Ex's and O'S (19 page)

“Adam, gotta come,” Les warned, his lids dropping shut as the tingling at the base of spine sounded the alarm of his impending climax. Adam shifted, squirmed. Les imagined he was fisting that big cock of his, then Adam stiffened and jerked, his inner muscles clamping down on Les’ dick.

Adam keened through his release, milking Les with each rippling contraction of

Adam’s ass. Les grunted and trembled, his butt clenched tight as he shoved his cock in deeper and deeper still. Each shot of cum sapped some of Les’ strength until his body seemed as empty as his balls. He dropped down on top of Adam, barely had the sense to catch himself on his elbows, then lay gasping for several minutes, his heart pounding against Adam’s back.

“Fucking hell,” Adam groaned, “what you do to me, Les!”

“Same goes,” Les managed to get out. “And I think you’re going to have to drive us home.”

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Adam grunted under the weight of grocery bags as he followed Charlene up the stairs to their apartment. His first paycheque from the Xxchange had been decent, better than he’d made at the restaurant, anyway. When he added in all the tips, he was actually doing pretty well. Not that he’d ever be rich, or even middle class, but he thought maybe finding a new apartment in a somewhat safer neighbourhood was a possibility.

Even if safety weren’t a concern, there was still the matter of those orange walls. Ick.

He’d probably still have to help Charlene with rent somewhere, though. She hadn’t been able to find a job yet. Granted, they’d only been here for a little less than a month, but since the lease was up on this craptastic apartment at the end of April, they needed to figure out what they were going to do. Adam kind of hoped his mom would find a job and get her own place.

Not that he minded staying the night with Les, something he was doing with more

and more frequency, but on the nights he didn’t, Adam slept on the futon. He always woke up feeling like someone had been jabbing at him with a sharp stick all night. And he’d love to be able to bring Les back to his place, just to put them on more equal footing. It seemed Les was always doing things for him—from coming to the Xxchange ‘just to see you’ Les claimed

—though Adam was ninety nine per cent sure the man was also making sure no one messed with him—to fixing Adam’s POS car last week when the fan belt broke.

While Adam appreciated everything Les did for him, even enjoyed it since he’d never had a man give a shit before, he was getting frustrated too. To him, there couldn’t be equality when one person in the relationship seemed to be doing all the giving. It wasn’t that Adam didn’t try to do stuff for Les, too, but he was rather limited, especially when the man refused to even come over for dinner. And he never stayed the night.

But the dinner thing, that really bothered Adam. He hadn’t pushed the issue, because Les seemed to just…just close up whenever Adam asked him over, and Adam hadn’t wanted to pry, or nag, or do anything else that might cause a problem between them. At this point, he wasn’t sure if Les was avoiding going in the apartment, or if he was avoiding Charlene, or EX’S AND O’S

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if he was avoiding the meal, or it could be some combination or all three or something totally different. “You’re thinking hard enough to hurt yourself,” Charlene observed as Adam set the bags on the table.

Adam shrugged, carefully avoiding her eyes. That woman could peer straight into his brain at the most inconvenient times. “Just trying to figure out what we should do about the lease here.”

Charlene snorted as she rustled through one of the bags, plucking out the things that needed to go into the freezer. “I bet that’s what you were thinking about.” She laced her words with enough sarcasm that Adam cringed. He was so not in the mood for a lecture.

“I was, partly, and the rest, I don’t want to talk about.” Maybe she’d cut him a break.

“Adam.”

Damn it! I shouldn’t have looked up.
He’d start blabbing everything if he wasn’t careful.

That blue-eyed gaze was a powerful weapon, especially when it was lit with a heavy dose of love for him.

“I know it’s hard right now, what with us in this place and you having to sleep on that contraption—when you’re here, even,” and at that her eyes twinkled as she grinned, “but it will get better. But, whatever it is that’s bothering you about your personal life, you need to talk to Les about, otherwise you’re going to drive yourself crazy. I’d offer to talk to him but that man acts like he’s terrified of me.” She snorted again and shook her head. “I don’t understand it! Most people love me after the double chocolate chip cookies! Contrary man!”

