“You still have more chance to convince him than I do,” Seyn said. “At least he doesn’t hate you.”
“He doesn’t hate you, either,” Harry said unconvincingly. He wasn’t actually sure Ksar didn’t despise Seyn: he was definitely at his worst around Seyn.
“Right,” Seyn said with a snort. “You’ve always been a terrible liar. I’m surprised that humans didn’t suspect anything. I guess you’re lucky they don’t believe in aliens.”
Harry tried to smile but couldn’t, suddenly remembering his conversation with Adam about aliens. “Some of them think there are aliens out there, but they don’t actually think they look like humans. They have really weird misconceptions about aliens.”
“Humans look like us, right? Can I pass for a human?”
Harry eyed Sean critically: his long silver locks, wide green eyes, straight nose, wide mouth. Seyn was taller than average, his body athletic but somehow dainty and graceful too. He was considered very beautiful by Calluvian standards. Harry couldn’t say he’d seen a human who looked like Seyn, but then again, he’d seen only a tiny part of Earth.
“I think so,” Harry said. “But it doesn’t matter. We aren’t going to Earth.”
Seyn grinned. “Wanna bet?”
Harry should have known better than to bet with Seyn on anything, because seven days later, Seyn sent him a message that said, “Get ready and come to my house at ten in the evening. We’re leaving.”
Harry stared at the message, his heart beating somewhere in his throat.
He was going to Earth.
CHAPTER 11
Planet Earth
“Wanna come with me to Miller’s new pub? Heard good things about the place.”
“Not tonight, Jake,” Adam said, his eyes on his computer screen. “I have work to complete.”
“Bullshit,” Jake said. “Stanley couldn’t praise you enough this morning— said you were ahead on all your deadlines.”
Adam continued typing. “I’m busy,” he said curtly.
Jake heaved a sigh. “Tell me you aren’t going to sleep here again.”
“I don’t sleep here. It happened a total of two times.”
“Look, this isn’t healthy, man,” Jake said. “First you refuse to leave your place, now you avoid it like the plague.”
Adam said nothing, keeping his eyes on the screen.
There was such a long silence he started thinking Jake had left.
“It’s been months,” Jake said quietly. “He isn’t coming back.”
Adam clenched his jaw and said nothing.
“Just accept it and move on.”
“I have,” Adam said, very evenly. “That’s why I’m here. Working.”
“You aren’t working, Adam. You’re working yourself to the ground. By the end of the year, you’ll be either filthy rich or dead from exhaustion. I’m not sure which is more likely at this point.” Jake made an irritated sound. “Forget about that kid. He left without saying goodbye. He’s an ungrateful little shit—”
“Get out,” Adam said.
“Come on, mate, you know I’m right—”
“Get out,” Adam said again. There must have been something ugly in his voice, because Jake flinched and left without saying another word.
When the door shut after him, Adam leaned back in his chair and ran a hand over his tired eyes. Jake was right: he was overworking himself. But work was good. Work kept his mind busy.
Adam pinched the bridge of his nose.
For fuck’s sake.
It’d been almost two months. How long was he going to feel like shit? To feel like shit over someone who apparently didn’t exist.
It was still hard to believe that everything Harry had told him was a lie, but the facts didn’t lie: Harry Calluvianen didn’t exist. It almost made Adam think Harry had just been a product of his imagination. Except he wasn’t the only one who’d seen Harry. He was real. He had been real.
The thought brought a familiar ache to his chest. Despite his anger, he still couldn’t dismiss the possibility that something could have happened to Harry. People didn’t just disappear, especially without taking their passport and possessions with them.
Jake kept telling him to let go, kept telling him that Harry was an ungrateful little shit for leaving like that. Adam wished he could take that advice, but the problem was, he couldn’t completely believe it. After his initial anger and hurt, Adam had thought about their relationship carefully and couldn’t believe that Harry—his sincere, sweet, innocent Harry—was actually such a shitty person.
Jake had scoffed when Adam had told him that. “Sincere? Innocent? He lied even about his name! Come on, I know you’ve got it bad for him, but surely you can’t be that blind. He was a fox pretending to be a rabbit, and you bought it.”
Jake was right. Rationally, Adam knew it. Irrationally, he kept thinking about the way Harry smiled at him, the way he cuddled into him, the way he trembled under his touch, the way he responded to his kisses, his mouth eager, sweet and so fucking innocent. A person could lie, but the body language couldn’t.
Or was he just deluding himself?
Probably. Because no explanation made sense. Adam even considered the possibility that Harry had left because he’d felt guilty for cheating on his fiancée, but that wouldn’t explain the fake passport and no identity. Not to mention that Harry wouldn’t have baked a goddamn cake for him.