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Matthew wasn't paying attention to either of us. “I should've used the safe word, but I sorta freaked. That was my fault, not his.” He set the scrap of label on the table and dropped his hands to his lap. “I know I asked at the club, but I don't like it when people drink alcohol around me. If we're hanging out and you two wanna have a drink together, I can get lost.”

Richard leaned in like he wanted to ask the younger man why he had an issue with alcohol.

Matthew looked away from him.

Richard settled back in his chair. “You got it, kid.”

“That's fine with me,” I said.

Matthew bit at the edge of a thumbnail. I figured he was done talking.

Richard watched him and made no move to speak or eat. The faint hint of a smile formed on his lips. He was waiting. For what?

Matthew lowered his hand. “I guess I have one other thing that might come up. Not really about sex, but sometimes... a lot of the time... when I'm laughing, I— hell, I giggle. It's annoying. And it drives most guys nuts.”

Laughter bubbled up. I tapped the side of a fist to my mouth to stop it. “You giggle? I hadn't noticed.”

Matthew whipped his head in my direction. His brow furrowed and he nodded. So goddamn serious.

I kept laughing.

Matthew's gaze swung back to Richard.

“I like your laugh,” Richard said. “If I found it the least bit annoying, I wouldn't have invited you here.”

Matthew slapped a hand to his forehead. “Oh, God. You already heard it.”

I laughed harder. Tears threatened at the corners of my eyes.

Richard nodded. “The first night.”

Matthew smacked his forehead again. “Oh God.”

I reached for his arm and lowered it to the table. “There is nothing wrong with your laugh.”

“He's right,” Richard said. “We wouldn't have dragged you up the stairs that second night if you bothered us in any way.” I was glad he was there. I had no idea how to reassure.

Matthew shook his head and smiled. Despite our words, he held back on the laugh.

I wanted to bury my face in his neck and hear him laugh while I nipped at his skin. But if I started there, I wouldn't be able to stop. I cleared my throat. “As I've said, this isn't my thing. For whatever reason, I can't seem to give you up yet. But dating, a relationship... ” I shook my head several times. “That isn't something I do. I keep telling myself I can always walk away.”

“Of course you can,” Richard said. “Any of us can. If you want out, all you have to do is say so. That's how dating works, Luke.”

“Shut up.”

That time Matthew laughed.

The rest of the dinner passed with little conversation. We'd already talked more than I imagined most guys did on a first date. But it seemed to be Richard's way. I liked that he cared to understand what I wanted from them. I just wish I knew what the hell that was.

When we finished eating, Richard carried an armful of dishes to the kitchen. He set everything on the counter and stared into the sink. He didn't move or speak. He didn't turn on the water or scrape off the plates.

Matthew glanced over at me, the confusion evident.

“Richard? Something wrong?” I asked.

“Why don't you live here? Both of you.”

The soda bottle in Matthew's hand dropped to the table, and its carbonated contents fizzled and bubbled up.

I stood. “What?”

Richard stepped around the kitchen counter. “Let me explain. You need a place to stay. Matthew said he wanted to get out of his mom's place. I've got the extra rooms upstairs. I understand this isn't what you're used to. You can stay until you find someplace else. We'll have a good time. No strings attached.” The bulk of his body seemed to grow with each step closer to the table. He lifted one arm, then the other, and tucked the ends of his fingers into the pockets on his jeans. Each bicep flexed with the movement. He heaved a deep breath, and his chest puffed out. “Imagine all the ways we can get to know each other.”

He had experience negotiating for success, and he was using his finest assets.

“We don't have to live together to fuck and get acquainted,” I said.

“Right. But it helps in the way we like to live.”

My eyes narrowed.

“You like to fuck two guys at one time, right?” he said.

“I believe we've all demonstrated we like it.”

Richard snorted. “I don't believe you want to be at the club every weekend for the rest of your life.” I opened my mouth to deny that, but he held up a hand and stepped closer. “My point is, you can keep on playing the field and have your fun, or you can try to make something work where you can live every day in the lifestyle you're drawn to. No more waiting to hit the club to find what you need. You'll come home, and there we'll be. Ready to fuck you, suck you, tie you up, and do all those little things you're quick to tell us you need each time we've met you.”

