“Thomas Ray Emerson.” His voice shook, giving away his anger and pain. “If your mom heard you say that—”
“Do you know this pervert, Emerson?” the man still holding Thomas’s shoulder asked.
“Does he ever,” Matt replied, realizing too late he should have picked his words more carefully. Thomas’s expression darkening was the only warning he got before a fist hit him in the face, connecting solidly with his cheek and sending him sprawling backward on his ass.
By the time he realized Thomas had actually punched him, his cousin was already walking away with the other two men, one of them muttering a whole string of homophobic insults.
Matt sat there for a second, hand pressed lightly against the burn in his cheekbone, disbelief scrambling his thoughts, eyes stinging, which left him blinking back moisture. He’d been more shocked than hurt, caught off guard and not ready to catch his balance. His pride probably ached more than his face. He glanced around as he got to his feet and dusted off his jeans. There were a few people scattered around the park, but none of them were looking at him—pointedly avoiding him, actually, since no one had bothered coming to his aid. What if Thomas hadn’t stopped at punching him just the once? What if the other two men had joined in after he’d gone down? Would all those people have just stood back and let him get beaten up?
“The world is fucked,” he muttered to himself as he stalked across the town square, back toward where he’d left his rental.
As he unsteadily fished the keys out of his pocket, someone said his name a second before a hand landed on his shoulder. He jerked from beneath the touch and spun, thinking Thomas had come back for round two.
“Whoa, Matty, it’s just me.” Gabe stepped back, eyes wide as he held up both hands like he was calming a skittish animal. His gaze roamed Matt’s face, and his features went from surprised and confused to aggravated and concerned in a blink. “What the fuck? Matt, what happened to you?”
Matt clenched his jaw, snapping his gaze away from Gabe, shame and embarrassment burning up his neck and into his face. He shouldn’t have let Thomas get the drop on him.
Gabe shifted closer and touched gentle fingers to his chin, turning his head until Matt had no choice but to look at him again.
“Did someone hit you?” Gabe sounded pissed. Like he was ready to go all FBI on the person responsible. For half a second, Matt wanted nothing more than for Gabe to pull his knight-in-shining-armor routine, same way he had with the tire and bathroom door. But then the things Thomas had said echoed in his ears, and the last thing he wanted was someone as awesome as Gabe knowing he had an asshole like Thomas for a cousin.
Matt shifted out of reach, tightening his hold on the keys as he unlocked the rental. “My cousin wasn’t happy to see me.”
He started to step off the curb, but Gabe caught his arm and pulled him close, setting a hand on his hip and turning Matt toward him. “Wait, don’t run off. Tell me what happened.”
The memory of the horrible pamphlet and Thomas’s words were wrapped heavy and tight around his heart, making him too self-conscious of the stares they were getting from Gabe’s casual PDA. Matt had never in his life worried about the way he acted in public with guys he cared about, but right now he felt like he had a target on his back and didn’t want to attract any more attention to himself until he could get out of his hellpit of a town.
“Not now. Not here.” He jerked out of Gabe’s hold, ignoring the momentary hurt—no, couldn’t be that, they didn’t know each other well enough—or whatever that flashed over Gabe’s face, and hurried to climb in behind the wheel of the car.
As he started the engine, the passenger door slammed and he turned to see Gabe tugging the seat belt across his chest with a tenacious expression set on his features.
“What are you doing?” Matt asked dumbly. His body had gone numb and his brain wasn’t cooperating, too many emotions and fears and self-doubt clouding his mind.
“Going with you. Wherever you’re going.” There was an undeniable tone of stubbornness to Gabe’s voice that perfectly matched the mulish line of his mouth. “Back to the motel?”
“Aren’t you working your case or whatever?” This time his words came out sounding weary, and he couldn’t even be bothered pretending otherwise.
