Unicorn Unashamed (Rainbow Fever Book 1)

by Riley Rivers

  Smart? Hell yeah, and Josh not only didn’t mind Raymond’s weird thirst for knowledge, but he actively encouraged conversations about whatever it was Raymond was currently interested in. Like the time when Raymond had mentioned he’d wanted to learn more about digital art and what Josh did. Josh hadn’t brushed it off; he’d recommended a few things to watch.

  Josh also didn’t act surprised or look at him with disbelief when Raymond rattled off a random fact about something. Josh seemed to think Raymond was plenty smart himself. That was… it was nice.

  Over the years, Raymond had dealt with a lot of people expecting him to be dumb since he enjoyed and made a living out of exercise. He was proud of what he did and the business he had built, but if it ever came up in small talk, he could sometimes visibly see judgement set in.

  It could be hard, looking the way he did. First world problems and everything, but people saw this fit guy who worked out for a living and they didn’t think or care about whether or not he had brains in his head. It really sucked, because, if nothing else, Raymond loved conversation partners. He enjoyed being with someone he could talk to. Someone who would listen, at least patiently for a little while. There was so much stuff in the world to learn about and discuss and—

  Josh listened to him.

  Bottom line, Raymond liked Josh a lot. Honestly, if Josh hadn’t been a client, Raymond probably would have asked him out a long time ago.

  No, that wasn’t true. Raymond liked Josh too much to have let that stop him. What really kept Raymond from asking Josh out was the fact that Josh was thoroughly uninterested.

  The benefit of having a werewolf nose also sometimes dashed hopes. Raymond had never gotten even a whiff of arousal from Josh when they were together. There was simply nothing there. Josh’s natural scent wasn’t very strong to begin with for some reason, but arousal wasn’t exactly a hard scent to miss.

  Which was fine. Josh was a good client and a good friend, and at least since Raymond already knew he had no chance, it kept him from making the mistake of trying for something more. Aside from how awkward it would be, Raymond wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he went and made Josh uncomfortable. He’d kept his feelings to himself for this long. He could do it indefinitely.

  It was no wonder that Josh wouldn’t look at him twice, anyway. While Josh’s own scent wasn’t very strong, he came in with the remnants of other peoples’ scents not quite washed away often enough for Raymond to know that Josh wasn’t exactly strapped for partners. And that certainly wasn’t a surprise, because fuck if Josh wasn’t one of the hottest people Raymond had ever met. Just around Raymond’s height but slimmer, predisposed to lean lines of muscle instead of bulk like Raymond tended to. On the pale side (“I work from home, how often do you think I’m outside?”), but it suited him, especially against his dark hair. It also made his eyes and freckles stand out.

  And with Raymond getting to see Josh three times a week, that was three times a week he also saw Josh sweaty and breathing hard, hair mussed and face flushed and…

  Raymond sighed. It was a good thing Josh couldn’t smell arousal.

  He went to check his phone for messages as a distraction. He kept it on silent while he was with clients, so he often came back to at least a few missed notifications.

  It was a surprise when his phone lit up with an incoming call. Even more of a surprise to see Curtis Daniels as the name flashing on the screen. Raymond quickly checked the time. Five minutes until Josh was supposed to show up.

  “Hey Curtis,” Raymond said as he turned off his music. “You’ve got perfect timing. Five more minutes and I would have missed your call.”

  “Cool,” Curtis said. “Go me, then.”

  “Yeah, but it also means you’ve gotta be quick. My next client is due soon.”

  “Easy enough. Wanna have dinner with me tonight?”

  “Oh!” Raymond grinned. “You’re in town?”

  “Yeah. And before you ask why it didn’t make the news, it’s because it’s kinda hush-hush. With filming starting up in a few weeks, I bullied Simon into taking a mini vacation. We’re gonna do Disney World for a few days. Simon’s never been, and since they’re really good about being nonchalant about celebrities, I thought it’d be perfect. Especially with the crowds, no one’ll look at us twice.”

  “That’s a nice idea.” Curtis and Raymond went way back. In fact, Curtis had been a huge help in Raymond working to set up his own business. He had a head for numbers and organization, and that was probably how he’d ended up as the personal assistant to Simon Walsh, a rapidly rising star in the film industry.

