Playboy billionaire Aiden Grayson is being blackmailed and when he meets his handsome new bodyguard, Julian, he's slowly overcome by feelings he can't deny.
*****
Aiden Grayson is a child of privi...
"The two of them are just so damn cute," Lacey said. "How much do you want to bet that the one you came with will be the one to make the first move? Ooh, look! They're already touching each other. It's obvious to see what this is going to lead up to – sex."
Aiden's head whipped around to see Julian's hand resting on the other man's knee. They were both smiling and laughing, carrying on like they were the best of friends. The sight pissed Aiden off for reasons he still didn't want to admit were true.
"Pour me another one. Something stronger."
Aiden wanted to leave but he couldn't move. He felt frustrated, irritated, and dejected. How long did Kyle expect him to stay? He walked the red carpet and took pictures for the media, he smiled for the cameras even when he didn't feel like it; he's come out and shown his face, made his presence known, so surely all of that had to have been enough for him to mark complete his assignment of keeping up appearances.
Lacey reluctantly refilled his glass. "You got it, pretty boy."
"My name is Aiden. Drop that pretty boy shit, will you? I'm not in the mood for it anymore."
Aiden ran his hands over his face, aggravated, when Julian and his new friend's laughter grew louder and louder. How could he be so happy while Aiden felt so damn miserable? Aiden was so confused. Was Julian purposely trying to get under his skin? If so, why? And if that wasn't the case, could Aiden simply be reading too much into things?
Shit, he didn't fucking know. He could barely tell up from down right now.
"Calm down and take the stick out of your ass, darling. Chill a bit," Lacey said, her tone less playful. "There's no need to cop an attitude. What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
"Nothing, I'm fine." Aiden lied, chugging his drink. "Pour me another one."
"Are you sure?" Lacey questioned, eyeing the drunk with cautious eyes. "Because you look like you're about ready to fall over—"
"Don't question me! Just do your job and pour me another fucking drink like I've asked," Aiden shouted at the poor girl which then caused everyone that had been standing close enough to stop and stare in his direction. Aiden felt their judgmental eyes on him, but he didn't care.
Oh, shit. Here we go again. Julian excused himself from the conversation that he and his acquaintance were having before he made his way over to Aiden, now whispering frantically in his ear, "You're causing a scene. Let's go outside and get some fresh air before you further humiliate yourself."
"No! Don't put your filthy hands on me! I'm not going anywhere with you." Aiden shoved Julian back. "Go back to pretending like I'm not sitting right the fuck here. Please don't let me keep you from that... that... Vin Diesel wannabe. God knows I'd hate to be a cockblock."
Vin Diesel...? Cockblock? What the hell is he talking about... And then it hit him. The wheels in Julian's head started to turn at a fast rate, and he blushed when he finally figured it all out. "Oh my God. Are you jealous?"
"Fuck off, Julian." Aiden stumbled as he got up from his seat and started to walk away from the bar. He was headed in the wrong direction towards a door that wasn't the exit.
Julian had no choice but to follow. He eventually grabbed hold of Aiden's arm once he spotted the men's bathroom and quickly dragged Aiden inside. They were lucky enough to find the bathroom empty.
"I said don't touch me!" Aiden fussed, trying to tear himself from Julian's grasp.
"Stop fucking yelling!" Julian kept his voice low but spoke sternly. " Have you lost your damn mind? Have you forgotten where you are right now? You've been here for less than an hour and you're already acting like—"
"Yeah, say it! Go on and tell me how much of a fuck-up I am. Tell me how I screw up everything and can do nothing right. Or, better yet, how about you try to tell me something that I don't already fucking know, Julian!"
Aiden sunk to the floor and began to cradle his throbbing head in his hands, just like how he did in his shower after he woke up to find his body wrapped tightly around Julian's.
"What the fuck is wrong with me?" Aiden asked, brokenly. "What have you done to me, Jules?"
Julian sighed, slowly growing empathetic. With caution, he kneeled to Aiden's level and placed a hand on his shoulder, looking him straight in his sad green eyes. "I can try my best to help you get through this, help you sort your feelings out and whatnot, but you have to stop shutting me out. You have to stop fighting with me and let me in." You have to trust me...
"But I'm... I'm n-not like you. I can't be like you. I'm not... God, I can't even say the fucking word out loud," Aiden exhaled, his chest feeling tight, heart racing. Julian couldn't tell if he was crying, having a panic attack, or both with the way that Aiden's body began to shake. "I-I like women. I've always loved being with women. But then you came and... our kiss made me feel..." like I finally found what I've been missing in my life...
Aiden's words are lost on his tongue. His headache gets worse as the minutes pass, and even though he was currently sitting down, everything around him was beginning to spin. It made him feel dizzy and nauseous. His skin had started to look pale and it was raising immediate concern for Julian.
"I know what you're feeling, Grayson. I know because I've been there, and I'm here to tell you that it's okay for you to feel how you feel. There's nothing wrong about it, absolutely nothing." Julian brushed the playboy's hair away from his forehead, trying to get a feel for his temperature. "What you need to do now is calm down and think about this shit later when your head is clear and you're not under the influence. I promise you'll feel a hell of a lot better when you're not drunk." Julian helped Aiden up from the floor, holding him close. "What do you say we head out of here and call it a night?"
"Yeah. I don't... feel so well." Aiden's words were slurring, and his eyes were starting to close as he leaned against Julian to keep from falling. "I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for..."
Aiden's knees suddenly give out, Julian barely catching him before he falls onto the hard ground, and then his body begins to shake. Viciously. Julian watched in horror as Aiden's eyes rolled to the back of his head, nothing but the whites showing, while he proceeded to have a seizure on the bathroom floor.
"Shit!" Julian exclaimed in a panic while trying to pull his cell phone from his pocket. "You'd better not fucking die on me. Not here. Not like this."
Aiden couldn't hear his bodyguard talking because his mind was in another place; one where he didn't feel stressed, under pressure, or in denial.
Instead, he was in a place where he could be himself. His true self.
A place where he could, simply put, be free.
. . . .
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