“Consider this a lunch break if it makes you feel better.” Gabe crossed his arms. “But if you think I’m just going to walk off when you’re clearly upset and there’s a bruise coming up on your cheekbone, then you don’t know me very well.”
“That’s the point. I don’t know you,” he snapped, starting the car and turning his concentration to reversing out of the parking space so he didn’t have to look at Gabe. Because it made him feel… something. Something he didn’t want to feel for a man who lived clear across the other side of the country from him. Who was only interested in a short-term fling. Who he would never see again once he left this godforsaken corner of the world. This was why he didn’t do this sort of thing. He could never completely keep his feelings out of it. And clearly, feelings were only going to make this messy…. Messier than it already was.
“I think you do,” Gabe replied slowly and softly. “I think last night wouldn’t have happened if you had any doubt about whether you could trust me. Always listen to your instincts, Matt, no matter what kind of situation you find yourself in.”
Gabe’s quiet words calmed him more than they had any right to as he drove the short distance across town to the motel. Gabe was bouncing a leg the whole way, like he had too much energy needing to be expended to sit still for three minutes. As Matt pulled into the parking lot, Gabe shifted his foot, brow creasing momentarily before he reached down into the footwell.
Oh crap. He hadn’t found a trash can to throw the pamphlet in like he’d meant to.
“What the fuck is this?” Gabe’s expression darkened as he read the front and then went one step further to open it up for whatever contents were inside.
“I don’t know. I found it under my wipers when I came out this morning. Probably just the local Bible-thumpers on some kind of drive. There was probably one on every car up and down the block if I’d checked. I just didn’t care enough.”
Okay, small lie there. More like he wanted to forget the damn thing even existed.
“Some people are pathetic.” Gabe violently ripped the pamphlet in half and then shoved open the car door.
Matt took a moment to sigh, long and heartfelt, wishing the day was over and he could curl up under the stupid floral duvet on the lumpy mattress in his hotel room and pretend like this day hadn’t ever happened. When he realized he was imaging him and Gabe snuggled up together in that scenario, he shook his head at himself in annoyance and got out of the car.
Gabe was already halfway across the lot, heading for the motel office, too far away for Matt to call after him to ask what he was up to.
Giving a mental shrug, he let himself into his room and turned on the AC in the far window before focusing his attention on the minibar.
Ah, tiny bottles of bourbon, his new best friend. He grabbed four bottles, not caring it was probably going to cost him more than buying an entire bottle from a liquor store, and twisted the lid off one while still juggling the other three.
Just as he’d finished downing the first bottle and blinking back tears at the cheap burn, his door opened and Gabe strode in, immediately owning the space like this was his room.
“That’s really not the answer.” Gabe shifted the bucket of ice he was holding to one hand and slipped the remaining three minibottles from his fingers.
“Actually, I think it might be,” he replied, voice a little hoarse. He cleared his throat, wondering if more bourbon would help the sting in the back of his mouth or make it worse.
Gabe returned the bottles to their spot and disappeared into the bathroom. A second later he returned with a small towel, dumped a handful of ice into it, and then crossed the room to stop in front of Matt.
Instead of handing it ove
r, however, Gabe gently pressed it against his aching cheekbone. Matt hissed out a curse at the cold burn, reaching up to cover Gabe’s hand with his own. But he stopped himself from pulling away like he was initially going to. Instead he found his fingers trailing across the back of Gabe’s hand, over his wrist, and along his forearm. Suddenly, sinking into his arms and wrapping himself around Gabe’s leanly muscled chest seemed like an even better idea than the bourbon or hiding under the duvet.
He didn’t do any of those things, however, just closed his eyes and found himself in some kind of limbo between heaven and hell.
“Are you going to tell me what happened now?” Gabe’s voice was a low rumble that cascaded all the way down his spine.
