Strike A Match: An MM Gay Romance

by DJ Monroe

Lincoln was no longer interested in the young man’s slender, naked body. Even when Jon tried to kiss him, Lincoln pulled out of his grasp, climbed out of the tub and grabbed a towel.

  “Don’t you want me?” Jon asked, a pout on his wet handsome face. Hair plastered to his head, two-day old stubble on his chin.

  “Not like this,” Lincoln said.

  “But you do still want me, right?” Jon asked, appearing to have sobered up somewhat.

  In answer, he helped Jon out of the shower, dried him off and led him toward the bedroom. He’d given all of Jon’s clothes away, so he found a pair of his shorts and t-shirt and helped the young man get dressed. Then he guided Jon to the bed and tucked him in.

  This wasn’t the first time he had done this, but he promised himself that it would be the last.

  The man he wanted to help into bed was across the hall. As soon as Jon was snoring softly, Lincoln keyed in Colton’s number. It went straight to voice mail but he didn’t bother leaving a message.

  When the third call an hour later went to voice mail, Lincoln went across the hall and knocked on the door. Where was he? And why wasn’t he answering his phone?

  The knock went unanswered as well so he returned to his own apartment and decided to sleep on the sofa. Gathering the blankets and pillows that Slick had used, he made up a bed on the sofa and lay down. He tried to call Colton one more time.

  Voice mail.

  When someone knocked at his door a few moments later, he threw off the blankets and rushed through the dark apartment to answer it.

  “Colton,” he said, flinging open the door.

  It was Slick.

  “They got him,” Slick said, pushing his way inside, looking somewhere between terrified and excited.

  “What?”

  “They arrested David just a few minutes ago,” Slick said, pacing around the living room. “He’s furious. He threatened me and—”

  “You were with him?” Lincoln asked, incredulous.

  Slick didn’t answer but stopped pacing and slumped down on the sofa.

  “Look, I don’t know what your relationship is to this guy but as of now, it’s over. He’s dangerous. You’re lucky he hasn’t killed you by now.

  “I’m scared, Lincoln,” he confessed.

  “You should be,” Lincoln snapped and then tried to understand where Slick was coming from. “Don’t be scared. He’s locked up now,” Then he remembered that there were supposed to be others involved. “Did they arrest all of them?”

  “I think so,” Slick said, sounding weary. “If not, one of them will try to get to me for turning him in.”

  “You can stay here tonight,” Lincoln told him, wondering when his life had suddenly gotten so complicated. “Tomorrow we’ll call Officer Anders and let him know you need protection.”

  “Thank you,” Slick said, lying down and reaching for a blanket. “I can repay you somehow—"

  “Linc.” It was Jon calling out from the bedroom.

  Slick wiggled his pale eyebrows and began to grin. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you had company.”

  “Just a friend I’m helping out for the night,” Lincoln assured him.

  “Do you do this all the time? Help people out, I mean,”

  “No. It just seems like it. Now, get some sleep and we’ll figure out a plan in the morning.”

  Of course, now there was nowhere for Lincoln to sleep except his bed where Jon tossed and turned in troubled sleep. He must have been dreaming when he called out Lincoln’s name, because Lincoln found him sprawled on his back, snoring heavily.

  Lincoln stood there for a moment. If he could get hold of Colton, he’d spend the night there. God, how he wished Colton would answer his phone. He tried again. Now, even his voice mail wasn’t responding.

  With a heavy sigh, Lincoln managed to make some room for himself on the bed but not before Jon threw a leg over him and snuggled up close. Strangely enough, his body didn’t react like he told himself it would if he had Jon in his bed again.

  All he could think about now was Colton.

  He finally dozed with Jon snoring in his ear.

  The smell of coffee brewing woke Lincoln the next morning. He lay there for a moment and then remembered what had happened with Colton in the elevator the day before. That brought a smile to his face. And then he remembered that Jon and Slick had spent the night and crawled out of bed quickly.

