by Bianca Vix
“Yeah. Bryce is our sound engineer.” Cora’s head swivels between us. As if she knows we haven’t given her the whole story.
Which we haven’t. Not even close.
“What are you up to these days, Dev? Who are you working for now?” Bryce is acting like we barely know each other.
My jaw tightens. “Actually, I left the industry a few years ago. I’m in hotel management now.”
Bryce frowns. “Really? Why?”
“Bryce!” Cora elbows him.
I shrug. “I couldn’t get into working so hard on music that wasn’t my own anymore. So I left it all behind, got into hospitality and I’ve been doing that ever since. It’s good work. I like it.”
“That’s cool. You want another?” He gestures at my empty glass.
“Yeah.”
He stands up, leaning down to kiss Cora before he leaves. So they’re a couple. Quite the little show he’s making of it too.
Asshole.
Bryce goes off to the bar, brown hair brushing his shoulders, casually hot in a black t-shirt and tight black jeans.
“I can’t believe you guys know each other.” Cora slides closer to me, giving me another hug. I hold onto her a few seconds longer than I should, breathing in deeply to inhale her scent. Roses and vanilla.
Beautiful.
“Yeah, small world. So how’s your tour been?”
“So good. So much fun.” She starts giving me details and I can relax now that we’re not on the subject of Bryce. Bad enough that I’m going to be forced to sit across from the guy for the next few hours and share my precious time with Cora. No way do I want to talk about him any more than I have to.
He gets back way too quickly as it is. Setting the drinks down, he slides onto the circular bench seat and drapes his arm over Cora’s shoulders in a possessive move. Jesus Christ.
Cora and I keep talking about our shared past. Especially about all the people we used to know and what they’re doing now. It’s bugging Bryce that he can’t join in. But he doesn’t make an effort to change the subject either.
Instead he’s taking the opportunity to give me a once-over. I look a lot different than the last time we saw each other. So much so that Bryce might not have recognized me if we passed each other on the street. Still I ignore him, keeping all my attention on Cora.
The drinks are flowing right up until the waiter tells us that our next round has to be the last one.
Cora blinks. “Last call? It’s only midnight. What’s with this place?”
“Midnight? I should get going.” I don’t want to leave her. But I need to.
“Seriously? We used to just be getting started at midnight. Remember?” Bryce tips the last of his beer into his mouth. At the same time, he’s watching closely for my reaction.
I shrug without looking at him. “It’s Wednesday night. I’ve got an early shift tomorrow.”
We settle up quickly and head out into the cool night air. Cora gives me a hug goodbye.
“It’s so good to see you, Dev. I’ve missed you so much.”
“Me too.” I hug her again as Bryce shifts his weight from foot to foot. My lips curl up in a smile as I extend my hand out to shake his.
His eyes glint with something I don’t recognize. “Oh, come on, man. After all this time, just a handshake? No way.”
Before I can reply, Bryce has his arms locked around me. It’s not a back-slapping shoulder hug either. He’s grinding his crotch against mine. Hard enough to make sure I know it’s no accident.
And yet I don’t pull away in alarm like he must be expecting me to. I grab at him too, holding on tight instead of backing off from his wildly inappropriate move.
My response to Bryce is supposed to be a big Screw You. But instead, unexpected memories flood over me.
Memories of the last time he and I hugged like this. Bryce ends up being the first one of us to pull out of the embrace.
“Let’s go!” Cora was busy flagging down a cab so she didn’t see what was going on between Bryce and I.
Without a word, he climbs into the cab. I give Cora one last goodbye hug, making sure she doesn’t feel my body’s reaction to Bryce.
Chapter 3
Bryce
Back in our hotel suite, I don’t waste a single second. Grabbing for Cora, I kiss her passionately. My fingers dig into her firm ass as our bodies come together. She coils her arms around me, pulling me in close.
