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A BIT OF ME
Bailey Bradford
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Later that evening, as he sat in the living room once again working on the bracelet, which looked a hell of a lot better this time around, Chase covertly watched the other couples. The living room was more crowded than usual since Chance and Rory had come
back over after dinner to watch the latest action movie starring Vin Diesel. That right there shot Chase’s concentration to hell at first, because the actor’s voice was entirely too reminiscent of a certain other man’s, but Chase had found a shred of self-control and managed to start putting the bracelet back together.
But slowly, he’d started noticing little things. The way Rory rested his head on Chance’s broad shoulder, for instance. He didn’t seem the least bit self-conscious about it, and he made this…this purring sound when Chance brought his hand up to bury his fingers in Rory’s curly blond hair.
Then he’d sneaked a peek at Max and Bo. Those two were settled on the couch, same as Chance and Rory, except Bo was more like leaning against Max. Their hands were entwined, and Max’s thumb rubbed over the back of Bo’s hand in a slow way that seemed sensuous to Chase. He’d never thought something like that could be a turn on, but ever since his literal run-in with Xavier, Chase had developed a new appreciation for the way a body could be touched. In the past, he’d preferred to get right to it, grab the good parts until everybody came in a sweaty noisy heap.
Now he wondered what he might be missing. Thoughts like that ought to have pissed
him off, but he couldn’t dredge up the energy for it for some reason. Maybe because there were three happy couples in various shades of cuddling in the room.
He lowered his lids and looked over at Nick and Josh in the big recliner.
Well, okay, that
might be more than cuddling.
It was hard to tell with the way Josh was sprawled in Nick’s lap, but Chase thought there might be something more interesting going on there. One of Josh’s arms was pinned between his body and Nick’s chest. There was a slight but steady
movement, as if Josh was stroking something, and Chase had a damned good idea what it was, especially when Nick’s eyes closed and a soft sound escaped from his lips.
“Maybe y’all should go on to bed.”
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Chase jumped nearly as much as Nick and Josh did at Chance’s rumbled words. He
barely managed to keep from dropping the damned bracelet, quickly setting it beside him before he ended up chasing beads all over the place.
“Sounds like a great idea,” Nick said a little breathlessly as he shifted Josh off his lap.
He gestured to his shirt, the last few buttons undone so the dark patch of hair on his stomach was exposed. “All Josh was doing was rubbing my belly and about made me embarrass
myself.”
Chase zeroed in on the man’s groin. Everything was buttoned up and zipped in that
area. He’d have sworn from the blissful look that had been on Nick’s face that there’d been more going on, that Josh had at least been fondling his dick—
Nick stood and promptly lifted Josh, putting the smaller man over his shoulder and
clamping one hand to Josh’s pert ass. “See y’all in the morning.”
Chase muttered something he hoped made sense. He was a little distracted by the
obvious bulge in Nick’s jeans and by the way Josh was rubbing his face against Nick’s lower back. He wasn’t surprised when the other men started clearing out for the night.
He darted a glance at the TV to see the credits rolling across the screen. Chase couldn’t have told anyone what that he’d just watched if his life depended on it at that point. Things blew up and sexy shirtless men appeared, that was about all he recalled of the movie.
The ringing of his cell saved him from having to think about the emotions that were churning in him. Chase shifted to one hip and pulled the phone from his front pocket. A glance at the screen had him frowning. What the hell was Agent Liam Stone calling him for?
Only one way to find out, dipshit.
Chase stood and answered the call, moving off to the kitchen as he did so. “What do
you want?” he asked right off the bat, careful to try to keep his tone neutral even if his words were a bit defensive.
“I wondered if it was too late to come over and talk to you for a few minutes,” Liam said.
Chase glanced at the clock. It wasn’t too late, but he had a feeling the bunkhouse was going to be rather noisy pretty soon, even if the other men tried to keep it down. Liam must www.total-e-bound.com
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have taken his hesitation for a refusal, because he began talking again, almost running his words together.
