by Layla Reyne
“That’s what I’ve been telling you.”
Alex smiled, and took that first step. “Yeah, Big Red, I’d be thrilled to have you with me.” Before Dane could kiss him, he took another step, hoping Dane would follow. “Though maybe not in Colorado.”
Dane’s happy face fell. “I get it. It’ll take some time to get used to. I can wait.”
Alex cupped his cheeks. “That’s not what I meant, babe.” He rubbed his palms against the red scruff there, reassuring both of them. “I’ve been thinking, when Mom’s recovered from this round of chemo, that I might make a change.”
“What kind of change?”
“California, if I can swing it financially. I miss it, and Bas is there too. I’m sure his club would take us, if you’d want to go there, with me?”
Dane dipped his head, giving him another one of those kisses so full of promises Alex thought the world possible. “I’ll go anywhere with you, Alejandro Cantu.”
On his stomach, head pillowed in his arm atop a soft pillow, Alex thought this was a much better way to wake up than yesterday morning. Sunlight streaming in around the edges of the window blinds, warming the side of his face. Body sore from yesterday’s hard practice in the pool and last night’s hard workout in the bed. His partner in both endeavors a heavy weight draped over his back and side, his light snores ruffling the hair on the back of Alex’s neck.
Dane Ellis.
In his bed, in his life, and hopefully on the same team together again.
Alex turned his head and opened his eyes, happy to find he hadn’t woken in an alternate reality. Dane’s freckled face glowed in the morning sun, his shining red-gold hair stuck out in every direction, and a hint of a smile played on his lips, even in sleep. The world had gone to hell around them the past week, and Dane seemed more relaxed than ever.
If someone held a mirror to his own face, Alex suspected he’d see the same this morning. Sure, there were plenty of problems to tackle, but he felt lighter, fuller. Because he’d let someone else, his teammates and Dane, help carry the load. No matter the outcome this morning, no matter whether he added more medals to his case or not, Alex was in a better place, with the trust and respect of his family, team, and coach, and with the love of his life at his side.
“You’re staring,” the sleeping giant mumbled.
Alex chuckled. “Yeah, I am.”
Dane opened one eye, pupil shrinking in response to the bright light, the blue of his iris translucent in the morning’s rays. He grinned wider. “You’re smiling too.”
“Yeah, I am.”
Dane’s other eye popped open. “We get word from Coach, yet?”
Alex snaked an arm out from in between them and brushed the hair off Dane’s forehead. “No, but I’ve got all I need right here.”
Mo was right. There was more to life than medals. And Alex’s more was Dane.
Hand diving under the sheet, Dane threw it over Alex’s waist and hauled him closer. “You saying you don’t want that gold medal anymore?”
“Oh, I still want it.”
Dane forced a thigh between his, spreading Alex’s legs and making room for other parts of them to meet, to bump and glide, both half-hard already. Dane dipped his head, licking a path up Alex’s neck to his ear, breathing hotly there. “I bet I know what else you want.” Dane’s sun-warmed hand slipped off his hip and around to grasp their cocks, gathering their slick and using it to ease the glide of his fist around them. “That round four we didn’t get yesterday morning,” Dane said, and Alex groaned his agreement, arching into the tight, hot grip.
Definitely a better morning.
He made to fall back, but Dane kept him on his side, even as he slid down his body, kissing a path from neck, to nipples, to belly button, to the place that craved his attention most. Those full lips closed around Alex’s tip, tongue teasing his slit, and Alex braced a knee on Dane’s broad shoulder to stay upright.
Dane moaned as he swallowed his cock down, as if there was nothing he liked doing more. His fist at the base moved with his mouth, and he slipped a finger along Alex’s length, wetting and teasing, heightening the sensation.
Preparing Alex for what came next.
Hooking an arm under his leg, Dane palmed his ass, steadying him, then trailed that slick finger down his crease and over his rim, circling the edges but never pressing in. Alex was forced to thrust after his mouth and chase after his touch, a back and forth where both directions were mind-blowing pleasure.
Alex clutched the sheet with his outstretched hand while the other dove into Dane’s hair. “Babe, please,” he begged, hips so far back, so wanton for more inside his ass, that he’d brought his tip to Dane’s lips. Dane circled his tongue around it, and Alex didn’t know which way to go. “Gonna fucking kill me.”
“Gonna fuck you,” Dane mumbled, then took all of him down again, tip bumping the back of his throat, at the same time two fingers pushed inside.
Senses overloaded, Alex didn’t know which way was up; all directions pointed to Dane. His fingers in his ass, his mouth around his cock, and his leg thrown over Alex’s, Dane’s dick hard and wet against his calf, humping in time with his mouth and hand.
Alex flattened his hand in Dane’s hair, turning it into a caress that tunneled in and out of the strands with each pitch of their bodies. Heat all around, both of them still hungry for every touch, every connection, they were at the edge in no time flat. The speed of Dane’s rutting escalated, hips snapping on either side of Alex’s leg, and he homed in on the spot inside Alex, stroking with single-minded focus, until Alex spilled down his throat, shouting all manner of Spanish obscenities as he came. Dane’s release followed in short order, coating Alex’s leg.
