Just a bit twisted

Sean's cousin, Sai Qi, lives in a not-so-safe area of ​​the city.That's part of the reason Sean doesn't see him very often.Another reason is that since he was released from prison six months ago, his cousin has become very strange: very depressed and in a daze, and the whole person seems to be completely out of shape.At first Sean put it down to his aunt's death—she died while Sage was still in jail—but that didn't seem to be the case.As time passed, instead of stepping out, my cousin became even more depressed.Sean was worried about him, of course, but to be honest, he had other, more pressing concerns that kept him from visiting his cousin.

But since he had to drop the little ones off at Mrs. Hawkins' house before his night shift, Sean decided to make the extra trip to see how Sage was doing.

Cousin grinned at him. "Hey, come in," he said, opening the door a little.

It took Sean a while to recover from his surprise. "You look fine," he said, patting the other person on the shoulder, before entering the apartment.It should be said that Sage looked great; he had always been better looking than Sean.While they both inherited their respective mothers' blond hair and blue eyes, that's where the similarities end.Cousin's features are much more beautiful than his - heck, they are exquisite.If Christian saw Sage, he would never call Sean "His Royal Highness" again.

In fact, Sean has had such speculations, more than once, whether his cousin was...something done to him while he was in prison.If those rumors about the prison situation were true, with such a face... Sean shuddered.

"How are the little girls?" Sage's question pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Fine. I'm working the night shift tonight, so I sent them off to the nanny's."

Sage sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs, and patted the place beside him.

Sean took off his coat and sat on the sofa. "I can't stay too long," he said, glancing at his watch. "If you don't work, you'll be late. I just came to see you and see how you're doing—"

The door opened and a man entered the apartment.

Seeing Sean, he stopped and stared.

Sean stared back.The man was tall, handsome, and Latino.

"Who is this?" the man asked.

"This is my cousin, Sean," said Sage, in a rather wary tone. "Sean, this is Xavier."

Sean was still waiting to hear the detailed explanation, but there was no.

But when Xavier came over and made Sage look up and kiss him, there was no need for explanation.

The two kept kissing and kissing, and Sean just stared at them.He'd been pretty sure Sage was straight through and through.

Well, it looks like not.

The cousin was still panting, so Sean turned his face away, feeling unusually uncomfortable.He stood up and cleared his throat. "Uh, I'd better go." He laughed dryly. "You're clearly doing well."

Behind him, the kissing event is over.

"Listen," Sage said, awkwardly. "I--"

"You don't have to explain anything," Sean said quickly, and walked towards the door. "I gotta go."

"Wait," said Sage. "It's getting dark. It's not safe walking around here alone. Xavier will drive you home."

"Did I say that?" Xavier muttered.

"No, there's really no need to—"

"He will," Sage said.

"Assuming I do," Xavier said.He gave Sage a short, forceful kiss. "By the time I get back you'd better be undressed and ready, Blue Eyes."

Sage blushed and pushed Xavier to the door. "I'll see you in a week," he said to Sean. "I haven't seen the two girls for a long time."

Sean nodded and put on his coat.

Xavier walked past him. "Let's go. What's your name?"

"Sean," he said, not sure what tone to use for the man.

"Where do you live?"

Sean gave him the address, and Xavier led him to a very old, battered Ford Pinto.Sean watched the car worriedly. "Are you sure this thing is safe?"

"Not sure," the other said, getting into the driver's seat.

"It sounds really... not very reassuring."

"Do you want to hear me blah blah?" Xavier said with a hint of impatience, clearly wanting to make a quick fix and go back to his cousin.

Sean got in the car, and off they went.

"Not even a seat belt," Sean muttered. "Why should I not be surprised by that?"

Xavier didn't even bother to answer.

"Speak," Sean said after a while. "Are you my cousin's boyfriend or something?"

"Anything else," Xavier said.

"I thought he was straight."

Xavier laughed back, as if he had just said something funny.

"But I'm glad he's around now, you know," Sean said. "I was worried about him. He was pretty depressed when he got out of prison."