“Like I said, my cousin wasn’t happy to see me.” He didn’t want Gabe dragged into his family drama. He was already on dangerous footing where Gabe was concerned—who wouldn’t be when a gorgeous, confident guy kept turning up to his rescue and saying all the right things to make him feel special. If he started sharing, if he let Gabe into even a little bit of his life, he was scared he’d find himself on a slippery slope where he wanted so much more by the time they had to say goodbye. This thing had an expiration date. They’d agreed on that. Short and sweet and uncomplicated. So he’d sure as hell make sure it didn’t get complicated by turning to Gabe for help—even just unloading his fears and frustrations—over Thomas.
“So he hit you?” Gabe demanded incredulously. “I’m sure there’s more to it than that.”
Now he did take the ice pack from Gabe and shifted away. “Yes, there is, but I don’t want to get into it. My cousin is a dick, but I promised my aunt I’d bring him home. He didn’t agree with that idea, end of story.”
He tossed the ice—towel and all—into the bucket Gabe had left on the table, too many volatile sentiments and emotions colliding inside him to make sense of any one thing. He needed an escape from his own damn head. That was why he’d gone out earlier after sending himself stir-crazy in his room this morning, but it’d made things worse. The only time in the last few days he hadn’t been getting in his own way had been—
He slowly pivoted, settling his attention on Gabe, who was staring at him with brooding speculation, like he was debating the merits of trying to get Matt to open up more about his family situation.
Last night when Gabe had freed him from the locked bathroom and Matt had let himself feel instead of think, it’d been the first time in years he’d really let his guard down. Let go. Let nothing else matter. The realization that Gabe had that kind of power over him should have been terrifying, but instead it was thrilling and heady. And addictive. He needed that again. Needed it now before he burst out of his own skin from the conflagration of the day’s events all twisted up inside him.
“You should let me help, Matt. I know family can be a bitch, but whatever is going on here, you don’t have to do it alone.”
“Want to know what’ll help?” Matt crossed the space between them in three long strides and shoved Gabe in the shoulders, sending him off balance. The backs of Gabe’s legs collided into the edge of the bed and he dropped to sit. Gabe’s ass had barely hit the mattress when Matt straddled him, knees either side of Gabe’s thighs and abdomen pressing to Gabe’s chest.
“Matt—”
He caught whatever Gabe was going to say against his lips, muffling the words that quickly broke off in favor of a moan as Matt swept his tongue into Gabe’s mouth with little warning. He caught two handfuls of Gabe’s thick hair, tilting his head back so he could kiss him deeper, harder, smothering every bad thing he’d felt today with the heat of Gabe’s body beneath him and his mouth matching the increasing intensity arcing between them.
Gabe’s hands landed on his hips, pulling Matt in tighter, the kiss getting a little fiercer as Gabe rubbed his tongue against his, sending a bolt of heat lancing straight to his groin. The chemistry sparking between them was like nothing Matt had ever experienced before. He’d never thought he could get so hot just from kissing, that the press and slide and nip of someone else’s mouth against his could send wave after wave of pleasure rolling through his body to the point he swore if they kept this up long enough, he’d come from kissing alone.
The friction of his erection pressed and confined behind the zipper of his jeans was almost too much to bear. All he could think of was throwing off every stitch of clothing and sinking into absolute abandon, taking everything Gabe could give to keep him in this deliciously heated, heady space where the feel, the taste, the smell of Gabe was all the reality he needed.
CHAPTER NINE
WHEN MATT had first crossed the room, intent obvious in the burn of his blue eyes locked onto Gabe like a homing beacon, he had been intending to resist. Try to talk some more. Get Matt to open up about what had gone down with his cousin. Protest a little. At least make a token effort of resistance.
Really, he had been.
Except once again, Matt had completely surprised him, leaving Gabe’s brain with all the usefulness of raw pudding.
He’d been expecting Matt to touch him. Expecting Matt to kiss him. Expecting Matt’s clear avoidance of wanting to talk about whatever was going on with his cousin through their very definite physical connection.
