Chapter 80 TIPSY
Lovia lifted her glass slightly and smiled at Julian.
“Care for a dance?”
Julian didn’t answer her immediately.
Instead, he turned his head and looked at Eli.
“Care for a dance?” he asked.
Eli blinked in surprise.
Before he could answer, Lovia laughed softly.
“Oh Julian,” she said lightly, “you can’t be rude to me tonight.”
Then she turned to Eli with a sweet smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“It’s just a dance,” she said. “I’m not stealing him.”
Eli didn’t look at her. His eyes stayed on Julian.
“Sure,” Eli said. “I’d like a dance.”
Julian finished the rest of his drink in one swallow.
Eli looked down at his own glass.
If Julian could drink like that, then he could too. He doesn't want to act like a softie.
He gulped his down quickly.
He trusted Julian.
If he got too drunk, Julian would take care of him.
Julian set his glass aside and held out his hand.
Eli took it.
The music in the hall had already shifted into a slower rhythm.
Couples were gathering on the dance floor.
Julian led Eli away from the table.
As soon as they were a few steps away from Lovia and Desmond, Eli leaned closer and whispered nervously.
“I don’t know how to dance.”
Julian looked down at him.
“It’s okay,” he said calmly. “Just slow steps and sways.”
Eli nodded.
Julian placed one hand at Eli’s waist and held his other hand.
Then he gently guided him into the rhythm of the music.
Step.
Sway.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Sway.
At first Eli was stiff, careful.
Afraid he might step on Julian’s shoes.
But Julian’s movements were steady and patient.
He guided Eli easily.
Soon Eli stopped thinking about the steps.
The music flowed around them.
The laughter of the crowd faded into the background.
For a moment it felt like the whole room had disappeared. Like it was just the two of them standing there.
The shame Eli had felt earlier — the feeling that he didn’t belong — slowly faded away.
Instead he felt light.
Happy.
Comfortable.
Julian pulled him a little closer.
And suddenly Eli inhaled Julian’s scent.
That familiar warm, clean, and safe scent.
Eli’s head felt strangely fuzzy.
“I feel a little…” he muttered softly. “I think I’m drunk.”
Julian frowned slightly.
“You’re a lightweight,” he said. “I shouldn’t have let you drink.”
Eli leaned closer to him, half laughing.
“But you’ll take care of me so I don’t embarrass you.”
Julian’s hand tightened slightly at his waist.
“You won’t embarrass me,” he said. “I’ll take care of you.”
Julian himself felt a slight warmth spreading through his body.
But he ignored it.
One glass of alcohol could never affect him like that.
He had been drinking for years.
This was nothing.
They kept swaying slowly with the music.
Then someone approached.
Lovia.
She was holding two fresh glasses of drinks.
She stopped beside them and smiled sweetly.
“Thought you might want another one,” she said.
She extended one glass toward Julian.
But just as she did, someone walked past behind her and bumped into her shoulder.
The glass tipped suddenly.
The drink splashed forward.
Right onto Julian’s shirt.
“Oh!” Lovia gasped.
The dark stain spread across the front of his white shirt.
“I’m so sorry!” she said quickly. “That was completely my fault.”
Julian glanced down at the stain.
“It’s fine,” he said calmly.
But Lovia was already reaching for a napkin.
“No, no,” she insisted. “Let me clean it. We should go upstairs.”
“It’s really not necessary,” Julian said.
But Lovia had already taken his arm.
“There are spare rooms upstairs,” she said. “You can change.”
She began pulling him gently through the crowd.
Eli followed them automatically.
The music and laughter of the party faded as they left the crowded hall.
When they reached the staircase, Eli stopped.
It had become a habit now.
He waited.
Julian turned back when he noticed.
Without saying anything, he picked Eli up and carried him up the stairs.
Eli rested his head against Julian’s shoulder.
But the strange fuzzy feeling in his head was getting worse.
By the time they reached the upper floor, Julian felt hot.
His shirt stuck slightly to his skin where the drink had spilled.
The heat inside his body didn’t feel like alcohol.
It felt different.
Stronger.
Lovia kept talking as she walked ahead of them.
“Such a shame about the shirt,” she said. “But we’ll fix it quickly. We're lucky everyone's too busy to notice, it'd have been a shame.”
They entered one of the large guest suites upstairs.
Lovia turned toward Julian and started removing his suit jacket.
“Let’s get this off first,” she said.
Julian allowed it.
But his breathing felt heavier now.
His skin felt hot.
Uncomfortably hot.
He suddenly had the strong urge to rip off his clothes.
Eli stood nearby, swaying slightly.
“I feel weird,” he muttered softly.
Lovia glanced at him.
“Why don’t you sit down?” she suggested sweetly.
She pointed to a couch in the room.
“Rest for a moment.”
Eli nodded slowly.
His head felt dull and heavy.
He walked toward the couch and dropped onto it.
Meanwhile Lovia grabbed Julian’s hand again.
“Come,” she said. “Let’s change your shirt.”
She led him toward the connected bedroom.
Julian’s steps were no longer steady.
They staggered slightly as he walked.
Eli noticed it vaguely.
But his mind felt too foggy to fully understand what he was seeing.
As Eli sat slumped on the couch, Desmond suddenly walked in with a smirk, he leaned down and whispered to Eli’s ear: “how are you feeling, pretty boy?”
Meanwhile, Lovia brought Julian into the bedroom.
She stood close to him and began unbuttoning his shirt.
Her fingers moved slowly over the buttons.
But suddenly—
Julian grabbed her wrist.
His grip was so strong she whined and tried to pull away her hand but he didn't let her.
He looked directly at her.
“You drugged me?”