Page 129 of Blue Gold

“Let’s go home.”

With his head resting on my shoulder, Elliot kept quiet the entire ride back. I would have thought he dozed off if it weren’t for how he clung to me every time I shifted in my seat.

Even when the taxi pulled in front of our building, he refused to move and only agreed after I gave him a little shake. Carefully helping him out of the cab, I ensured he didn’t put any weight on his injured leg. While the medic had checked him at the show, it wasn’t enough. Tomorrow, I’d take him to see a proper doctor.

“How about we draw you a hot bath?” I asked after the taxi drove off.

He replied with a low hum.

“And should I order you something light to eat? A soup, maybe?”

I paused when he pinched the sleeve of my suit.

“What is it?” I asked. Was he in too much pain to walk?

“I love you,” he said, out of the blue.

My heart skipped, a warm, fuzzy feeling taking over me at his words.

“Is there a special reason you say it, or?”

He shook his head, pulling a little bit closer while he did. “I… I just wanted you to know that.”

With no one but us standing on the pavement, I rested my hand against his cheek and slowly leaned in to kiss him. His lips were cold, cheeks sticky from all the tears, and yet his taste was the same flavor I’d become addicted to. Never in my life did I think that kissing someone could make me feel this much, as if there wasn’t enough space in my body to contain all this love, yet Elliot Dufort proved me wrong with each and every kiss.

With my hand on his hip, I slid the other one to the back of his neck and deepened the kiss. He opened his mouth for me, allowing my tongue to slip right in. The soft sounds he let out fueled my already burning desires, making me lean in deeper. But then, right in the midst of this intimate moment, a strange clicking sound captured my attention, enough to make me tear my lips away from Elliot and search for its source. Despite the night, I manage to spot a man standing on the other side of the road with a camera in his hands. My heart immediately dropped, and I moved Elliot just a bit to ensure I was seeing right.

“Hey,” I called out loud at the man, who had just snapped another photo of us.

“Daniel?” Elliot’s voice came out hoarse.

“Hold on right there!” I shouted at the man, who began running away. Knowing I had no time to waste, and with my heartbeat pounding in my ears like drums, I started chasing after him. In the background, Elliot called out to me, but with my priority set on the man who’d just taken pictures of us kissing, I couldn’t stop. The suit I wore made it a hell of a lot harder to run, and nearly stumbling on a crack in the pavement also slowed me down.

But I was still faster, and when I’d almost caught up to him, the bastard glanced back. I got a glimpse of his face just as I bumped into a dog walker, who popped out of fucking nowhere. Who the hell takes their dog out this late? With my legs tangled in between the many leashes and the dogs barking around me, he managed to get away. But I wasn’t about to give up.

I jumped over the last leash and sprinted until I reached the main street, which was full of people. Sweating like a bull in this stupid suit, I searched around until I located the son of a bitch near the road, trying to stop a cab.

“Hey!” I yelled just as one taxi pulled over in front of him. The man glanced at me one last time before getting in and driving off. Missing them by a split second, I reached the road and watched it drive away. The one time I hoped for a jam, the traffic flowed, and the taxi left without any interruption.

“Fuck,” I swore, my hands clenched into tight fists while I attempted to catch my breath.

On top of it all, I’d left Elliot scared and injured on the fucking sidewalk. Taking a deep breath that did nothing to calm me down, I hurried back. To no surprise, Elliot was still outside, waiting for me. And to make matters worse, he could hardly stand on his injured leg.

“D-did you catch him?” he asked, his face pale.

I sighed and put my hand on his lower back. “No. But let’s not stay outside, alright?”

Biting his lip, he nodded, and we walked inside our building. Overwhelmed by this bizarre situation, I struggled to make any sense of it.

“Maybe the paparazzi followed us from the gala?” Elliot asked.

“It doesn’t make sense.” I pressed the call button for the elevator. “We used the back exit and made sure no one followed us.”

The elevator soon arrived, and we walked in.

“Not to mention that it looked like he was already here when we arrived, as if he was waiting for us to do something.” I moved a hand over my jaw. “I mean, if he were just a paparazzo, he would have taken your photos the moment we got out of the taxi.” But his timing and the fact that he ran away from me⁠—

“Oh,” Elliot suddenly gasped.