Touch Me (boyxboy)

18. Be Honest with Yourself

Casper

Something was wrong.

I paced up and down my room.

Something was wrong, and I didn't like it one bit.

My Cub had never acted that way around me before. It was almost as if.... as if he was scared of me.

Had I done something last night? Had I hurt him in some way?

It seemed unlikely seen as though someone always seemed to be watching me, and no one had said anything about Joel being hurt.

What if he was lying and he did get in trouble last night. I mean, it won't have looked good for him, pelting his Alpha with cushions. Not that I minded in the least. After all, what harm would come to me from a few cushions? Plus, Joel combined with cushions brought back a rather nice memory...

No, I couldn't think about that now. I needed to know what was wrong with him.

I walked out of my room, and headed downstairs to find Duncan.

When I reached his office, I was surprised to find Joel's two friends stood outside.

They briefly looked at me in shock, then quickly lowered their heads.

"Is Duncan in?" I asked gesturing to his office.

"I think so," the male replied.

I went to open the door, when, Lyla, I think her name was, suddenly burst out, "Where's Joel?"

I looked back at her slightly puzzled.

"I don't know. He left about 5 minutes ago."

They exchanged a look with one another, then both turned and hastily walked out of the door.

I briefly chastised myself for not interrogating them further, as judging by their worried expressions, they might know more about what was going on with Joel.

I walked into Duncan's office, and raised an eyebrow at the guilty expression that flashed across his face as he quickly ended his phone call.

This was definitely a day of firsts.

"Master Bournville," Duncan said, now as composed as ever, "can I help you with something?"

I sat myself down on the chair in front of him, and scrutinised his face.

Duncan sat very still, no emotion showing.

"Duncan, we've known each other for a long time right?"

"Yes Sir," he replied, with some uncertainty.

"And we've always had a good relationship, right?"

"Yes Sir," he said, his expression growing more puzzled.

"And you wouldn't lie to me right?"

Duncan had the decency to look appalled by the idea, "Of course not," he said.

"Good," I replied. "So you can answer me one question. Why was Joel acting peculiar today?"

Duncan gulped and shifted nervously in his seat, showing that he did know the answer to my question, but was reluctant to give it up.

"Well, you see," he began, "it's sort of personal."

I could see I was making him uncomfortable, but right now I didn't care. I just needed to know what was wrong with Joel.

"That may be the case, but he is part of my staff and that gives me the right to know if there is something that might mean he is not performing his duties as he should."