Unfortunate Son (16 page)

“Awwwww, c’mon,” Riley cooed. “With any luck, we’ll both get old someday, and we’ll still want the dick even then.”

“Don’t want to think about it. I’m going to stay young forever.” Evan reached across to pat Riley’s thigh. “Don’t worry. I won’t give you too much grief about being
so much
older than me.”

Riley shot him a look. “I was going to ask if you wanted to come over,” he said drily. “But I’m beginning to rethink the invitation.”

Evan flushed warm. “Is your roommate home?”

“No.” Riley arched an eyebrow. “He’s still with your friend, though he’s promised he’s safe and sound and will be back tomorrow.”

“Do I get to peel you out of that suit?”

“Only if I get to peel you out of yours.”

“Deal.” Evan let his hand wander back to Riley’s leg, rubbing this time, brushing his fingers dangerously close to his crotch. “I’ll even let you make me breakfast.”

R
ILEY
MADE
good on his promise, starting as soon as they got into his loft by slowly sliding Evan’s tie off and tucking it into his jacket pocket. Evan toed off his shoes, and Riley paused just long enough to slip out of his before going back to work on Evan’s clothes. His jacket ended up laid over the back of the sofa, and Riley worked the buttons of his shirt open slowly, running his fingertips over each inch of skin as he uncovered it.

They didn’t speak, their increasing breath rates and occasional moans doing the talking for both of them. Evan let Riley get his shirt off before he took his turn, gradually stripping Riley to the waist and then lowering himself to his knees before reaching to open Riley’s pants.

He looked up as he slid the zipper open. Riley gazed down on him like a fallen angel, his hair curling out of its smooth style, the light in the entryway setting the golden strands glowing. His pale skin flushed with arousal, he watched Evan avidly as he pushed open the front of his pants and leaned in to nose along Riley’s hard cock, outlined sharply against the snug, bright pink briefs he wore. Evan smiled. He should’ve known Riley would have a hidden message under his uptown clothes.

He pulled down the waistband of Riley’s briefs, catching his cock in his mouth when it bounced free of its confinement. Riley’s sharp flavor invaded his mouth, familiar but still new, and Evan sucked him in all the way, enjoying the uncontrolled moan Riley let out. Riley slid his hand across Evan’s scalp, the sensation making Evan shiver, and he bobbed his head, sucking hard, playing his tongue along Riley’s shaft.

God, he loved this. The first time he’d had a cock in his mouth—Lucas’s cock—had felt like the answer to all the questions he hadn’t even known to ask, and it had only gotten better from there. He loved fucking and getting fucked, but sucking a dick was the ultimate, all the flavors and smells added to the power of being on his knees, bringing another man to
his
knees.

“Oh God.” And right on cue, there went Riley’s legs. Evan held him up and got them turned so Riley could lean on the back of the couch. Evan was unwilling to let up until he had a mouthful of Riley’s cum, and Riley seemed to be on board, using his newly settled spot as leverage to pump his hips in counterpoint to Evan’s movements. Evan braced his hands on the sofa on either side of Riley’s hips and opened his throat, nodding as Riley took an experimental thrust. Riley took the signal as the encouragement it was, wrapped both hands around Evan’s head, and started fucking Evan’s mouth.

Evan settled in, closing his eyes and letting Riley take him at his own pace. He didn’t expect it to last long, but he didn’t expect Riley to falter and then stop, just the tip of his cock inside Evan’s mouth.

“Look at me,” Riley murmured, and Evan opened his eyes, focusing on Riley’s face. “I want you to know who’s fucking you.”

Evan’s heart thudded as Riley shifted back into motion, and he couldn’t look away from the gaze that pierced him. Something unnamed flowed between them, a thread of understanding and shared experience. Their paths may have been different, but they’d ended up much in the same place: isolated, so alone in so many ways, and yet here, together, sharing desire and intimacy.

