Wayward Son (7 page)

“I told you not to bring anything but your gorgeous selves.” He planted a hand on one hip. “Did you think I’d throw a party without enough food?”

“You never have Corona, and you know it,” Evan shot back.

“Yeah, because I’m not into drinking piss. That part I’m not worried about.” Cory eyed Riley’s offering. “Although if that’s something sweet you’ve got there, I might be willing to forgive and forget.”

Riley lifted an eyebrow. “Lemon bars,” he replied. “If you behave, I might even be willing to let you have one.”

“Gimme!” Cory made grabby hands, but Riley dodged around him, laughing as he put the pan on the food table.

“Eat your dinner first,” Riley scolded. “Then we’ll see if you’ve been good enough to have dessert.”

“Life is uncertain,” Cory retorted, trying to get to the pan around Riley’s slight body. “Eat dessert first!”

Mikey fell into a giggle fit at their antics, and Jimmy started laughing beside him, both of them clinging to the side of the pool. “How did a couple of normal guys like us manage to fall in with this crowd?” Jimmy asked, and that just made Mikey laugh harder.

A shadow fell over them, and Mikey looked up to see Evan looming over them. “Are you two having enough fun over here?”

“Never,” Jimmy shot back. “We need you to get out of those clothes immediately and get in here and entertain us.”

Evan lifted an eyebrow. “Have you forgotten the part where I’m retired?”

“So am I, hot stuff, but I still do some of my best work naked.” Jimmy winked, and Evan laughed.

“Sorry, but I play to an audience of one these days.” He reached for the hem of his T-shirt. “You get shirtless, but the bottoms stay on.”

“Such a tragedy.” Jimmy sighed as Evan stripped off his shirt before turning back to toss it into one of the poolside chairs. Jimmy turned to Mikey, a gleam in his eye. “We’ll get him naked again someday soon. Get those two out to the resort and have a private pool party. No clothes allowed.” He gave a wolfish smile. “Haven’t gotten a gander at Mr. Yeats in the altogether yet. He’s got a body like a dolphin, all sleek and smooth.” He moved closer and wrapped an arm around Mikey’s waist. “Not much different from you, actually, though you’ve got a bit more fur than him.” He ran his free hand across Mikey’s chest, which had a light dusting of dark hair, and then down toward his waist. “I like that you keep it natural. Don’t start waxing anytime soon, okay?”

Mikey winced at the thought. “Not much chance of that,” he said. He sucked in a breath as Jimmy moved his hand lower, cupping Mikey’s package through his swimsuit.

“We might see if you like having your balls bare, though.” Jimmy pressed his fingers between Mikey’s legs. “That feels pretty amazing. On both sides.”

He punctuated his words with another squeeze and a lick of Mikey’s earlobe, and it was all Mikey could do not to dissolve into his arms right then. If they’d been alone—or at least if Evan and Riley hadn’t been there—he might have let Jimmy do whatever he wanted.

But they weren’t alone, so Mikey shifted away. “I’ll think about it,” he rasped, fighting to calm his now-very-interested body. Someone cleared his throat nearby, and Mikey looked over to see Riley and Evan standing next to pool steps a few feet away. Evan had on swim trunks, but Riley was wearing tiny, tight swim briefs and a smirk.

“Try to keep it in your pants, boys.” Riley grabbed Evan by the hand and led him down into the water, and in a few seconds, they were hanging on the edge next to Jimmy and Mikey. Jimmy quirked an eyebrow at them.

“Am I going to have to go drag the host with the most into the pool with us?” He turned his head toward the house. “Hey, hot stuff!” he yelled. “Get your ass over here and join your party!”

“It’s not a party until I get there anyway!” Cory finished fiddling with whatever he was fiddling with and headed toward the pool, pausing just long enough to lose his shirt and flip-flops. Mikey couldn’t help ogling him. Sure, he had a little jiggle around his middle, but he had broad shoulders, a muscular chest, and more than enough confidence to make up for his less than perfect physique.

