Hunks, Hammers, and Happily Ever Afters

by Cari Quinn

  CHAPTER TEN

  Jesus, what the fuck had he just done? While Noah patiently leaned against the counter watching him, Max paced around the kitchen island.

  How the hell had this happened? Yesterday he knew exactly who he was. He knew exactly what—who—he wanted—Hayley.

  But once his lips had touched Noah’s, it had been...hot. Surprisingly hot. At the time he’d he convinced himself it was because Hayley was naked beside him, watching.

  Then he’d felt his own lust, and seen the love in Noah’s eyes, and he’d panicked. Noah was his best friend. His business partner. Noah was like a brother from a different mother. It wasn’t because he was in love with the guy. Or even in lust with him.

  Was he?

  He stole a glance at Noah who was watching him, his expression guarded. Max’s gaze dropped to Noah’s mouth, remembering the time Noah had sucked him off all those years ago. Fuck, his dick jerked at the memory, his balls ached to relive it, urging him to ditch his jeans, hop up on the counter and pull Noah’s face down to his groin and order him to take his cock in his mouth and suck him off.

  After all, he’d gotten Noah off, wasn’t it right he return the favor?

  Holy fuck, he’d gotten on his knees and sucked a dude’s dick. And he’d not only liked doing it, it had been fucking mind-boggling.

  He stopped pacing, making sure the island was between them, and placed his palms flat on the granite, needing the coolness, the steadiness of the stone. “Does this mean I like dicks as well as chicks now?”

  “Well, one dick anyway.” Noah’s voice was soft, almost apologetic.

  Holy crap. He’d never bought the whole gay-for-you trope from TV but he’d never been attracted to any other guy before, not like he was with Noah. How come he hadn’t realized that Noah loved him? Not like a friend or a brother, but love-loved him. And more importantly, how had he not realized he loved Noah too? But given how his hard-on ached, he did.

  “So what does this make me? Am I bi?”

  “Only you can tell. But for me, gender doesn’t matter when it comes to sex, it’s more about the person themselves, not what equipment is between their legs.” Noah shrugged. “Then again, I identify as pansexual, not bi.”

  He rolled the phrases around in his head, playing with it. Wondering how his life might change now. The one question he didn’t have was that he knew without a doubt his parents would stand by him. But his aunts and uncles? His cousins? His other friends?

  “Holy fuck, Noah. I’m thirty years old. How can I only just now be figuring out that I’m into guys?” Into you, anyway. “Why the fuck is this happening now? Aren’t you supposed to figure this shit out when you’re like thirteen?”

  Heavy hands landed on his shoulders, settled him on the bar stool. Noah knelt in front of him, looking worried. “Just breathe, okay? Everything’s going to be fine.”

  “Fine? It’s not fine. I’ve seen guys get in your face because they suspect you’re gay, they don’t even need proof. I’ve been called gay simply because you live in my house which makes me gay by association. And I didn’t care, because you’re my friend, and I was proud to stand up for you.” His voice broke and turned away before Noah could see him cry like a frickin’ girl.

  “I wish you’d told me. I would have moved out.”

  “Don’t you get it? I didn’t want you to move out.” Oh fuck! What would their clients think? Contractors were supposed to be the uber-macho swaggering alpha types, not guys who suck on other guys’ dicks. “When word gets out, our clients are going to totally change. We’re going to get all the yuppies who think it’ll be cool to hire the gay contractors. They’re gonna expect us to tell them what colors to choose and toss swatches at us.”

  He kicked the barstool, sending it bouncing across the floor until it came to rest by the back door. “I can’t be gay. I hate interior decorating. I don’t know the difference between marzipan and fucking yellow. Then there’s taupe, and eggshell and linen. They’re all the same fucking color. They’re all fucking white.”

  “You don’t have to turn into an interior decorator, any more than I had to. You can still be a builder.” Noah touched his chin, amusement tickling the edges of his lips, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Look at me, Max.”

  Noah’s blue gaze was restful, and drew Max into their calm. “Breathe with me. Come on, in through the nose, out through the mouth. You know the drill.” Once Max stopped hyperventilating, he asked, “Do you need some water or something?”