  Raymond thought it was kind of cool to be one degree of separation away from a celebrity, though he knew more about Simon from the media than he did from Curtis. Curtis had only been working for Simon for about five months, and was very professional about not giving out details about him. Mostly when the topic came up, Curtis just seethed about the latest media nonsense going on about Simon’s shifter status. Simon was also a unicorn shifter, and there were altogether too many people who gleefully leapt at the chance to rake him over the coals about it.

  “Yeah,” Curtis said. “I hope it’ll get him to relax a little bit. He’s been really antsy these last couple of months. I’m worried about it.”

  “Well hey, bring him along to dinner if you want. I can entertain him by giving him a bunch of dirt on you.”

  “Screw you, man.” Curtis chuckled. “Though… if you don’t mind my inviting him, that might not be a bad idea. You’re about as down-to-Earth as they come, and I think he needs that right now.”

  “We could go to Tracey’s,” Raymond suggested. Tracey’s was a mom-and-pop Italian place that Raymond and Curtis had practically grown up at. “You know they’d treat him like a person, even if they recognized him.”

  “Yeah... Yeah. Okay, cool. I’ll ask.”

  “Say around seven? That gives me time to finish up here, shower and change, and head over. We could meet there?”

  “Perfect. And I’ll let you know in advance if Simon’ll be coming.”

  “Okay, cool.” The bell to Raymond’s studio rang out, and Raymond turned to find Josh closing his umbrella to store by the door. He glanced up to give Raymond a smile and wave. “My four o’clock just got here, so I’ve gotta go. Text me? And I’ll see you at dinner.”

  “Sounds good. Thanks! See you in a bit.”

  “Bye.” Raymond hung up. “Hey,” he said to Josh. “Good to see you.”

  “Likewise.” Josh grinned and nodded at the phone in Raymond’s hand. “Hot date?”

  Raymond blushed, fumbling as he shoved his phone in his pocket. “No, just a friend. He’s in town, so we’re meeting up.”

  “Hey, cool. I hope you have a good time.”

  “Thanks. I’ve known Curtis for forever, so whenever we get together, it’s usually just hours of catching up.”

  Another smile, almost hidden as Josh bent down to take off his shoes and put on the sneakers he wore for studio time. Raymond had a no outdoor shoes rule to keep things cleaner. “Sounds nice.”

  “How’re you?” Raymond asked. “How was the weekend?” He was unable to keep himself from subtly sniffing. Josh’s scent was somehow even more muted today, but he also wasn’t wearing anyone else’s.

  Raymond wished that fact didn’t make him so happy.

  Josh chuckled. “Very not exciting. Mostly I just got work done.”

  “Oh hey, yeah, how are the book illustrations coming?”

  “Finished as of this afternoon!”

  “Good for you,” Raymond enthused as he and Josh headed over to the open floor area of the space.

  “Yeah, it’s nice to be done. Big sense of accomplishment and all that. I feel like I should go out and celebrate.

  “You should join us for dinner tonight,” Raymond blurted before he could think better of it. But then it was too late, and he didn’t want to take the offer back. “If, uh, if you wanted to. Curtis wouldn’t mind. Though
maybe going out with us isn’t your idea of a celebration, which I’d get—”

  “No,” Josh said quickly. “I mean, that’d be cool. If you don’t think I’d be a third wheel.”

  “I could ask Curtis, if that’d make you feel better,” Raymond said. “But I don’t think he’d care.” As he said it, it occurred to him that Simon might care, but he’d talk to Curtis first. “I can text him now?”

  “Um, yeah.” Josh tugged on the hem of his shirt. “That’d be nice. Yeah.”

  “I’ll do it now. Start with fifty jumping jacks.”

  Josh rolled his eyes. “Sir, yes sir.”

  Raymond was glad, then, of the distraction of putting on the music and going to text Curtis, because it helped hide his flush.