Teetering on his side, Alex finally fell back and Dane rolled with him, hand still under his ass, face nuzzling his groin, like he was perfectly happy to stay right there all morning, in spite of their mess.
Alex hummed, likewise content. “You comfy down there?”
“Very,” Dane said. “You mind if I stay here?”
“Go right ahead.” Alex slung a leg over Dane’s back, caging him in. “I enjoyed round four.”
Dane tilted his head, chin resting on Alex’s hip bone, grinning up at him. “I know you did. Though technically, it’s round five, counting last night. Give me a few to recover, then I’ll treat you to round six.”
Alex was going to ask what that entailed, but then their sex-dazed bubble was burst by someone pounding on the door.
Dane’s tortured groan was loud enough to be heard outside. And unmistakable.
“Go away,” Alex hollered at the unwelcome intrusion.
Bas’s deep laughter floated through the door. “Stop fucking like rabbits for two minutes, and open up.”
A curse-laden version of his previous order was on the tip of his tongue, but Dane beat him to it. “Give us a minute.” Alex glared down at his bedmate. “He might have news,” Dane said, pushing up from the bed.
Alex growled in frustration. Dane was right; his dick didn’t care. Dane laughed and slapped his ass. “Up, Cap.”
They rolled out of bed, Dane grabbing a hand towel out of the bathroom so they could clean up before pulling on clothes. With each piece, the morning’s lightness faded and Alex’s nerves crept in. He wasn’t lying, all he needed was Dane and the future they’d talked about, but it would still sting to lose the other thing he wanted most.
The chance to compete again with his team. And now with the man he loved.
If nothing else, though, they’d done everything they could to make that happen.
“Hey,” Dane said, at his side. “They’re going to let you back on the team.” He held out his hand. “Come on, let’s get the official word.”
Buoyed by his confidence, Alex slid his hand in Dane’s, marveling at how much easier this was now that he wasn’t doing everything on his own. Dane dragged him toward the door, opening it to reveal Bas and Jacob standing in front of the rest of the team.
Bursting into a smile, Bas withdrew his hand from behind his back, holding up a plane ticket. And it wasn’t back to Colorado Springs.
Alex’s relieved exhale was choked off in a gasp when Jacob hit him square in the chest, wrapping him up in another bear hug. “Welcome back, Cap.”
Alex smiled big, but it was nowhere near as big as the heart expanding in his chest. The road opened back up in front of him, full of all the possibilities.
Dane hugged him from behind, whispering in his ear. “Now I get to kiss my boyfriend in Madrid when we win the gold.”
“If we win the gold.”
“You bet your ass we’re winning,” Bas said, piling on as chants of “Al-ex” and “U-S-A” broke out in the hallway.
If Alex had to guess that morning, he’d say they were going to win too.
Not the silver this time.
Gold.
Explore more of the Changing Lanes series: riptidepublishing.com/titles/universe/changing-lanes
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Thank you so much for Reading the Rainbow!
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Thank you, Readers, for joining me on leg one of this Changing Lanes journey! As a huge fan of second chance romances, I loved telling Alex and Dane’s story and bringing them back together. I hope you enjoyed it too, and that you’ll join us again this spring as the Olympic competition and romance heat up in Bas and Jacob’s story—Medley!
In bringing this series to publication, special thanks to my agent, Laura Bradford, to my editor, Sarah Lyons, and to the entire Riptide Team for their enthusiasm, edits, and support. Thanks especially to my best friend Tera for saving me from baby shower hives with story plotting, for the swimming and Spanish pointers, and for reading anything I put in front of her and always delivering edit notes with booze. Thanks also to Jeff and Maxym for their swimming input, to Kristi and Victoria for their invaluable feedback, and to the amazing authors in my various writing groups, online and in-person, without whom I wouldn’t have survived my first year of published authorhood.
There are not enough Thank yous and I love yous in the world for my dear husband, who’s been a super trooper and A+ coffee-and-donut delivery service this past year as I’ve launched a second career and worked two full time jobs. (I also owe EPIC Bravo Squad a huge debt of gratitude for keeping him entertained with Destiny!)
Finally, much love to my Lushes, whose excitement for my books, characters, and words has been a truly wonderful and humbling gift. I can’t wait to bring you more stories in the year ahead!
Changing Lanes series
Medley (coming soon)
Agents Irish and Whiskey series
Single Malt
Cask Strength
Barrel Proof
Tequila Sunrise
Author Layla Reyne was raised in North Carolina and now calls San Francisco home. She enjoys weaving her bi-coastal experiences into her stories, along with adrenaline-fueled suspense and heart pounding romance. When she’s not writing stories to excite her readers, she downloads too many books, watches too much television, and cooks too much food with her scientist husband, much to the delight of their smushed-face, leftover-loving dogs. Layla is a member of Romance Writers of America and its San Francisco, Kiss of Death, and Rainbow Romance Writers chapters. She was a 2016 RWA® Golden Heart® Finalist in Romantic Suspense.
You can find Layla at laylareyne.com, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest as @laylareyne, and in her reader group on Facebook—Layla’s Lushes.
Enjoy more stories like Relay at RiptidePublishing.com!
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