But Arlo didn’t belong to him. Not really. Not in any way that would matter. Dimitri didn’t want to be another thing that happened to Arlo, another destructive force tearing away the pieces that were left.
Arlo trembled visibly. “I’m working.”
“It will only take a minute,” Holden said between clenched teeth.
Arlo gave a small shake of his head. “I said everything I had to say last night.”
Holden’s nostrils flared, and he took a step towards Arlo, who instinctively took a step back. “Don’t be like this.”
Arlo’s jaw thrust forward, and he crossed his arms over his chest. “Like what? Somebody who has boundaries? Somebody who won’t let you keep using them as a punching bag because you can’t handle the fact that you’re gay?”
Holden snarled, lunging towards Arlo, who stumbled back, even though there was three feet of mahogany between them. “You shut your fucking mouth, you little fucking who—”
“I would highly encourage you not to finish that statement,” Dimitri said, allowing all humanity to leech from his voice.
Holden’s gaze tore from Arlo to glare at Dimitri, as if only noticing him there for the first time. “Is this him? Dimitri, is it?” Had Arlo mentioned him? “Is this the reason you’ve been so fucking irrational the last couple of days? Because you’re fucking your co-worker?” Holden snapped.
Dimitri tried to process Holden’s words. He thought Arlo was fucking him? Why? How? If Dimitri ever managed to make Arlo his, Holden wouldn’t have stood a chance. Dimitri would have already ripped out his vocal cords and showed them to him.
“Irrational? How am I irrational? Because I told you we were done?” Arlo asked, his voice rising higher.
Holden sneered. “You’re always so emotional. Can we please go somewhere so you can calm down and we can talk?”
Arlo’s gaze slid to Dimitri, who gave an almost nonexistent shake of his head. Under no circumstances was he going to allow Arlo to leave with him, and he didn’t care if that made him seem like some kind of caveman.
Arlo squared his shoulders. “I’m working. Besides, I said everything I had to say on the phone last night. We’re over. Done. I don’t know how much clearer I can make it without getting the police involved.”
In an instant, Holden’s rage disappeared, a calculating smile appearing in its place. “My father’s a fucking federal judge. Do you think cops scare me? The chief of police came to my tenth birthday party. You’re just prolonging the inevitable. I always get what I want.”
Arlo swallowed audibly. “I said no. I meant no.”
Holden took a deep breath and forced it out through his nose. “You can’t just walk away from me. I know where you live. I know where you work. Hell, I know where your mom lives. Maybe I should tell her you’ve stopped taking your medications. She’d believe me, you know. She loves me, remember?”
Arlo’s eyes filled with tears. “You stay away from my mother. Stay away from me.”
Holden’s gaze hardened. Arlo had shown weakness, and now, Holden had the upper hand. “They’ll send you back to the loony bin. They’ll lock you up and throw away the key. Hell, maybe your old friend, Melvin, still works there. I bet he misses your late nights together.”
Arlo’s face grew chalky, sweat beading on his upper lip and forehead. “Shut up,” he whispered.
Holden doubled down, advancing on the counter until his hands were planted against the wood. “You don’t want to fuck with me, you little bitch. I’ll ruin your life.”
Dimitri was moving without thought, vaulting over the counter and snatching Holden by his hair, smashing his face against the countertop, then holding a paring knife to his carotid artery. “One more fucking word and I’ll end yours. You decide.”
Holden’s breathing increased, and Dimitri knew he was trying to decide if he was serious. If he would really kill him in the middle of the campus coffee shop. The answer was yes. Yes, he would. He’d kill him and go to prison and never look back.
All the fight left Holden as he seemed to realize there was no way out. Dimitri released him, and he stumbled back a few paces. “You fucked up, bro. You fucked up so bad. I’ll bury you both. Just wait. I’ll fuck up your whole world.”
With that, he was gone. Dimitri hopped the counter a second time, cupping Arlo’s face and forcing him to look at him. “Hey. Hey, you’re okay.” Arlo’s eyes were dull and hazy, like he was locked in his own head. Dimitri let his thumbs rove over his cheekbones. “Hey, listen to me. You’re good. I won’t let him hurt you anymore.”
Arlo took a step back, and Dimitri let his hands fall.
Arlo walked towards the double doors that led to the employee restroom before looking back over his shoulder at Dimitri. “He’s right, you know. He’s going to fuck up my whole world.”
No, the fuck, he wasn’t.
Arlo hid in the bathroom, unable to stop the hot tears rolling down his cheeks or the sobs that racked his body. He sat in the corner, grateful he’d cleaned it just an hour before. He’d expected Holden to get violent. With him, it was almost a given. Arlo could set his watch by his outbursts. But bringing up Fountainview, bringing up that piece of shit tech who’d abused him in ways Arlo could never wash away? Somehow, that hurt worse than any physical blow.
Maybe because Holden was right. His mother would believe him over Arlo. She believed anybody with money and status and thought, in her addled brain, that if she just catered to their every whim she’d gain access to the life she always wanted, the life she blamed Arlo for taking from her. His mother thought any abuse could be endured if the apology gift had a big enough price tag.
Arlo startled at the knock on the door. “Occupied,” he said, voice thick with tears.
“Arlo?”
Arlo’s heart squeezed at the sound of Dimitri’s voice, low and smooth and always calm. Nothing rattled Dimitri. Ever. Not even when he’d held a knife to Holden’s throat…for Arlo. To protect him.
“I’ll be out in a minute,” he said, hating the way his voice lifted at the end in that almost feminine way that had driven his father nuts from the time Arlo was just a little boy.
There was a hesitation, then the sound of the door handle turning, then a hand jutted through a crack in the door, holding a plastic bottle. “I thought you might want some water.”
The gesture only made Arlo cry harder. He clapped a hand over his mouth to hide the pathetic whimpers, then grabbed the water bottle, grateful when the door closed once more. Arlo sniffled, pressing his head back against the cold tile, taking a few sips of the frigid water. “Thanks,” he said, not even sure Dimitri was still on the other side of the door.
“You’re welcome.”
Arlo gave a watery smile, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. Dimitri. Arlo lifted his hand, closing his eyes, allowing his own thumb to trace the pattern Dimitri’s had taken just seconds before Holden had ruined everything. Arlo had thought he might kiss him. He’d looked into his eyes with such…intensity.
But that was Dimitri. Intense. He was like some brooding YA hero. Tall and muscled, chestnut hair swept away from his perfectly chiseled square jaw, and pillowy lips that Arlo dreamed of feeling on his. Not that he ever would, especially not after what had just happened in the shop.