My Choice, My Chance: Men Of Crooked Bend Book 2

by Taylor Rylan

  “Not any time soon, Liam. You’re still healing. The last thing I want to do is jump into an intense sexual relationship with you before either of us is ready. We’re going to take things slow and work up to ‘playing’ as you put it.”

  I felt disappointment, but I was also relieved. Jasper wasn’t rejecting me. He wasn’t forcing me to get in too deep too quickly, either. Still, I was a horny twenty-five-year-old man!

  “Does that mean…”

  Jasper cut me off by grabbing me and pulling me on top of him. “I said we weren’t going to play. I said nothing about abstinence.” He pulled my face toward his, pressing my mouth against his. The man could definitely kiss, that’s for sure. Before we hardly started, he stopped. I was about to protest until I heard his command.

  “Liam, you need to wait to cum this time, got it? Try and see if you can hold back longer instead of just letting go.”

  I was back to doing the fish out of water impersonation. All I could manage was a nod because it was taking everything in me to do as he asked because right then, I was just seconds away from cumming in my jeans like Jasper had done this morning. What was it about that man?

  The praise I received from Jasper made it so much easier to follow his wishes.

  “Good, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

  9 — Jasper

  Saying goodbye to my dads was always difficult. Saying goodbye to my brother was even more so. Several weeks passed since he was rescued and he was finally out of the medically-induced coma and healed enough to make the trip back to California. He’d be going with our dads to finish recuperating at home.

  Good news, though. While Rhett was still in the coma, Stealth Securities caught up with Mike in Washington. It appeared he was heading to Canada. If not there, at least his old stomping grounds. Who really knew? He was no longer a threat to any of us as the Stealth team neutralized him. He wouldn’t be hurting another person ever again.

  That was only marginally reassuring though. Because leaving with Dad, Papa, and Rhett, was Liam. Liam and I’d gotten quite close since Rhett had been rescued. We were quietly giving a relationship a try, even though we still hadn’t fucked each other. That was a first for me. I’d become the king of hook ups. With Liam I wanted more. I absolutely loved spending time with him. I’d grown quite fond of him. I was also really used to him sharing a bed with me. I understood he was leaving to be with Rhett while he continued to recover. I didn’t like it, though. I wanted him to stay with me in Wyoming.

  I wanted to continue to get to know him better. This was the first time in my life that I’d spent so much time with someone without having sex with them. It was new, it was different, and I liked it, and I liked him. Sure, we’d given each other multiple orgasms over the past few weeks, even if we never took it further than groping, touching, and kissing. Technically you could say we’d had sex even if his hand is the closest my dick has been in contact with him. It went both ways. We’d given each other more hand jobs than we could count.

  I made sure I had all of Liam’s contact info in my phone before he left and that all of mine was in his phone as well. There was no way I was going to let him go off without having a way to reach him. Even before he agreed to give a relationship a try, I’d decided that he was going to be mine and I was going to do whatever I needed to in order to make that a reality.

  We talked on the phone every evening. Liam was going to help my dads care for Rhett in California. Rhett obviously needed Liam more than I did and I understood that. I missed him. When I realized how much I missed him, even with us talking every day, I started texting him.

  I did my best to leave him alone, but I couldn’t help myself. He became a hard habit to break, even if I’d wanted to, and I definitely didn’t want to. Work didn’t help though I tried to stay busy. When I wasn’t insanely busy, all I did was think about Liam and his floppy blond hair and bright-blue eyes and his facial expression when he came in my arms.

  Me: How are you doing?

  Liam: I’m okay. You?

  Me: Busy. Work is crazy already.

  Liam: Yeah? How?

  Me: For once people seem to be planning ahead and have already contacted us for jobs they want done this summer.

  Liam: That sounds good. Busy is good, right?

  Me: Yeah. It keeps me from going crazy.

  Liam: How?

  Me: It keeps me from missing you so much.

  Liam: Dammit Jasper! I was okay until you went and mentioned missing me.

