Rivals 🌈 ✔

26 - Won't End Well

He knew Angel was going to find out about it anyway, since they would share a trailer for the next weeks. He however wasn't sure if he wanted to stick to the Skye story, or whether he would tell him the truth. Angel had met Juice, he knew Raine would never date the girlfriend of an old friend. Furthermore he trusted Angel, contrary to Esai; Raine believed he could keep it to himself. 

"No way!" Angel gave him a surprised look. "Is it serious?"

"Yeah."

Angel stared awaiting at him. "Well? Tell me about her! Is she hot? — Of course she's hot. Show me a pic dude!"

Raine smirked as he pictured how Angel would respond if he showed him a picture of Juice now. He decided to be a little more subtle. 

"I'll tell you more later," he promised. "It uh — it's a bit of a sensitive issue. Nobody else knows."

"You're not having an affair with one of the old ladies, huh? Or underage daughters?"

Raine wondered if they would prefer that over a relationship with a Son. 

"No," he answered. 

The curious look didn't leave Angel's eyes, but he understood the gravity of the situation and didn't push for more information. 

. . .

Raine stayed in the clubhouse for one more hour, then he went to the trailer. Angel had told him he would sleep on the couch because Raine looked like shit, and Raine didn't dismiss the offer. Angel had stayed behind, Raine had told him he wanted to call his lover first. 

"Hey handsome," he greeted Juice, pressing his phone to his ear. "You alone?"

"Yeah — I'm in my room." His voice sounded weary. Raine doubted his own voice sounded much different. 

"Long day?"

Juice sighed. Raine knew he was rubbing his face. "You can say that."

A silence fell. It still felt wrong not to ask any questions, but he stuck to their unspoken rules. 

Actually Raine wasn't sure what to say. Having a conversation over the phone was different. Usually they could neither talk about everything they'd like, but at least they could touch each other. 

"Your day must have been rough too," Juice said. 

"Yeah. I'm exhausted. The scar hurts."

Maybe not the smartest thing to say, but he knew Juice would worry about him anyway. 

"You gotta rest."

"Yeah. I'm already in bed." His fingers caressed the bedspread. He wished Juice could have been with him tonight. "I'm going to tell Angel about you in a few minutes."

Juice gasped for air. "W-what?"

"I have to hide you from everyone," he answered. "I'm sharing a trailer with Ang. I don't want to hide you here too. I trust him. You two met at the fundraiser. You remember?"

"Yeah." His voice sounded soft. Worried. 

Raine switched to a video call. He could read Juice by listening to his voice, but he rather looked at his face. Juice was also on his bed, his back against the wall. He didn't recognize the wallpaper and assumed he was in his clubroom. 

A blush spread across Juice's cheeks as they looked each other in the eye. Raine felt his fingertips tingle; he wanted to caress his face and feel the shy heat underneath his lips. His thoughts shot back to last night. How amazing it had been to be loved by his boyfriend like that, how strong his feelings had been.