Unlike Jimmy, though, Cory didn’t see any need to give a warning. He just took a running leap and cannonballed into the water, sending up a wave of water over the rest of the group. As Mikey laughed and wiped off his face, he couldn’t imagine being anywhere than right where he was at that moment.

T
HREE
HOURS
later, after a couple of rounds of pool time and a dinner of pasta with chicken and veggies, Mikey was about ready to collapse. He didn’t seem to be the only one on overload either. Evan and Riley had started saying their good-byes a good twenty minutes earlier, but they couldn’t tear themselves away from the conversation around the kitchen table.

They’d moved indoors after dinner when a thunderstorm approached, and Cory’s reaction to that surprised Mikey. The second thunder rumbled, Cory jumped up and started moving things inside, and Jimmy and Evan followed moments later. Mikey and Riley exchanged a confused look, but they didn’t ask questions.

“We have really got to get going,” Riley finally said. “Evan has an early class tomorrow, and I’m supposed to have brunch with a design client. This has been amazing, guys. Thank you so much for having us.”

Mikey had to smile at Riley’s gushing. He was nothing if not a proper Southern gentleman, but then, he’d grown up surrounded by old Atlanta moneyed types. Mikey’d had a taste of that, though mostly secondhand. His mother’s family had been old Florida money, and he’d spent plenty of time around the upper crust of society in his life. Like Riley, he could certainly get through an evening of country-club dress clothes and pretension, but he much preferred a raucous meal with friends on the patio in damp swimsuits.

Finally Riley and Evan headed for the door, Riley carrying the pan from his lemon bars, which had mostly been demolished by the group. Cory saw them out, and as the three of them left the kitchen, Jimmy stood and held out a hand to Mikey.

“C’mon,” he said. “Let’s go get comfy.”

Mikey followed, of course, but as they settled onto the sofa, he remembered the earlier reactions to the thunderstorm. “So I have a question.” He bit his lip. “It might be too personal or something, so feel free to tell me to butt out.”

Jimmy wrapped an arm around Mikey’s shoulders and pulled him in tight against his side. “Honey, nothing’s too personal with you anymore. You ask whatever you want to ask.”

Slightly reassured, Mikey nodded. “I was just wondering. Cory was kind of…. When it started thundering? He….”

“Ah.” Jimmy blew out a breath. “That’s a tough one, and I don’t recommend mentioning it to Cory. He gets upset about it. His father was killed by a lightning strike.”

Mikey winced. “Ouch. Yeah, I’m glad I asked you and not him.” He tilted his head to rest against Jimmy’s shoulder. Outside he could hear Cory still saying good-bye. “That must’ve been awful. Was it when he was a kid?”

“Nope. Just ten years ago. Needless to say he’s still kind of phobic of thunderstorms.”

“I can understand that.” Mikey fell silent and just sat, nestled against Jimmy’s hard body, wishing for Cory to come join them and warm his other side.

“You know,” Jimmy said in a low voice, “we get why you’re unsure about all this.”

Mikey stiffened. “What do you mean?”

Jimmy turned his head to kiss Mikey’s temple. “The whole ménage thing. A three-way relationship. We get it. We know it’s not the usual. And we know it’s not easy. There’s a reason we usually stick to just the occasional threesome.” He pulled away and turned, taking Mikey’s hand and looking into his eyes. “But this isn’t like that,” he said. “If all we wanted was to fuck you, we would’ve seduced you and gotten on with it. But we want more than that with you. And we understand why you’re reluctant, and we want to do what you need us to do to convince you that we’re serious.”

Mikey couldn’t think. “I… I don’t even know,” he whispered. “I like you both a lot. But beyond that….”

Jimmy grinned. “Well, how about we try a few things and see what sticks? You don’t have class tomorrow night, right?”

Mikey nodded. “Right. Just Wednesdays and Thursdays.”

“Great! We’ll pick you up at seven. Nothing fancy—nice casual will work. Khakis and a polo shirt or something like that.”

Mikey blinked. “Where are we going?”

“Dinner. No details. That’s a surprise.” Jimmy tilted his head. “You don’t have any allergies, do you? Any food you hate?”

Mikey shrugged one shoulder. “Nothing I know of. I’m pretty easy.”