“Look, I just wanted to tell you, I’m sorry I couldn’t let you know James had been
found.”
“You did promise to keep me informed of the investigation into his disappearance,”
Chase pointed out without the slightest bit of guilt. His anger at being left out was tempered a little by the knowledge that James was alive, but he still wanted to know where his friend was. He heard Liam suck in a sharp breath before he spoke again.
“I asked Shearing to see if he could find out where James was receiving treatment—”
“He damn well knows where James is at,” Chase snapped. So much for not being very
angry.
“He does, and I’d really rather have this conversation face to face.”
“Come over.” Chase’s heart thudded heavily. His fingers felt tingly as adrenalin
coursed through his veins. “We can talk on the porch. How long until you get here?”
“Um.” Chase heard other voices in the background, and one of them, a deep, silky
rumble, shot straight to his balls and set off fluttering in a part that certainly wasn’t his heart.
“It won’t be just me, I don’t want to leave Billy here, and I kind of promised Xavier—”
Chase didn’t hear the rest of that sentence, because he was too busy hearing the blood pound in his ears as it rushed down to his cock, apparently abandoning his brain entirely. He grunted something when Liam said they were on their way, then shoved the phone in his pocket. How long he stood there, he wasn’t sure, but the hand that landed on his shoulder startled him enough that he spun around and lashed out before he thought about it.
“Yipes!” Bo shouted as he skipped backwards, smacking into the counter top. He had
his hands up in front of him, palms out as if in surrender.
“It’s just me! Shit! I’m sorry!”
Bo looked on the verge of panic, and Chase immediately felt ashamed. He knew Bo had
been beaten severely a while back, and here Chase was snarling and lunging before he fucking thought!
“It’s okay, I shouldn’t have startled you,” Bo said, looking a lot less scared as he took a tentative step towards Chase. “I did call your name a couple of times, guess I should have www.total-e-bound.com
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realised when you didn’t answer that your mind was elsewhere. Sometimes I just don’t think.”
Chase’s shoulders slumped as he shook his head. “You shouldn’t have to think about
whether or not it’s safe to approach me. It’s fucked up that you
do
, though. I’m sorry.” He didn’t know if he could change that, or if he should bother trying since he intended to leave here when his therapy was done. No sense ditching the survival skills that had kept him alive so far. He’d just have to be more attentive, because he didn’t want to hurt Bo or anyone else here.
Bo’s steps were more assured as he closed the distance between them and laid a hand
on Chase’s biceps. “Nah, it’s not fucked up. Don’t beat yourself up over it. It was an accident on your part and a heavy dose of not thinking on my part. Stuff like that happens.”
“Yeah, but stuff like that on my part could end up with someone else dead,” Chase
muttered before he could censor himself. He blanched as he started to step back, afraid Bo would think he was threatening him. Bo’s hand tightened for a second on Chase’s arm, then he patted it once and slid his hand down to brush his fingertips over the back of Chase’s hand. There was nothing sexual about the touch—it was comfort, something Chase was
slowly learning to accept from a few people, in small increments.
“You wouldn’t have hurt me,” Bo assured him, linking their hands together briefly.
“You stopped almost before you even started. It was me that freaked out a bit, but we all have stuff to deal with, don’t we?” He squeezed Chase’s hand then let it go. “You expecting someone? Think I hear an engine—”
Bo started to walk past him. Chase dared to touch the man’s shoulder. Bo blinked at
him owlishly, obviously surprised by Chase’s action.
“I am,” Chase explained, even as he pulled his hand back. “Liam, the FBI agent, called and said he had some information for me. Uh, and he’s bringing a couple of people…”
Bo’s eyes narrowed and he planted his fist on his narrow hips. “Why is he bringing
people with him? Do you want me and Max to wait with you?”
