JP {BoyxBoy}

California Dreaming

The wave crashes into the coast as I stand to face the ocean with a towel wrapped around my shoulders. The sand feels so good between my toes. 

"I thought I would find you here," Peter says from behind me and I turn to face him. 

"It shouldn't be a surprise. I'm Mo'omeheu. The ocean is our safe place after all. What about you?" he tilts his head and scratches his chin. 

"I don't know, to be honest. I never asked about my race. Probably some strange mix of Hispanic, Mo'omeheu, and Asian. My mother and Enrique are pretty tan." He says but looked exhausted. 

"Babe, what happened to you in there? Are you alright? You look so..." He kisses me to shut me up and I submit. 

"You worry too much Jojo. I'm fine. It was just a stressful meeting is all." He says with his perfect English accent lingering into our native language.

 I kiss him again, "I can't help it when you come out looking..." 

I glance at his collar where a small blotch of red had appeared on the crisp white. 

I tug his collar and he swings close to me in shock. "Is this blood?" I ask and he shakes my arm away. 

"I told you it was a stressful meeting. Please do not ask me for much more than that." He says as he pulls the collar as sighs when he finds the spot. 

"I don't know how that got there. Lipstick maybe? Women here like to hug and it weirds me out, to be honest." He jokes clearly lying to me and I try to move on but the thought of blood on his shirt leads me to believe there is a lot more that he's not telling me.

Later that night I sat on the edge of the bed examining my ring. 

If I was going to be a Grayson he had to trust me to some degree. 

I know he loves me but why does he choose to keep secrets? I started to wonder if Linda knew more than I did and if she just quietly sat back and let them do their thing like I should. But I was thinking more about the stain and the thought of Peter hurting someone came to mind. 

What if he's not a business man at all but something more dangerous. Mafias, assassins, and hitmen careers go through my mind but I try to shake off every one of them. My Peter couldn't hurt a fly never mind kill a person. 

But the multiple scars on his chest tell a story he would rather not be told. 

Whenever he's asked about them he always gives a different excuse to prove that he's lying but doesn't want to talk about it. Peter was in another meeting with the CEO's of some company here and I was sitting in the hotel room knowing I would go to bed alone that night like I did every night.

 I didn't know he was so important until we got to the tarmac and a long gold carpet was rolled out for our arrival. Camera crews were standing on each side trying to get a good shot of us. I smiled and waved while Peter stayed serious as we walked through them with my fingers intertwined with his.

I'm wide awake when Peter comes banging into the room, slamming the door behind him. People pounded their fist against the door to get his attention while he ignored them and kicked off his shoes. "Sheesh, I can never catch a break with these people." He says and I tilt my head a little. 

"You don't know how long I've waited just to come back here and see you so we can relax," he says and dives face first onto the bed.

 I stop feeling my ring and go close to him. Gently peeling off his jacket. I untuck his shirt and tenderly rub his shoulders which were so tense he could tear a muscle any minute. 

"You need to relax or you're going to lose your health, my love," I comment and he shifts his head to my side and looks up at me. 

"I know. But I'm under a lot of pressure at the moment. Without this deal, I won't be able to continue the mass production of project Kaleb." He uses as an excuse and flips over. I start to unbutton his shirt. 

"Babe I'm really not in the mood." He says and he rubs his eyes. "You pervert, unlike you I'm only trying to help you to relax," I say and he reaches up to comb his fingers through my hair. 

"Just being here with you is all the relaxation I need." He says and I push his hair out of his eyes. "You have the weight of the world on your shoulders, Peter," 

I say as I drag my hand down to his left shoulder and he winces as I touch it. 

I push his shirt out of the way to see a large fresh bruise the size of a foot.

 I don't say anything and get up. Peter sits up.

 "Joseph?" 

I don't look at him as I walk into the kitchen and grab a bag of ice. Don't question it Joseph. I keep telling myself as I walk back into the room with him. 

"Oh, I thought you were going to leave me." He says and relaxes again. "You know I would never leave you. Lay back." I say and he does while I hold the ice on his shoulder. 

"I made a promise and I intend to keep it," I say while looking down at the large bruise. Not wanting to meet his gaze because he will instantly know what I'm thinking. 

We continue to stay quiet until he reaches for me and pulls me closer.