by Christi Snow
Stig slumped, which caused flares of pain to jettison across his lower back. He straightened again with a hiss. Ignoring his suddenly wet eyes, he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a pain pill, dry swallowing it. He needed it to take effect as soon as possible.
Chapter Eleven
Ryder
Mondays were usually Ryder’s easiest day of the week because he’d had the weekend to get caught up on rest. That was not the case this Monday. Taking care of Stig had wiped him out more than he realized. His brain felt foggy, and the wheelchair wasn’t even negotiable today.
He sat at his desk, trying to concentrate on a new article for his blog, but the letters on the screen swam in front of his eyes creating a jumbled mess. He rubbed at his tired eyes before sinking his head into his hand.
Cari walked into the room, but Ryder ignored her, assuming she was about to go work at the computer on her desk.
But instead, she cleared her throat. “I just got off the phone with an appearance request. I know you’re wiped today, but this isn’t something I can let sit. They need a yay or nay.”
He didn’t look up, just swallowed his thick tongue and asked, “Who and when?”
“It’s a luncheon. The theme is thankful living. It’s the day before Thanksgiving at Cornerstone.”
Ryder’s gaze flew up to hers, shock and then nausea reverberating through him. “They can’t be serious.”
After his almost-suicide last year, he’d been checked into Cornerstone Rehab for a thirty-day stint. It was a government-run facility where most of the patients didn’t have a choice about being there. Lack of funding meant there wasn’t quite as much control as one would expect from a government health facility. Tommy had managed to get Ryder out after he was almost gang raped. Luckily, Ryder didn’t remember the incident, but that didn’t stop that same fear and horror from swamping him now.
Cari had been on her honeymoon at the time, so she didn’t know the full story. She just knew that something had gone wrong at the original facility that ultimately extended his stay in an institution to six weeks.
Ryder shook his head at her. “No, absolutely not. No way. No, just no.”
She held up two hands toward him in a placating manner. “Okay, okay. I got it. Calm down. I’ll call them now so they know to make alternative plans.”
He nodded and pain bounced through his head. Just perfect. A headache pulsed in warning behind his eyes. Ryder swallowed. “Thanks, Cari. And you know what? I’m not feeling all that great today. Why don’t you take the rest of the afternoon off? I think I just need to go back to bed.” Where fractured, haunting dreams featuring Stig would interrupt his sleep again.
The room had gotten quiet, so Ryder looked up at Cari. She frowned at him in concern. “How long has it been since you went in to see Dr. Shaw?”
Dr. Shaw was his therapist. He shook off her concern. “Nice.” He scowled at her. “I’m fine. I just have a headache. That doesn’t mean I’m suicidal. Not today.”
The hurt flitted across her features so quickly he wasn’t sure he’d actually seen it. But he probably deserved her suspicion. He’d waited until she was gone last year before he acted on the need that had been building up for months. She knew the warning signs...now. He’d hurt everyone—including her—by his actions last year.
He blew out a big sigh. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. I’ll call her this afternoon. Scout’s honor.”
She frowned at him, the concern radiating from her compassion-filled eyes. “It’s coming up on the holidays, Ryder. Everyone gets a little blue this time of year. There’s nothing wrong with making sure it doesn’t get out of control.”
Ryder gritted his jaw. She was right, but he still wanted to argue with her. He was fine, perfectly fine.
***
Ryder awoke with a start. A dark figure stood by the bed. He reared back, knocking his pillow to the floor.
His brother, Tommy stood right beside his head, frowning.
“Jesus, Tom. You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing here?” Ryder pushed to sit up and tried to anchor his brain in reality.
“What’s wrong?” Tommy crouched beside the bed. “Why are you sleeping in the middle of the day? Why haven’t you been answering your cell? What happened?”
Ryder lifted his hands to stall the bombardment of questions. “Whoa, slow down, bro. At least give a guy half a minute to wake up before you start the inquisition. I’m fine.”
