by Knight,Riley
As it was, Adam woke up only a little bit later than usual. It was only eight o’clock when he had coffee brewing and his cell phone out, because it might be a day off for him but it wasn’t for Liam.
He called his own lawyer and asked for a recommendation, and when he got one, he hired the woman right over the phone as long as she could be at Casey’s office at eleven that day. It was Sunday, and a strange day for a lawyer to work, but she seemed willing enough once she heard the situation.
The thing was, if Casey was legit, and if the offer she was making was, too, then Rapture Coil could be on its way to making a lot of money. And if Deirdre Kennedy could make some of that money by being the lawyer for the band, she clearly wanted in on the ground floor.
Whatever. As long as she was there.
With that settled, Adam went out. He walked to a nearby fast food joint, picking up the sort of thing that he knew, through long experience with Liam, that his best friend liked to eat while he was hung over.
With all of that done, it was about nine thirty, and that meant it was time to start waking Liam up.
Actually, when he walked in, the alarm on Liam’s phone was already blaring, and his best friend was staring to stir. Adam smiled. Sometimes he thought of Liam as being irresponsible, but clearly, this was important to him.
“Hey,” Adam said gently. He’d brought in the bag of greasy food and a cup of coffee fixed just as Liam liked it, one cream and two sugars. He also had a bottle of cold water and a bunch of painkillers.
“No one should look so damn chipper this early in the morning,” Liam grumbled, and Adam laughed and even refrained from pointing out that, for most people, nine thirty in the morning was not early.
Instead, he handed the stuff that he’d gotten over, then settled on the edge of the bed and nibbled on some of the food as Liam ate.
Just as he’d known would happen, some of the pale, wan, sick look that Liam had had when he’d first woken up had faded, and the man looked almost normal as he finished his breakfast.
“I’m gonna have a shower,” Liam announced, and he turned to get out of bed, before taking a deep, visible breath. “Come with me today? Not into the shower. To the meeting.”
Adam hesitated, looking at Liam’s back. The man was still wearing his shirt from the previous night, just as Adam was, and there was a good reason for that. Adam hadn’t been sure that he could trust himself if they were both drunk and naked in bed.
If anything would have happened between them, it would have been Adam’s fault, too, since he was the one who had been more sober. So he’d played it safe, but now, he found himself sort of wishing that he could see his best friend’s naked body.
So not a straight thing for him to think, but at this point, could he even try to fool himself and claim that he was straight? When all he could think about was Liam?
“Okay,” he agreed. He would have to stop by his house and get some clean clothes, but they had time for that. “Go shower.”
As Liam walked away, Adam had to wonder just how his life had taken this turn. How and why. After being friends for so long, why would this happen now? And what, exactly, was ‘this’?
* * *
The manager’s office was small enough to be crowded with all the people in it. There were all five members of Rapture Coil, plus the lawyer Deirdre, plus Adam, and, of course, Casey.
Still, the mood was generally cheerful. People crammed into what chairs they could find, and the rest of them stood. Everyone was silent as Deirdre went over the papers, reading every single page, and then nodded gravely.
“This is a standard contract,” she said, a slight smile on her thin, severe lips. “She takes fifteen percent. In return, she will get you work, manage your social media if that’s what you decide you want, with the end goal being to get you into a record label.”
Adam looked at Liam, and he could see the relief on his face. Did the rest of Rapture Coil know how much Liam did for them? This would be a huge weight off of his shoulders, if nothing else.
“Get in to a record label? I heard it’s harder to get into these days,” Yolanda spoke to Casey, who gave her a little bit of a smile.
“I’ve done it before, I can do it again. If you guys work hard and keep up your end, I can keep up mine.” She pulled out a binder and passed it over to Yolanda. “These are bands that I’ve represented.”
Everyone crowded around Yolanda to see, and Adam had to admit, even though he didn’t really belong here, that he did the same. More than that, he recognized more than a few of them as being local legends, and some as being mainstream successes.
When Adam looked at Casey, he was impressed. This woman really wanted to represent Liam? Why? For a moment, just a split second, there was jealousy. Adam pushed it aside and tried to just be happy for his best friend, but it was hard.
He’d given this up, and it was hard sometimes not to feel like it had been the wrong choice.
Still, he looked at Deirdre, and was reassured by the look on her face. She looked interested, not wary, and it really did seem to him like everything was above board here. Which was excellent news, of course, for Liam and the rest.
Then Adam looked at Liam and the vast majority of the jealousy just evaporated. Not all of it, but a lot of it, and it was a relief, because he really did want to be happy for his best friend and it looked like things were really going to pay off for him.
Liam looked up and met Adam’s eyes, and the other man was pretty much glowing. So much hard work. Adam had seen it.
Liam signed the contract right there, as did everyone else in the band. Everyone except Josh, who smirked as he said that he wanted to read it over himself. Which was his right, of course, and was maybe even smart, but it seemed to Adam that he was doing it just to hold things up, not because he wanted to be careful.
From the look that Liam and the rest gave him, he wasn’t the only one to have noticed, and it put a sour note to the happy occasion that wouldn’t have been there otherwise.