  Chapter Three

  An hour later, and Josh was taking another breather. The first thing he did after downing some more water was stumble to the bathroom to reapply his scent blocker again. The stuff he used was good enough for most cases, but not even the more heavy-duty blockers that his insurance did cover could last through a sweaty workout session without fail. Josh hadn’t had a problem yet, but he figured that there was never any harm in being careful. The last thing he wanted to do was have Raymond sniff him out and thus make Raymond uncomfortable.

  When he emerged feeling slightly more human—and slightly less wobbly—it was to find Raymond texting on the phone.

  Raymond looked up at him. “Okay, so I’m talking to Curtis. He says he’s totally cool with you joining us, if you want to.”

  “Okay.” He was glad that his breathlessness could be chalked up to the exercise, and not the idea of going out with Raymond later. Even if Josh was going to be the third person in the party, just the idea of seeing Raymond outside of a session was enough to make his head spin.

  Stupid virile period. Normally Josh was way less head over heels. Or at least, way less obviously head over heels.

  Raymond’s phone flashed again, and he glanced back down at it. “Sorry, the only thing is that Curtis was going to bring someone too, maybe, so we’re talking about that… do you mind waiting one more minute before we get started again?”

  Josh raised an eyebrow. “Mind that I’ll be getting a longer break?”

  Raymond snorted. “You pay for a full hour and a half, you’ll be getting a full hour and a half, this break aside.”

  Josh laughed. “Okay.” He’d never complain about more time with Raymond, even if he spent most of it sweating his ass off. And tonight you’ll get even more time with him. He rolled his shoulders, trying to appear nonchalant. “Finish talking to your friend. I’ll be over here. Resting.”

  “Okay, Mr. Dramatic, I don’t work you that hard.”

  “So you’re saying I don’t get my money’s worth with you?”

  Raymond grinned. “Love you too, man.”

  Josh’s stomach absolutely did not do a flip-flop. Raymond was just like that. He said stuff like that all the time. And Josh was going to react to basically anything Raymond said to him right now anyway. He just had to keep on going like it was no big deal.

  “Okay,” Raymond said, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “All set. I’m yours for the rest of our session.”

  If only. Josh nodded. “Okay, what’s next?”

  Raymond grinned and pointed to the balance board. “Hop up. Left leg first.”

  Josh groaned and did as he was told, doing his best to keep his balance as Raymond led him through a new series of movements.

  “Oh, uh, there’s one more thing,” Raymond said as Josh concentrated on not falling off the balance board as he did his kettlebell sets.

  “Yeah?” Raymond sounded nervous, but Josh couldn’t imagine why. “What’s up?”

  “So I said that Curtis is bringing a friend?”

  “Yeah. We’re double-dating.” The flirt just slipped out, and Josh had to hide his wince.

  Raymond just chuckled though, still looking nervous. “Right, so uh. I promised that you’re really awesome and laid-back, so it’s not an issue or anything but Curtis wanted to make sure I told you ahead of time so you wouldn’t be too taken aback and also warn you kind of that—”

  “Raymond,” Josh interrupted, knowing that if he didn’t Raymond would continue to nervously ramble. “Just tell me.”

  “Curtis is bringing Simon Walsh.”

  Josh jerked in surprise, cursing as it threw off his balance and made his board touch the ground. He took the minute to gather his thoughts as he got back onto the board, but it didn’t help. “Okay.” It was all he could come up with. “I mean that’s… kind of stupidly cool. But it’s not a problem.”

  Raymond exhaled. “I didn’t think it would be. I just, you know, wanted to make sure you wouldn’t freak out or something. Not that I thought you would.”

  Josh chuckled. “I appreciate the vote of confidence.”

  “Oh, you know what I mean.” Raymond rubbed the back of his neck. “Honestly, it’s mostly for Simon’s benefit, you know? He’s in the public eye a lot, and that’s stressful.”

  “Yeah.” Josh didn’t keep up so much with celebrity news and gossip, but he definitely wasn’t the only unicorn who followed Simon’s career simply because he was a fellow shifter. It was kind of nice to see a unicorn rise in Hollywood ranks despite all the stigma attached to being one, but Simon also still had to deal with a lot of people calling him out for being flighty, or emotionally unstable, or other shit. “I can imagine. But don’t worry, I promise I’ll be cool. Thanks for the heads-up.”