He rubbed his hand over his face and became aware of his very inconvenient erection pulsing front and center. There was no hiding it since he had stripped down to his underwear to sleep comfortably. “I just had a headache, so I sent Cari home early. It’s nothing to worry about.” He waved Tommy back to the living room. “Let me get dressed, and we can talk like normal human beings.”
Tommy stood and smirked down as Ryder’s dick wouldn’t give up. “Maybe that’s it. I think you need to tell me who’s giving you such good dreams. Did you meet a new girl?”
“Get out, asshole,” Ryder growled.
“Does that mean you’re not going to share details about her? Not even with your brother? Man, that’s harsh.” Tommy laughed as he wandered out and down the hall to the living room.
Ryder blew out a gusty sigh. Tommy probably wouldn’t think it was so funny if he knew Ryder had been dreaming about Mac’s ex-lover.
“Fuck.” Ryder hissed and pressed at the base of his erection, willing it to subside, but his head was too full of images from his dream...Stig sucking him off, pinching his nipples, kissing him. He couldn’t stop the visual loops from his dream playing over and over and over again inside his brain.
He’d never fantasized about a man before this week. What the fuck? But there was no denying what his erection was telling him. He wanted Stig...badly. Maybe it was just an anomaly of some really sexy dreams combined with the fact that they’d slept in a bed together. It had been years since Ryder had had that kind of intimacy with anyone. In fact, he’d never had anyone besides family ever sleep with him.
That had to be what it was. Sleeping together gave them an extra level of intimacy that you didn’t get with other people.
“You don’t have time to jerk off,” Tommy called from the other room. “Come on. I’m getting old out here.”
Ryder rolled his eyes. “Don’t kid yourself. You’ve been old for a while now.”
“Haha, very funny.”
But the banter helped with his issue a little. Erection subsiding, he grabbed his sweatpants from where he’d left them at the bottom of the bed and slid them on over his hips. Now that he could focus on something besides his errant penis, Ryder realized he actually felt better than he had all day. So the nap had been good in that regard.
He glanced over at the clock. Holy hell. No wonder he felt better. He’d been asleep for over four hours. And as if reminded of its existence, his stomach rumbled as he walked into the living room.
“I skipped lunch,” he told Tommy. “Mind if I order a pizza?”
Tommy looked down at the clock on his cell phone. “I promised Mac I’d be home for dinner, but if I’m still here when it arrives, we don’t have to let Mac know I indulged twice.”
Ryder laughed. Mac would know. Mac always knew, but that was just because the two guys were so close, they were incapable of hiding things from one another. That’s why the surprise engagement last week had been such a big deal. Mac had never thought he’d be able to pull that off.
“I haven’t even gotten to talk to you since the bookstore. Tell me you had no idea beforehand.”
Tommy shook his head and grinned the happy smile of a guy totally in love. “I had no clue. Did you know?”
“Yeah.” Otherwise, he probably would have skipped out that night since crowds like that were always difficult. But he hadn’t been willing to miss Tommy’s big moment.
“So, why have you been avoiding my calls since then?” Tommy asked.
“I haven’t.” Ryder lifted both h
ands. “Honest. I lost my phone and simply haven’t gotten a chance to get it replaced. I need to get that done.”
“You look like you’re feeling good. Want to do it now? We can grab you some food while we’re out.”
Ryder speared his fingers through his hair, wondering how bad his bedhead was. He could just throw on a cap. “Sure, let me get dressed in real clothes.”
“Good, because I need to talk to you about something.”
Ryder had already been walking back to his bedroom, but he stopped and turned back now.
Tommy waved him on. “It’s no big deal. I can ask while you shovel food into your mouth.”
Thirty minutes later, Ryder had replaced his phone and had a tray full of tacos in front of him. “Okay, you’ve taken care of my needs. What do you need to talk to me about?” Ryder took a bite of the taco.
“Well, as you know we got engaged.” Tommy looked around the fast food joint as if he was nervous.
“Yeah,” Ryder said slowly. “Everything’s okay there, right?” It had only been a few days. Their plans couldn’t have already changed, could they?