  He had to get rid of them as quick as he could. He headed for the kitchen. There, he found Jon, still in boxers that were too big for him and a baggy t-shirt, with his hair standing up in all directions, impatiently waiting on the coffee to finish. Slick sat at the counter nearby.

  “I see you two have already met,” Lincoln said.

  “Yes,” Slick said, not taking his eyes off Jon.

  “I hope you don’t mind,” Jon said. “I threw my clothes in the washer.”

  “That’s fine,” Lincoln said.

  “Today, I’ll go get the rest of my things and -.”

  Lincoln held up his hand to stop Jon from finishing his sentence. He glanced at Slick. “We’ll discuss that later.” No need to start a fight right here in front of Slick. Jon was not moving back in with him. He was going to have to find another place to live. They were finished.

  Jon nodded and poured coffee for the three of them.

  Someone knocked at the door.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Without thinking, Lincoln opened the door to find Colton standing there holding a tray which held a carafe of coffee and what looked like cheese Danish.

  “I brought—” Colton began but came to an abrupt halt when he glanced over Lincoln’s shoulder and saw two men standing at the counter. The three of them looked like they had just rolled out of bed. The slender one with curly brown hair gave him a little wave.

  “Colton,” Lincoln gasped.

  “Sorry, I didn’t know you had company,” Colton said, backing out of the door quickly. He’d never been so embarrassed in his life.

  “No. Wait,” Lincoln said, following him. “I tried to call you, but it kept going straight to voice mail and then even that stopped working.”

  “Battery died,” Colton said, his voice tight. “Looks like your battery is pretty charged up right now though.”

  “You don’t understand,” Lincoln said. “Jon’s boyfriend kicked him out and Slick was afraid and—”

  “That’s Jon? The guy who broke up with you in the letter?” Colton gasped.

  “Let me explain.”

  “You have company right now. Maybe you can explain it to me sometime after they leave. Maybe the next time we get stuck in an elevator or something,” Colton all but shouted and slammed the door in Lincoln’s face.

  Colton was furious and hurt and angry at himself for even feeling these things. He wanted to hurl the tray across the room. No, he wanted to throw it in Lincoln’s handsome face. This was the second time he’d stood Colton up and, after what he’d seen across the hall, there wouldn’t be a third chance.

  He ignored Lincoln pounding on his door, calling his name. Evidently, Lincoln preferred a younger crowd. And crowd was the word. Lincoln had picked up two men from Paddy’s last night and one of them was his old boyfriend. A threesome? He knew from those blissful moments in the elevator that Lincoln was quite experienced, but he couldn’t imagine him with two men at the same time.

  Maybe they had taken turns.

  God, it made him sick to think about Lincoln like that.

  This couldn’t be true. Lincoln’s touch had been almost magical, transporting his body and his emotions right over the border into ecstasy. Tears came in a hot flood but they weren’t just from what he’d discovered. They were from what he’d learned the day before about Grant and Richard and how he’d been fooled by them, too.

  Lincoln had almost fooled him as well.

  His cell phone chimed and he recognized Lincoln’s number on the screen. He started to answer, changed his mind and waited until the ringing stopped. Whe
n it started up again, he saw that it was Richard calling.

  “No! No! No!” Colton stormed through the apartment into the bedroom. He turned off his phone, tossed it on the dresser and crawled under his grandmother’s quilt. He’d stay there forever if he could. Except, the quilt still smelled like Lincoln. He tossed it aside, angrily, remembering that the man had spent the night in his bed. Knowing what he knew now, he was glad nothing else had happened.

  Someone was pounding on his door again. Lincoln called out his name.

  Colton put a pillow over his head to drown out the sound as well as the brilliant morning sunshine streaming through the windows. The tears started again, this time flowing silently. Not too long ago, he thought he’d been deliriously happy. Then he lost Grant but Lincoln had brought a glimmer of hope and excitement into his life.

  Now he knew the truth. About Lincoln and Richard and Grant.

  LINCOLN FINALLY GAVE up. Colton was not going to let him into his apartment, was not going to let him explain. He was afraid he’d blown his last chance with this amazing man.

