Take What You Want (20 page)

“
When
we weren't touring with our bands, Adam and I lived together,”
Alex said. “He's a lighting specialist for rock bands and
worked with my band and a few others. He synchronizes the most
amazing stage light set-ups you could possibly imagine, very
intricate and complicated. The shows are done with a computer
program, but he made it look easy. For the most part, we toured
together, but when he was working with other artists we did our best
to plan our tours to coincide with each other. That way, when we
were off the road we could be together.

“
It
didn't always work out like that,” Alex continued. “One
time after I got home from tour, Adam confessed he'd hooked back up
with his girlfriend and they were together again. I was devastated,
until he explained he didn't want to lose me and wondered if I'd
consider allowing Sarah to be part of the relationship he and I
shared. He introduced me to her and we hit it off, so she stayed for
dinner. That led to a little too much to drink and we ended up in
bed – all three of us. It felt right from that first night and
we lived like that for years. I ended up loving Sarah as much as I
loved Adam. It was as close to perfect as I ever thought I'd find.”

“
So,
what happened?” Chase asked.

“
She
fell asleep behind the wheel of her car and hit a tree,” Alex
said. “She died instantly.”

“
Holy
Christ,” Chase said. “I'm so sorry.”

“
Adam
and I did our best to deal with her loss, but in the end we realized
he and I worked better when we were with her, so we broke-up. He got
a lighting job with a band in Europe and moved away. I haven't seen
or talked to him since, but Wheland told me yesterday Adam is back in
the States and looking for work.”

“
Do
you think they'd be a chance for you two now?” Chase asked.

“
Extremely
doubtful,” Alex said. “Too many years have passed.
Besides, Adam has some serious character flaws that I won't tolerate
– a serial cheater being one of them. I don't cheat and I
expect my partners to be respectful enough to do the same for me.”

Why
did this declaration please Chase? Would it matter either way if
Alex went back to an old love? He needed to remind himself he had no
claim on Alex and in a few months, Alex would be moving back to the
West Coast to resume his life. As he should. Right?

“
You
okay?” Alex asked, cupping Chase's chin in his palm.

“
Yeah,
fine. Why?”

“
You
had a funny look on your face just now,” Alex said. He leaned
forward and brushed his lips against Chase's. Chase slid his hand
around the back of Alex's neck and pulled him closer. Their kiss
flamed and deepened until they were hard and panting again. Chase
rolled over and pinned Alex beneath him with his muscled body.

Alex's
fingers inched around Chase's hips, then squeezed his butt cheeks.
“In case you're wondering, I could definitely get a hard-on for
Danni.”

“
I'll
be sure to tell her that when you meet,” Chase said.

“
Does
she really want to meet me?” Alex asked.

“
That's
what she said,” Chase said.

“
Did
she say that before or after she found out I've been fucking around
with her man?” Alex asked.

The smile on Chase's face
began to fade. “She said it before I told her about us.”

“
I
thought so,” Alex said. “I doubt she wants to meet me
now that she thinks I turned you bi.”

Chase dropped down against
Alex, chest to chest, and pressed his face into the bend of his neck.
He licked the skin first, then kissed it. “Danni had a pretty
good idea I was bi before you showed up. I think catching me beating
off to gay porn cleared that up for her pretty quick.”

Alex's arms circled Chase's
back and began kneading the muscles with his fingertips. “She
might have thought you were bi, but I'm the one that got you to act
on it.”

Chase's hips began rocking
against Alex's erection. His mouth found Alex's and another heated
kiss took over their senses. “How much time before you have to
leave?”

“
What'd
you have in mind?” Alex asked.

Chase stared down at him;
his cock pulsed between them. “Does your offer from earlier
still stand?”

Alex's
hands dropped down to Chase's ass. “You want to fuck me?”

Chase felt his face flush
with heat and nodded. “I will if you want me to.”

“
That
is what I want, but I want you to want it just as much.”

Chase nudged his nose with
Alex. “Yeah, I want it, too.”

“
Do
you have any condoms?” Alex asked.

“
No.
Do you?”

“
Not
with me,” Alex said. “I have some at the house.”

Chase rubbed his cock
against Alex's and both of them groaned.

“
I
love the idea of you inside me, Chase, but it's not something I want
to rush through, and I don't fuck without condoms,” Alex said.
“How about we wait until after my band leaves? Then we can
spend all night in my bed.”

Chase covered Alex's mouth
and the rhythm of his hips quickened; rough, grinding strokes back
and forth keeping the contact of shaft against shaft. The pleasure
rolled through Chase so fast he couldn't get ahead of it. In seconds
he was ready to explode.

“
Oh,
Christ!” Chase said. “I'm gonna come.”

“
Me,
too,” Alex said. He arched beneath Chase and made a sound much
like a growl and released between their moving bodies.

Two
thrusts later, Chase joined him; shooting off all over Alex's cock
and stomach. When the last tremor shook through them, Chase rolled
off onto his side. He glanced down at his stomach and burst out
laughing.

