Every Shade by Nora Phoenix

7

When Samuel woke up, he blinked a few times when he was confronted with a room he didn't recognize. Where the hell was he? He blinked again, then turned his head, wincing when that sent a stab of pain through his head. Oh god, what was wrong with him?

His mouth tasted like garbage, and his stomach swirled uncomfortably, even as his bladder alerted him to the fact that he needed to pee badly. But all of that was secondary to his utter confusion of where he was. He closed his eyes, frowning, trying to remember. What was today? Right, Saturday. Yesterday had been…

His eyes flew open as memories hit him. Valentine's Day. Evan cheated on him. Tris. That's where he was, Tris's guest bedroom. Though he could've sworn he hadn't fallen asleep here, vaguely remembering something about wanting to sleep in Tris's bed. He groaned as distant recollections hit him, probably unreliable because of the insane amount of alcohol he had consumed. How much had he had? Two full pints of beer in the restaurant, and in the bar, hell, he couldn't even remember. He'd started on those fruity vodka drinks, and after two of those, things had gotten a little hazy.

He scrunched his face, trying to picture how they had gotten home. Well, not home, but to Tris's house. A wave of shame rolled over him as he realized he didn't even know where he was. Where did Tris even live? They’d taken the subway and then another one, maybe? The ride had been quite long, but he'd fallen asleep a few minutes in, only waking up again when they had changed trains. He could barely remember stumbling into the house, and after that, everything was fuzzy.

This had to be one of the craziest things he'd ever done. Not that that was saying much, as he'd never been much of a party animal, but he'd taken a huge risk and could only be grateful that his instincts had proven to be spot-on with Tris, even if they had failed them miserably with Evan.

After debating with himself for a minute or two about the all-too-tempting possibility of just pretending he was asleep for a few more hours, he slowly pushed himself upright. His head pounded, but his stomach stayed at that slightly nauseous level, which was good. Not nauseous would be better, but he'd settle for not throwing up right now.

With slow, careful movements, he dragged himself to the adjoining bathroom, letting out a sigh of relief as he emptied his bladder. When he went to wash his hands, he found a glass of water, some Tylenol, and a toothbrush and toothpaste. God bless Tris. He took two Tylenol, the cold water a wonderful sensation on his raw throat, then brushed his teth. So much better.

He saw that he was wearing a T-shirt and his underwear, so at some point, Tris must've undressed him partially, because Samuel was pretty sure he couldn't have managed that himself in the state he'd been in.

When he walked back into the bedroom, he spotted his suit neatly draped over a chair, and he couldn't help smiling. Tris had turned out not only to be a gentleman but a rather caring gentlemen as well. Not what he would've expected from a construction guy. It only showed that looks could deceive, because Evan had appeared to be a gentleman and look how that had turned out.

Samuel found his phone on the nightstand and powered it on, his eyes widening when he saw a barrage of missed calls and texts from Evan. He’d turned it off last night after the first two texts from Evan had come in, not wanting to hear from him.

He debated listening to his voicemail and reading the texts, then thought better of it. The day had just started, no need to get upset this early. Early being relative, as he saw it was almost noon, much to his shock. Well, they hadn't made it to Tris’s until probably three in the morning, so there was that.

The house was still quiet, but considering the time, he couldn't imagine Tris still being in bed. He was probably downstairs somewhere, and it was time to face to music. Despite the cold outside, the house was comfortably warm when he opened the door, so Samuel went downstairs in his T-shirt and boxer briefs. He followed the smell of coffee to a large kitchen, where he found Tris at a messy kitchen table, surrounded by stacks of paperwork. Bills, by the looks of it, and he was peering at the screen of the laptop with an angry frown that disappeared as soon as he spotted Samuel.

"Hey, you're up," he said with an enthusiasm that made Samuel realize Evan hadn't shown that kind of joy about his presence for a long time, if ever.

"Good morning," he offered, then cleared his throat when it came out rather raspy.

"Coffee?" Tris asked.

"God, yes please. Black."

"Man after my heart," Tris said with a smile as he got up and poured a tall mug of dark coffee. He gestured at the table as he put it on an empty spot. "Find yourself a seat. I'll get my paperwork out of your way."

Samuel waved him off. "It doesn't bother me. I'll just sit here quietly and mainline caffeine."

Tris chuckled. "How's your head? You look a sight better than I expected considering the amount of alcohol you consumed last night. I was kind of counting on you getting closely acquainted with the toilet bowl."

Samuel's stomach definitely didn't appreciate that visual, but he managed to swallow it back. "Don't call it a success just yet, the jury is still out."

Tris poured himself another coffee as well and sat down across from Samuel. "Just out of curiosity, how much do you remember from last night?"

Samuel sighed. "Enough to be embarrassed, not so much I'm mortified. Is there anything I need to know?"

Tris studied him for a few seconds. "You fell asleep in my bed," he then said, his voice quiet. "I tried to put you in the guest room right away, but you didn't want to be alone. The alcohol made you sad, and I didn't want to leave you by yourself crying, so I helped you fall asleep and then I carried you to the guest room."

Samuel saw nothing but kindness on his face. "Why didn't you let me sleep with you the whole night?" he asked, curious.

"You were quite…touchy, and I didn't trust myself enough not to respond to that, especially being barely awake myself."

