Chapter 4 #2
Was Saint a friend? Val kept telling himself he was. “The guy did save my life,” Val conceded. It’s not like they’d just met. They’d known each other for years, even if they didn’t spend much time together.
“That’s right. The least you could do is check on him.”
Frank wasn’t wrong. Even if nothing happened between them—no, despite nothing happening between them—Val could still be a friend.
“Fuck it.” Val threw back the shot of whiskey and stood. He might regret this, but it was better than sitting at the bar all night overthinking his life choices.
The closer he got to the two, the more annoyed he became. Whoever the fuck this guy was, he was all over Saint, though Saint didn’t look uncomfortable. However, he seemed hesitant to let the guy kiss him on the mouth, which told Val all he needed to know.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Val said gruffly, clearly not sorry, as the guy pulled back. “But I need a word with my friend.”
The guy looked him over, then met his gaze, eyes narrowed. “He’s busy.”
Val turned to Saint and waited.
With a sigh, Saint gently pulled out of the guy’s embrace and stepped back. His smile was apologetic.
“Sorry, Vic.”
Vic? For fuck’s sake.
Jaw clenched, Vic stormed off, and Val grabbed Saint by the arm, dragging him through the black curtains and into the first empty side room. He wasn’t about to have this conversation out in public.
Closing the door, he turned, only for Saint to put a hand on Val’s chest and push him back against the closed door. His pupils were dilated, and he looked a little out of breath.
“What are you doing?” Val asked, aggravated.
“I don’t know. You’re the one who brought me back here.” Saint stepped closer, his eyes dropping to Val’s mouth. “Thought maybe you were finally making a move.”
The only move Val was making was moving Saint’s hand off his chest. He ignored the spark that shot through him when he touched Saint. “I brought you back here to talk some sense into you.”
Saint hummed. “Sure. Talk.” He stepped closer and slipped his hand around Val’s neck. “I can think of something we could do that’s much better than talking, Chief.”
“I’m not doing this,” Val warned, despite the shiver that went through him at the nickname.
He’d been called that for years, but coming from Saint, the way his voice went low, practically dripping with sex, was unlike anything he’d ever experienced, and his pants suddenly got tighter.
No. Nope. He couldn’t— wouldn’t —do this.
“Not doing what?”
“Whatever it is you think is going to happen in here. Especially not like this.”
“Like what?”
“With you drunk.”
Saint’s lips quirked in the corners as he caressed Val’s skin with his thumb. “I had one beer. I’m not even buzzed. Admit it. You want me.”
“I think you know damned well I want you.” As if that was ever in question.
“So what’s the problem, Chief?” He moved in to kiss Val, and Val put a hand up to stop him.
Was he serious? How had they even gotten here?
Then again, Saint had asked Val to kiss him in the hospital, and yeah, he’d been out of it, but that only meant Saint had been thinking about it long before then.
“Really? You don’t see a problem with going from Straight Guy to getting fucked in the back of a club?” His words clearly burst Saint’s bubble, and he blinked at Val.
“I wasn’t going to let him fuck me.”
“Suck your dick?”
Saint opened his mouth, then closed it, his face flushed.
“What exactly did you think was going to happen back here?”
“I don’t know. I just…I wanted some answers.” Saint took a step back and dropped his arms to his sides.
“And that’s how you’re going to get them? With some stranger in a club? Did you think Vic was going to give you the answers you’re looking for?”
“Well, if the guy I want won’t give me answers, then I have to get them from someone else, don’t I?” Saint said, belligerent as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Wait, how was he the bad guy in this? “Are you fucking kidding me? I’m trying to help you, and you’re being an asshole?”
“ I’m being an asshole? You want me, but you won’t do anything about it.”
“Because I won’t be your experiment.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Patience .
This was all new to Saint. And maybe the only way Saint would get the answers he was looking for was to find them with someone, but Val couldn’t be that someone, which meant Frank was right. Val had to come to terms with the fact that Saint wasn’t meant for him.
“Listen. I care about you, Saint. And yeah, I want you, but it took me a long time to figure myself out, and I’m not going to be the first guy you fool around with only to decide you made a mistake.
” Getting his heart broken was one thing, but going out and looking for heartbreak? He wasn’t going to do that to himself.