  That was how the first exchange went. We ended up texting on and off throughout the day and always made sure we ended our night with a phone call to each other. FaceTime was our friend. Even with so much contact with Liam, I missed him. I physically ached for him.

  I decided to see if I could get him to come to see me. It’d been a couple of weeks since Liam left and I really needed my Liam fix. I needed to kiss him. I needed to feel his body next to mine, on top of mine. I needed to suck on his neck and see if I could still make him cum without touching his cock. I simply needed Liam.

  It was almost Valentine’s Day. That was supposed to be all about romance, so why not?

  Me: What are you doing this weekend?

  Liam: Hang on…

  When the text bubbles didn’t progress, I started to worry. I gave up waiting and called him. Thankfully, he answered on the second ring.

  “Hey, Jasper. Sorry, I’m at the airport on my way to Seattle.”

  “What do you mean you’re on your way to Seattle? Why are you going to Seattle? Why didn’t you mention it before?” When Liam didn’t tell me he’d planned on going to Seattle, it freaked me out a little bit. After all, we were in near constant contact, and yet he’d failed to mention this really big thing.

  “Jonathan and I are going up to Seattle to pack up some stuff and to bring it back down here.”

  My heart started thumping heavily in my chest. Had he moved on? Did I lose him? “What do you mean you and Jonathan?” Try as I may, I couldn’t keep the panic out of my voice. “Why are you going to Seattle? You said to pack. What are you packing? Why?” The only Jonathan I knew worked for the security agency. Was that the Jonathan who was escorting Liam to Seattle?

  Liam seemed oblivious to my building panic. “Sorry Jasper, I’m at the gate and I really don’t have a lot of time to chat. I’m going to Seattle to pack up some stuff for Rhett and me. We need more stuff where we’re staying.”

  He was going to hang up without answering my questions. Why didn’t he tell me before he was getting on a plane? “Okay, but why is Jonathan with you?" I fought to keep my tone even.

  I wasn’t normally a jealous person. I’d never been jealous that I could recall, before Liam. Before he was sleeping in a bed with Rhett when I’d wanted him in mine. Right then, I felt like I wanted to hurt Jonathan. He was a good-looking guy. I was burning with jealousy. Liam was mine and he shouldn’t be going to Seattle with Jonathan.

  I realized too late that we never said we were going to be exclusive with each other and my mind started running a million different scenarios through my head at once. Was he with Jonathan, too? Were there others in Seattle?

  “Jasper, you still there?” Liam called through the phone. I lost my ability to think clearly while I fantasized about ways I could eliminate Jonathan as a rival for Liam’s love.

  I shook my head to clear it before I spoke. “Yeah, I’m still here. What did you say?”

  “I said Jonathan is with me because I need help getting stuff packed. He volunteered to help me get Rhett’s stuff. We’ll be driving my car back in a few days. Look, I’ll call you when we land and get to my apartment, okay? I've got to go. We’re boarding the plane, now.”

  “Yeah, sure. Liam, I…” I was pissed. So, Jonathan volunteered to help Liam. Why did he feel the need to volunteer? Why Jonathan? What did he want with Liam?

  “Don’t worry, Cupcake, I’ll call you when we land. Talk to you soon.”

  After those parting w
ords, he was gone. I blinked. Since when in the hell was I Cupcake? My little imp was going to pay for that when I saw him next. If I had my way, I'd definitely be seeing him soon. Why did he think I would accept being called Cupcake? Was he confusing me with someone else? I slapped myself in the forehead to stop that line of thoughts.

  Since Liam was flying from Monterey to Seattle, I had a couple hours to kill. I tried my best to busy myself by going over plans and blueprints. It didn’t really work. After I realized I was causing more harm than good, I gave up and decided it would be best to just head for home.

  I sent Sean a quick text letting him know I was leaving the office before locking up and leaving. Although it was only a forty minute drive, I was realizing the appeal of Sean’s suggestion of opening a satellite office in Crooked Bend. With me living in Crooked Bend now and Sean out at Wild Creek, it made sense. It would get us home sooner in the evenings and would be a shorter drive in the winter when the roads could be treacherous. I sent myself a quick email to remind myself to talk to Sean about it in more detail. We’d need to contact the Realtor if we chose to open a second location.