“Yeah, everything’s great. Moving faster than I ever expected, but it’s really good.” Excited light glowed from Tommy’s eyes.
Ryder stopped eating, wiping his face as he tilted his head at his brother. “Oh my god, you guys didn’t already get married, did you?”
Tommy laughed. “No, but you’re on the right track. We want to tell everyone about it together. Tell me you can make it to dinner Wednesday night.”
Ryder slowly nodded. “I don’t think I have anything scheduled. Let me text Cari real quick to double check though.” He thumbed through his new phone, his new set up making it slower than it would have been normally. Luckily his provider had been able to grab all his backup information from the Cloud.
While he waited for the response, he set the phone down and nonchalantly asked, “You said you wanted everyone to be there. Who’s everyone?”
Tommy counted off on his fingers, “You, Stig, and Emily. Mac’s parents are out of town.”
His phone buzzed with Cari’s response. Wed night is completely clear on your schedule.
“She says I’m good. What time and where?”
“Mac’s place at seven.”
Ryder nodded and tried not to dwell on the little frisson of excitement about seeing Stig again in just two more days.
Chapter Twelve
Stig
Stig rapped on the hotel room door, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves. This was ridiculous. He had no reason to be nervous. Galleon and he had an arrangement that went back years...yet he’d never dreaded an encounter like he did tonight.
This last weekend with Peter had thrown off his juju. He just needed to relax and claim it back—by force if he had to. He was stronger than what had happened to him.
Galleon opened the door. He stood there and let his gaze drift over Stig.
Stig licked his lips. Galleon had obviously just gotten out of the shower. His dark hair was still wet and the tips curled up at the ends, dripping water onto his bare, muscular chest. Those water droplets trailed through the dark chest hair that dusted the tops of his pecs and then tapered down, down, down... A tiny treasure trail of coarse, dark hair led past his taut abs, around his belly button, leading into the low-slung black jeans, barely hanging onto his hips since Galleon hadn’t taken the time to button them.
The glimpse of his pubic hair and the base of his cock should have had Stig taking a second look. Instead, he quickly averted his gaze downward.
Galleon’s feet were bare. Overall, he looked sexy and decadent.
And Stig felt nothing. No arousal, but also no worry about a man standing here almost naked. While he could appreciate Galleon was a gorgeous man, it was like looking at a fine piece of art. He could appreciate it, but he didn’t want to buy it.
This wasn’t normal.
“Well, don’t just stand there,” Galleon admonished. “Come on in. I had the concierge send up a bottle of twenty-five year old Scotch and dinner should be here in an hour. That gives us just enough time to get through the first round and then refuel for the rest of the night.”
Stig followed Galleon into the gorgeous hotel suite. The fireplace glowed as flames danced over the false logs, leaving a soft, warm glow over the low-lit living room. A pallet of blankets and pillows had been arranged in front of it on the floor.
Stig raised an eyebrow. “Looks like you’re set for seduction.”
Galleon stepped so close they stood chest to chest, and Stig could feel Galleon’s rib cage rise and fall with his breaths. They were almost identical in height, so everything lined up perfectly.
“Honey, you have no idea. It’s been too long for me. I plan to rock your world tonight.” Galleon’s erection pressed into Stig’s groin and his...limp dick. Fuck.
Galleon frowned down at Stig’s jeans. Lifting his head to meet Stig’s gaze, he palmed Stig’s cheek. “Are you sure you want this tonight?”
“Yeah.” Stig swallowed. “I’ll be okay. Just let me settle. Maybe we can have a drink?” He had to be okay. He didn’t know what he’d do if his dick was permanently broken. He needed sex in his life.
“Of course.” Galleon pulled Stig farther into the suite. “Come in. Get comfortable, and I’ll get us some glasses for the Scotch.”
Stig stood by the vignette set up on the floor while he waited for Galleon to return with their drinks. He hadn’t felt this awkward since he’d tried to date a girl in tenth grade. That had been an epic disaster, and this night was starting to have that same kind of feel.
“You might want to bring the bottle with you,” he called to Galleon.