Riley’s eyelids eventually fluttered shut as his orgasm took him, but Evan couldn’t look away. He watched the pink flush overtake the creamy skin on Riley’s chest as he shook through his climax, watched beads of sweat pop up on his forehead, dampening the blond fringe of curls. Riley’s mouth was open on a moan, lips pink and full, and he was beautiful, and Evan didn’t
want
to look away.

He wanted to watch Riley come like that every day for the rest of his life.

The thought scared him so much he nearly lost his erection, which strained against his now wrinkled dress pants, but he did as he always did with unwanted thoughts and shoved it back to the darkest recesses of his mind. He licked off the last of Riley’s cum and used his grip on the sofa to pull himself to his feet, dragging his body the length of Riley’s as he rose.

“Bed?” he breathed out against Riley’s mouth.

“Bed,” Riley agreed before grabbing his hand and dragging him down the hallway.

E
VAN
FOLLOWED
the smell of coffee to the kitchen at much-too-early the next morning. Riley stood at the stove wearing loose shorts. He tossed a smile over his shoulder.

“Breakfast will be done in a few,” he said. “Help yourself to coffee.”

Evan did, watching Riley the whole time. He’d fucked Riley hard the night before. He’d gone into the evening thinking he’d get Riley to fuck him, but he’d needed to erase the memory of the tender moment they’d shared earlier. He couldn’t let himself start thinking that way. Happy endings were for other people.

He sat at the table and watched Riley, trying to reconcile all the parts of the other man. He looked like a twink, all slim body and tousled curls, but he had a genteel way about him, likely a product of his upbringing. He could snap off a snarky or dirty comment in one moment but then offer tenderness and empathy in the next.

How he’d handled his parents the night before was a perfect example of his inner dichotomy. They’d managed to avoid a face-to-face most of the night, though Riley had pointed them out discreetly, and it was clear that they knew he’d arrived with a date. A
male
date. After the dinner, while the crowd moved from the banquet hall to the gallery where the exhibit was on display, Riley had taken Evan’s hand in a strong grip and crossed the room to where his parents stood. After a brief introduction, punctuated by false smiles and limp handshakes all around, Riley had excused them and moved as far away from the older couple as possible. They hadn’t crossed paths again the rest of the evening.

Evan watched Riley as he scrambled eggs, feeling like something was off but unable to tell what. Riley held himself more stiffly than usual, but Evan didn’t think their activity of the night before was to blame. He sipped his coffee and bided his time. Maybe once the caffeine woke him a little more, he’d figure it out.

His phone chimed, and he checked it to find an e-mail from Jordan about the Erato shoot, which they’d scheduled for Saturday. He’d nearly forgotten. Quickly, he set up a notification on his phone so he wouldn’t forget again.

As he finished, Riley came over with a plate piled high with eggs mixed with cheese. “I have managed to run completely out of bread and bacon.”

“This looks amazing, don’t worry.” Evan gave him a wide smile, which Riley returned only halfheartedly. To his surprise, Riley didn’t join him at the table. Instead, he crossed to the sink and started washing up the few dishes.

Evan lowered his fork and cleared his throat. “So, the event last night seemed to go well.”

Riley didn’t turn around. “Yes. Thanks again for going with me.”

“No thanks necessary. I got an amazing free meal, and Dr. Comb-over’s hair for entertainment.”

Riley flashed a smile over his shoulder at that. “The exhibit itself was nice too, wasn’t it?”

Evan shrugged a shoulder and scooped up a forkful of eggs. “Some of the paintings were pretty,” he said. “I’m not big on fine art. I just know what I like, y’know? And most of that wasn’t it.”

“It’s always some kind of postmodern statement about a consumerist society,” Riley agreed. “Can’t a painting of a tree just be a painting of a tree?”

Evan swallowed his bite and laughed. “Exactly. But no, the tree has to be withered and dying, and it represents the failings of environmentalism and the coming global apocalypse. Or something.”