Samuel felt his cheeks heat up. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"You didn't. You made me feel horny, which apparently, was how you were feeling as well, or so you told me. Repeatedly.”

Samuel carefully swallowed the sip of coffee he had just taken, wanting to avoid choking on the hot liquid. "Alcohol really lowers my sexual inhibitions," he said, his cheeks on fire.

"That's a normal reaction," Tris said, his voice level.

Samuel played with the handle of his mug, swirling his index finger around in the half circle. "That doesn't make it less embarrassing to hear."

Tris shrugged. "No need to feel embarrassed. It was clear you needed an outlet, and I was happy to provide a safe space for you to do that."

"Anybody ever accuse you of having a bit of a knight in shining armor complex? Because your behavior so far is pretty damn knight-like," Samuel said, meaning every word.

Tris's face split open in a wide smile. "That's what Cara says all the time as well, even in high school. I guess it's ingrained in me."

"I can't believe you're still single."

Tris gave one of his one-shoulder shrugs again. "I haven't dated much since my divorce. You'd be surprised how many people are just looking for a hookup, for fun. I like sex as much as the next guy, but I guess I'm a little different in that I prefer to have an emotional connection with someone. I've done anonymous sex in bathrooms, but it's really not my style."

That comment popped Samuel’s words during their dance back into his mind, when he had suggested Tris fuck him in a bathroom. He held back a groan. "It seems I once again have to apologize for making you feel uncomfortable by propositioning you for sex."

Tris put down his coffee, then leaned forward and looked straight into Samuel's eyes. "My sweet Samuel, I don't think you're hearing me. You didn't make me feel uncomfortable yesterday, unless you count the discomfort of being highly aroused for hours. That, however, is not something you should apologize for. I think we need a new rule. No more thank you and no more apologizing."

Samuel’s hand shook as he, too, put his mug down on the table. "You're very open and direct."

Tris grinned. "So were you yesterday. I seem to remember a little rambling about you being needy or something to that order."

Samuel refused to look away, especially since Tris's eyes sparked with something deeper. "I am. Needy, that is. An ex-boyfriend of mine nicknamed me hungry hippo, though hungry hole would be more accurate, I guess."

He couldn't believe he had just said that, but after a short moment where his eyes widened, Tris's grin broadened. "Don't tell me he thought that was a bad thing."

"He didn't seem to mind so much, and it had nothing to do with why we broke up, which was more because he had a nasty habit of wasting money I took issue with. My money, more specifically."

As soon as he said it, he knew Tris would ask. In fact, he'd been somewhat surprised the man hadn't brought it up so far. There had been plenty of opportunities for him, and Samuel had no doubt whatsoever he hadn't picked up on the truth.

"I googled you this morning," Tris said, his face sobering.

Samuel picked up his mug again and emptied it. "I don't blame you."

"Some things yesterday didn't add up for me, like you owning a crazy expensive apartment at your age. I didn't recognize your name. I guess that only goes to show I don't really follow that kind of news very much."

"Trust me, I'm grateful every day for people like you who don't instantly recognize me or my family's name. But yeah, that's me, the rich heir to the legendary fortune. Not much I can add to what you found online, I suppose."

Tris pursed his lips before responding. "No, but it does clear up why Evan didn't want to break up with you."

Samuel frowned. “The thought crossed my mind, but I don't spend all that much on him. Hell, I don't spend that much in general. I know I'm worth quite a bit on paper, but I try to lead a pretty normal life."

"You own an apartment on the Upper East Side. You allowed Evan to live there rent-free without contributing. I'd say that in itself was worth it for him. This is a guy who gets off on status, and that's what you brought to the table. Money, status, and connections, more than he could've ever hoped to achieve on his own."

Samuel let that thought sink in, and it didn't sit right with him at all. Shortly after his twenty-first birthday, when he had gained access to his trust fund, he'd been super suspicious of men approaching him. The press had never made a secret of the fact that he was gay, and he knew he'd been approached by more than a few guys trying to take advantage of him. He'd turned them all down, but Evan had been different. Hadn't he?

Tris was quiet as Samuel tried to piece it together, allowing himself to look at the past two years without the rosy glasses he'd been wearing. Evan insisting on accompanying him to all events he attended in his family’s name. Evan wanting him to host more parties himself, inviting the rich and powerful his family was connected to, like investors, politicians, media moguls. Evan suggesting investments for Samuel, who used the same investment banker his father had used for years and paid him handsomely to never have to spend more than the bare minimum of time on his portfolio. He had to admit the picture that emerged didn't look good.

"I'll have to meet with my lawyer," he said softly. "Let her have a thorough look at my finances and see if anything is amiss. I've been careful with allowing Evan access to my financial information, and he certainly didn't have my passwords, but I can't help but think now that he may have profited in some way that I haven't been aware of."

"I'm sorry," Tris said, and the genuine empathy in his voice was easy to spot.

"So am I," Samuel said from the bottom of his heart. "Trust me, I'm now in the phase of I wish I never met him. This whole thing is like some horrid nightmare I can't wait to wake up from."

Tris was quiet for a few moments, but then he said, "I can't even imagine how you must feel about everything that has happened. You deserve so much better. All I can say is that even amid these unfortunate circumstances, I can't help but be glad that we met."