7. Shiro

7

Shiro

T ears were brewing in my eyes as I ate. Damn, I couldn’t believe I was crying simply because I was eating food. But a meal had been hard to come by, and managing to get one every few days for the past year had been a blessing. The ones Adam gave me, the pasta last night and now this French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon, were simply divine.

Once again, I felt that warm, fluffy sensation caressing my chest, that nice feeling I felt when Mom had been around. Adam gave me that feeling—those soft, cozy sensations that made my head dazed. Instantly, his face appeared in my mind’s eye, and I sighed.

He was so handsome, wearing that sleek, powerful suit and his hair combed back. I bet women drooled over his good looks.

Speaking of women, I wondered if he had a girlfriend. If so, would she be turning up unannounced? What if she saw me? Fuck, I hoped like hell she wouldn’t turn up. That meant I had to get well as soon as possible and leave so I wouldn’t bother Adam and his girlfriend.

My plate empty, I got down from the bar stool and headed around the countertop over to the other side. I started cleaning up and I was just finishing when my gaze came to rest on the refrigerator. Adam did say I could eat whatever I wanted, right?

The temptation was damn strong. I couldn’t help myself and headed over and opened the door.

Food! There was so much food in there, and I swallowed hard at the sight. My hands were shaking as I mindlessly reached inside and slid out one of the two containers and then took an apple. It was large and bright red and looked so good. I brought it to my mouth and took a bite. I felt my knees weaken as the fresh, juicy apple exploded inside my mouth, the flavor playing havoc with my taste buds.

I slid down and sat on the floor as I ate, my heart bursting with a sense of happiness and sadness.

Kuro. Aka. Were they alright? Did they have enough to eat?

I rested back against the fridge and sighed. I had to search for them. It didn’t matter how long it’d take me, I’d continue to search for them.

Once I finished with the apple, I got up and took another from the fridge, then headed into the living area. After turning on the television, I sat on the luxurious sofa and watched whatever show was on. I hadn’t watched TV much before, just whenever I happened to pass by one of those old stores that sold second-hand television sets and other gadgets and the screen had the news or an advertisement on. It never interested me much, simply because I couldn’t relate. Everyone on TV was always so beautiful and very normal. They didn’t have animal ears and small fangs like me.

Finishing the apple, I lay across the sofa, resting my head on one of the throw pillows, making myself comfortable.

Soft. The sofa was so damn soft. A far cry from the hard bed at the dorm of the institute and the cold stone ground of the back alley.

I buried my face against the throw pillow, inhaling deeply. That scent, it smelled like Adam. Well, this was his place, so of course his scent would be all over it. His shirt, too.

I touched the collar of the shirt and brought it close to my nose and inhaled. Beautiful aroma, of something so unique, the likes of which I hadn’t smelled before, caressed my nostrils.

“Adam…” I whispered the man’s name softly.

Once again, I felt that warm sensation about my chest and I closed my eyes, just savoring the moment I knew I might never get to experience a second time, and soon, I fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was to the feeling of a hand on the side of my face, and I opened my eyes. The moment I saw Adam sitting there so damn close to me, I felt my heart race and I said, my face flushing hot, “Adam.”

The man asked, “Have you been sleeping all day?”

I rubbed my eye and asked, “What time is it?”

“Five in the afternoon,” he said.

Five? I had been sleeping all day. Shit !

Adam stood. “You didn’t have lunch, did you?”

Just as he asked that, my stomach decided to growl noisily.

Adam ruffled my hair and said, “I’ll cook dinner. Chase will be here soon.”

“Chase?” I asked.

“Doctor,” Adam said as he headed into the kitchen.

His friend. Right.

He was rolling up the sleeves of his shirt when he looked over his shoulder at me and said, “Why don’t you get dressed properly?” He nodded toward the armchair. “I’ve bought a few things for you. Tell me if they don’t fit.”

I turned to the armchair and saw shopping bags, luxurious and expensive-looking ones. I had to blink twice to fully register what that meant.

