In the Eyes of Crazy(17)

Eli rolled his eyes. “Looks like you and your mate need to talk,” he said, leaving them alone.

At the chagrined look on Payson’s face, guilt surged through Land. He sighed and settled on his butt with his back to the wall. Leaning his head against the wall, he let his eyelids slide closed. “How old are you?” Hearing his lover’s story earlier, all he’d wanted to do was soothe the man, remove his agitation and pain, but in hind-sight, just what was he getting into?

“One hundred and twelve.”

“Holy shit,” Land muttered, his eyes popping back open. He slapped a hand over his mouth. “Oops.”

Payson cocked his head. “Shifters can live almost five hundred years. Are you going to try to leave me? Because now that I’ve found you, I can’t let you go. You mean everything to me. I’m pretty sure I can make you happy.”

The blunt way Payson spoke made Land smile. “I appreciate the honesty. This…” He waved his hand between them then around the room, to indicate the house in general and the people in it. “This kind of living…wow.” How could he tell Payson his one bedroom apartment would fit inside Payson’s bedroom and bathroom? Well, since Payson was so straight-forward, maybe he should be, too. “The things you’ve said make me believe you want me to move in with you and never leave.”

Payson nodded.

“Living in a place like this…” He whistled low. “It would take some getting used to.”

“Oh, we don’t own this place,” Payson told him. “We’re renting it right now because Ben is waiting for his powers to get strong enough to locate his mentor, Draven. Once he does that, we’ll probably move on again. We’re a true biker gang, completely nomadic.”

“You don’t have a home? How on earth does that work?”

Payson settled with his back against the wall next to him. He shrugged, then wrapped his arm around Land’s shoulders. “We go from place to place, exploring, enjoying the scenery.”

“What do you do for money?” As soon as Land said it, he wondered if that was rude.

“We don’t need a lot, but we’re all pretty wealthy,” Payson said, surprising him. “Lamar and Kontra taught all of us how to move stocks. We close our accounts every fifteen years and open new ones under new names.”

“Wow, okay,” Land murmured.

“If you don’t leave your apartment much, what do youdo for money?” Payson asked, turning his head against the wall to look at him.

“I verify lines of code for a video game company,” he said, admitting his nerdiness.

“Do you play the video games, too?” Payson asked.

His faced heated with a flush. “Yeah.”

“Cool. So you could bring your laptop and do that on the road, right?” Payson didn’t really say it like a question, more as if it were a given that Land would pack up his stuff and travel with him. “Or you don’t have to work at all. Whatever you want.”

Then Land realized, other than his sister, he had no reason not to. He had a sexy man—okay, shifter—who wanted to take care of him and please him. And, no, Land didn’t really want a sugar daddy, he liked pulling his own weight and being independent, but to just have someone who didn’t mind that he was a geek and cared for him anyway was really nice. Who gave a crap why Payson wanted him? He just did.

“I suppose I should give my notice to my landlord, huh?” he murmured.

The look of absolute delight that lit up Payson’s face was worth any price, and Land’s heart pounded just a little bit harder, which unfortunately, made his nipples throb, and not in a good way.

Payson leaned over, his intention to kiss Land clear in his eyes. Land turned his head, giving the man his cheek. At Payson’s frown, Land quickly explained, “I really need to brush my teeth first.”

“Oh, sure.” Payson levered to his feet and held out his hand. “Come on.”

Sitting on the bed scrolling through the dozens of messages Larissa had sent him since last night, Land heaved a sigh. His sister was pissed. What the heck was her problem and did she really know Payson? She’d said all kinds of nasty things about him, even claiming to have slept with him.

Land tapped his finger on his leather-clad leg, reminding himself that he really needed to go home and get cleaned up. But first, “Hey, Payson,” he called, his heart tripping in his chest. “Do you recognize her?” he asked. Land held up his phone with a picture of his sister on the screen.

Payson popped his head out of the bathroom, toothbrush stuck between his teeth, and stared at the picture for a second, then shook his head. He pulled the brush out and muttered, “Who?”