Without breaking our embrace, I walk her over to the bed, pulling her down on top of me, my hands travelling up under her sexy dress. I stroke her hot skin and she sucks in her breath.
Breaking our kiss, she tugs her dress off to reveal her sheer black lingerie. The moment she unclasps her bra, my hands are molded around her beautiful breasts.
“You’re wearing too many clothes.” Cora grinds against my hard cock.
“So are you.”
She laughs as I reluctantly let her go. “Yeah, right.”
Of course she’s naked before I am, since all she had left to take off were her panties. She stretches out on the bed, watching me struggle to get my clothes off as fast as I can without taking my eyes off her.
Fuck, she’s hot.
Her fingers curve around my cock before I’m even lying down beside her. The way she’s caressing me is making me want to fuck right this minute.
Instead I reach down between her legs, her wet heat driving my desire even high. She don’t stop stroking my throbbing shaft.
I need to taste her. Shifting around, I move between her gorgeous thighs. The moment my tongue touches her clit, she shudders.
“Bryce.” The way she says my name is always so damn hot. I love the way she responds to me, even when it makes it harder to try and hold myself together.
Working my tongue around, I explore her familiar depths. She moans loudly. I laps at her teasingly until she’s bucking and writhing underneath me.
“God, baby, yes!” Cora’s body starts shaking, flooding my mouth with her sweetness as her orgasm takes her over completely.
My cock is iron-hard and insistent. I kneel between her legs, rubbing the head around her lips just the way she likes it. Sliding deep into her, I kiss her quick and hard.
Cora wraps her legs around my waist, thrusting her hips up to meet me. “Deeper, Bryce.”
I grip her ass tight, pulling her hips up, pounding relentlessly. She moans, her muscles milking my throbbing cock.
I can’t hold back. I explode inside her, panting as I call out her name.
Easing myself away, I lie down beside Cora.
She turns to me, her palm moving to my heaving chest. “Wow. That was incredible. What’s got into you tonight?”
I give her a half-shrug. “Nothing. I want you. Always.” I lean in to kiss her so she can’t press me further.
Cora rests her head on my chest. For once I’m still awake when she falls asleep.
What I said is true. I always want her. But tonight, it’s more than that. The reason I had to have Cora the moment we got back here makes me uneasy. I can’t let her know why.
If I tell her about my past, I don’t know what will it mean for our future. And I can’t risk my future with the woman I love more than anyone else.
Chapter 4
Bryce
“Did I tell you Dev’s coming to the show tonight?”
Cora steps out of the bathroom wrapped only in a short towel. Normally that’d be a big distraction for me, but hearing that name stops me short.
“No. You didn’t.” Christ, I’d been hoping I wouldn’t have to see Dev again. Cora hasn’t mentioned him since the other night so I figured I was safe.
“Yeah, we can all hang out afterwards. Sound good?”
It doesn’t sound good at all. My mind racing, I force a smile for Cora. “Sure.”
I still haven’t told her how I know Dev. It always felt like it was so long ago. A whole other lifetime. Until I saw him again in that bar.
And then all of a sudden, it was
like no time had gone by at all.
It was back in Seattle, a few years ago. Dev and I became instant friends when we met in our sound engineering course. We were practically inseparable, hanging out all the time, working on projects together, going out to gigs every chance we got. He and I always had a great time whenever we were together.
One Saturday night, we went to a club near where I lived for a late show. The plan was for him to crash at my place afterwards, since he’d have no other way to get back home once the last band was done.
Stumbling back together, we were both too drunk to fall asleep. I’m not really sure how it happened. I think it was Dev who suggested we get each other off. It could’ve just as easily been me. Somehow the idea wasn’t even shocking, and I don’t think it was because I was so wasted. It made sense. It felt right.
At first we just jacked each other off, making sure we didn’t make eye contact while we stroked the other’s hard cocks. I’d never messed around with a guy before. The feeling of a throbbing shaft that wasn’t my own was so arousing, I couldn’t believe it. And seeing Dev come from my hand got me so hot, I started shooting before he was finished.