Galleon came into the room, laughing. “If you aren’t careful, I’m going to get a complex.” He lifted the bottle. “Here’s to liquid courage and hoping you don’t need much of it. Now, take off your shirt, and I’ll pour you several fingers worth to drink.”
Stig unbuttoned the placket of his shirt. Why the fuck were his hands shaking? He got three of the buttons undone before he said screw it and just pulled the shirt off over his head. His undershirt quickly followed.
Galleon stood in front of him, his gaze sliding down Stig’s torso with undisguised appreciation. He shoved a squat, crystal glass filled to the brim with Scotch into Stig’s hand.
He immediately threw back the drink, enjoying the smooth burn of the potent alcohol.
“Hmm, Mr. Minton, someday you do need to introduce me to your personal trainer.” Galleon trailed his finger down, fingering the dips and hollows of his abs.
As Stig watched the move, his brain screamed at him that this was all wrong. He tried closing his eyes and concentrated on that warm, masculine finger trailing down each muscle of his abs, tickling the flesh. That helped a little bit because he pictured Ryder in his mind, doing just that. His balls tingled with the slightest hint of interest. Okay, that was good. He could do this.
Since he hadn’t had anything to eat all day, the alcohol hit his bloodstream with a whoosh. He welcomed the surge of euphoria that came with it.
Galleon dropped to his knees and pulled at the buckle on Stig’s pants.
His breath hitched as the fantasy film reel in his mind played through his imagination, substituting Ryder for Galleon. His erection pulsed as a male hand reached inside his briefs and pulled out his cock, stroking it in a long firm grip that Stig loved. Calluses and an edge of roughness to the grip combined with the lack of slick did it for him. He groaned as his hips surged into the touch. Then there it was, the hot, warm, moist heat enveloped his full length, taking him to the root.
“So good,” he murmured and threaded his hands through the man’s hair, but instead of finding the silky, short, straight locks he expected, the hair was coarser and way too long.
Stig’s eyes flew open. At the sight of Galleon on his knees in front of him, his erection completely deflated, and he stumbled back.
G sat on his heels in st
unned shock, eyeing Stig’s now limp dick. “Wha—”
“I’m sorry. It’s not you. It’s me. Totally fucked up me.” Stig yanked up his pants, hissing in pain as they rubbed roughly over his healing thighs and ass. He grabbed his shirt and threw it on as he scooped his shoes up off the floor. “I’m so sorry. I can’t do this,” he whispered to Galleon as he rushed out of the hotel suite, ignoring the man calling behind him.
When he got to the lobby, he was only half-dressed and still carrying his shoes. The alcohol swam in his system. He probably would be okay to drive, but he was shaken, too, so he approached the concierge. “I need you to call me a taxi.”
Fifteen minutes later, he had paid the cab driver and let himself into his house. He didn’t turn on a light as he trudged to his bedroom and buried his face in the pillow that still smelled like Ryder. He could tell himself that this was normal after Friday night, but he could only lie to himself so long. As he inhaled the scent of the man he was quickly becoming obsessed with, he let the tears flow.
Chaos ruled his emotions, and he knew better.
He’d been in a bad place before and knew better than to let this continue, but right now, he needed a good fifteen-minute pity party. Just to get it out of his system. Tomorrow he would purge this newfound crush. He had to, because Ryder was straight and Tommy’s little brother. He was also a man who’d had enough trauma in his young life. Even if he had been gay, he deserved better than Stig’s fucked up world.
***
Wednesday night, Stig drove his Aston Martin up the long circular drive that wound in front of Mac’s mansion. When Mac had called Monday night, Stig had let the call go to voice mail. He hadn’t been up to talking to anyone who was remotely related to Ryder. Mac’s instructions had been explicit. He was required to be here tonight for dinner. Tommy and Mac wanted to talk to him about something.
Stig’s stomach twisted in on itself. No matter how many times he told himself that he was being ridiculous, that his two friends couldn’t see the fantasies playing out in his head about Ryder, he still felt that niggling doubt. Were they bringing him here to warn him to stay away from Ryder?