Chase felt an odd pressure in his chest that he suspected was gratitude at the concern evident in Bo’s voice and expression. And, he knew, at being given a choice. Even so, he www.total-e-bound.com
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shook his head. “No, I appreciate it, but it isn’t anything like that, just Liam’s boyfriend and another guy.”
Bo studied him for a moment, then the corners of his lips twitched. “Can I ask who this
other
guy is?”
That burning at his cheeks was not a blush, Chase told himself. He didn’t blush, hadn’t since he’d been a young kid, damn it, except for when he was around Charlene. The sound of the approaching vehicle grew louder. Chase glanced towards the screen door, watching as headlights appeared then shut off.
“You want me to go?” Bo asked quietly as truck doors slammed shut. “I’ll just go.”
Chase could hear the curiosity in the man’s voice, and reached out to stop Bo when he started to head off. “It’s okay, I guess, if you want to meet them. Max too, I guess.” He wasn’t sure why he made the offer, but was glad he did when Bo gifted him with a huge smile before darting down the hallway towards the bedroom he shared with Max. Chase moved
into the dark living room. The motion sensor lights outside made it easy for him to see what was going on out front.
The trio of visitors were huddled beside the vehicle, and Bo thought he could hear the low tones of Xavier’s voice for a second before the three men turned and walked towards the porch. They were just rough shapes in the dark until the light from the porch reached them.
Then Chase sucked in a sharp breath. Xavier’s eyes found his in an instant, and Chase’s body reacted, hot and cold fluctuating throughout him under that intense stare. He didn’t even glance at Liam or Billy, and likely wouldn’t have been able to move from where he seemed to be rooted if Max and Bo hadn’t come up behind him.
“Want me to let ‘em in?” Max asked.
Chase shook his head, the spell binding him in place broken. “Nah, I got it.” He locked a neutral expression in place, determined not to let Xavier get to him. Then Chase walked over and opened the door.
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Seeing Chase had made Xavier glad he’d left Troy in charge of the club. Xavier’s day had sucked, with Randy not only having refused to see him once again, but also attacking a guard and hurting him bad enough that Randy was now facing even more serious charges.
Xavier had wanted to just lie in bed and drink himself unconscious, even if it left him feeling like shit tomorrow. Then Billy had come over and Liam too, and he must have sounded
pretty pathetic when he’d told them about Randy because, well, here he was, having been invited to tag along. And he was so glad he had.
His gaze found Chase’s in an instant, and god damn, the man looked good. With the
way the porch light spilled into the doorway, Xavier didn’t miss the challenge in those brilliant eyes as he walked past Chase.
What the challenge was, exactly, he wasn’t sure, but he liked to think it had to do with the current of desire that pulled taut between them. Xavier didn’t doubt the arousal he felt for him was reciprocated, but if that look had been in response to it, he was going to have to fight tooth and nail just to have a chance with Chase.
Since Xavier was the last to enter, he paused, turning to face Chase once he had let the screen door close. He was aware of a light coming on behind him by the way Chase’s
features became easier to see, even with his back to the porch light. He could hear two unfamiliar voices joining Liam and Billy’s, but Xavier wasn’t the slightest bit curious, not when Chase stopped up short, his eyes widening then narrowing to glittering slits. Not when his indrawn breath brought with it the subtle scent of Chase—a mix of soap and mild sweat, a hint of something he couldn’t name that he put down to belonging solely to the blond before him. And not when that same man went rigid, his full lips thinning and turning down at the edges.
That wasn’t the reaction Xavier wanted from Chase, not at all. Despite what he
suspected were the man’s best efforts, Xavier still could detect the flicker of fear in Chase’s eyes.
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Making certain to keep his own body relaxed, Xavier took a step back and held out his hand. “How’ve you been doing, Chase?” For a moment, Chase only stared at him. Xavier was just about to drop his hand when Chase finally took it and gave it what had to be the world’s quickest handshake. Even so, Xavier’s skin tingled and he’d swear little currents of lust-fuelled electricity skipped up his arm.