Adam bought me clothing? Why? What for? Clearly, I didn’t have clothes but…

I felt like my heart was about to both crush and burst at the same time as emotions stirred within me.

Why was he so nice to me? Or was he…

No. No. Couldn’t I just accept the fact that Adam was just very nice and not doing this sort of thing because he had a second agenda like most people I met?

“Thanks, Adam, but you didn’t really have to—”

He tsked. “Why can’t you just say thank you and that’s it?” His tone was hard and firm, which made me tense. I turned to him, and damn, he looked pissed as hell, frowning darkly.

I admit that frown of his, it was fearsome, but he still looked gorgeous, even more so with the frown, strangely enough.

I licked my lip. “Sorry… I…”

He sighed. “There you go again, that sorry . Don’t be. You shouldn’t be sorry for whatever reasons. Like I told you before, stand firm on your ground. If I give you things, accept it. Now, go and get changed. Chase will have a heart attack if he sees you walking around looking like that, butt naked no less.”

I blushed hot on the face. He was right.

“Sor—” I stopped short and said, “I’ll get changed now.”

I got off the sofa and headed over to grab the shopping bags. They were quite heavy, so he must have bought more than just a few items for me.

I was out the door and walking toward the bedroom when I felt a hand around my arm, pulling me to a stop. I turned to see Adam who said, “Not that room. This one here.” He led me to the one next door.

Oh… So that room and bed I had slept in last night wasn’t supposed to be for me? I felt dumbfounded. I was about to say sorry again but caught myself in time.

Adam opened the door and then moved back, leaning his body against the frame. “You can use this room while you’re staying here.”

I looked around inside in awe. It was beautiful and luxurious and had a great view of the city, like one of those five-star hotels in those advertisements I had seen on ripped pages of magazines that flew about in the back alley of the streets. There was a big bed, a sofa, and even a study desk with a chair .

“The en suite is through that door and the walk-in closet that one,” Adam said, pointing to the doors inside the room.

“Thanks, Adam,” I said.

He reached out and ruffled my hair as he said, “That’s what you should be saying every time I do something nice for you. Good boy.” He straightened and then left me to it.

Alone, I entered the room, and suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotions—wonderful ones. My own room and so fucking luxurious, too. Shit, I felt so lucky.

Yes, this might be only for a short while, but… Heck, I was going to enjoy it, make the most of it.

Suddenly, Kuro and Aka came into my mind. It’s okay, I told myself, once we’ve found each other, we’d work hard and get to something like this someday. I mean, not exactly like this, but at least having a nice place of our own: bedrooms, bathroom, living room and kitchen and laundry. The normal stuff people took for granted. And a fridge. Yes, a fridge and freezer with food in it.

I inhaled a deep breath and then started going through what Adam had bought me. Surprisingly, they were very normal things for boys my age. There were three pairs of jeans, two track pants, two sets of pajamas, five hoodies, five t-shirts, five sweaters, two packs of underwear with a set of five boxer briefs each, two packs of socks with five pairs each, a pair of very expensive-looking sneakers, and a thick jacket with hoodies. There were even two caps, too.

Caps and hoodies. The things I could wear to hide my fox ears .

I was… dumfounded and, naturally, overwhelmed.

Clothes. There were so many brand-new clothes, the likes of which I hadn’t had before. Back at the institute, we wore what second-hand clothing we were given, which wasn’t much, and during my days in the streets, what was on me and in my backpack, the one which was no longer with me when Tony and his gang had chased after me, that was it. But now…

I turned to look at the array lying on the bed, and I swallowed hard.

“Adam…” I said the man’s name softly.

It was ten minutes later when I returned to the living room, now wearing proper clothing—underwear underneath with a pair of jeans and a gray-colored hoodie. I even had socks on, too.

The moment I stepped foot through the door, a delicious aroma greeted me and my mouth watered. I eagerly went to sit on the bar stool and leaned over the countertop to check what Adam was cooking. It smelled like steak.