  We obviously wouldn’t get nearly as much foot traffic in Crooked Bend as we did in Jackson, but being closer to home was really starting to appeal to me on so many levels. I knew that the closer Sean was to Simon, the happier he'd be, too.

  By the time I reached my home in Crooked Bend and made myself a sandwich that I didn’t want, I figured Liam should've had enough time to have landed in Seattle. When I called him, he didn’t answer and his phone went straight to voicemail. My stomach roiled with nerves. I didn’t bother leaving a message, I was feeling angry and afraid at the same time. I would keep calling him until he answered or until he called me back. I didn’t have to wait long because he called me back just a few minutes later. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was him.

  “Hey, Jasper. Sorry about that. I was leaving Rhett’s place and I didn’t know if you wanted Jonathan to know that you were calling me so I didn’t answer the phone.”

  Hearing Liam’s voice was both calming and reassuring. But his words hurt my heart and brought out my need to claim him. His explanation hurt because it seemed like he didn’t want anyone to know we were even talking, let alone in a relationship. Was he ashamed to be with me? I decided to approach the subject carefully.

  “Why wouldn’t I want Jonathan to know I was calling you?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. We never really mentioned anything about how open we were or weren’t going to be with our relationship. Technically we just started seeing each other so I didn’t know if you wanted to announce it to everyone or if you wanted to wait and see how things went.”

  At Liam’s reply, my heart relaxed and I breathed a sigh of relief. It appeared he was just taking things slow. I could handle that. I could do slow. Now, all I had to do was find out when he could come to Wyoming for a long weekend.

  “That makes sense, Liam.” I took a deep breath. “I’m not hiding us, okay?” I swallowed before continuing. “How was your flight? Did you get what you needed?” I asked trying to work my way up to asking what I really wanted to know. When would he be back in Wyoming—with me?

  “The flight was quick but necessary. I really want my car in California since we left Rhett’s Jeep in Wyoming. I need different clothes, too. I’d only packed for a little over a week, for snowy Wyoming, and so did Rhett. We both need more appropriate clothes.”

  “I can see that. I guess I didn’t really think about you two only packing for a couple of weeks in winter climate. I never thought about the weather in Monterey being different than in Crooked Bend.”

  “Yeah, it is. I wouldn’t necessarily call it warm. I guess I should when comparing to your weather.”

  “How long are you planning on being in Seattle?”

  “Just a day or two. Just long enough to get stuff and then return to California. Like I told you before, Jonathan volunteered to help.”

  I hadn’t been in the loop, not being with everyone in Monterey. “I haven’t talked to Rhett in a couple of days. Is he not planning on going back to Seattle?” I was still fighting to keep my tone of voice even. This last-minute trip to Seattle, alone, with a super-hot and sexy Jonathan was not sitting well in my mind.

  “He hasn’t really talked about that, yet. He has a long recovery ahead of him and he is so much more settled with your dads than he'd be here in Seattle. He’s having nightmares, Jasper. They’re really bad ones, too. I know he’s a lot more comfortable with your dads.”

  I assumed Rhett would have nightmares; I wasn’t surprised to hear that. When he was first released from the hospital, he’d had a bad one and only Logan was able to calm him. At first it was shocking how close those two seemed to become since Rhett’s kidnapping. I reconsidered my surprise. Hell, look at me and Liam. We’d gotten quite close too, but Logan and Rhett had known each other for months with nothing.

  “Yeah, it makes sense that he’d want to be near Dad and Papa. Do you know when you’ll be able to get away again? Or are you going to stay with Rhett?”

  “To tell the truth, Rhett doesn’t really need me. He doesn’t want to have much to do with me, either. Travis is the one that really comforts him at night and it’s your dads that he seems to want during the day.” I heard Liam sigh. “Jasper, is that your way of asking me when I’ll be back in Wyoming?” Liam flirted. I decided to lay everything out.

