// Best YA Romance in the Romance Fiction Awards 2021//
Thrill Hawthorne, keeping up to his name, lives his life on the edge. Or so people think.
Ignatius Rookwood is the darling son and the sole male heir to a gigantic business corporation. Or so...
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"I want the names of all the men you've slept with."
Thrill spit out the tea he was drinking, spilling the hot liquid all over the floor at Drayden's feet. It burned his nose, momentarily making him see red. He doubled over, coughing uncontrollably...
All the while, Drayden stood there in front of him, unamused.
"D-Don't say things like that o-out of the blue," Thrill wheezed.
"How else was I supposed to say it?" Drayden frowned. He picked up a bottle of water that sat on the table beside him and handed it to his brother.
Thrill wasn't sure how to answer that question so he said nothing. He accepted the bottle and tried his best to hide behind it. Drayden asking him things like these... made him beyond uncomfortable. And how was that dumbass even able to say it with such a straight face? Especially since he knew why Thrill went out to sleep with strangers –
Thrill suddenly felt so disgusted at himself, he wanted to jump off the window or something.
"I'm only asking because," Drayden began when he did not get any response, "we can't afford the Rookwoods getting wind of this."
Right, yes. This was just for work. "I... uh," Thrill's throat felt incredibly dry despite just having downed half the water in the bottle, "I don't know their names. T-That's not how one night stands work."
"Well, I wouldn't know how they work, now, would I?"
Thrill grit his teeth and looked down at his lap.
"What happened to your hand, by the way?"
Thrill's heart leapt to his throat. For a moment he feared Quinn might have told Drayden after all but when he faced Drayden he realized the latter was just eyeing the bandages on his palm.
"Nothing. Dropped a bottle by mistake and cut myself while picking up the pieces." Thrill's heart was still hammering in his chest, the bandages along his arm that were hidden underneath the sleeves of his t-shirt suddenly felt all too visible. If... if Drayden ever found out about it –
Thrill did not even dare imagine the consequences.
"Have Dr. Aariv take a look at it, will you," Drayden said. "I know you enough to know you probably didn't even bother to get it cleaned."
Relief flooded in. Thrill scrunched his face, "I'm not five."
"That's debatable."
Thrill let out a laugh before he could help himself.
Drayden fought a smile himself and shook his head. He let out a sigh and went and sat on the bed beside Thrill.
Both were silent for a while. Thrill had a hundred apologies at the tip of his tongue but he knew Drayden was probably sick of hearing them, over and over again. Thrill was sick of saying them, too. For once, he wished he could just stop needing to apologise.