* * *
They all went to lunch after, though Adam was starting to practically buzz with impatience. The truth was, he had originally wanted to come see Liam the previous night because he’d wanted to talk to his best friend about the strange visits he’d had the day before from both his mom and from Josh.
There had been no time for that, however. Not with the concert, and the drinking, and then having to rush to a meeting. Now there was finally time, but they were sitting around in a diner while the group toasted each other with Coke.
Oh well. At least the mood was cheerful, and Josh had decided not to bother coming, which was just a good thing. So Adam did his best to relax, though in the back of his mind he was entertaining what might happen if his mother walked in right now to see him surrounded by the band.
She might just have a heart attack on the spot.
He was squished into a booth right beside Liam, though, so it could be worse. Adam was used to having control over his life, so it was a bit strange to be at the mercy of others, but the food was surprisingly good and, after awhile, the rest of the band even stopped glaring at him quite so much.
That felt better than he would have expected. He’d known all of them for years, had played with all of them. It had hurt, on some level that he didn’t really acknowledge, when they’d turned on him.
Though they’d probably say that he’d turned on them first, if he were honest with himself.
Still, it was a relief when everyone else had left. They all had jobs that they worked outside of the band, retail and food service and that sort of thing, and a lot of them had to work weekends.
With this new deal, would they be able to quit and work on what actually mattered to them?
Finally, it was only Yolanda with them, and she shot Liam a bit of a smile before slipping out of the booth.
“Thanks. I didn’t want to have to go to jail for assault,” she said warmly, and gave Liam a bit of a hug. She nodded to Adam politely enoug
h, and then she was gone, too.
“Assault?” Adam asked blankly, and Liam laughed softly and shook his head, but the sound wasn’t entirely happy.
“Long story. Come back to my place and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Adam nodded. He’d driven them over, and on the way back to Liam’s house, there was a silence between them as Adam tried to figure out just what he wanted to do. He remembered very vividly Liam telling him that it didn’t have to mean anything if they messed around, but that couldn’t stop him from noticing how good his best friend smelled.
Adam dated very rarely, and he knew that Liam did, too. Maybe Liam just wasn’t the dating type. The man was good looking enough that he certainly could have had any gay or bisexual guy around, plus he had the rockstar thing going for him, too.
Maybe Liam was just not into being with people. Maybe that’s why he’d said what he had, to try to push Adam away.
God, Adam was such an idiot. He was halfway through falling for his best friend, and he only really realized it when he also realized that he probably couldn’t have him.
Once they were inside Liam’s house once more, and it was finally just the two of them, Adam looked at his best friend and tried to figure out what to say or do. He’d been waiting for this, but now that it was happening …
Liam turned to look at him, and his eyes were wide and excited, probably from the excellent news he’d just had. This was the way a man who was headed to the top looked, and Adam, looking at him, couldn’t help but be happy for him.
When Liam was happy, really happy, his eyes turned this bright blue that was almost a violet. That was the color those eyes were, and Liam’s cheeks were flushed with delight.
The sensible part of Adam told him that he needed to get out of there right then and there, if he couldn’t control himself. The part that spoke to him in a voice that distinctly matched his mother’s voice told him to run, to not come back until he could think of Liam as nothing more than a friend.
But that had gotten more and more difficult. Even the fact that Liam had pushed him away couldn’t keep him from getting more and more wrapped up in the other man in a way that he’d never even considered before.
Everything had changed. Maybe it was just that Adam was ready to see Liam that way, though he’d never looked at a man that way before.
Liam’s smile was fading as he looked at Adam, and some of that gorgeous color went out of his eyes, leaving them still beautiful but less vibrant. Liam was worried about him, and it showed.
“Adam?” he prompted, and Adam shook his head.
God, he was such an idiot.
“...Sorry,” he whispered, and then he couldn’t help himself any longer. He launched himself at Liam and wrapped his arms around his tall, strong, hot body, pressing close against him and letting their lips meet.
He shouldn’t do this. There were all sorts of reasons that he shouldn’t, including that he was pretty sure that Liam was going to push him away. And if Liam did, he decided, he would go, and he would apologize, and he would never touch him again.
But Liam didn’t complain. Liam didn’t pull away. Liam, in fact, wrapped his arms back around Adam and held him close. Liam parted his lips and their tongues slid together, tangling intimately.
A rush of the most intense arousal that Adam had ever felt went through his body and he found himself pushing Liam against the wall, pinning him there. Adam pushed a leg between Liam’s, wanting to feel closer to him.
At least, that was his motivation at first. When he felt how hot Liam was there, Adam pressed his thigh closer to that heat, and he got to feel Liam’s strong thighs clench around him as he rubbed against that intriguing hardness.
What was he doing? The part of him that had always thought of himself as straight had to wonder just why he was making out with a guy, even letting a guy grind against him, but mostly, it just felt so damn right that he couldn’t see himself stopping even if he tried.
The only thing that could stop him was if Liam didn’t want it, and from how hot Liam was between his legs, from the bulge that Adam could feel there, that wasn’t the case. Whatever was going on with Liam, it wasn’t disinterest.