  “No, Liam. That was me letting you know that I need you. When are you coming back to me?”

  After a long pause, Liam claimed the rest of me when he replied, “I’ll be there just as soon as I get Rhett’s stuff to him in California.”

  10 — Liam

  When Jasper told me he needed me, it took everything in me to not drop what I was doing and immediately fly to Wyoming. Responsibility tapped me on my shoulder and reminded me I had to get Rhett’s things to California first. All I wanted to do was go to Jasper and have him wrap his arms around me. I missed him so much! It was quite a change not seeing him daily. I hadn’t slept for shit since I left Wyoming. It was almost as if he was my security blanket. He made me feel safe. Until Jasper, I hadn’t felt safe in a long time.

  Remembering what I needed to do and realizing I was going to Wyoming and not staying in California, I began packing as soon as I got back to my apartment. Luckily, Rhett and I only lived a few minutes apart. If I was going to spend any amount of time in Wyoming during the winter, I'd definitely need to go shopping for clothes to wear in the snow. I only had enough for a couple of weeks and then I'd be re-wearing them. Taking that into consideration, I went into my bedroom and started re-packing my suitcases. My car was on the small side so I needed to make sure everything I took counted.

  I was so engrossed in packing that I just about shit myself when I turned around and saw Jonathan standing in the doorway. I’d been so caught up in Jasper and thoughts of what he promised he’d do to me that I completely forgot that he said he’d pick me up for dinner.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I knocked. When you didn’t answer I tried the knob and it was open.” Jonathan put out both of his hands and gave me a shy smile. Seriously, if I wasn’t already completely hung up on Jasper, I'd consider hooking up with Jonathan, but I didn’t even know if he was gay. The man was gorgeous! Short dirty-blond hair, bright-blue eyes, and completely toned. Yeah, he was hot, but I had a thing for a certain architect in Wyoming. Totally a one-man guy.

  “No big deal. I was just lost in thought. Are you ready for dinner? Did everything get settled at Rhett’s apartment?” I asked in rapid fire succession. The sooner we could leave Washington, the sooner I could get to Wyoming.

  “Yeah, the moving crew got everything packed for California. The rest will go into storage until Rhett decides what he wants to do. Otherwise, after dinner, we can hang out at the hotel and get on the road first thing in the morning.”

  “Dinner sounds good. Where did you want to go?” I asked.

&
nbsp; “You’re the local, you pick. I’m not picky and will eat just about anything.”

  I smirked at the double meaning behind his comment. “I know just the place! Let’s go!”

  I was excited to visit one of my favorite little hole-in-the-wall places. Mike never liked the place, but Rhett and I did. If Jonathan wasn’t picky, we were going to Salvatore’s, the best Italian food around. They were always busy because everything was delicious, not to mention the excellent service. All the locals knew about it which was why they were always busy. If you were a tourist, you probably wouldn’t give it a second glance.

  Once we were seated at Salvatore’s it didn’t take long to decide what we wanted. After, we sat and stared at each other. Yeah, it wasn’t awkward at all. Thankfully, our waiter brought out bread and salads with our drinks and we weren’t forced to talk much. I didn’t really know what to say to Jonathan. For the most part, he was quiet, and a little intimidating. Come to think of it, he was a lot intimidating. Thankfully, he broke the silence and started a conversation.

  “Have you and Rhett been friends long?”

  “About five months or so. We’ve been friends since he first moved to Seattle. We’ve got a lot in common so I guess that’s why we get along so well,” I replied in between bites of the fresh garlic breadsticks. I could fill up on their breadsticks alone.

  “Have you worked for Taylor long?” I asked.

  “A few years. I like it. I get to travel a lot and I love knowing I get to help those who really need it but might not otherwise get it.”

  “What do you mean? You work in security, right?” I asked.

  “Sure,” Jonathan replied to me.

  “What do you mean, ‘sure’? I thought the company was Stealth Securities? Don’t they provide security? Like bodyguards and stuff?”