  He returned to the apartment, where Jon and Slick continued to stand there staring at him.

  “What’s his problem?” Jon asked.

  Lincoln didn’t even bother to try to explain. He left them behind, went into the bedroom and tried to call Colton.

  Voice mail. He left a message telling Colton that they needed to talk. He wasn’t about to try to explain what had happened in a voice mail. He hung up and tried to call again and received the same greeting.

  He paced around the small bedroom, angry at Jon, angry at Slick and angry at himself. Why did this stuff keep happening, when all he wanted was Colton? He stood in front of the window, both hands braced against either side of the frame, looking down into the street below.

  “Linc,” Jon said from the doorway.

  Lincoln fought against the anger that raged through him. “Don’t call me that,” he growled without turning around.

  “Linc, you don’t mean that,” Jon said.

  When Lincoln felt Jon’s hand sliding down his back, he whirled. “Don’t call me that ever again. And don’t touch me.”

  Jon stepped back, looking surprised.

  “Lincoln.” Slick was standing in the doorway to the bedroom. He swallowed hard and looked from Jon to Lincoln. “I have Officer Anders on the phone. He wants to talk to you.”

  Lincoln wanted nothing more than for both of them to go away and leave him alone. He almost shouted that at the two of them. Instead, he tamped down his anger and brushed past Jon to get to Slick.

  Jon’s cell phone chirped and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Hello, baby,” Jon said from somewhere behind him.

  Trying to ignore Jon, Lincoln took Slick’s cell phone out of his hand. Lincoln strode into the kitchen with Slick right behind him. “Hello. Officer Anders. This is Lincoln.”

  “I guess Slick told you we apprehended David and his group last night,” the officer said.

  “Yes, he did,” Lincoln said, glancing at Slick. “We appreciate you guys acting so quickly on that.” Lincoln said.

  “We were able to do that because the two of you gave us the information we needed to make that arrest. I wanted to thank you personally,” he said.

  “What happens next?” Lincoln asked.

  “He’s been charged with armed robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery,” Anders explained. “He and his cronies will be arraigned later today or first thing in the morning. I can’t imagine they’ll make bail but I’ll let you know if they do.”

  “Good. Slick is going to need some protection if they get out,” Lincoln explained just in case Slick had not done that yet.

  “I understand. Will you be willing to testify against him in court?”

  “Absolutely,” Lincoln said and then glanced at Slick. “I think Slick will as well.”

  “Great,” Officer Anders said. “Again, we really appreciate everything you guys did to help.”

  Lincoln ended the call and explained to Slick what he had just learned. Slick looked a bit skeptical but Lincoln assured him everything would be okay. And then Jon came rushing into the living room, dressed in his clean clothes.

  “Peter’s coming to get me,” he squealed. “Everything is okay.”

  “Slick, could you excuse us for a moment,” Lincoln said, handing the man his phone. For the first time that morning, he felt like he was in control of his emotions and the situation. Now was the time to make sure Jon understood how he felt.

  “I’m gonna get out of your hair right now,” Slick said, heading for the door. “I’ll see you around.”

  “If you hear from Anders, let me know. I’ll do the same,” Lincoln said.

  Slick closed the door quietly behind him.

  “I’m sorry I made your boyfriend mad,” Jon said.

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” Lincoln said quietly. “And I need you to calm down a moment so I can make you understand something.”

  Jon smiled broadly. “Okay, Linc.”

  “Stop calling me that.”

  “You’re just grumpy because your boyfriend left,” Jon said with a little giggle and reached out to tickle Lincoln.

  Lincoln stepped out of his reach and ignored that statement. “When you leave here today, I don’t want to ever hear from you again.”

  “Oh, you don’t mean that,” Jon scoffed.

  “I do mean it. It’s over between us, once and for all. I don’t know if you’re happy with Peter or not,but you’d better make it work because I’m tired of being used. I won’t rescue you again.”

  Jon sobered for a moment. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

  “I do.”

