Page 239 of Reckless Obsession
“I don’t know, actually,” I say honestly, waiting patiently for him to process my words. “Tyler hasn’t mentioned him today.”
“Ty says… Ty says he hates Viktor,” Luiz murmurs, his head tilting to one side as he visibly puzzles over the contradiction. “He says Viktor is annoying, Viktor gets on my nerves. But… then they kiss. A lot. In the hallway. On the couch. They kiss… like this.” He smacks his lips together twice in a flat, clinical imitation.
I choke back a startled laugh, coughing into my fist to keep from derailing him. “Yeah, well… Ty is very dramatic, Lu. Sometimes when people like someone a whole lot, they get scared and pretend they’re angry instead.”
Luiz processes this in silence for a few seconds. “So… Ty likes Viktor? Really?”
“I think he likes him an awful lot,” I say quietly.
A small, genuine smile finally breaks across Luiz’s face, easing the tension in his cheeks. “Good. I’m glad. Viktor is… nice. A nice person.”
He shifts his weight, his eyes lingering on the blue floral rug. “The other boys… before. Tyler’s old boyfriends. They were not nice to me. They made… faces. When I stim. When I don’t talk right. They told Tyler… Luiz acts weird. But Viktor doesn’t make faces.”
A cold, protective fury flares in my chest at the thought of anyone treating this boy like a burden, but I keep my face calm for him.
“Viktor is a good guy, Lu.”
“Yeah,” Luiz agrees, his voice warming, gaining momentum despite his occasional slight stutter. “He… he hangs out with me. We play Mario Kart. And… and he bought this.” Luiz pinches the thick fabric of his chest. It’s an authentic, high-end Marvel hoodie with an embroidered vintage Spider-Man swinging across the front.
“Cool hoodie,” I say with a smile. “Looks good on you.”
“He knows I like Spider-Man… so he brings me Spider-Man things when he visits.” Luis goes on. “He bought the big Lego Daily Bugle set, too. Three thousand… seven hundred and seventy-two pieces. We built it. It took four days.”
“Can’t wait to see it.”
“I will show you when you come to the apartment,” he says. “But no touching, okay?”
“Okay, I promise.”
Luiz puts the headphones over his ears and presses the button on the side. A faint tone sounds. His shoulders lower almost immediately, as if he has finally stepped out of a room with too many bright lights.
“Thank you, Mob Prince,” he says again.
“Anytime.”
He nods and heads toward the living room, moving with more purpose now. At the doorway, he turns back.
“Tell Ty not to burn cookies.”
“I’ll do my best.”
When I walk back into the kitchen, the pop music has already been dialed down to a soft, muffled background murmur. Tyler has finished laying out the pepperoni on the pizza, and Lucas is carefully portioning scoops of cookie dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Tyler looks up from the counter, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel. “What took you so long? I was about to send a search party.”
“Just catching up with Luiz,” I say, walking over to lean against the counter beside Lucas.
Tyler’s face falters slightly. A heavy, exhausted sigh slips past his lips, his shoulders hunching inward.
“He hasn’t spoken a full sentence to me in three days.”
Lucas pauses with the cookie scoop and looks up with wide, empathetic brown eyes. “Still? Why, Ty?”
Tyler gives a loose, defensive shrug, picking at the corner of his apron, but the casual act is brittle. “Viktor and I had a fight on Tuesday. A bad one. Luiz was in the other room, and even with the door shut, he picked up on the tension. He’s been pissed at me ever since. Kept telling me I’m harsh to Viktor and refusing to sit next to me at breakfast.”
Lucas and I exchange a slow, knowing look across the kitchen island.
Tyler catches it immediately and bristles, rolling his eyes to the ceiling with a theatrical groan. “Oh, save it! I can clearly see you two having a telepathic little conversation with your eyes. Stop looking at me like I’m a wounded bird.”