Jimmy laughed out loud at that. “The very
last
thing you are is easy. That’s kind of the whole point.” He leaned in to kiss Mikey’s cheek. “But we aren’t looking for easy. We’re looking for good. And you’ve got that going on in spades.”

The front door closed then, and a few seconds later, Cory came in. “Lord love a duck. I thought they were never gonna get out of here!” He flopped down onto the sofa on the other side of Mikey and blew out a breath.

Jimmy snorted. “Oh, like you weren’t doing just as much talking as them. Hell, probably more than poor Evan. I don’t know how he gets in a word edgewise between you and Riley.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Cory slid over and molded his body to Mikey’s back. “What are you two getting all cozy about? And why wasn’t I invited?”

“You’re always invited, babe.” Jimmy leaned past Mikey to smack a kiss onto Cory’s lips. “I was just telling Mikey that we want to take him out tomorrow night.”

“Oh yeah!” Cory nuzzled into Mikey’s hair. “Wine and dine you a little before we get to the sixty-nine.”

Heat washed through Mikey, and he shuddered and leaned back against Cory’s chest. “Oh God.”

“Hush, now, don’t scare the boy off.” Jimmy ran his fingers down Mikey’s cheek. “Don’t you worry about any of that. Tomorrow will be about having a good meal and good conversation. Nothing more than that. We might flirt, because we can hardly help ourselves there, but it’s just for fun. We don’t expect anything from you except to enjoy yourself.”

Cory turned Mikey’s head to kiss his cheek. “Now. We figured Evan and Riley could use a couple of hours alone, so how about we watch a movie, and then we’ll take you home? We promise to behave ourselves.”

He held up three fingers in the classic Boy Scout salute, and Mikey couldn’t help grinning. “Something with lots of explosions, maybe?”

“You got it!” Jimmy jumped up and crossed to the shelf full of DVDs in the corner, rummaging for something and then going over to put in the player. Mikey settled into the sofa, still leaning on Cory, and tried not to think about anything but special effects and car chases.

“D
AMMIT
! W
HERE
the hell are my shoes?”

Flustered, frustrated, and running more than a little late, Mikey barely held back from kicking the wall next to his closet door. In just his socks, that was asking for a sore toe to add to his other frustrations. He hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything all day long, as the pile of crumpled papers in the trash can next to his desk could attest, discarded versions of sketches that wouldn’t work.

“Nervous?”

Mikey rolled his eyes at Riley, who leaned against the frame of his open door, arms crossed over his chest. “No idea why you’d think that,” Mikey grumbled, digging one more time in the box in the bottom of his closet. He knew he’d kept the black wingbacks he’d worn maybe a dozen times since his mother had insisted on buying them for him to wear to high school graduation seven years earlier. He dragged them out for job interviews and the rare special occasion, and if his first real date in years didn’t qualify, nothing would.

“Maybe under the bed?” Riley asked. “Didn’t you unpack them already to wear for your interview at the park?”

Mikey stopped his frantic search and leaned forward to beat his head gently against the wall. “Yes. I did.”

Riley laughed softly and saved Mikey the trouble of looking. He walked over and crouched by the bed to swipe one hand under the edge and slid out a shining pair of black dress shoes. Mikey glared at them, as if they’d hidden from him on purpose.

Riley straightened up and planted his hands on his hips. “Take a deep breath.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Don’t look at me like that. Stand up straight and take a deep breath, then blow it out slowly.”

“You gonna make me do yoga now?” Despite the snark, Mikey did as instructed. As he blew the breath out, he closed his eyes and tried to think of nothing. It didn’t work, but at least the images whirling around his head slowed to a less frenetic pace.

“All right.” Mikey opened his eyes, and Riley nudged the shoes with his toe. “Put on your shoes, straighten out your hair, and if your men get here before you’re ready, they can just wait until you are.” Riley tilted his head and ran an appraising gaze down Mikey’s body. “You look good. Nice but not overdone.”

The sincere compliment caught Mikey off guard, but his ingrained Southern manners kicked in. “Thank you,” he said. “Um, I wasn’t sure if the shirt worked.”