“
Hand
me my t-shirt from the floor,” Alex said, “And we can use
that to clean-up.”

“
Are
you serious?” Chase asked. “This is way too much for a
t-shirt to fix. I think we need to shower.”

“
Together?”
Alex asked with hint of promise and a lift of one eyebrow.

The mention of the shower
had both of their cocks starting to plump all over again.

“
Once
more in the outside shower?” Alex asked.

“
Do
you have time?” Chase asked.

“
How
are you doing for class hours?” Avery Linden asked Danni. “Are
you close to finishing?”

Avery stood by the window.
Leaning up against the sill, she pushed her shoulder length, light
brown hair behind her ears.

Danni was folding the
laundry on her twin bed, looking more like she was wrestling with the
stretchy gym garments. “I don't know,” Danni said. “I
have around twenty-something hours left to earn, I think.”

Avery
sat down on her bed, about fifteen feet away from Danni's twin bed.
They were roommates for this session of instructional classes and had
become friends by proxy. Avery had watched Danni's mood change with
each passing day.

“
If
you don't find a way out of this funk, you're likely to either burn
out or hurt yourself,” Avery said.

Danni tossed another t-shirt
haphazardly folded onto the growing pile. “There is no way out
of this funk.”

“
How
can you say that?” Avery asked. “What could be so bad
you'd work yourself to death over it.”

Danni froze and glared at
Avery, a pretty brown-eyed beauty, Danni guessed had never had a real
problem in her life. “You wanna know why I'm so pissed-off?”

Avery nodded and blinked
several times with her doe eyes. “Maybe I can help?”

“
I
sincerely doubt that,” Danni said. She reached for another
shirt and twisted it into an unrecognizable form, then tossed it onto
the bed.

“
Try
me,” Avery said.

“
Okay,
fine. You asked for it,” Danni said. “My future husband
is having an affair with a man and I'm the one that urged him to do
it.” Danni watched Avery's back go straight and the
fair-skinned woman's face flush pink.

“
Oh,
my,” Avery sighed.

“
See,
I told you this is something that can't be fixed,” Danni said.
Tears began to sting at her eyes and she sat down on her bed facing
Avery. “I recently learned he was … bi-curious,”
Danni said, her gaze focused on her lap; her fingers clenching into
fists, then stretching out. “Shortly after I got here, my
fiancé told me a guy had moved in next door. It didn't take
long for me to figure out my fiancé was attracted to him. I
could tell by the weird inflection in his voice whenever he talked
about the neighbor. So, I stupidly suggested if the opportunity
presented itself while I was gone, he should go for it.” Danni
lifted her head and looked at Avery. “I didn't think he'd act
on it, but he did, and now … everything has changed.”

“
How
has it changed?” Avery asked.

“
Maybe
he'll want to be with this guy … instead of me.”

“
He
asked you to marry him,” Avery said. “Which means he's
planning a future with you. Men don't take commitments like that
lightly.”

Danni shrugged her shoulders
and choked back a sob. Thin rivers began to trickle down her cheeks.
“I'm stuck here, working my ass off, while he's …”
Danni flopped back on the mattress and covered her eyes with her
hands.

“
Maybe
you should go home,” Avery said. “You can see for
yourself what's going on and then come back and finish taking the
course at a later date.”

“
I
don't want to spend the money to fly home,” Danni said softly.
“Besides, I'd be afraid of what I'd find when I got there.”

“
Danni,
if things are as bad as you're making it sound, should money really
factor into this?”

Danni sat up again and swore
loudly. “You know, I've never felt insecure with my
relationship with Chase, until now.”

Avery stepped across the
space separating their beds and sat down beside Danni's on her bed.
She loosely draped an arm around Danni's shoulders and sighed.

“
Neither
of us have classes tomorrow,” Avery said. “How about you
and I go out tonight and have a drink, maybe two or three? You can
vent some more and I'll listen.”

Danni tried to force a laugh
and a weak smile. “I think that sounds like a great idea.”

-0-

Chase
spotted Alex jogging up the driveway after another mid-morning run,
wearing running shorts and sneakers and nothing else. Chase nearly
choked at the sight of Alex and had to stop in the middle of a
sentence to collect himself. He was instructing the landscaping crew
on which section of the estate he wanted mowed and which flower beds
needed weeding and pruning, when Alex's sweaty form stopped beside
him. The smile that spread across Alex's face made Chase's body
react. Who would have thought a sweat-covered man would turn him on,
but Alex sure as hell did. The sheen of perspiration on Alex's
tanned skin emphasized each ridge of muscle. The thought of running
his fingers and tongue over every bump and cord of muscle had Chase's
body humming with excitement.

Chase turned away from the
landscape supervisor and faced Alex. “What are you doing over
here?” Chase asked in a lowered voice. He touched Alex on the
elbow and directed him to the other side of the hedges by the pool.
“You shouldn't let them see who you are.”