It didn’t seem like time was moving at all as they kissed. Adam had never understood the whole ‘time standing still’ thing, but when it came to Liam, he was starting to get it. It really felt like nothing mattered other than kissing Liam, and letting Liam grind that impressive erection against his leg.
There was a feeling of power to that. He had made Liam so desperate that he needed him enough to actually rub against him like a horny teenager, and Adam liked that he could do that to him.
For hours, maybe, or maybe for just a few minutes, they kissed. When Adam started to slip his fingers under Liam’s shirt, though, it was Liam who called a halt to things.
“Whoa, hold on,” Liam said, pulling his lips from Adam’s. They were slightly swollen and still damp from the intensive kissing session, and his eyes had turned an even more vibrant shade of violet.
“What’s wrong?” Adam asked, a bit worried. Had he messed up? Somehow read everything wrong? But Liam was so hard, Adam had felt it against his own thigh.
“Nothing. But if we’re going to be taking clothes off, maybe it’s time to take this to bed,” Liam said, but it was really more of a question. How far did Adam want to go with this? Adam could see that question in Liam’s eyes.
Adam checked in with himself, and he found that, yes, he was slightly nervous. But only very slightly. He wanted this, and he’d wanted it at least since they’d fallen into bed together the first time. Well, into the couch, anyway. Maybe he’d wanted it before without even telling himself so.
“Let’s go to bed,” Adam murmured, his entire body feeling like it was on fire, nerves singing with pleasure and arousal.
He knew what he wanted. What would come of it, he wasn’t sure, but for now, at least, he found he didn’t care.
Chapter Eight
Liam
Liam waited, literally holding his breath until he was worried that he might just pass out from the buildup of used up air. He waited and he held his breath and he looked at Adam, wondering if he was pushing his best friend too far.
Then Adam said those magical four words, let’s go to bed, and Liam gave a soft groan of relief. The truth was, Liam wanted Adam like he’d never wanted anyone else, and while he would have backed off if Adam had told him to, he was glad that he didn’t have to.
Adam had been pinning him against the wall, which was one of the hottest things that Liam had ever experienced. Liam felt like Adam really wanted him, maybe even like he needed him if he would let himself go that far.
Liam pushed away from the wall as Adam let him up, and he was glad to see that Adam was flushed and breathing hard, just like Liam was.
That made Liam bold enough that he reached out and caught Adam around the waist, pulling him close against him. Feeling Adam’s body against his was almost enough to have him taking a page out of Adam’s book and pushing him against the wall to molest him more easily.
Instead, he brought Adam toward the bedroom, toward the waiting shelter of the bed. As they went, Adam started things off, which was a relief to Liam. He worried that he was putting too much pressure on his best friend, but it really did seem like it was Adam’s idea.
Adam pushed his fingers into Liam’s shirt and peeled it off, dropping it right on the ground. That just opened up the floodgate, and by the time they were at the bed, there was a trail of clothes that led through the apartment and they were both completely naked.
Liam had to take a second to just admire Adam as the other man lay down on the bed. Adam, who was still just as gorgeous as he’d been in high school. Tall and handsome, with features that were almost pretty but not delicate, a body that was still strong despite years at a desk job.
Adam had changed, yes, but not for the worse. Liam looked Adam over from head to toe, not sure when he’d get the chance to see him a
gain. Once, Adam had had shoulder length blond waves, making him look almost like a lion. Those were long gone, and his hair was closer to a light brown, except where the sun had naturally bleached it.
Liam groaned softly, his gaze trailing over that thick, hard cock. He’d certainly not had a lot of chance in the past to admire Adam’s bare dick before, but it was gorgeous. Only slightly longer than average but so thick, Liam could far too easily image it in his mouth, and even deep inside his ass, stretching him open in the best way.
“You just gonna look or what?” Adam asked, and his voice was deeper than usual, slightly hoarse with arousal. That was really all the prompting Liam needed, and he fell into bed with Adam, pressing close against his side, his hand roaming over that broad chest and toying with his nipples.
“You’re going to have to tell me what’s okay and what’s not,” Liam cautioned his best friend. He didn’t want to do anything that Adam wasn’t okay with, and Liam, to be honest, wanted everything.
“I will,” Adam promised, and then he rolled onto his side, too, so that he was facing Liam and they were pressed together along the length of their bodies.
With that promise having been made, Liam could just lose himself in the kissing, in the touching, in the discovery of his best friend’s body. Last time, there hadn’t been a lot of touching, and Liam wanted to make up for lost time.
His fingers ran over brown little nipples until they tautened and became hard so he could lightly pinch them and toy with them. He looked greedily into Adam’s face, loving his reaction, loving the little moans he made.
More than that, though, he loved it when Adam touched him. Not just because of the pleasure that the other man gave him, though that was considerable, but because it meant, to him, that Adam really was into this. Adam wasn’t turned off by his maleness.
That point was made rather strongly when Adam actually took a deep breath and reached down, gripping Liam’s cock in a firm, determined fist. It took everything in him for Liam not to come just from that, because even in his wildest dreams he never would have thought this would actually happen.