He knew how to push my buttons like no one I'd ever met at the club, or anywhere else in my life.

I stole a look at Matthew. He stared up at Richard like he saw the answer to a prayer but couldn't believe it was being offered. He couldn't be expecting anything long-term. He'd been around the block. He had to know how these things worked.

“This is ridiculous,” I said. “Guys don't move in together— not like this.” I gestured between the three of us.

If I stayed, there'd be no way in hell I'd know when my father's men found me again. I wouldn't have my cameras. I wouldn't be able to watch my back all the time. It couldn't work.

But I needed to move anyway, to get my father's men off my ass for a while. I couldn't let my father have his victory. Richard's was as good a place as any to hide for a few weeks. At least I'd be getting the best sex of my life.

Oh God
. “I've got reasons why I live alone.”

Richard stood still. He focused in on my face as if he needed to burn my image into his memory. Maybe he thought he'd have to give my description to the cops someday.

I stared into his green eyes. What would it feel like to fuck him first thing in the morning? To go down on him in the shower? To wake up next to him? My breath quickened. I couldn't stand there and continue on. I'd hyperventilate before long.

I grabbed the bottle of soda from the table and took a long series of gulps. When I set the empty bottle down, I realized I'd grabbed Matthew's. I opened my mouth to apologize. “It'll just be for a few weeks.”

“However long you need.” Richard leaned into me. His lips brushed my temple.

The affection without any sexual intention was new for me. I expected to freak over it, and when I didn't, I was more confused than ever.

“How about you, Matthew?” Richard asked.

Matthew gawked at him, his eyes wide. “Why?”

Richard crouched next to his chair. “I'm offering my place because I want to. I like to help when I can. Luke needs a place to stay. And I'd like you to be here too. I think we'll have a great time together.” He wrapped his hand around Matthew's neck and drew him in for a kiss. “I'd like you both to stay for as long as you need or as long as it works out.”

“I can't stay here. I mean— we'd have to talk about money and stuff.”

“Why can't you stay? I thought— ”

“I can't afford to pay you for this place and help my mom.”

“I'm not asking you to pay anything.”

Matthew's stare met the far wall.

“Kid.”

“What do you want from us? What are you expecting from us?” Matthew looked at me as if he wondered if I had the same question.

Richard straightened, his hands on his hips. “I'm not expecting anything, not in the way you're implying. I offered my place because I wanted to.” He paused and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I have no interest in keeping you around for my own amusement.” He sighed and dropped next to Matthew again. “Listen, let's not talk about money. We'll see how this goes first. See how long you guys can stay, or want to stay. For now, you're crashing at my place. All right?”

“I guess that sounds okay.”

“Then you'll stay?”

“I'll stay.”

A loud, uncontrollable laugh spilled out of my mouth. “What the hell are we doing?” I slumped into the chair beside Matthew. “God, I lose all ability to think when I'm with you two.”

Richard raised an eyebrow. “I'm beginning to understand that's a good thing, Luke.”

Matthew laughed. The sound eased my nerves. I was already addicted to that low giggle.

Hell, I was already addicted to both of them. Maybe I needed to sign up with a twelve-step program before this got out of hand.

I left Richard's house unsure how I'd gotten into what I'd agreed to, and why the hell I'd agreed to it in the first place.

I was pretty far gone in lust when he'd suggested Matthew and I stay. If he'd asked me at the Haven before he'd fucked me, I'd have laughed until I puked. But having the man's dick up my ass did things to me. Combine that with Matthew, and I had no control left.

My attraction to them was powerful, and it hadn't waned since I'd met them. And it wasn't just the sex. I liked them. Matthew was funny. His good mood rubbed off on me. And Richard knew how to work me and push me like no one else. He was the take-control kind of person. I'd never have guessed I would agree to live with a man like him. Not considering the father I'd been on the run from most of my adult life.

