Eli Bell is the only son of a police chief inspector and a forensic scientist. He's grown up wonky in a world that only deals with the straight and narrow -- and his new boyfriend isn't helping. Rob Hawkes is six feet of muscle, tattoos, and arrest warrants. A career criminal and a former guest of Her Majesty's Prison Service, he'd rather hit Eli's parents than sit down to dinner with them. One wrong move, and Rob could destroy Eli -- and his family -- without a second thought. But this isn't what it looks like. Rob's not in control here -- and Eli's the one to blame.

What It Looks Like

So it didn’t feel strange to throw his bag into Rob’s bedroom, ask Danny to order a pepperoni pizza with double cheese for him, and head for the shower. Even showering to the sound of Danny’s rock music in the living room, complete with off-key screeching masquerading as singing, didn’t feel strange.


Eli eyed the tiles, and wondered when Rob’s casual offer of him moving in if he went to college had become a serious option. It’d be nice living here, he reckoned—if he could persuade Rob to give up the weed dealing permanently, because Eli didn’t fancy the cops pawing through his stuff every time Rob or Danny got caught with more than a single spliff in their pockets.


He stayed in the shower until the doorbell heralded the arrival of the pizza, before wandering back to Rob’s room to fish his pyjama bottoms out of his bag. His hair was still too wet for the shirt, so he tucked it into his waistband and wandered towards the smell of food.


Chapter 25