  “No, I’m good. I’m...” Bisexual. Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. I’m fucking bi. “This is real, right? I’m not dreaming?”

  “You’re not dreaming. But, Max? It’s just you and me right now. No one else ever has to know if you don’t want to come out.”

  God. To deny Noah at this point would be a lie of the first magnitude. It would slay them both. “No. No. I can deal with this. It’s not like I’m a fucking murderer.” Except he’d have to always watch what he said and who was around from here on in, wouldn’t he? What had Noah said once? That he still did a check over his shoulder because he didn’t quite feel safe out in public.

  “It’s a lot to take in. But you’ve got lots of time. And I’m right here for you, buddy.”

  Buddy? God, they’d crossed way past the buddy line the moment he’d kissed Noah in the shower. Hell if he was honest, they’d crossed it in a cottage in Muskoka thirteen years ago. Then again, what could Noah call him now? Lover was just a little too much at this stage, and if Noah ever called him sweetie or honey, Max would be hard pressed not to punch the guy in the shoulder, or nose.

  “I don’t know what to think right now. I need time to process all this.” Fuck this was weird. And confusing. “That’s okay, isn’t it?”

  Noah caught Max’s hands in his and squeezed. “It is absolutely okay. Stop trying to cram yourself into a neatly labeled box. Just acknowledge that you can love more than one person, more than one gender.”

  “All right.” He exhaled, trying to find his balance. “I can do this. I may freak out again later, but for now I’m good.” Bewildered. But I will survive.

  Oh fuck, now I have that goddamned Gloria Gaynor song playing in my head. Talk about playing right into stereotypes.

  “Just remember,” Noah’s tone was so gentle, so understanding, “if you need to talk, no matter what time it is, I’m right here.”

  “Sure. Good. I will.”

  Noah’s lips quirked up. “Just promise me you won’t paint that big-ass rainbow on the siding like you threatened that right wing nutjob neighbor who objected to our renovations.”

  He let his chin drop to his chest and chuckled. At the time Noah had offered to help carry out the threat, wearing a leather thong and nothing else. He’d have done it too.

  “Maybe we can make do with a rainbow flag?” His forced smile slipped from his face, and doubts—about whether he and Noah’s new relationship would survive, if other contractors might bully them, and a bazillion other questions about his revelation—pounded him once more.

  But one shouted louder than the rest, one he couldn’t, and wouldn’t, ignore. “The thing is, I still like women. I still really want to date Hayley.” Though what she thought after he’d laid that kiss on Noah, God only knew. “I mean, I’m attracted to you.” That still shocked the hell out of him. “But I’m turned on by Hayley too, I mean, she gets me as hard as...” I just got for you.

  “I know,” Noah said softly. “Me too.”

  “So what do we do now?”

  “The hell if I know.”

  ~*~

  “Am I interrupting?” Hayley stepped from the hallway.

  Max jumped to his feet, his mouth flapping, his eyes darting between her and Noah. “H-how-how long have you been standing there?”

  Should she admit she’d crept down the stairs when she’d heard a crash, fearing she’d find Max with a black eye or Noah with a busted nose? That instead she’d stood in the hallway, witnessing the most erot
ic blow job in history? Or admit that she’d seen the love in Noah’s face as he’d cleaned his come off of Max’s chest. Or heard the fear in Max’s voice as he struggled with the realization of what he’d just done?

  Despite her inclination to hug him, to press his head against her shoulder and soothe him, she suspected he’d try to act all macho and pull away. “I just needed to get my charger from my purse and I thought I’d check to see if everything was okay here. I can leave if you want. I mean, not just go upstairs, but I can go home if you need the privacy.”

  “No!” Both Max and Noah spoke at the same time.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course we are.” Noah’s shoulders loosened as he regained control. “We need to finish your fantasy.”

  Obviously Noah hadn’t discussed any of this with Max, who had at first looked surprised, but now looked thoughtful.

  Hayley blew out a breath. “Um, yeah. About that whole wanting to see a little male-male action? I shouldn’t have said anything. I didn’t intend to cause any trouble.”

