevator door closed, and the car began to descend. Reagan dashed out of the
room, wondering why there was a cool breeze on her backside until she realized
the sheet she’d taken from the bed was doing a fine job of concealing her front
while leaving her ass fully exposed. The security guard standing just outside
their suite, who was watching her in the absence of her very personal
bodyguard, grinned as she hurriedly rearranged her cover and sprinted for the
stairs. If she hurried, she could catch Trey in the lobby before he headed to his
date
, or wherever the lying jerk was really going. Assuming he
was
lying.

The
marble steps were hard and cold against her bare feet as she sped down five
flights of them. She burst through the exit door and crashed directly into a
broad back. Reagan’s hands flew out to catch her fall, and her sheet fluttered
to the floor. She landed on her ass with a hard thud. The man she’d careened
into turned and looked down at her through mirrored sunglasses.

“Are
you okay?” Sed asked, just as the first camera flash went off.

Reagan
was too stunned to react, but luckily Sed had his wits about him. He reached
for the edges of the sheet and hurriedly wrapped them around her as best he
could. Cameras were going off all around them as he helped her to her feet and reached
behind her to tug the sheet down to cover her bare ass.

“Are
you okay?” Sed asked again, finally bringing her out of her daze.

She
scanned the lobby, her eyes growing wider and wider in horror as each face
registered. Why were so many reporters there?

“Hey,
Reagan,” Eric Sticks said, one side of his crazy hair spiked the way he wore it
on stage. “I think you’re a little underdressed for the occasion.”

Brian
and Jace tried to form a screen in front of her. They both looked ready to
perform as well—Brian with his heavy black eyeliner and the fingerless gloves
he wore only onstage, and Jace actually vertical before noon. Maybe it was nine
p.m. and she’d slept an entire day away.

She
gasped when Trey pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply. The hoop in
his lip felt foreign against her mouth, and if she hadn’t been so stunned, she
might have punched him in the nose. She hadn’t forgotten how pissed off she was
for him toying with her before she was fully awake.

“Sorry
I forgot to kiss you goodbye,” he said, staring into her eyes with such love
and adoration that her heart caught in her throat.

Cameras
were going off in every direction, and it occurred to Reagan that he was doing
damage control. She’d have words with him later. Maybe. She did melt when he
looked at her like that, and the protective hand at her waist made her forget
she’d chased him downstairs because he’d claimed to have a date.

“Go
back to bed,” he murmured, his loving gaze turning hot. “I’ll see you later.”

She
swore she heard several female reporters giggle and sigh.

Jerry,
Sinners’ oft-absent manager, lifted one arm to try to gain everyone’s
attention. “The press conference will start in the ballroom in ten minutes!” he
yelled over the din.

Press
conference? Oy! She’d charged directly into a den of wolves.

“I’ll
see you soon,” Reagan said, letting her genuine affection for Trey show as she
gazed up at him. She was glad he’d come to her rescue in sight of the
press—they’d have torn her apart again if they knew she and Trey were arguing,
especially about Ethan—and she felt like a fool for chasing him downstairs in
nothing but a sheet. But she was still perturbed at him. It felt like he didn’t
care that the tabloids were trying to destroy her. Didn’t care that she was
hurting. Didn’t care about how she felt at all.

She
let him kiss her again. Even let herself enjoy it. The spotlighted lovers
separated, making sure the world knew they parted reluctantly. Trey disappeared
into the conference room with his band while Reagan took the elevator with her
useless bodyguard back to the fifth floor.

Trey
wouldn’t say anything revealing at that press conference, would he? Her stomach
twisted into a knot, but she didn’t go back downstairs to eavesdrop. She
trusted him. For the most part.

Instead
of going back to bed as publicly instructed, Reagan took a shower, got dressed,
and then called Ethan. She would support him as much as she could when he came
out to his family. It wasn’t like he was holding his own press conference to
tell the world that Reagan was only satisfied when she had two cocks inside
her. He was telling his mother and maybe his brothers that he’d been hiding
part of who he was from them. They probably wouldn’t take the news well, but
they’d treat it as a secret and not go blabbing to the press. Now that she was
over the initial shock, she realized that just because Ethan was telling his
family, that didn’t mean he’d freely share his personal business with the
world. He wasn’t like Trey.

Ethan
didn’t answer immediately, and she was preparing to leave a message when his
breathless voice came on the line.

“Hey,”
he said. “I’m glad you called.”

“Trey
told me you’ve gone to Texas.”

“Yeah.”

Her
original plan to offer her blessing seemed trite now that she had him on the
phone. He didn’t need her blessing to talk to his family. Hell, he probably
didn’t
want
her blessing, or he would have asked for it before he left.
This wasn’t about her at all. This was about him.

“How’s
your mom?”

“Not
so good, actually,” Ethan said.

Reagan’s
heart thudded. “Is she ill?”

“No,
nothing like that. My stepdad left her for another woman.”

“What?”
How could any man up and leave a woman as wonderful as Rosa?

“Not
only that, but before he left, he ran the restaurant into the ground and they
had to sell it, so she’s currently without an income. Living on her savings.”

“Oh
my God.”

“And
to top it all off, her neighborhood is in decline. I don’t think she’s safe
here.”

Reagan
wasn’t sure how that shitty neighborhood could get any worse. “Is she okay?”

“A
couple of weeks ago some hoodlums broke into her house and robbed her at
knifepoint, so Carlos gave her a gun. Of course, no one tells me these things
when they actually happen.”

“Ethan,
you have to get her out of there,” Reagan said, her heart racing.

“I’m
working on it. She doesn’t want to leave her home—not that she’d ever be able
to sell it for a decent price in this shithole of a neighborhood—and she thinks
Pap
á
will come back if she stays put.”

“Maybe
he will,” Reagan said, certain the man wasn’t that stupid. Don would have to come
to his senses eventually and realize what he was giving up by leaving Rosa.

“I
highly doubt that. He’s shacking up with this other woman.”

“I
feel so bad,” Reagan said. “I wish I could be there for her.”

“If
I can get her to agree, I’m going to have her move in with me in Los Angeles.”