Saint threw his arms up, clearly frustrated. “How do you know if it’s a mistake if you don’t even give me a chance?”
“Because I’ve been here before.”
“Really? You’ve been in this exact situation with me before.”
“Don’t be a smartass. You know exactly what I mean.”
“I’m not an adolescent who’s trying to figure himself out. I can handle this. I can have a relationship with a guy.” Saint seemed very sure of himself, but Val knew better.
“Yeah? So let’s say we start dating. What then?”
“What do you mean?”
Val folded his arms over his chest as he leaned against the door. “Are you going to introduce me as your boyfriend?”
“Well, yeah.”
“To your coworkers?”
“Of course.”
“Your parents? Your family?”
Pause.
And there it was.
“Like I said. I know who I am, and I’m not going back in the closet, Saint. Not for you, not for anyone.” He pushed away from the door. “Nothing can happen between us.”
“Then why did you come here?” Saint demanded. “You don’t want me, but you don’t want me with someone else, right? You can’t have it both ways, Chief.”
“Fuck this. Do whatever the fuck you want.” Val turned and opened the door, storming out of the room. He didn’t need this shit. The door slammed behind him, and it took everything Val had not to turn around. He had never come across anyone so fucking stubborn and frustrating.
Well, this night was a complete disaster.
The thing was, Val wasn’t sure if he was pissed at Saint or himself.
Both. Definitely both. Saint wasn’t wrong.
Val couldn’t have it both ways. That didn’t mean he had to like it.
And he didn’t like it at all. His heart kept telling him to go back, but what the hell did his heart know?
It had gotten him into plenty of trouble in the past.
Val made his way through the club, stopping by the bar to see Frank on his way out. When Frank saw him, his smile faded.
“I’m leaving.”
“Went that well, huh?”
“I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay.” Frank wanted to say more, but his friend knew when to back off, which said something because Frank was just as stubborn as he was and rarely backed off.
Tonight was not the night to get into it. Val was tired, pissed, and his dick was arguing with him to go back and end Saint’s questions. Not what he needed. Saint wanted answers, but Val wasn’t the one to give them to him, he couldn’t be.
Having parked behind the club, Val took the back exit out.
By this time of night, the parking lot around the club was packed.
He headed for his car, more determined than ever to get his shit together.
He’d been looking forward to working on his tavern for years, and now he could.
The last thing he needed was to get distracted by a guy who didn’t know what he wanted.
As he neared his car, he thought he heard a noise.
It sounded like a groan. He stopped and scanned the parking lot, but all he heard was the usual sound of cicadas chirping and the breeze ruffling palm fronds.
He’d just hit the button on his key fob to unlock his SUV doors when he heard something.
This time there was something. He heard a garbled but distinct cry for help coming from the end of the parking lot.
Locking his car, he hurried toward the end of the parking lot near the dumpsters. He didn’t like that the place was shrouded in shadows, but if someone was in trouble, it was his duty to help.
“Is someone there? Do you need help?” he asked as he drew closer.
“Please,” someone rasped.
Shit.
Val carefully got closer when something moved in the shadows.
Not something— someone . Three figures lunged from the darkness, tackling him.
Val hit the dirty asphalt of the parking lot hard but managed to keep his head protected so it didn’t slam against the ground.
Three men dressed in black with hoodies wearing masks over their faces kicked him.
“Fucking cocksucker,” one man spat, his voice low and harsh as he kicked Val in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
Val tried to fight them off while doing his best to protect his head at the same time. He had to find a way to get up.
A punch to the side of one guy’s knee sent the asshole stumbling sideways as he cried out.
The other two hesitated just enough to give Val the chance he needed to get up.
And good thing he did because one of the men pulled a knife, swiping it at Val.
He managed to get out of the way, a sharp sting making him hiss.
He’d been cut but, thankfully, not stabbed.
Val smacked the guy’s fist away when he tried again to stab him, and Val swiped his leg from under him.
The guy hit the ground, knife skidding, but the other two tackled him to the ground again before Val could grab it.
One tried to hold him down while the other punched him.
Val was not a small man, but neither were these guys.
“What do you want?” Val growled, sucking in a sharp breath when someone’s boot made contact with his side.
What the hell did they want from him? If they’d wanted to mug him, they would have done it already.
This was something else, something worse.
If he didn’t do something, they were going to kill him.