Love Him Desperate (On the Market #5) - E.M. Lindsey Page 0,99

more than he ever meant to. And he would spend the rest of his life feeling that regret.

“I’m going to delete your number from my phone now,” Rian said at Raphael’s silence. “But please tell him that class misses him.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Rian said nothing, and after a moment, Raphael realized the call had ended.

He got his phone set down just in time for Jayden’s client to walk out, and he took the payment with a smile and said nothing until the door shut. He could feel his friend behind him, and he didn’t quite have the courage to turn around.

“I gave you a week,” Jayden said.

Raphael bowed his head. “Yes.”

“I gave him a week, but you two haven’t said a word.”

Raphael grabbed the wheel of his chair and spun to face the other man. “This wasn’t about you,” he told him, trying not to sound angry or defensive. “This week was more than just…”

“You going after someone half your age?” Jayden snapped.

Raphael froze, blinking at his friend—and the words felt like a physical blow, hitting hard in spite of knowing that they were coming. But he’d already worked through his own hesitation, and he trusted Dmitri to know what he wanted. He trusted Dmitri to wield the power he had over Raphael when he needed it.

“I’m going to go.” He turned back around, reaching for his bag, but Jayden’s hand clamped down on his arm.

“You don’t get to run away from me because I made you uncomfortable,” he growled.

Raphael wrenched his arm away and fixed his friend with narrow eyes. “You don’t get to use your body to intimidate me like that,” he shot back. “I’m not leaving because I’m uncomfortable, I’m leaving because nothing I say will matter.”

Jayden looked uncertain, and he took a step back that Raphael appreciated. “Was it always him? All this time?”

Raphael had to laugh, because the question was absurd, and it was painful. Jayden knew him better. Jayden knew him more than most people, and the fact that he’d ask only showed Raphael where he stood. “No. It wasn’t all this time. It was last year when I got to know him, when he showed me what a strong, beautiful person he was in spite of the way the people in this town have treated him. I fell in love with the man he is in spite of the way he was shuffled aside. No one ever stood up for him,” Raphael said, and he felt something in him twist with pride when Jayden flinched. “He shouldered everything on his own. He was judged for things he didn’t do, and he got through that on his own. If you have a problem with him, take it up with him.”

“Raph,” Jayden started, but Raphael had already headed out the door.

He wasn’t sure he was quitting, but he was done for the day. Maybe he was done for the week. He could burn bridges with Jayden and find another job easily. He had savings to get him by a few months. He was fine.

He only worried now what Dmitri might have to go through when he was still struggling with the night of the party. He wanted to believe that Jayden wouldn’t add to Dmitri’s stress, but his accusations had been the truth—as indirect as they were.

The town had shoved Dmitri into a box, and his family might have loved him, but they hadn’t shown up for him. Not once. Raphael watched the way it wore Dmitri down, how he had fought to stay the person that he was today—but he was more tired than a twenty year old should have been, and Raphael quietly raged about it.

He didn’t quite know where he was going until he heard the sharp sounds of clanging metal, and he wasn’t sure if he should feel guilty as he stared at Isaac’s front door. He hadn’t even known if his ex-hook up would be home or at the station, but he felt a small measure of comfort as he wheeled to the door and rang the bell.

He knew it would take a while. Isaac had wired the doorbell to his shed outside, and Raphael had to push it three times before the noise faded off. It took another two minutes to hear his footsteps on the wood floors, and then he was met with a surprised lift of two heavy brows.

“Hey, babe. Did I know you were coming over?”

Raphael shook his head, opened his mouth, then closed it when