The best sex of my life had seriously fucked with how I liked to live.

We'd exchanged phone numbers, and Richard promised he'd check his schedule before he called to tell us what time to be at his house on Friday night.

In less than one week, I'd be living with them. Two men I hardly knew. Two men I'd already slept with. Two men I'd spent the night with, talking, laughing, eating, with not one ounce of cum spilled.

It was all too much to contemplate.

In spite of that, a smile emerged on my face as I hailed a cab. What would my father say if he knew? It would drive the man crazy.

But when the hell had I ever done anything to either please or piss the man off? Never. I did what I wanted to do. I played by my own rules.

Then why the hell am I breaking all of them
? To be with a man whose thick cock filled me like no one else's? Or a guy— not much more than a kid— who could keep a man hard after a long blowjob?

No, it was more than that. Was I ready?

I stopped off at a bar a block from my apartment. After three beers in less than fifteen minutes, I felt no concerns at all and laughed at how I'd have to pack my shit by the next Friday.

By the seventh beer, the bartender cut me off. Never did hold my alcohol all that well.

I'd just taken a swig of coffee when a man sat on the stool next to mine. I watched him swallow a gulp of his beer. Dark hair complemented his high cheekbones and bronzed skin. He set the bottle on the bar and glanced my way. He looked familiar. Had I slept with him before?

Even though the bar was usually heterosexual when it came to pickups, I was convinced the man was going to ask me for what I'd just agreed to give up— a quick fuck in the men's room or a back-alley suck.

“You're pretty drunk,” Mr. Not-So-Innocent said.

“Uh-huh.”

The heat of his body washed over me as he closed the distance between us. “You need help to find your way home?”

“Nope. Got it covered.” My words slurred. I was fucked. Even in a non-inebriated capacity, it'd be hard to turn the man down.

It wasn't like my dick controlled me, but some reactions were hard to ignore— especially when you hadn't had to do so for fifteen years.

His stare pierced me. It unnerved something deep in my chest. I forced myself to look away. I needed to finish the coffee, let a few minutes pass since my last drink, and hit the street. I didn't need to be sober to make it to my apartment.

“Your father wouldn't want anyone to see you like this.”

His words sent a chill up my spine before my brain managed to capture their meaning. I whipped my head in his direction, and my sobering mind put all the pieces together.

Barry Fowler. He'd worked for my father as an assistant since I was in high school. He'd also managed my father's senatorial campaign. And obviously still worked for him, doing dirty little tasks like following the man's gay son into a bar. But he had never been one of the men following me before.
Why now?

“Fuck you, asshole.” I managed not to slur any of those words.

“No, I don't play for your team. You won't be getting a fuck from me.” The man's voice had changed. It contained the same level of contempt my father's held when I last heard the man speak to me. The tone made his next words sound odd at best. “I want to make sure you get home safely. Get you out of here before someone sees you.”

“No one knows who the hell I am. Leave me alone.”

“I'm taking you home.” His hand clutched my arm and yanked me off the stool.

“Don't touch me.” I jerked away. Unsteady on my drunken feet, I stumbled two steps and groped for the barstool.

“I know it isn't far, but I'd prefer to help you get there before you do anything embarrassing.”

“Embarrassing for me or my father?” I threw enough cash on the bar to cover my bill and stumbled toward the exit. I heard his steps behind me. I spun around. “Are you the one who was in my apartment?”

He crowded me against the wall.

“Did you find anything you liked? I have a dildo in the closet you should try. Although it might be too big for your tight ass.”

“Shut up. Let's get you home.” He yanked on my arm again.

I shoved him away. “Why does he always need to know where I live? Why does he have me followed?”

“I'm not here to answer your questions. I'm here to make sure nothing hurts your father.”

“I'm not doing anything to him.”

“You're entire life is a threat to him. Don't you get that? I've seen you. Every night you go to that club, I watch you walk off with man after man. You barely know them and you're up the stairs, getting your ass fucked all night. I should give the senator more details than he's asked for. Then maybe he'd stop playing these games. Then maybe he'd do what he needs to.”