Adam had to smile at that because yeah, Les would be different from everyone else.

He kind of liked that the man seemed to be Charlene-proof, although, now that he

considered it, he wondered if his mom was right. Was Les actually scared of her, like, physically? Did he think she was some kind of psycho? Or was it just Les’ inexperience that made him avoid the whole ‘boyfriend’s mother’ association? The man was, despite his age and bad ass demeanour, incredibly naïve at times.

“Has he talked to you about his family any?”

Adam shook his head. “No, and I didn’t want to pry. I figure he’ll tell me when he’s ready.” He wasn’t going to tell his mom that they’d done very little talking. Les had a libido that rivalled his own. When they did talk, it was usually about mundane things, safe things.

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But if they didn’t ever really talk, then all they’d have was incredible sex. Adam had already figured out that wasn’t going to be enough for him. He just wasn’t sure what to do about it.

Charlene finished putting another bag of groceries away and looked at him, her hands propped on her hips. “Well, sometimes people need a little push. Sometimes they even want one. Maybe Les doesn’t think you care enough about him to want to know about his past, since you haven’t asked.”

Adam groaned and shoved the canned vegetables he’d taken from a bag into a

cabinet. “This relationship stuff is complicated.”

“Yeah, it is, but nothing worthwhile ever comes easy,” Charlene pointed out,

repeating a mantra Adam had heard hundreds of times.

“I’m afraid of screwing it all up,” Adam admitted. “I really like Les a lot, and I just don’t know what to do. What if I start asking questions and he dumps me? What then?”

“Then you have to decide if you’re willing to fight for him,” Charlene said as she stepped to his side. Adam’s ripple of unease was compounded by the intense look in her blue eyes. “Are you? Or is this just a fling?”

Adam didn’t even have to think about it. “No, it’s not, not on my end, and I don’t think it is on Les’ end, either.”

Charlene’s gaze sharpened, making Adam’s pulse ratchet up a notch. “And why do

you think that, if you two haven’t ever talked about things?”

An image of Les’ face appeared in his mind. His skin pebbled with memories of each tender caress. “Because he…he looks at me in this way that…it…it makes me all…” he took a breath and tried again. “When I’m working, or we’re just lying in bed, or driving to his place, I catch him looking at me, and his expression is so…so tender, so open, so…warm, even, I think”—and it made him tremble—“loving. It’s not all lust and sex all the time, and I know I look at him like some lovesick fool more often than not. And he touches me, all the time, not in a sexual way, just little touches, a finger to the back of my hand, or a brush of my cheek, or—” Adam was blushing so fiercely now that the soles of his feet felt hot. It might have been weird to have this conversation with his mom, but he really didn’t have anyone else to talk to, and he was confused and desperate enough to confide in her. Her hand cupping his cheek made Adam’s eyes burn with unexpected tears.

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“You love him,” Charlene said, her lips trembling as her own eyes glistened. “And it sounds like he feels the same.”

“Maybe.”

“Talk to him then. He won’t leave you. Despite him being weird about coming around here, Les is a good man.”

Before Adam could agree there was a loud knock on the door.

“I’ll get that,” Charlene said. “You might want to run into the bathroom and splash some water on your face.”

Adam nodded and sprinted for the bathroom. He was almost in the tiny room when

his mother opened the door and a man’s voice stopped Adam dead in his tracks.

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Turning around so fast he felt dizzy, Adam swiped at his eyes trying to clear his vision. The sight that greeted him sent alternating waves of fear and relief through him. He cleared his throat and nodded at the man his mother had just let into the apartment.

“Chase.” God the man looked bad, dark circles under his eyes and so thin Adam bet Chase’s bones rattled when he walked. He took a few steps back into the living room, his eyes never leaving the other man’s. Since James Stratton seemed to have disappeared off the face of the Earth, Adam hadn’t had any way to find out if Chase had lived—but he guessed he had his answer now. Although from Chase’s appearance, Adam wasn’t sure the guy was going to stay in the land of the living long.

