This Thing Upon Me [Order The eBook] [Harry Styles]

Chapter 53

"It's you. The two of you to be exact—"

"Obviously," he interjected. "Why am I lookin at us, exactlyh?" She took a breath and braced herself for the coming storm.

"Typically...well, what typically happens during our residencies at various chains of hospitality, is Manager Higgins—Paul—reviews the hotel security footage relevant to our stay. This enables us to keep abreast of the comings and goings of patrons who reside near your suites, and any strange faces who visit the floor unexpectedly. However, this time..." She removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Well, this particular time, it would seem he ran across more than he bargained for. More than any of us bargained for."

"What does that mean, exactly?" Fleetingly, I registered how we all seemed to be using the word 'exactly' a bit too much, but in matters as grave as these, it was important to be both frank and precise. Now Amy looked a bit flustered. She tapped her glossy, manicured nails on the glass tabletop before fast-forwarding the tape. She was beginning to blush.

"What the f—k..." Z exhaled as the footage progressed, crumpling back into his seat. My stomach fluttered with such a severity I thought I'd be sick, so I averted my eyes, turning redder than Amy had only moments ago. Fire encompassed my skin from head to toe, scalding the back of my neck and ears. It was hot to the touch.

The POV had now switched to the interior of an elevator, and Z and I gravitated towards each other, standing elbow-to-elbow. He and I sat and watched and were intimately aware of what would follow, hence our premature reactions once the time and place of the recording became apparent. It was from weeks ago, not at the Marriott where we stayed now, but at an independent hotel chain back in Portugal. He and I were both sh-t-faced after a mini celebration at a bar with the crew and the other boys following the show. We were barely standing upright in the lift, and before I knew it, he was standing in front of me, resting back against my chest.

I held him lazily around the waist, nuzzling my hard-on into his ass where it was most at home. I had vivid memories of how sweet he smelled, having perspired lightly onstage and dried in the cool night air. I wanted to taste the salt of his skin. The product in his hair tended to grow louder around this time, right before he showered it out. It was a keen and familiar smell whose potency would haunt me for decades to come.

I could easily remember the way he pressed back into me that night, rolling his hips and wanting to be held for a change. He held onto my arms around his waist with both his hands, squeezing them with an inquisitive tenderness from time to time. Now I recalled the sounds he'd made. The gratified sighs. I hoped he could feel the pulse in my aching cock through our jeans as he settled more fully onto it. He liked to feel me hard for him, he liked to know when I was ready—

"Certainly you understand why this poses a dilemma for us? For our brand?" Amy said sharply, pausing the screen. "For the entire operation?" Neither of us could respond. We were speechless. 

"Fortunately, Manager Higgins was able to develop a good rapport with the security personnel and successfully acquire all copies of the footage...at great expense. This means, of course, that the label has been alerted. It was unavoidable, since they'd facilitated the transfer of the funds on our behalf." Z expelled an impatient breath. His knee was rocking up and down beneath the table like he was only seconds away from exploding. I wanted to reach out and touch him to calm him down, but knew I would be rejected without reason. He was livid and humiliated—not a good combination.

"I was called in personally by Simon to discuss this with you. He doesn't want any of this disclosed to the remainder of the team—apart from a need-to-know basis—for fear of it reaching the media through channels seeking to profit from the information," Amy continued, glancing admonishingly at the screen and shaking her head.