  Noah skimmed his palms down her arms. “There are still some...issues to work out between Max and me, but it’s nothing that shouldn’t have come out long ago.” He rolled his eyes when he realized what he said. “But there’s still some unfinished between you and us too.”

  “Like whether I deliberately arranged this weekend so I could spy on you?”

  Noah grimaced. “I’m sorry about that. I over-reacted. Maybe you’ll let me make it up to you.”

  “How?”

  “By having another threesome instead of making you lurk in the hallway like a voyeur.”

  She gasped. He’d seen her?

  “You’re an amazing woman, Hayley. We need to show you that it’s possible for us to love you as well as each other. Stay with us again tonight. Let us show you how much we love you.”

  Noah held out a hand to her, and she walked as if there were some magnet drawing her to him, a force she couldn’t resist. Which she wouldn’t have anyway. Damn he was good. “You should be writing Hallmark cards.”

  “You are so beautiful, Hayley.” He cupped her face between his palms and claimed her mouth.

  Unable to resist, she skimmed her palms up Noah’s chest, his skin warm and smooth, and beneath, his muscles tight and firm. With a groaned, “Hayley,” he tightened his hold, his erection hard against her belly.

  Max stepped behind her, his hands resting firmly on her shoulders grounding her, his body warm and strong, a balance to her whirling emotions. She let her head fall back on his shoulder, closed her eyes, as he dragged his lips down her neck, over her shoulders. His hips pumped lightly, pressing his rigid cock against her ass, a promise of what was to come.

  Between them, they made her feel more than wanted. More than lusted after. She wanted this. She wanted them.

  With them, she felt...needed.

  Cherished.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  She didn’t hear them discuss it, but somehow the two men moved in unison, Noah taking her left hand, Max her right, leading her to the stairwell off of the kitchen. This one stopped at the second floor.

  Sunlight streamed through an original stained glass window that overlooked the back yard and down the hallway, gleaming off the streaky bamboo floor. She only got a glimpse of blue walls and pine furniture before both men sandwiched her between them, lifting the UBC shirt she’d borrowed from Noah’s wardrobe over her head.

  “Mmm,” Noah murmured. “I’m never going to be able to wear that shirt again without getting a hard-on.”

  Two sets of hands skimmed her body, front and back. Noah cupped her breasts in his palms, and bent his head to lash them with his tongue while Max slowed his hands over the curve of her ass. “Noah’s right. You have the sweetest ass.”

  “Sweet and tight and hot,” Noah agreed around her nipple. “Just like her pussy.”

  Max’s hand slipped between her legs and unerringly found her clit, teasing it. Between his attention to her clit and Noah’s teasing of her nipples, Hayley’s knees wobbled so hard she dug her fingers into Noah’s shoulders to stay upright.

  “Let’s get her on the bed, Max.” Noah walked her backward until her knees hit the mattress and she toppled onto it.

  Max appeared beside him, a hungry and satisfied look in his eyes. “Do you know how many times I’ve fantasized about having you in my bed?”

  She shook her head. His lids drooped and he crawled onto the bed, over her, his cock a hard rod pressing into her belly. “Every night since I’ve met you.”

  He lowered his head and caught her mouth with his with a hunger that couldn’t be satiated. Last night he’d been gentle, as if he was afraid she might break. Today he was rougher, demanding, and she loved every minute of it. Her lips were swollen by the time he finally pulled away, sweat making their skin slide wherever they touched. He touched his thumb to her bottom lip, slid it from one side to another, his touch feather-light compared to his kiss. “I love you, Hayley. Don’t ever doubt it.”

  “I love you too,” she whispered. How could she say that given what she’d just witnessed him doing in the kitchen. Yet she couldn’t deny what she felt. She loved him. She loved them both.

  The mattress dipped as Noah knelt beside them, his gaze locked on Max’s mouth. “I want to taste him on you.”

  Her pulse racing, Hayley leaned up, capturing Noah’s head and bringing it down to her mouth. He plundered her mouth with a desperation he’d not had before, devouring her. Max watched them, his eyes dark not with anger or jealousy but with lust and love.

