by Sky McCoy
“Well the sign part is written all over your face, and water cooler gossip has it that you were seen with Dylan Peterson at this new LGTQ bar drunk and hanging all over him. I assumed it was during the time Payton left, and you were fucking up at my company, but we got past that and I see that you’re not your old self.”
“That’s it. I’m not myself, and I will never be myself if I don’t get some time off.” Taylor closed his eyes and dropped in the chair in front of Max like an exhausted runner who had just crossed the finish line.
“Why didn’t you tell me you needed a vacation when I first came back from Italy? You did so well, I guess I expected you to come barging into my office to tell me that you needed a break. I didn’t think you’d wait this long. I know if it was Jami...”
“How is Jami?” Taylor finally calmed and composed himself.
“Adjusting. With the twins, he’s busy, but nothing he can’t handle. Now do you want some time off to find your husband and bring him back, or what?”
That was just what Taylor needed to hear.
“How much time do you think it will take to find that man of yours, and convince him that you’re the only man for him?” Max said placing his hands on his desk and leaning forward waiting for a response from Taylor. He didn’t have to wait long. Taylor didn’t hesitate.
“I need a month.”
Max sat back and placed his fist under his chin. Max didn’t bat an eye at the time. “Go on take a fucking month. But don’t come back without him. I have an apartment in San Francisco if you need some place to chill out.” Max raised his eyebrow and he didn’t have to say anymore, but Max wouldn’t leave it at that.
Taylor couldn’t believe his good luck.
“Good. A month should just about be sufficient because I would have lost the pool,” Max said with a smirk.
“What pool? What are you talking about?”
“The entire office took a bet on whether or not you will be able to convince Payton to return to New York. Your reputation and mine depend on you bringing him back, counselor. You have a month.”
“What the fuck? Max. I hope you didn’t start this pool because I can set up one and bet on how long it will be before you get a piece of ass from your husband because of the babies.”
“Now wouldn’t that be taking things too far? It could get you fired,” Max said staring at Taylor with a serious glare.
“Is that a threat?”
Max leaned forward, elbows on his desk and aimed a tight smile at Taylor, and said, “Absolutely.”
Taylor took that piece of advice into consideration because he liked his job and if Max set this up, it was because he knew Taylor enjoyed a dare, and right now, the biggest test was coming from Payton, and Taylor didn’t know if he was up to the challenge.
“Why don’t you go and find your husband.” Max placed his feet on his desk. “You know your position will be waiting for you. Where can I find someone as smart as you and cheap? I think you deserve a promotion because I’ll be spending more time at home with my husband and children. But I’m not handing over the helm to just anyone. This man has to be stable and married.”
Taylor stood with a wide grin playing along his lips. He shook his head as he presented Max a closed smile, and then walked around to offer his hand. The two friends shook hands and Taylor turned and smiled and left the room. There wasn’t any more to be said. Taylor had said what he knew he would have to do, and that was find Payton.
As he strolled to his office, he notified his personal assistant, and his team that he would be away for a month, or maybe longer. But he didn’t think it would take that long.
Would it?
ON HIS WAY HOME, HE stopped by Noah’s apartment and the security had him sign in, and then they sent him up to the floor where Noah and Jake lived.
Taylor exited the elevator and strolled down the hallway and stood at their door. When he placed his finger on the bell, the door opened immediately and the loud barking of two small dogs had him standing still.
“Hey Taylor, I didn’t think we would see you again this soon. Come in,” Jake said.
Jake a tall muscular man about Taylor’s height, but where Taylor had model good looks, Jake had been a jock who was good looking in his own right, but for the broken nose. He had gotten that from playing football in college which had distracted from his overall handsome features.
But it didn’t diminish the attraction Noah had for him, and Jake worshipped Noah. And the tattoos Noah had described to Taylor and the boys, covered his chest and arms and buttocks where he had Noah’s name inked on his ass cheeks.
When the guys first asked Noah who he was dating, Noah ran this tongue over his lips and bit his bottom lip. He proceeded to tell them that he went home and jerked off when he first met Jake in his office and then when he brought his late model Mercedes into his body shop.
He’d left out the part that Jake had been a straight man and had been married, but Jake’s wife had died earlier. It had been a love hate relationship, unlike Taylor’s and Payton’s.
When Taylor stepped inside the apartment, the little dogs continued barking until they looked up at Jake, and he gave Taylor a small hug, and aimed an air kiss Taylor’s way which signaled that Taylor was a friend and not a foe not that the small dogs could do anything but bark, and share their love.
With a closed smile, Taylor followed Jake, and the dogs followed him. “I stopped by to bring you your suit,” Taylor said handing it to Jake in a suit bag. “I didn’t know if you’d need it right away. I had it cleaned.”
Jake extended his hand and signaled for him to sit on the sofa. “No problem. It’s an old suit.”
“Where’s Noah?”
“He’s still sleeping.”
“No I’m not. How can I sleep with the babies yelping all day?” Noah said, sauntering into the room making small steps as he bent over and kissed Jake on the lips. He wore a red silk robe over a pair of short black silk pajamas. He smiled Taylor’s way and then tied his robe.