Chase swayed on his feet and Adam’s moved instinctively. He ran, catching the man before he could crumple to the floor. Charlene helped. Despite how thin he was, Chase wasn’t exactly light. Together Adam and his mother shuffled Chase to the couch and settled him on the rickety thing.

That was when Adam noticed the fresh bruises. A darkening one that encompassed

Chase’s temple and cheek, and a band of them around his neck that looked… Adam’s

stomach heaved as he swallowed back bile. Those darkening bruises around Chase’s neck definitely looked like fingers.

“Call Les,” Adam snapped out, already working on the buttons to Chase’s shirt. The man was unconscious, his breathing slow and with a rattle that sent a spear of fear down Adam’s spine. “And Josh, see if he can come over here if he’s not working.”

Maybe he should just have his mom call an ambulance. Except, there was only one

reason Chase would be here, wasn’t there? And the fact that the man had obviously been beaten… Then again, Adam reasoned, they did live in a shit neighbourhood. Someone could have jumped Chase just because he was here. But that didn’t explain why Chase was here; the only reason had to have something to do with Rollins. Nothing else made sense. Adam’s fear ratcheted up to near-panic, but anger doused everything else.
What does that fucker want
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from me? Isn’t it enough he ran me and my mom out of town? What’s next, I have to find a new
continent?

Adam stopped his barrage of angry thoughts as he spread Chase’s shirt open. He

gasped as he looked at the battered flesh. Besides the bruising, there were scars, some jagged and old, thin silvery strips, and others that…weren’t. The newer ones were straighter, the flesh still pink and puffy. He could make out the holes from where staples had held torn flesh together but he didn’t know which might have been surgical scars and which ones…

weren’t.

Chase groaned softly and tried to curl up on his side. Adam pressed him down gently, easing him back. Then he wondered if Chase’s back looked worse than his front.

“This is the private investigator, right?”

Adam glanced over his shoulder at his mom, who was on the phone with hopefully

Les or Josh. “Yeah. Chase Murphy, although I don’t know if that’s his real name.” It wasn’t like Adam had ever asked. In truth, he’d been attracted to Chase, but he’d been even more wary of the guy. Adam just wasn’t sure how stable he was, not that it mattered right now.

Chase jerked, a head to toe shudder. His eyes opened and rolled back in his head and Adam shouted for his mom even as he started trying to roll Chase onto his side. The man was seizing, his body jerking, arms and legs jutting in small thrashes instead of dangerous swings. A viscous white froth began to seep from his mouth.

Adam shouted for Charlene again, struggling not only to roll Chase to his side but to keep from toppling the man onto the floor or injuring him even more than he already was.

“Here.”

Adam’s heart did a cartwheel at the deep rumbling voice. He didn’t know if that

single word was a declaration or an order and he didn’t care. All that mattered was that Les was here now. Les gave him a grim smile and helped him to manoeuvre Chase onto his side.

“How long has this been going on?” a voice asked before Adam could even speak to

Les. Then the owner of the voice was there, kneeling and pushing at Adam and Les. “How long?”

Adam tried to calculate but really, he wasn’t sure. “A minute, maybe? I was kind of busy trying to keep him from choking to set a timer.”

Josh snorted but didn’t otherwise acknowledge him.

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Chase’s seizure ended finally. Adam knew the whole thing probably hadn’t lasted

more than a couple of minutes, but it’d been the longest minutes of his life. He answered Les’

questions about Chase as best he could while watching Josh examine the injured man.

“Who beat the crap out of this guy?” Josh asked, his voice tight with anger. “He’s not even healed from what happened to him in Montana. He needs to be examined by a doctor, he needs x-rays and who knows what all else, and he needs it soon.”

Between the information Charlene had given him on the phone and Adam’s brief

explanation, Les had enough info to make the spot between his shoulder blades itch and his palms sweat. It wouldn’t hold up in court, but Chase showing up here, beat to hell and back, that was proof enough for Les that Rollins was coming after Adam again.