25. Basher
BASHER
Meeting Cameron’s mom had been a lot.
It was no big surprise that Basher didn’t like people.
He didn’t like talking to them, getting to know them, or listening to them prattle on about the latest bullshit show they were binge-watching.
Why surround yourself with drama and chaos in your personal life when the world already provided more than enough of both during the day?
Basher didn’t understand people or find them enjoyable at all.
But meeting Cameron’s mother had been important to Cam. He never openly admitted just how much it meant to him, but Basher had seen enough to understand. From the little he knew about the two of them, it was obvious that their relationship meant the world to Cameron.
So, Basher sucked up his hatred for people, pushed down all the discomfort and self-doubt he felt, and agreed to meet Cameron’s mother.
And he was glad he did.
Getting to know the most important person in Cameron’s life and seeing the love the two of them share was an experience he would never forget.
He just hoped that one day, some of that love would be shared with him.
Basher knew Cameron cared deeply about him; otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked him to meet his mother.
But love takes time to grow and develop—or at least that’s what he’d been told in the past. He didn’t exactly have any personal experience feeling love.
None of his foster parents ever loved him—they barely even liked him during his short stay.
But judging by the feeling Basher got in his chest whenever he laid eyes on Cameron, he was pretty sure he was madly in love with the guy.
That smile, those eyes, his soft touch. The way Cameron took care of people and baked him desserts for no reason at all.
No one had ever been so kind to him. No one had ever cared enough to turn to him when they were feeling down.
That night by the firepit, when Cameron opened up about his mother and his past, Basher had fallen in love with him.
Now, here they were, casually walking into Ride ’em Hard together, as if they didn’t just spend the last three hours fucking like animals.
To be honest, he was amazed that Cameron was even able to walk, given the beating his ass had just taken.
“I’m just going to drop my stuff off in my locker, then I’ll come back out to help Alexis get the bar prepped for opening,” Cameron said as they walked into the back of the bar.
When they pushed open the back doors, Blade and Caden were huddled over a tablet, laughing their asses off.
“Shit! Look at him take it like a champ!” Blade cheered, biting down on his fist as he admired whatever it was they were watching.
“Well, now we know why he’s always smiling. A healthy dose of vitamin D will do that to a guy.” Caden laughed, hunched over Blade’s back, looking like a kid who had just learned he was now allowed to stay up past ten.
Neither of them was aware that Cameron and Basher had just entered the room.
“What are you guys watching?” Cameron asked as he flung his bag onto the table the guys were hunched over.
Both of their heads shot up, startled by the sudden intrusion.
“Hey guys, what’s up?” Ace and Lucas asked as they entered the room through the back door leading outside.
“Not sure. I’m just trying to figure out what’s got these idiots laughing their asses off,” Cameron said, scooting closer to Caden and Blade.
The two looked like they had just been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
“What? What are you guys watching, porn or something?” Cameron joked, clearly waiting for one of the two idiots to explain what was so funny.
Blade straightened up and clutched the tablet to his chest, blocking the screen from their view.
“Well, I was checking the bar’s email and came across a video someone sent us,” Blade began.
“We have email?” Ace asked.
“Yes, on the bar website,” Blade responded.
“We have a bar website?” Lucas asked.
Blade rolled his eyes. “Yes, for appearances’ sake, Marcus paid some kid to set up a website for us.
I occasionally check the email to answer stupid questions like ‘What time are you open until?’ to which I reply, ‘Until the time listed under the Hours of Operation tab.’ People are fuckin’ dumb. Did you know that?”
Basher nodded his head. It was good that he was responsible for answering people’s emails because he would not have been as nice as Blade.
Basher didn’t do stupid. Basher liked to punch stupid in the goddamn face.
“So anyway, what did you get?” Ace asked, clearly annoyed by the side trip his husband’s story was taking.
Blade glanced up at Basher, then at Cameron.
Basher’s stomach dropped at the pitying look on Blade’s face.
Turning the tablet toward them all, Blade pressed Play on the video that currently filled the screen.
Cameron let out a gasp and covered his mouth when the image of him getting fucked doggy-style came to life in front of their eyes.
The sounds of moaning and grunting and skin on skin filled the room as Basher and Cameron looked on in horror.
The video was a recording of a laptop playing the video, but it was clear that it was both Basher and Cameron fucking in it.
Basher was wearing his usual mask, with Cameron’s face on full display.
But given the display of tattoos shown on the screen, there was no doubt it was Basher doing the plowing.
“Oh my god.” Cameron gasped, eyes locked on the screen.
Ace lunged forward and stopped the clip immediately. He turned to face Cameron and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Were you aware that this video was taken?” Ace asked in probably the calmest, softest voice Basher had ever heard.
Cameron nodded. “Yes. That’s one of my videos. I’ve been filming content for a few months now. That’s one of the videos.”
