In Bed With The Boss Page 0,23

before.” Christian reached to him, lightly touching his shoulder.

David felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. He couldn’t believe that Christian was treating him like this. He blinked a few times and tried to tamp down the disappointment and heartache that threatened to come to the surface. David shrugged away, feeling like an idiot. “How can you do this?” David asked as he scrambled to get out of bed. “You touched me, you said you’d wanted me since you first met me, and now you treat me like this.”

“David,” Christian said softly, his voice rough, “I’m doing this because you deserve better.”

David found his pants and began to get dressed. “If I deserved better, then why didn’t you decide that before you fucked me?” He glared across the mattress, stepping into his briefs before jamming his legs into his jeans. ‘Is this how you treated all those other guys? It is, isn’t it? All those times I saw you with your models after a shoot, this is what you said to them, isn’t it?” David’s anger continued to build. “Isn’t it?” he shouted. “Well I’m not one of your models, and you can’t treat me like this. I cared for you and took care of you.” David leaned over the bed, smacking the back of Christian’s head, the sound echoing through the room. “I’m not someone you get to fuck for fun or pictures. I cared about you, really cared.” David began looking around for the rest of his clothes and he remembered his shirt was still in the studio.

“It’s for the best,” Christian told him as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Like you know what’s best for anyone. You can’t even take care of yourself!” David accused before stomping out of the bedroom and through the apartment. In the studio, he found his shirt, pulling it on before Christian followed him, which he did. David heard the door open and saw Christian looking miserable.

“I’m sorry, David,” Christian said. “I was so wrong.” Christian moved toward him, and David hurried away. He had no intention of allowing Christian to touch him. He’d already done enough. Hurrying to the desk, David grabbed his backpack.

“Goodbye, Christian,” David said with as much dignity and strength as he could muster before leaving the studio, closing the door firmly. He didn’t slam it, which was something he was very proud of, because what he really wanted to do with rip the door off its hinges and hit Christian over the head with it. Instead, David hurried down the stairs and burst outside with a sense of bitter relief. Then he stopped and looked around, wondering what in the hell he should do.

Thankfully, David’s phone rang. He almost didn’t answer it because it might have been Christian, but he pulled it out of his pocket and saw Javier’s number. “Hello.” David was determined that he wasn’t going to blubber in any way.

“What’s wrong?” Javier asked frantically, and he continued before David could even ask how he knew. “What happened?”

“I’m on my way home,” David managed to say before his throat threatened to close and he couldn’t talk any more. He’d been fine until he tried to talk about it, and now everything seemed to be coming to the surface.

“I’ll be waiting for you,” Javier told him, and David began walking, shoving the phone in his pocket. The more distance he got between him and the studio, the more he was able to breathe and the more control he managed to build. Standing outside his apartment building, David lifted his eyes and looked up toward their windows. As he was starting to climb the stairs, the front door opened, and Javier burst out, engulfing him in a hug that stripped away most of the control he’d managed to put into place during the walk home.

Javier led him inside, and together they walked up the stairs and into their apartment, where Javier led him to the sofa and David collapsed onto it. David clung to Javier, his entire body shaking, but he was pretty proud that he didn’t break down into blubbery tears, at least not right away. “Tell me what happened,” Javier said softly, and David continued clinging to him, not quite ready to talk yet.

“He told me he’d wanted me since my interview,” David croaked before clamping his eyes closed as he tried to talk. “He said I was beautiful. He even took a picture of me that he said was the best he’d