It ended up becoming a habit. Having fun with each other if we didn’t manage to score out at the clubs was incredibly satisfying. A guaranteed backup way to get off at the end of the night. It was the perfect set-up we had going on.
And it lasted for months. One night, hand jobs turned into oral. I never told Dev, but I stopped trying as hard to pick up women. I couldn’t have been happier with the way things were.
Everything came to a crashing halt when a friend of mine turned me on to an intern gig for big name down in Hollywood. I got in touch with the guy almost as an afterthought. When I actually got the call asking me to come down, I’d forgotten all about it.
I got hired right away and I dropped out of school. It was a career-making opportunity that I couldn’t turn down. Even with the cost of leaving everything behind.
Including Dev.
He and I kept in touch for awhile but we never saw each other again. I wanted him to come and visit, but without enough money or time, he never did make it down.
And now, I’ll be seeing Dev twice in one week. After all this time. Along with Cora, who happens to be Dev’s best friend.
Fucking crazy.
Obviously Dev never told her about me. He never mentioned her to me either back then, or at least not that I can remember.
It’ll be okay. It’s just for one more night. One more awkward night. It’s just a blip. A few hours, then everything’ll go back to normal. Dev Thompson will go back to being in my past. That’ll be it.
I watch Cora kick ass as usual for close to two hours tonight. Her energy spreads throughout the entire stadium, and everyone is screaming for more. I can’t count how many times I’ve worked a Disarray show. Unlike with any other band I’ve toured with, I never get tired of seeing them rock out. They are truly amazing to watch.
After the lights come up and I get everything in order, I head backstage.
“Good gig tonight, Lucky.”
“Yeah, man. Pretty smooth.” The bassist tosses me a beer. I’m popping the top when I see Cora across the room.
She’s deep in conversation with Dev. Damn it. I’m not in the mood.
Dev’s grinning. All of his attention is locked onto Cora, even with all the usual backstage chaos going on around them.
That’s when it hits me. Hard. I didn’t notice it before, but there it is. He’s into her. I figured he was acting weird the other night because of me. Maybe he was, but now I can see it clearly. Dev’s into Cora. He wants her.
What the hell.
I walk over, making an effort not to hurry. There’s a bunch of empty bottles scattered on the table in front of them. Cora’s not normally a big drinker. Tonight looks like an exception to that rule.
Her eyes are bright when I get to her side. “Bryce, come on. We’re doing shots.”
I grab a clean-looking glass and a bottle that still has some alcohol left in it.
“You miss this, Dev?” I down a big shot of whiskey.
Dev shakes his head. “The tours I worked on were never like this. Not even close.”
He’s sitting too close to Cora. It’s bothering me more than it should be. I swallow another shot of whiskey but the burn does nothing to calm me down. “Cora, let’s get going.”
“Okay. We can go back to the hotel bar. Come on, Dev.”
My eyes narrow. I didn’t mean for Dev to come along. I can’t exactly uninvite him without a reason though.
I do have a reason. Just not one I want to admit to.
Once we get back to the hotel, the bar’s already closed.
“What the hell?” Cora peers through the glass doors to see if there’s anyone left inside. “It’s not that late, is it? Where else can we go, Dev?”
I speak up before he can answer her. “We’ve got a couple bottles up in our room.” It’ll be a lot easier to end this night here instead of going out somewhere else.
And the sooner this night ends, the better.
“I should go home.”
Cora shakes her head. “No way, Dev. You said you have tomorrow off. And I won’t see you again for who knows how long. Come up and hang out with us.”
He glances over in my direction. “Yeah, come on, man.” I couldn’t have sounded less sincere if I tried. I don’t know why Dev being here is making me so irritable. Maybe another drink or three will help with that.
“Okay. Sounds good.”
The elevator fills up behind us. Cora gets into the corner. I stand in front of her as a shield so she won’t get recognized. Dev ends up wedged right in front of me.