"Really?" Xavier muttered.

"Yeah. I hope I'm mistaken, but I always feel...I feel like someone did something to him in prison."

"You're not mistaken: I did it."

Sean opened his mouth, closed it again without saying anything.It took him a moment to ponder the words. "Are you an ex-convict?"

"Yes."

great.He was sitting in a battered Ford Pinto, seatbelt-less, with an ex-convict driving beside him.

"Why are you in jail?"

"Killed eight people at the mall."

Sean sneered and laughed. "You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?"

"Your cousin believed it, and he has believed it for a long time."

Sean smiled and shook his head.Sage was indeed a bit naive.Although he was younger than his cousin, Sean often felt like he was the older one. "Then what did you do?"

"Manslaughter. He drank too much, got into a fight with someone in a bar, and got killed."

A shiver of uneasiness ran down Sean's spine.He couldn't imagine what this man and Sai Qi had in common, but his cousin looked very happy.That's what matters, isn't it?

For the rest of the trip, Sean didn't speak again.

"Thanks," he said, and the car finally stopped in front of his building.To his surprise, Xavier followed suit.Sean gave a dry laugh. "No one's going to kill me here. You don't have to—"

"Sage asked me to take you home. I'll take you home." Xavier frowned, looking over Sean's shoulder. "Someone is staring at us. You know that person?"

Sean turned around, stunned.Rutledge got out of his Mercedes and paced toward them.

"Yes, I know him," Sean said.

"He's got a bad look on his face," Xavier muttered.

Sean let out a laugh. "He basically has a bad face all the time." He paused—the tone he said just now seemed to be protecting the other party—and Xavier gave him a sharp speculative look.

Rutledge paused.

"Hey," Sean said.

Rutledge glared at him—he had been glancing at him for the past week—and then slowly glanced at Xavier in such a contemptuous way that anyone who caught that contemptuous stare felt less than a meter tall. "This... who is it?"

Xavier narrowed his eyes, clearly unfazed by Rutledge's trademark, condescending tone.

"Xavier Otero," he said, smiling amiably, and approaching Sean with an arm slung over his shoulder. "I just drove back with Sean." The dirty subtext in his words made Sean take a deep breath.

Rutledge apparently heard it too.His shoulders stiffened for a moment, and he stared at Sean, as if he was trying to find some evidence, and then turned his eyes to see Xavier's car.A sneer floated on the corner of his upturned mouth. "I hope you have a comfortable ride."

Xavier glanced at Rutledge's Mercedes. "I don't need a fancy car to drive well."

"It's enough for both of you, you really aren't fighting secretly at all," Sean said, rolling his eyes.He looked at Xavier. "Don't worry about that—he's a badass guy to everyone. And you"—Sean looked at Rutledge—"restrain me a little bit. He's an ex-con, Not your students."

"He's a criminal?" In the blink of an eye, Sean was dragged away from Xavier and pushed behind Rutledge.

Sean yelled. "Hey! Are you crazy—"

"Get out in your car," Rutledge told Xavier, his tone soft, very soft. "Immediately. If you dare to approach him again, I promise to send you back to the cell in minutes."

Xavier's body froze, and he clenched his fists. "Are you threatening me?"

"Hey, calm down the fuck, you two!" Sean walked between the two men and put a hand on Rutledge's chest.He glared at the two of them.Brainless megalomaniacs, both. "You." He looked at Xavier. "Thanks for giving me a ride, please go home and fuck my cousin. No one's threatening you—Rutledge is a dead man. Go away."

Xavier nodded gruffly, got into his car and started it.

Sean turned to Rutledge after the car was out of sight. "And you. Didn't you agree that only 'men who are small and rotten and have no self-confidence' will be jealous? Didn't you change your mind?"

"No change," Rutledge said impatiently. "Are you stupid? Do you know how a criminal like him treats you in prison? A man like him won't ask you for permission."

