Reservations

Apparently, he should have given more thought in explaining his sudden appearance, because Levi obviously hadn’t taken those words very well and stepped forward aggressively.

“I made my position more than clear. Now, leave.”

“Don’t I have a say?” Thane asked, taking a small step back in hopes of defusing the situation. He needed to calm Levi down. More than ever, they needed to talk. “Levi, listen to me. I enjoyed last night more than I want to admit. I know you did too, or at least, I thought you did. I don’t understand why you’re so mad.” His attempt at a peaceful resolution resulted in Levi’s chest expanding and both large fists clenching into balls at his side. The more Thane tried to fix this, the angrier Levi got. Thane readied himself for a punch in the face. Maybe coming here wasn’t as brilliant an idea as he’d thought earlier. Thane took another step back, remembering the broken step when his foot caught in the wood. He lost his balance, pitching backward, landing embarrassingly on his ass in the front yard.

~~~

When Thane Walker tripped on his broken step porch, Levi’s brain might have actually exploded. Everything wrong with this picture came together in this one defining moment.

“You had your say, and I declined the offer,” Levi yelled, watching as Thane did this fluid move, easily getting back to his feet. He saw red as the reality of this situation landed squarely on his shoulders. This man. This cultured, gorgeous, accomplished man had come to his barely standing house to ease his conscience. People like Thane didn’t lower themselves to enter this side of town, and they certainly didn’t come calling for a friendly visit. Levi’s humiliation levels peaked into uncharted territory, and the heat flooding his face turned to volcanic proportions. Shame and regret swelled in his chest. He hadn’t signed up for any of this.

Thane stood feet away from him, still trying to defuse Levi’s anger. He held out his hands, trying to calm Levi down. How could Thane even begin to understand how degraded he felt? Even more so since Thane’s ideas were absolutely correct. If he would become Thane’s whore, it would help his family.

His fists clenched tighter as his stomach churned at the sudden need to beat something up, starting with himself. Thane had very effectively showed him exactly how selfish his moral code was to the family around him. Five thousand dollars a month would be life changing for the people he loved.

Levi kept his gaze locked on Thane as he slowly took each step down, knowing without any question that Thane’s view of him was no better than the dirt under Thane’s expensive loafer-covered feet.

Thane assessed each of his moves and remained remarkably calm, taking a step backward as he came forward.

“I told you no money.”

Thane nodded at him. Fuck yeah, he needed to nod.

“So you think I fucked you last night because I had a change of heart?”

“Of course not,” Thane said, but he could see in every action since Levi woke this morning that he absolutely assumed everything they did last night was Levi auditioning for Julian’s open spot. Fuck, if his brain hadn’t exploded, it did right then. He was so damn stupid. He rolled his eyes, remembering how he had hoped to enjoy Thane’s company in the future. The heat when they came together was undeniable, but so was the humiliation and embarrassment now laced together with his degradation.

Levi had been worried his heart was involved, hoping Thane might be willing to date him. While Thane had been testing his ability to whore.

Another huge blow. There was no way to take that money from his brother’s hand without some sort of explanation, and there was no plausible one in sight.

“I’m not one of your fucking rent boys, Thane.”

~~~

Thane watched as Levi animatedly threw out his hands in both directions as he was forced to take one step back, then another.

“You think if I wanted to hook, I couldn’t have done that way before now? Every single time I’ve walked down that street since I was fifteen years old, I’ve been harassed about screwing people for money. I swore I would be different. I’ve worked hard since grade school at making myself better than the trash that runs this street, and then you show up in your pretentious car and designer clothing and condescending attitude, throwing money at the poor boy. You’re so full of yourself that you think your money will somehow entice me to change my mind.” Levi finally stopped moving forward, but his flow of words kept coming, hitting their mark, causing Thane to take another step backward. “In exchange for fucking you, I could somehow change my status in life. By coming here and handing my brother that money… You so arrogantly shoved my character and all my hard work aside. Everything I’ve worked for, all my accomplishments, the fact that I made it into one of the top medical schools in this country on my own, you made me and everything I believe in irrelevant. You put me right back here where those people always told me I’d be. For what? To ease your fragile conscience?”