Riley nodded in response but fell silent, now working on cleaning the empty sink. Evan ate a few more bites of his eggs, which were delicious, before finally taking the plunge. “Your parents seemed nice enough.”

Riley’s spine stiffened, but he kept washing the already shiny stainless steel. A voice in Evan’s head told him it was probably a bad idea to push it, but he didn’t listen. “I mean, they weren’t exactly friendly, but they didn’t have claws or pointed teeth or anything.”

“Appearances can be deceiving.” Riley’s voice was low and the words sounded forced, as if spoken through clenched teeth. He clearly did
not
want to talk about his parents. Evan understood the inclination, but Riley had been so glib before about being the black sheep of the family. Evan figured he wouldn’t have cared how his parents reacted.

Then the answer hit, and Evan felt like an idiot.

“You aren’t over it.”

“Over what?” Riley didn’t stop, barely reacted, just kept scrubbing.

“Your family.” Evan leaned forward. “You haven’t gotten over the way they treated you.”

Riley stilled.

“You act like you don’t care,” Evan continued, hearing the note of wonder, of dawning comprehension in his own voice. “You put on this devil-may-care, poor-little-rich-boy front, but that’s all it is. Inside, you’re wrecked. You miss your family. And you’d do almost anything to have them back. Maybe even go back into the closet.”

Silence filled the air. Evan could hear his own heartbeat in his head as he waited. For what, he wasn’t sure.

“Get out.”

Evan jerked. That sound… he’d never heard anything so angry from Riley. He hadn’t known the man had it in him. Okay, well, yeah, he had. But he never thought he’d hear it, and especially not directed toward him.

“I said
get the hell out of my house
.”

Stunned, Evan rose to his feet. “Riley—”

Riley spun around, eyes flashing, high spots of color on his cheeks. “Please,” he ground out between clenched teeth. “Just go. I can’t—”

Evan reached out a hand and flinched when Riley jerked back. “Riley,” he tried again, watching as Riley once again turned to the sink.

“You know your way out.” Riley’s voice shook minutely, but his back was ramrod straight, and he might as well have been wearing a sign that said “do not touch.” Evan didn’t want to go, not like this, but he knew Riley must be feeling as if any wrong move would shatter him. He knew trying to stay would only make things worse.

So he left.

E
VAN
STARED
into his empty cup, the plate with the half-eaten bagel pushed aside. The sounds of the café seemed far off, as if he had his ears plugged up. He itched, inside and out, like a million tiny bugs were stinging at him from everywhere. The buzz in his brain would drive him insane soon, he knew it.

What he didn’t know was how to make it stop.

He’d been running on empty since he left Riley’s place the morning before. He’d made some phone calls, and he’d done laundry, and he’d tried to watch some TV, but that got cut short the third time an ad for his father’s law firm came on. There was no way Evan could stare at Charles Day’s fake smile as he urged potential personal injury clients to “Have a Winning Day!”

Most of the time Evan had stared at the wall. He’d been unable to sleep the night before, thoughts bouncing around inside his skull, elusive and fleeting. His parents. His family. His friends. His job. And through it all, the one thing he could never stop thinking about, no matter how hard he tried:

Riley.

He didn’t know how the quirky, slight man had wormed his way into every part of Evan’s life, but there he was, plopped down front and center, with no intention of moving. Evan hadn’t thought he’d wanted more than a hookup, but now? Even after Riley’s uncharacteristic behavior the morning before, he wasn’t so sure.

From the first moment they’d met, Riley had been a flash of brilliant light against the dark gray of Evan’s life, bringing back warmth and energy Evan hadn’t even known he’d been missing. Riley felt real, more than anything else in Evan’s life, and part of Evan wanted to wrap both arms around that and never let it go.

A pretty large part of him, actually.

Maybe even all of him.

The buzzing in his mind faded. He wanted Riley in his life, at least as a friend. But could Riley be more than that? Could Evan convince him to take a chance?

Was that what Evan wanted?