  “Well, fine but you’d better not come slinking around begging me to come back because as you just said, it’s over,” Jon said, heading for the door.

  Lincoln smiled. He’d never asked Jon for any kind of help and he’d never, ever begged Jon to come back. He never would. It was Jon who had always gotten into trouble and needed to be rescued.

  “Goodbye, Jon,” Lincoln said and it felt good. It felt right.

  Jon shot him a hateful look and slammed the door behind him.

  Gone.

  Lincoln took a deep breath. The apartment was quiet, everyone gone. Now, if he could just get Colton to talk to him and to listen.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Colton awoke with a start, unsure of what time it was, what day it was or even where he was for a moment. Had he slept the whole day away? Had he slept through the whole night? Was it time to get up and get ready for work?

  Unable to figure out the time or even the day, he sat up in bed. No, the late afternoon sun was slanting through the windows. Throwing the covers aside, he crossed the room and looked down at the slow moving traffic. A couple walked up the street holding hands. A group of boys rode their skateboards going the opposite way. Were they the kids Lincoln played basketball with on Saturdays? Probably.

  His stomach rumbled and he realized he had not eaten all day. He’d planned to have breakfast with Lincoln and see what progressed from there but that had blown up in his face. He pressed his forehead against the smooth glass and let the memory of finding Lincoln with two other men in his apartment wash over him. It was obvious those two men had spent the night and he had been more than embarrassed at interrupting their little party.

  And one of them was Jon, Lincoln’s ex. The man who had broken up with him in a letter.

  His stomach rumbled again. As he started toward the kitchen, he spotted his cell on the dresser and remembered turning it off and tossing it there. Picking it up, he powered it up again and continued into the kitchen. How he hated eating alone. Maybe he’d call Richard and see if he would come over—

  Stopping abruptly in the middle of the kitchen, he remembered. Grant and Richard were lovers. They were a couple. Had been for months. He wasn’t going to invite Richard over for dinner or anything else for that matter. In fact, he and Richard would probably never
cross paths again. How awkward would that be if they did?

  In the living room now, he stood there looking through the sliding glass doors at the bistro table and chairs on the little balcony. Opening it, he stepped outside. The evening had cooled off nicely. He could almost smell fall in the air and he inhaled deeply.

  A police car crawled by, moving very, very slowly. Colton frowned. He hadn’t really seen much of a police presence in the neighborhood before but maybe with Paddy’s being so close, it wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe Lincoln reporting the robbery had caused them to patrol the area closer.

  While standing there at the railing, he smiled remembering the first time he saw Lincoln playing basketball with the neighborhood boys. Then his thoughts turned to the recent times Richard had come to the apartment. He’d seemed rushed, maybe a little preoccupied but that was just Richard. Colton hadn’t really noticed anything different about him. That did explain why he’d been so reluctant to meet Lincoln.

  He’d never felt so alone than right at that moment.

  His thoughts strayed to Lincoln and he pushed them away. If Jon was back in his life, it was in Colton’s best interests to stay out of the way and not do anything to stand in the way of Lincoln’s happiness.

  Again, loneliness washed over him like a tidal wave.

  Back inside, he dropped onto the sofa while his phone booted up and then all of the message notifications began buzzing through. Lincoln had called and left dozens of messages. All of them said the same thing. ‘He could explain.’ ‘They needed to talk.’ ‘You don’t understand.’

  He did understand, Lincoln did not need to explain and, no they did not need to talk. Evidently, what had happened with the two of them in the elevator had been just a game. Or maybe Colton was just convenient. He wrapped both arms around himself, remembering the taste of Lincoln’s kiss, the way Lincoln had looked up at him. Yes, that had been thrilling and Colton had allowed himself to daydream about Lincoln being his and his alone.

  Lincoln was really good at pretending and he certainly made Colton think there was more to what had happened between them than lustful attraction. As he relived their intimate moment together, his body reacted to the memory of Lincoln’s kiss, Lincoln’s touch. Briefly, he considered giving in, calling Lincoln back or maybe even going across the hall to see just what the big man had to say.