“Gotta say, judging by that performance, you must have a huge fan base,” Blade said to Cameron.
Then he turned to Basher. “You got a license for that thing? ’Cause I swear, no human should be allowed to walk around with a monster like that between their legs.
” He leaned forward and extended his arm, waiting for Basher to give him a fist bump.
Basher swatted his hand away from him.
“How about I break your fuckin’ face?” Basher growled. He wasn’t upset about appearing in the leaked video. What infuriated him was the fact that it was clearly hurting Cameron.
“Hey, hey. Sorry, dude. Just trying to pay you a compliment,” Blade said, throwing his arms up in mock defeat.
“I swear, sometimes you have the brain of a thirteen-year-old,” Ace shot back, glancing over at his dumbass husband.
“Is there a problem?” Marcus asked, his voice booming from his open office door. He was glaring at Basher and Blade.
He stepped out and walked over to where they were all standing.
“It’s nothing. Some asshole just sent one of Basher and Cameron’s sex videos to the bar’s email address. Clearly, they wanted to get the guys in trouble or something,” Ace explained, holding the tablet in his hand.
Marcus took the tablet and stared at the still image on the screen.
“You two are fucking?” Marcus asked, glancing over at the two of them.
“It’s more than that,” Cameron noted.
Marcus just growled as though he couldn’t care less.
“You two, in my office. Ace, you as well,” Marcus barked. Then he looked over at Blade and Caden. “And you two, considering all the times we’ve caught glimpses of your tiny dicks, I don’t think you two should be laughing at anyone’s sex videos.”
“Hey… I was complimenting his size!” Blade clarified, throwing his arms in the air like he didn’t understand why he was being persecuted.
“First Niko, now Basher? Will your penis envy never end?” Marcus fired back as he turned toward his office. As he passed his little brother, he leaned in and lowered his voice. “Sorry you ended up with a guy with such a tiny dick,” he whispered sympathetically.
Basher took Cameron’s hand, then followed their boss into his office.
The room was small, not meant to be used by so many large bodies.
Marcus sat down at his desk, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the image on the screen.
“Are you two okay?” Marcus asked, dropping the tablet on his desk.
Cameron and Basher both nodded.
Ace leaned his butt against a couple of boxes that had been stacked in the corner of Marcus’s office.
“I have to ask. Was this consensual?”
“The sex? Yes,” Cameron quickly answered. “The sending of the video to my boss, not at all.”
Marcus nodded as he sat there for a moment.
“Clearly, someone wanted to either embarrass you two or get you guys in trouble,” Marcus added.
“Personally, I don’t care who you guys fuck or who you share your sex videos with.
Hell, most of the people who work in this place have been caught fucking more times than I’d care to admit.
What concerns me is that there is someone out there, clearly trying to stir up trouble. ”
The sound of Marcus’s finger tapping the darkened tablet filled the room as they all waited patiently for their boss to speak.
Marcus glanced up at his brother.
“Ace, I need you to look into this. See if you can track down who sent this video and why. That might help us figure out who we are dealing with.”
Cameron’s mouth slowly opened as he appeared to be contemplating sharing something with the group.
“I might have a name for you to look into. It’s a longtime fan of mine.” Cameron glanced up at Basher, then turned back to face his boss. “He isn’t exactly thrilled about me filming with Basher. His DMs have been getting more and more… threatening, with the latest one being the most cryptic.”
“What? How come you never told me?” Basher asked, hurt but also a little angry that someone was threatening Cameron and that Cameron hadn’t said a bloody thing.
Cameron looked up at him with his big, pleading eyes.
“Because I didn’t think they were serious. And after seeing this latest one, I didn’t want you going all murderous and doing something stupid that might throw you back in prison.”
Basher let out a growl.
“When someone threatens someone I care about, I’m not just going to sit back and do nothing. I promised your mom that I would always protect you. Now you’re going to make me a liar?”
“What? You met Cameron’s mom? That’s huge!” Ace chirped, his face lighting up with this latest revelation.
They all glared at him.
“Right. Probably not the time to celebrate,” Ace muttered, slinking back into himself.
“Cam, you and Ace work together. Give him the details of this superfan of yours, and let’s see what Ace can dig up. Basher, no killing or going off the reserve. We need to figure out who this guy is first, what he wants, and then I’ll decide how to proceed,” Marcus ordered.
“As long as it ends with me pulling off the man’s arms and beating him to a pulp, fine. Anything short of that, you and I will have problems.”
He knew he was threatening his new boss, but fuck him. He had a duty to protect his man, and that included getting justice as well. He would respect Cameron’s wishes and make sure he stayed out of prison, but there was no way he wasn’t going to introduce this man to a whole new world of pain.
“Are we done?” Basher asked, pissed, wanting to get started on hunting down this motherfucker.
Marcus nodded, passing the tablet back to Cameron.