“I hope you like steak and fettuccine,” Adam said, looking over his shoulder at me with that slight humorous look in his eyes I found so damn hard not to like, not to mention the very subdued teasing tone in his voice. I wondered if he realized he was doing it. That slight crinkle at the corner of his eyes and the one-sided smile that made him look so rouge and dangerously hot.

“I like all types of food,” I said, licking my lips. “And steak especially.”

He snorted. “I bet you do,” he said. “You’re a foxkin, aren’t you? ”

I nodded. “Yeah,” I said. “The wolfkin love steak, too. Actually, they love all sorts of meat. They’re pretty ravenous when it comes to meat.”

“You’ve met many wolfkin?” Adam asked.

I shook my head. “Only a few back at the institute when we were small. They kept us separate when we grew up. But wolfkin get into all sorts of trouble because they’re pretty energetic and…”

I trailed off, thinking about the wolfkin and the institute.

Lan. I wondered what happened to Lan after they separated us. Shit, I missed him, that sassy wolf boy who always had my back.

“Shiro!” Adam’s voice made me jolt, my eyes large and body tense.

Adam moved over and patted my head. “You go tense quite easily, don’t you?”

I was about to say sorry but, once again, caught myself in time. I said, “Yeah.”

“I know you have trouble because of your past, but around me, you can relax. I won’t hurt you so you needn’t be afraid of me. I’ll keep telling you that until you believe me.” He smiled then, and I felt my heart skip. Fuck, he was hot, and so nice.

“Sneakers,” he said. “Do they fit?”

I nodded. “I tried them on earlier and they fit perfectly and the other clothing, too. Thanks, Adam. But how did you know my size?”

“I checked your old ones,” he said. “Before I threw them out.”

“Oh,” I expressed .

Suddenly, there was a ding-dong.

“Can you get that for me? That’ll be Chase,” Adam said, turning around to continue with his cooking.

“Okay,” I said.

As I walked to the front door, I felt nervous as hell. I had never answered a door before so…

Shit! What do you do? How did one greet a guest? I had no fucking clue.

Hand slightly shaky, I turned the knob and then opened the door.

A man—tall and muscularly lean with scruffy dark hair and steel-gray eyes—stared down at me through his square-shaped glasses. The moment he saw me, his eyes widened and he leaned forward to look at me closely. “Hello,” he greeted. “You must be my new patient.”

I swallowed hard and mutely nodded my head.

“Holy fuck, you’re beautiful,” he said, chuckling in amusement as he grabbed my chin into his hand. Then he inspected me by nudging my face this way and that. “Fuck, your skin is so translucent. Women would kill to have skin like yours.” He drifted his gaze to my neck next and must have spotted the bruises—the ones from Tony’s hand when he had strangled me—and said, “Unfortunately, that beautiful skin of yours also bruises very easily, too. You poor boy.”

“Chase!” Adam’s hard, firm voice came from behind me, which made me jolt. “Stop loitering there at the door and get your ass inside. And stop making Shiro feel uncomfortable,” he snapped.

“Ah, sorry,” Dr. Chase said, chuckling merrily as he let go of my face .

“You should be, idiot,” Adam said, heading back toward the living room.

“Please, come inside,” I said.

Chase stepped in, and as he passed me, he patted my head. “So your name is Shiro, eh?” He winked at me. “Looks like Adam is taking a liking to you. I’ll let you in on a little secret. That bastard never takes a liking to anyone. Well, except me, his brother Nolan, and their adopted father Calum. We’re an exception. But you…” He reached out and tapped a finger on the tip of my nose. “You’re the first outsider he’s taken a liking to.”

Adam took a liking to me? Of course, I kind of had a feeling that that was the case, what with him helping me, buying me clothes, and letting me staying here and stuff, but now that it was mentioned aloud, I felt dumbfounded. But what about last night? Didn’t Adam expect compensation from me or…

Chase turned on his heel and headed into the living room. As I shut the door, my mind was on Adam and what last night had meant.