  She raised her other arm and tugged Max down to join them. Noah broke off his kiss, and sought Max’s mouth, brushing his lips over Max’s gently, tenderly, as if Max were skittish. Max’s dark lashes fluttered closed. His hand flattened over Noah’s chest, slipped over his chest and tangled his fingers in Noah’s hair.

  Hayley’s body reacted at the touches they shared, the way they explored each other’s bodies, kisses pressed hastily on a shoulder, lingering over a neck, sighs when a particularly sensitive spot roused one or the other. Veins on their arms strained as they clutched each other. “I love you, Max,” Noah murmured. “I’ve always loved you.”

  His eyes meeting Hayley’s, as if willing her to watch, Noah wrapped his hand around both their cocks, gripping them with a force she never would have dared, yet both cocks glistened and both men groaned and thrust their cocks into Noah’s fist with equal need.

  “Oh fuck. Oh fuck, yeah,” Max’s head kicked back, his body rigid. “God, I’m going to come.”

  “Wait!” Noah flipped Max over onto his back and scrambled away. Once he was on the side of the bed, he let his chin fall to his chest, breathing as hard as a racehorse after a steeplechase. “Hold on, okay?”

  “Why did you stop?” Max pushed himself up on his elbows, looking both bewildered and frustrated. “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. I just didn’t want you to come yet.” Noah blew out a long slow breath and squeezed his cock at the base. “Fuck, that was close.”

  Once he regained control, he gestured to the spot between him and Max. “Hayley, come on up here, baby.”

  Hayley settled into the spot he’d just vacated as Noah rustled in one of the bedside table drawers. Straightening, he handed a foil-clad condom to Hayley, and tossed another at the foot of the bed along with a bottle of lube.

  “Once you’ve got one of those on him, straddle him. I’ll be right back.”

  “Wait a minute, I’m going to be on the bottom?” Max’s eyes widened. “I thought I’d be the one on top. Or at least in the middle.” He licked his lips in a nervous gesture. “You know, you in Hayley and me in...”

  Noah leaned over Max and caught his mouth in a quick hard kiss. “You know how you told Hayley you’ve dreamed of having her in this bed? I’ve dreamed of burying myself in you since that night you fucked me back in high school.” He cupped Max’s jaw between his palms and rested their foreheads tog
ether. “This is my fantasy, Max. Please, don’t deny me this.”

  Max swallowed, then nodded. “All right.”

  “We’re going to take it slow, okay? I promise, I’m going to make it so good for you, Max. Do you trust me?”

  Max nodded again. “Yeah. I trust you.”

  Noah looked at Hayley, Max following his gaze. “And you’ll make it good for Hayley too, won’t you, Max? Because she’s the whole reason we’re here. We have to show her how much she means to us. That she’s the center of our world. Can you do that, Max?”

  “Of course.” He said it so reverently Hayley had to look away to hide the emotion swamping her.

  “Good. I’ll be right back.”

  Her gaze followed Noah as he strode to the bathroom, his back muscles rippling with strength, his glutes bunching and stretching with each step.

  A quick draw of breath drew her attention back to Max who was equally entranced by Noah’s exit. “Fuck his ass is a work of art in motion.”

  ~*~

  It took all Noah’s control not to react to the knowledge that Max was actually verbally admiring his ass. Out loud. So Hayley could hear. The eight foot walk to the bathroom stretched into a marathon. Away from their gaze, he sagged against the counter and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

  He wasn’t going to fucking survive the way today was going. He’d gone from happy and content while they were eating breakfast, to shocked and confused at Max’s kiss, to worried that he’d lost both Max and Hayley, to being stupefied and amazed at Max’s blowjob, concern at Max’s reaction to the said BJ, and back to fear when Hayley suggested she leave.

  And now he was about to float to the ceiling that Max, the man he’d been in love with for almost eighteen years now but didn’t know he was alive other than as a friend, was actually lying out there, his dick waving in the breeze—hard because of him—was eyeing his ass.

  Today is the first day of the rest of your life, carpe diem, and all that crap. Today was a day he was fucking never going to forget. He grabbed a towel and headed back to the room.

  Holy fuck, Max’s gaze was still locked on the doorway, as if he was hungry for his return.