Sean gave a dry laugh. "Are you worried about me? I'm so touched. Be careful, or you might make me think you really take it seriously."

Rutledge glared at him, but said nothing.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sean asked.He realized belatedly that his hand was still on Rutledge's chest, touching it.After quickly moving away, he put his hand in the pocket of his coat.He glanced at Rutledge's car. "Wait, are you waiting for me?"

"Yes."

"Why? You can call if you have something to say. You have my number."

"I didn't. I deleted it."

Sean raised his eyebrows all of a sudden. "Why delete it? Does it bother you?"

A muscle at Rutledge's temple twitched. "Because it's useless for me to keep it."

"Then why are you here?"

Rutledge pursed his lips, his eyes almost piercing Sean. "I'm here to warn you."

"Warning me?"

"Yes, to warn you. Your performance in my class is still a mess—"

"It's not all because of your unreasonableness!"

"—so don't expect me to pass you, with your pretty face, and your lips, and your eyes, and—" Rutledge stopped himself, staring at Sean as if he'd said Those words were all Sean's fault. "All I'm saying is, you won't get special treatment, Wyatt."

Sean moved his lips together and whispered softly, "You came all the way here just to tell me this? I think you're talking nonsense."

The breaths of the two were intertwined, with the same rapidity and tension, and this was the only sound that reached Sean's ears.

God, Sean couldn't take it any longer.He trembled with longing—

When Rutledge's lips touched his, Sean's first feeling was relief.God, it's finally here.Then, the rest of it became ethereal; just a pair of big hands on the nape of his neck, a solid body pressed against him, and lips, passionate and hot - so cool - Sean Moaned, wanting to kiss him harder, deeper.

He didn't know how much time had passed until the phone rang in his coat pocket.

Sean sighed in disappointment and moved his lips to answer the phone.

"What's the matter?" he came back to his senses, fingers still clutching Rutledge's sweater as he let Rutledge kiss his face and neck passionately.God, his lips were hot as if they were going to burn Sean's skin.

"Where the hell have you been?" It was Bill, the manager of the restaurant.Hold. "Your class is about to begin."

"Sorry, give me 15 minutes—"

"Five minutes!" Bill hung up the phone.

Sean pushed Rutledge away. "Got to go. I'm late for work"

He walked away in a hurry, his legs were still a little weak, and his whole body was burning with desire. "Stupid," he muttered.He should have asked Xavier to drive him straight to work.Hell, he shouldn't be running to Sage after sending the twins to Mrs. Hawkins'.And he definitely shouldn't be sucking on Rutledge's tongue for several minutes.

With the screeching sound of tires rubbing against the ground, a familiar Mercedes stopped beside him.The car door swung open.

"Get in the car," Rutledge said. "I'll drive you."

Sean hesitated, but to hell with it.He's really going to be late.It would be stupid to lose face like this.

He got in the car and gave Rutledge the address of the restaurant.Sometimes Sean is assigned to a restaurant on the other side of town, but luckily the one he's going to tonight isn't far from where he lives.

During the short drive, both of them were silent.Sean leaned back on the seat and closed his eyes, trying to regain his sanity.

Thank goodness it only took 5 minutes to get to the restaurant.

"Thank you," Sean muttered, opening the car door without looking at him.

Rutledge grabbed his arm.

Sean took a shaky breath and turned to look at Rutledge.

The dark eyes were watching him sternly.

"Okay," Sean said. "But this is the last time, understand?"

He leaned over to Rutledge, ran his fingers through his hair, and gave him a deep wet kiss.Rutledge accepted the kiss obediently, but Sean still felt his body trembling slightly with tension, making Sean painfully hard.

The phone is ringing again.

Sean sighed, and after parting from the other party, he whispered, "You and I both understand, this is so stupid." He wiped his lips. "Let's just pretend this never happened, shall we?"

Rutledge didn't say a word - just looked at Sean with his hungry black eyes.

God, Sean wanted to kiss him one more time.I really want to.

He gritted his teeth and spat, and completely jumped out of the car.