Jake and Noah appeared to be in love the way they were touching each other’s face and arms. They seemed to thrive on the drama of Noah being unfaithful, and flirty with just about any man who would look at him.
When Noah pulled away from Jake, he had an obvious hard-on, and he placed his hand over it to hide it from Taylor. But who could miss Noah’s coy expression? Noah was just showing off by displaying his love openly in front of Taylor. Taylor conveniently shifted his body and turned away when he saw both men blushing and kissing.
Noah plopped down on Jake’s lap and Taylor saw how much smaller Noah was compared to Jake. Then Noah placed his hand over his leg and turned to Taylor for the first time to acknowledge his presence. “We thought you would be gone by now.”
Taylor narrowed his eyes and then he caught on, and he knew what Noah meant—why haven’t you gone to find your man and bring him back? “I needed to ask you and Jake a few questions.”
“Well, go on. I have to feed my babies, and then I have the night shift at the hospital.”
“I need the number of your marriage counselor.”
“Sure,” Jake said. “I’ll text it to you.” And then Taylor stood. “One more thing. I’m going to the west coast and I know you have garages in San Francisco and Malibu, Jake. I was wondering if I could rent one of your bikes.”
“Sure not a problem,” Jake said. “You don’t have to rent it, you’re a close friend so take it wherever and whenever you need it. Just drop it off at one of my spots.” Jake stood. “I’ll show you out.”
Before he got to the foyer, Noah glanced around at him. “What are you going to do once you find Payton? My suggestion is put him on that bike, take him out in a secluded place, and fuck him within the inch of his life. That’s what Jake did to me when he thought I was fucking around. He did paddled my ass first, though,” Noah said peering up at Jake who held his cock, causing Taylor to turn and head for the door.
When Taylor twisted around to sa
y goodbye, Noah stood in front of Jake at the door. And from where Taylor was standing he could see that Jake stood so close to Noah that you couldn’t tell if they were one person.
“Make-up sex does wonders to put the spark back into your relationship,” Noah said.
“Too much information, Noah,” Jake warned and then looking to Taylor. “That’s my husband, always sharing. The next time I catch him sharing that sweet ass, he won’t be able to sit for a week.” Jake grabbed Noah’s ass and they stood in front of Taylor and Jake kissed his neck and brought his arms around to fondle his chest.
When Taylor saw Jake’s hand snake between Noah’s legs, Taylor knew that was his time to exit.
Looking at the show of affection between the two men, at that moment Taylor wished he had Payton next to him. He would do all the things he thought he wouldn’t do with a man again. He would take the submissive role in his relationship.
He had allowed Payton to top him in bed, but he wasn’t really comfortable in that position, but now he would agree to anything, adopt a baby, and stay home and let Payton go out to work if only to have him back again.
Taylor knew now that he had to find a way to get Payton home with him. But he didn’t know what Payton needed from him. If he would ask, if he would just ask. He wanted him home. He needed him home, and fuck it, if he had to stalk him he would until he gave in and came back to him.
As he drove to his empty quiet apartment to pack, he wondered where Payton would have gone first. Maybe to his parents’ home. But he didn’t know where home was. When he entered their apartment, he frantically searched around and found an envelope in the waste paper basket in the restroom.
Written on the outside was Creswell, Oregon. And that’s where he would go first. The letter was from Payton’s mother, Jane Bailey. He would visit Mrs. Bailey because it was time she knew that he had married. He wasn’t ashamed of their union, and he wanted the world to know. But did he dare tell her? Taylor would play that by ear. He didn’t want to upset her, especially if he didn’t know how she would take him being married to her son, and especially since it was obvious he was a man.
Not just any man. A man in love.
If Payton hadn’t bothered to tell his mother about them, then why should he waste his time with a man who didn’t think enough of him to reveal to her that he had gotten married to a man he’d loved. Maybe he should just divorce Payton. Well a separation would certainly be in order since Payton hadn’t told him that he had family, and his mother was alive, and that he was a jealous bastard?
Taylor was jealous also, but Payton had never given him a reason to think that he wanted anyone but him. Unlike Dylan who created a mess for him to clean up.
Payton had been loving to Taylor as anyone could be. He’d known from Payton’s actions that he was devoted to their union and their lives as a married couple. But then it dawned on him that Payton felt threatened by Dylan. It was right there for Taylor to see, but he’d been focused on his feelings and not Payton’s.
If a man stood in my face and said that he was waiting for me to fuck up, and he would be there when I do, then maybe I would have acted the same way Payton did, Taylor thought.
And perhaps that’s why he hasn’t called or answered my phone calls.
It took that moment of thought to know how Payton felt. Until that instant and before he thought it through, he believed Payton was behaving like a child, and now he knew better.
Pulling out his jeans, tees and lumberjack shirts from deep inside his closet, and tossing them into a suitcase, Taylor thought, this will do for now. He could buy some new stuff if he had too. He wanted to keep his wardrobe simple since he had been wearing suits most of the time, and they made him feel uptight and they were confining.
Once he found Payton, he needed to be relaxed. He didn’t want to feel tense and stressed around Payton because that would bring on more arguments, and he didn’t need that shit especially when their meeting would probably be shaky.
