#:toy

Gavin stood at Toy’s door feeling for all the world like a teenager going on his first date. It wasn’t even their first date. Date? Was this a date? He wanted it to be. Which is why he was standing at Toy’s door with not only a bottle of wine but with a bouquet of wildflowers.  He was nervous. Why was he nervous? Maybe because he’d spent too much time thinking about why Toy had left so abruptly and if it had been something he’d done.  Fuck. Enough of that. Gavin took a deep breath and knocked.

Eli arranged to meet Toy at one of his favorite boutiques. It was eclectic and not super pricey. And maybe somewhere Toy hadn’t been before. He was excited to have another adventure with his new friend. Eli flipped through a rack of shirts, humming to himself. “What is one color you absolutely won’t wear?”

Kian enjoyed spending time with Toy. He was good company. But Kian also sensed that Toy had a lot going on. He had to be under tremendous pressure from his job, for sure. If he could help reduce his stress, Kian was happy to help. He grabbed beer on the way home and tidied up his condo a bit as he waited for the young man.

Amari arranged to have Toy meet her again in private. They couldn’t risk being seen together. Matthews needed to have no suspicion in Toy. She’d promise the  young submissive as much and since he’d proven useful, she needed to keep him safe and employed by the Mayor.  She tapped through the messages on her phone as she waited for the young man to arrive. 

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Gavin growled to himself, flicking the lights on in the garage as he began work for the day and catching sight of Damien’s car parked in his bay. Not for the first time did Gavin curse the other man’s presence in his life. Only Damien would break in to leave something. His phone buzzed then and sure enough, the text was from the man of the hour. Something wrong with the brakes. Gavin snorted to himself as he set about opening the shop for the day, opening the one other empty bay’s garage door and making sure the neon open sign was flicked to on.. Maybe he should make sure there was something “wrong” with the brakes. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He was already in over his head, he didn’t need to add more to his conscious. He sat at his desk and pulled up his schedule for the day, looking over the appointments as he sipped his coffee.  Damien would have to wait. He had paying customers today. 

Somehow, Gavin and Toy made it through the rest of the night of the masquerade unscathed. For Toy, it was a given. Gavin was just glad he’d escaped notice. While he didn’t have anything to do with the murder, he certainly knew a least one possible suspect. He didn’t give up Damien. He couldn’t. Not when there was so much at stake. 

Gavin was a little more than fidgety as he made his way around the perimeter of the party. This whole situation stunk of Damien. He wasn’t sure, of course. But the man was a sower of chaos and that’s exactly what this was. Now they were all locked in the damn venue and waiting to be questioned. Something Gavin had no intention of letting happen. He was a good enough liar, of course and technically he wouldn’t be lying if he said he didn’t know anything. But there were so many other reasons to stay away from the police that he didn’t want to chance it. He was looking for an escape when he managed to run directly into someone.