What he hadn’t expected was Matt pushing him down onto the bed like a boss. Climbing onto his lap like no one’s business. Kissing him drunk like midnight cocktails on a tropical beach.
He knew exactly what this was—Matt using him to escape whatever demons were riding him. Maybe he should’ve felt at least a little insulted. Maybe if he had less of an ego he might have even been hurt at Matt’s insistence they not share personal details about their lives in favor of sharing their bodies. But something deep inside him was desperate to give Matt whatever he needed to make this better. And if this was what he needed, then Gabe sure as hell wasn’t going to argue.
Matt’s hands dragged down from the tight grip on Gabe’s hair, over his shoulders, leaving him wanting to arch into the caress like a damned overgrown cat. He slid his own hands down from Matt’s hips and around, cupping his gorgeous ass and jerking him in as tight as he could get so their groins fit snuggly together. Matt rocked into him with a low groan as those nimble, long fingers made short work of Gabe’s tie.
This really hadn’t been his intention when he’d bumped into Matt outside the diner. He’d been planning to grab a quick lunch and send an apology text to say they wouldn’t be able to catch up until after hours. After a minor delay, Yas was arriving from Houston any minute now, and he’d promised to meet her so they could go over the case notes he’d put together.
He certainly hadn’t intended to have a middle-of-the-day quickie with his cute motel-neighbor, but as Matt flicked his tie aside and started in on his shirt buttons, Gabe couldn’t find the words to protest. Instead he hurried to shrug out of his suit jacket, letting it fall to the bed behind him.
He did break off the kiss, however, head spinning from Matt’s clever tongue and a decided lack of oxygen.
“We have to be quick,” he told Matt a little breathlessly, since the guy had taken to sucking on his neck with renewed purpose. Hell, if they’d been standing that alone probably would have made his knees buckle.
“I can do quick,” Matt murmured in return, fingers not missing a beat as they skipped from Gabe’s open shirt buttons to his belt. With a few short, insistent tugs, the buckle came undone and his fly didn’t stand a chance against Matt’s questing hands.
Gabe tugged up Matt’s T-shirt, the urge to feel Matt’s warm skin against his hitting him hard and fast. When he pressed his palms flat against Matt’s abdomen, reveling in the slight play of tensed muscles beneath his fingers, Matt shuddered lightly as his breathing hitched.
Last night, when Matt had been sprawled on the bed, staring up at him with heated anticipation, Gabe’s breath had caught tight in his chest at the sight. He’d seen plenty of lovers laid out naked on a bed waiting for him to join them, but something about Matt had
struck him profoundly in that moment. Matt was beautiful, yes, those ocean-blue eyes framed by thick lashes, all that flawless pale skin and a smattering of dark hair around his navel trailing down to the thicker thatch of hair at his groin. He wasn’t obviously cut, but his muscles were lean and defined like an athlete.
Matt hadn’t been shy in the least, and from the second they’d kissed, had apparently known what he wanted and hadn’t been afraid to take it. Gabe had been with painfully self-conscious men who worried about getting naked, to overly confident ones who couldn’t wait to get undressed to show off. He’d never stopped to think how someone so quietly yet overtly comfortable and self-assured in their own body could be such a turn-on.
It wasn’t only the physical, however. There was something indefinable about him, something that had snagged Gabe’s interest from the first few words they’d exchanged over the flat tire, and though he wasn’t letting himself think about it, he knew that if Matt had lived anywhere near Houston, Gabe would have been suggesting they get to know each other in a more long-term arrangement.
His last two relationships had been drama followed by bad breakups, and while he hadn’t sworn off them altogether, he had been a little warier and more inclined toward short, casual arrangements for the past few years. Matt, however, was turning all that on its head. Making him maybe want more for the first time in ages. Making the fleeting, crazy thought flit across his mind that maybe he should see whether there were any openings in the San Francisco FBI office. He had been restless for a while now and looking for a change.
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