To the Highest Bidder Go the Spoils

Chapter 9

~~~~~~~

His friends had carpooled together. Emily and Katie had hugged him upon arrival. Jetson had shaken his hand and Davis had slapped his shoulder hard. When he'd winced, Emily had nearly tackled her boyfriend while calling him various names under the sun.

Since the second round of chemo, Gavin and Emily had discussed telling everyone. Emily wanted to let everyone know so they wouldn't do things like Davis had just done, but Gavin was unsure. He didn't want it to get around that he was sick because it may get back to Zeke. If he told everyone else without telling Zeke first, it would be worse for him.

Emily had asked what Zeke had over him. In reality, Zeke had nothing over him. They had no formal contract that stated what was between them, but Raoul Duquesne had made it very obvious that Gavin was to do whatever the billionaire said and wanted if he wanted to be part of the family anymore. It was part of his agreement with Zeke Daniels to bail out the company.

Zeke had treated him like he had any other lover he'd ever had. He had been moved in and the rules had been put in place. Gavin hadn't known what else to do but to follow them. He wanted to be admonished by his family, and if Zeke told them he was behaving well, maybe they would see and talk to him on a regular basis. But Gavin had found out two weeks ago that that wasn't going to be the case. So why was he still trying?

Because he didn't want to be another disappointment. He wanted Zeke to think he was worth it. Even before all of this had happened, he just wanted someone to want him, wanted someone to think he was worthy of the time and effort. His family obviously didn't think he was so he had to find it elsewhere. Zeke had taken care of him up until now, and he wanted to make sure he did it for a while more. He would be a kept man at least until he got a steady job. Then he would reevaluate his life after that.

His diagnosis had put all of that in jeopardy. If things kept progressing the way they were, he may not be able to attend his final semester. If he was this sick after every round, he was going to miss a lot of school. He wouldn't be able to keep up. So he had some serious decisions to make.

The first would be what he would do with his hair. He'd found several clumps that morning when he'd gotten cleaned up. Anderson had said the possibility of him losing his hair was high, but he didn't think it would be so soon. But they had decided on a three month plan with scans every month to check on the effects. He was bound to lose all his hair during that time.

"It's good to see you looking somewhat better," Davis said. He looked his friend up and down. "You don't seem as pale as you did the other day."

Gavin smiled. "I feel a bit better. I was telling Zeke the other day that I think I may have contracted a bug. If it's not better by Monday, I'm going to the doctor."

He saw Emily's mouth slip into a thin line. She didn't refute him, but she wasn't happy with his response. He understood, but until they could talk to everyone, she was going to have to go with it.

"Did I hear my name?"

Gavin turned as Zeke emerged from his office just off the foyer. He was dressed casually in grey slacks and a navy blue sweater. His hair hadn't been set like he normally did when he was getting ready for business.

He stopped beside Gavin and slid his arm around his shoulder. Without a second thought, he lightly kissed the side of his head. Gavin frowned at him. He knew what he was doing. He was staking his claim in front of the two men. He was daring them to do something he didn't like.

"It's nice to meet you," he said. He turned his laughing eyes to the other four college students in his foyer. "I'm Zeke Daniels. Let me guess. You must be Emily Ray and Davis Hill. I haven't seen the two of you in a while so I wasn't sure."