Help! I Became A Guy In A BL Novel!-Chapter 339: Suspicious Bob
"Well," The woman said, her voice smooth and amused, as though she had stumbled upon a spectacle for her entertainment. "Aren’t you pitiful?"
Nicholas’ lips parted, but no words came. He was too weak to ask who she was, too broken to even beg for help.
She tilted her head, eyes glinting with something unreadable, and with a flick of her fingers, she gave an order. "Pick him up. Toss him in."
The driver obeyed, gripping Nicholas’ battered body and hauling him into the carriage with as much care as one would a sack of grain. Nicholas groaned, the motion reopening wounds and making every nerve scream anew. He collapsed against the cold floor of the carriage, vision blurring.
The woman lingered outside a moment longer, her smirk deepening as she looked upon him one last time. Then she stepped inside after him, her presence heavy, unsettling.
Very pathetic indeed, she thought.
---
The carriage creaked as it rolled down the path, the winter air pressing coldly against the windows. Inside, it was cramped—way too cramped for five grown men. On one side sat Riven, Xavier, and Leon, squeezed so close together their shoulders brushed.
Xavier, of course, had made sure he was wedged right between Riven and Leon like some kind of protective barrier. On the opposite bench, John sat stiffly while Bob, the ever-kind former truck driver, tried his best to look comfortable but only succeeded in looking like he regretted everything.
Leon sighed dramatically, crossing his arms and leaning back. "It seems like the carriage is too small for us," he announced as though he were the first person in the world to realize it.
"Yeah, it wasn’t meant for five people," John muttered, casting Bob a side-eye that looked halfway between annoyance and disbelief.
Riven caught the look. "This is your fault, Bob," he pointed out flatly.
Bob blinked innocently. "My fault? How? I was just being nice!" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
"You invited us," John said, deadpan. "And now we’re all smashed in like sardines."
Bob raised both hands, his voice soft and earnest. "Hey, I was just trying to help. Riven said it wasn’t too far, so walking sounded fine, but then I thought, why not make things easier, right? I just didn’t think... This would happen."
"Please, don’t add onto the awkwardness," Bob added after a beat, lowering his eyes like he was physically pained by the silence.
Riven’s lips curled into a smirk. "Sure, let me do that." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, eyes locked on Bob. "So Bob, mated to triplets, huh? How’s that like?"
The question dropped into the carriage like a bomb. Xavier choked on air, Leon’s brows shot up, and John looked like he wanted to climb out the window.
Bob’s face went pink. "Uh—well—it’s, uh..."
"You don’t have to answer that." John tried to comfort him.
Riven’s head tilted, eyes narrowing with curiosity. Something didn’t add up. Riven leaned back, folding his arms. He didn’t miss the way Bob’s voice cracked, or how his ears went red. "Huh. Interesting."
Bob had said he’d slept with John’s brother, yet when the subject of two men together came up, Bob looked like he couldn’t even imagine it. Not even a flicker of recognition, not a trace of embarrassment—nothing. Just shock, like he heard about it for the first time.
It was like the man had no idea what he was saying earlier. Riven drummed his fingers against his knee, watching him closely. People don’t just go around confusing sleeping with someone with... Anything else! No, there was something strange here, something off.
And the way Bob kept smiling so innocently only made Riven more suspicious. Was he pretending? Was he covering something up? Or maybe... Maybe he wasn’t who he said he was at all.
Xavier sat wedged in the middle of the carriage like a human barrier, stiff-backed and tense. It was awkward enough without having Riven make it worse.
It seems like he was meeting too many young men who have relationships with multiple partners. He had purposely planted himself there—between Riven and Leon—and everyone knew it. No one mentioned it, of course.
Riven tilted his head lazily, watching Xavier from the corner of his eye. Then he leaned in, his lips barely moving as he whispered, "I know you sat in the middle to keep me away from Leon, but who’s going to keep me away from you?"
He smirked, the words rolling off his tongue like a challenge he had no intention of losing.
Xavier turned slowly, his scar pulling slightly as he narrowed his eyes. That scar—sharp, white, dragging diagonally across his face—should’ve made him look meaner. But to Riven, it only made him more attractive. Every time Xavier glared at him like this, Riven couldn’t help the little spark of heat that lit up inside him. Daddy issues? Possibly...
"Don’t," Xavier muttered under his breath.
But that only spurred Riven on.
He let his arm slide back, casual, like he was stretching, and his fingertips brushed against the base of Xavier’s back. He felt the faint warmth of him through the shirt. Xavier didn’t flinch, didn’t even move, but Riven saw the tiny flicker in his eyes. Gotcha, he thought smugly.
In Xavier’s other hand, he was holding onto the sandwich Riven had refused to eat earlier. He held it tightly, carefully balanced on his lap like a parent stuck holding their kid’s toys. The image almost made Riven laugh. Big, scary Xavier, scar-faced and silent, holding onto a sandwich like it was the only thing grounding him.
Riven’s smirk widened. He didn’t look away, didn’t blink, just kept that steady eye contact as his hand glided a little higher up Xavier’s back. Slow, deliberate. Teasing. His nails grazed lightly over fabric, enough to be felt but not seen.
No one else noticed.
Leon, across from them, was staring pointedly out the window. John had his arms crossed, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else, and Bob was humming under his breath, probably to kill the awkward silence he himself had created. No one was paying attention to them.
And the challenge of not getting caught only made it more exciting for Riven.