The jeans and flannel shirts were more of a costume when he visited the west coast. It seemed women and men liked to see a six foot two man in jeans and a flannel shirt. Those clothes signaled that he could be a roughneck. A man who worked with his hands. And he did by all measures, he indeed worked with his hands. He used them to push paper, and stroke his husband’s cock in his spare time.
Looking around his closet, Taylor checked for anything he might need and missed, and when his hands touched soft leather, “How can I forget this,” he said pulling his jacket off the hanger. Oh yes can’t forget my black leather jacket. He thrust his hands through the sleeves and glanced in the mirror and smiled.
Payton thinks I look hot in this, Taylor thought and then winked at himself in the mirror. I have to use everything in my arsenal. Standing straight and taking in a breath he felt he was ready, and he was. Taylor felt he had everything Payton needed in a man—Good looks, handsome but not pretty, manly but not overly, and fucking hot when they’re in the bed making love to each other.
Hell, Taylor had just described Payton, and that thought had his cock twitching.
Chapter Sixteen
PAYTON SAT AT A LARGE table in a small bar on a Saturday night.
He ordered two beers, one for him, and one for Isabella. They sat and stared into each other’s eyes as they’d once a long time ago, and Payton waited, hoping some spark of that attraction he had for her would hit him the way it struck him on the first day he met Taylor. But no such luck.
He remembered having a hard erection that lasted until Taylor claimed his ass, and it looked, and felt like he would never stop coming. Ropes of warm come covered his chest and Taylor’s. He smiled thinking about that night.
“You’re thinking about something, Payton? What is it? You never did tell me about your life after I saw you at your college graduation.”
“You were there, Isabella?”
“I was there in the back row.” Isabella brought her bottle of beer to her mouth and chugged it down and gazed at Payton.
“I wished you had said something. I had only a few people from my family who were able to attend. It was my mother and Noreen in the audience. Edward and Brian were stationed overseas at the time. I got a chance to facetime with them.”
“You were an honor student. I was impressed when I saw that you were on the Dean’s list the entire four years, and when you got that scholarship to go to law school, I just about fell out of my chair. I knew you were going to make it.”
“Why didn’t you believe in me when I needed you to, or why didn’t you say something?”
“Because when I saw you, I wanted to tell you that I was sorry, but I couldn’t because I thought you were angry with me, and I was so ashamed of what I did to our friendship, so I left without saying anything. It was a big mistake on my part. The second biggest I made in my life. The first was ditching you on the night of our prom for Zac.”
Isabella put her hand over Payton’s and he waited for bells to go off, seas to part, and his cock to twitch, but nothing significant happened.
“Zac was who you wanted, and I had to get over it. I had to face the reality that I wasn’t the one. It took a while, but I recovered. Not well, but I recovered.”
Isabella glanced up at Payton. “I’m sure your mother told you about how Zac and I didn’t stay married but a second. We eloped when we were old enough to marry, and six months into the marriage, he decided that his marriage vows didn’t mean anything. He had been a popular football star in high school and all the girls were running after him.”
Payton listened to Isabella out of courtesy, but he didn’t want to uncover those painful memories a young man could harbor for a long time, and he didn’t want to admit that he was feeling the same way about Taylor as a man.
“I guess I thought I was special and when he started running around on me, I became extremely jealous, and he couldn’t take me any more so we separated. When I ditched you for Zac in high school, I guess I was looking for somethin
g different, maybe someone exciting. You were so laid back and comfortable. I even thought I could come back to you after marrying that loser. But you were gone.”
Drinking her beer and raising her hand to the bartender for another, the waitress promptly brought over one more. Payton glanced down at his beer. He had hardly touched it. He never really was a drinker except for a binge here and there when he was pissed at Taylor.
“I’ve been going on and on, and you’ve never really said anything about yourself,” Isabella reminded Payton.
“There’s not much to say. I moved to San Francisco after law school and then got a job in New York. I’m married, but recently separated.”
“Oh shit. Just like me. Married and separated,” Isabella said with a smile.
“You haven’t divorced Zac yet?”
“I never had enough money. I’m taking classes in college and I figure when I get a job that pays more than I’m making now then I can divorce him.”
Payton left out all the relevant details about his marriage and separation, for example, he had a whirlwind romance, and had married a man after knowing him for what was it, a week? It could have been more, but who the fuck cares at this point. And that his jealous behavior, unlike Isabella’s where Zac was known to fuck everything that moved, gave Isabella something to be concerned about. But he never should have doubted Taylor and now he realized it.
Isabella smiled and tightened her grip on Payton’s hand. He was separated and his marriage may have been over, but he couldn’t go back. Could he?
“Isabella, I don’t want you to get the impression that I’m contemplating divorce.”
She glanced up at him with a smile that raised her lip to the right. “But you’re here without your other half,” Isabella said shrugging her shoulder waiting for Payton to say more.
Payton felt relief when she phrased it like that. He didn’t want to have to correct her. He was tired of hiding, but he didn’t return to his home town to out himself to everyone either, and especially not Isabella.