  Raymond smiled at him, making Josh’s insides feel all gooey. “It’ll be nice, being out with you. I’m glad you’re coming.”

  That only made Josh feel gooier. “Thanks again for inviting me.”

  “Yeah, of course.” Raymond held his hand out to take the kettlebell. “Now switch legs. We’ll finish your right side, then go through stretches and cool-down. Then you’re free of me til tonight.”

  “Can’t wait,” Josh said with a possibly too-bright smile.

  ***

  Raymond was nervous.

  It was stupid to be nervous. He recognized that. He was super comfortable with Curtis and was looking forward to seeing him. Simon he wasn’t worried about. Josh was also someone Raymond was comfortable with. Raymond was really looking forward to seeing him outside of the studio.

  But he also had just realized that Curtis and Josh were going to be at the same table, with him.

  Raymond loved Curtis. He did. But Curtis was also too damn observant for his own good. It made him fantastic at his job. It made him a good friend. But it also gave him lots and lots of opportunities to sniff out stuff that wasn’t his business and try to make them his business. And while Raymond was just as serious about client confidentiality as Curtis was and so hadn’t told Cutis much about Josh at all… Raymond had, maybe, possibly mentioned that he had a client he was into.

  Nothing more than that, no matter how much Curtis had tried to get more out of him, but he’d said it.

  And now Curtis knew that Raymond had invited a client out to dinner with them.

  So yeah. Raymond was nervous.

  There was nothing for it, though. The best thing to do was try to relax and enjoy himself.

  That’s what he told himself again, as he made the drive over.

  Tracy’s wasn’t too busy, what with it being a Monday night, and Curtis had called in a reservation anyway, so it was easy to get seated. Raymond was the first one there, but he’d barely thanked the waitress for the water she’d brought when he caught wind of Curtis.

  Raymond looked around for him and Simon, giving them a smile and wave when he saw them making their way towards the table. It was a little surreal to see Simon in person, especially next to Curtis. Curtis, who was about as big as Raymond was, was leading an anxious-looking Simon along with a hand at the small of his back, and Curtis absolutely dwarfed him.

  Raymond knew enough about the movie industry to know how much smoke and mirrors went into m
aking sure viewers saw only what the creators wanted them to see, but it really was an eye-opener to see how slight Simon was in real life. Intellectually Raymond knew that Simon was all of five ten, so not short by any means, and was as aware as anyone that his clothes were hiding a lean, well-honed body fit for being a movie star.

  But mostly he looked small and a little unhappy.

  He also barely smelled like anything at all, which was a little shocking. But then again… Josh also walked around without a very strong scent. Maybe it was just a unicorn thing?

  Raymond shoved those thoughts away. Not appropriate and not the time. He stood up, smiling, and drew Curtis in for a hug. “Hey! Welcome home.”

  Curtis grinned and slapped him on the back. “Good to be back. Though I can’t say I missed the torrential downpours.”

  “That’s what you get for coming during monsoon season. But hey—means less tourists.”

  “True.” Curtis turned to Simon. “Simon, this is Raymond. One of my best friends and the best damn personal trainer you’ll ever meet.”

  “You flatter me.” Raymond held out a hand to Simon. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Yeah, uh, you too,” Simon said, shaking before all three of them took a seat. Simon looked at the empty chair next to Raymond. “Weren’t… weren’t you coming with someone else?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Raymond nodded. “That’d be Josh. We just came separately. He should be here—” as he said it, he perked up, catching the hint of scent that Josh did have. It was one Raymond knew well, because he couldn’t get enough of it. “Speak of the devil.”

  “Hey,” Josh said, dropping into the chair and waving to the table at large. “Sorry, didn’t realize I’d be the last one here. I’m Josh Parker. Friend and client of Raymond.”

  “Curtis Daniels,” Curtis said, holding out his hand to shake.

  “Simon Walsh,” Simon said quietly, when Josh turned to him next.

  Josh grinned and shook. “Yeah, hi. Welcome to Florida. Raymond said it was your first time here?”