His closeness is reawakening some extremely unwanted memories. I don’t want to be thinking about him the way I used to. The constant awareness of his body. Of everything about him.
The damn elevator stopping on nearly every floor isn’t helping at all. This ride needs to be over with fast.
I know Dev’s just as aware of me as I am of him. I can’t see his face, but his body is tensed right up. I know he hasn’t forgotten anything about the things we used to do together. The look in his eyes when we first saw each other again made that crystal clear.
Trying to suck in a deep breath, I fight against the increasing tightness of my pants.
Finally we get to our floor. Inside the suite, Cora heads straight for the bathroom. Without a word to Dev, I find the liquor. There’s not as much left as I thought there’d be. Just half a bottle of rum.
Damn.
I walk over to where Dev’s sprawled out on the sofa, holding up the bottle so he can see what it is.
“This is all we got, and no mixer. You want it straight?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, man. I’m good.”
“Suit yourself.” Pouring out a double, I join Dev on the sofa. Only to find that it’s too short to allow for much distance between us. I never noticed that before. Guess that’s because I don’t want distance when Cora and I sit here.
I knock back some of the rum. I can’t think of a single thing to say to Dev. At least he’s looking a lot better than he did the other night. I mean, Christ. It’s like the old Dev’s come back. The other night I couldn’t even believe it was him. His formerly long blond hair is cut tragically short now and his clothes were insanely dull. Way too clean-cut and respectable, like he works in a regular boring job. Which I guess he does.
Tonight he’s loosened up a lot. He’s looking a lot more like the rocker sound guy I used to know. Sitting here now with his t-shirt fitting just tight enough to reveal that he’s definitely been keeping himself in shape.
He’s actually kind of fucking hot.
I haven’t had sex with any other men. Not once. Dev was the only guy I’ve ever wanted. Cora and I are solid. I’ve never cheated on her. I’ve never wanted to. Never even been tempted.
But if anyone can test my resolve, it’s Dev.
I shift
around, getting more and more uncomfortable with the silence stretching out between us.
Dev’s the one to break it. “So, how did you meet Cora?”
Yes. Cora. Think about Cora. Your girlfriend. The only one in the world for you.
“Lucky’s a friend of mine, and he wanted me for their last album. Once it was done, Cora and I started seeing each other.”
“Right.”
“So. Are you still playing guitar?”
Dev turns to face me as he answers. “No. Not really. Not much time for it, what with work and all. Things aren’t like they used to be back when we were in school. Remember how we were back then?”
His steel-blue eyes burn right into mine. I stare back at him, the sudden intensity between us shooting straight to my groin.
It’s an invitation. Dev’s not just remembering our sexual past. He’d be willing to relive it too.
There was one time. Just once. We slept together. We were enjoying some oral action in my bed and after we both came for the second time, we dozed off. I didn’t remember falling asleep, or that Dev stayed in bed with me. Sometime around dawn, I got startled awake by a crazy loud garbage truck in the alley outside. Dev was still sound asleep, his head resting against mine.
I didn’t move away. Instead I wrapped my arms around him as slowly as I could so as not to wake him. Somehow it was natural to be sleeping in the same bed as my best friend. I held onto Dev for I don’t know how long until he stirred.
To my total shock, he didn’t pull away. We lay together for a few minutes longer. I faked sleep until Dev untangled himself gingerly and left the room.
It never happened again. I remember thinking at the time it was probably for the best. I couldn’t go falling for my best friend. I never told Dev I’d been awake, and I’m sure he never thought I was.
Two months later, I moved away. Never slept with a guy since. Never wanted to.
But now Dev’s right beside me, eyes blazing with desire. He reaches out, his hand landing on my leg.
Damn it. It takes everything I have not to jump on Dev. To pin him down on the sofa and rip his clothes off. Dev’s hand is moving, running up my thigh. Getting dangerously close to my crotch.