Chapter 1 #2
“He better not. He called my ass back here, so he better fucking live past the first five minutes he sees me,” Daniel said as he hauled himself up into the seat.
Derek shut the door and rested up against the open window. He took a quick survey of Daniel from head to toe, and then gave him a pearly grin.
“Okay, so he might not die, but let’s just say this.
If I didn’t know about your decade-old hard-on for the guy, the ride to your mother’s house right now would be a lot more difficult.
You looking fucking hot. And what’s more, this time around, you know it.
Those fancy pants that are glued to your ass like a second skin don’t hurt, either.
The whole package screams confidence… And yeah, he has no idea what he’s in for. ”
“Shut up. You don’t go for blonds, remember? We had this conversation over one too many Crown and Cokes—or have you forgotten?”
Derek rounded the hood of his car and climbed into the driver’s seat. “Nah. But with your hair short like that, it looks darker than it used to. Even I could go for that.”
Daniel rolled his eyes and looked out the window as they started to wind their way down the parking lot ramp, much more comfortable with the bullshit and flirting than analyzing his real emotions.
Derek he could handle, but as they flew down the freeway toward Sunset Cove, he wasn’t sure he was equipped for what was about to happen next—and with whom.
So he decided that his best course of action was to distract himself.
“So, why’d your sorry ass volunteer to come get me?”
“I’m here for the entertainment…and the gossip.”
“How kind of you.”
“Well, you gotta admit, this has been a long time coming. I want a front-row seat.”
“ This? ” Daniel asked. “I don’t even know what this is. And just how many people know about it?”
His friend shifted in his seat and gave a sideways glance in his direction. When he saw Daniel pinning him with a well? look, he refocused on the road.
“Just a few of us.”
“A few of…who? How would anyone even know, other than me and—” Daniel stiffened in the seat. “He told people? He told you ?”
“No,” Derek said. “Well, not really.”
“Not really? What the fuck, Derek. He either did or didn’t. And since when have you two moved in the same circles?”
“We don’t,” Derek said. “But for years, he’s been?—”
“Stop right there. I don’t want to hear about who he’s been fucking.”
After exiting the freeway, they pulled up to a red light and Derek looked over at Daniel with a shit-eating grin.
“Yes, you do. So you can track them down and tell ’em to take a hike.”
Daniel played that off with a shrug. “What do I care? He sent me away. Not like it’s any of my fucking business.” He then aimed a glare in Derek’s direction.
“ Geez. Someone’s a little testy. No need, though. All I was gonna say is, for years, he’s been the elusive one. That guy on the scene but not really in it. No one can pin him down. No one dates him. And you know why?”
“No. But I have a feeling you’re dying to tell me.” Then he gestured to the green light. “Are you going to sit at the light for the rest of the night or drive me home?”
“Stop acting like what I just said didn’t make your heart and your dick happy as fuck. You can act like the player who doesn’t care with everyone else, but I know how much he means to you.”
A car blasted its horn behind them, and Derek held up a middle finger as he put his foot to the gas.
“And I’m pretty sure the feeling’s mutual. You know why I don’t think he dates, Danny? Because he’s had a hard-on for you all this time too.”
Derek grabbed the pack of smokes off the dashboard and brought it up to his mouth. Then he took one between his lips, and as the car veered to the left, Daniel reached for the packet and pulled the lighter out. He held it out for his friend, and as he inhaled, the cigarette flared to life.
“We’ll soon see, won’t we?” he answered, dropping the lighter into the packet and throwing it in the center console.
“Nothing to see. He totally fucking has. And you know what? He’s had plenty of offers. Now, I’m not saying the guy is a monk. He’s a fucking catch. Of course he’s gonna dip his dick in something. But he sure as hell hasn’t been flaunting a relationship around town.”
As the wind whipped around them and Derek floored it down the main strip, Daniel shut his eyes and thought about the man he was there to see. The man he’d believed he would spend the rest of his life with. The same man who’d sent him away.
DANIEL SAT ACROSS from Brantley Hayes and tried to make sense of the words that had just come out of his mouth. He couldn’t have possibly said what he thought he’d said… could he?
“I know Chicago seems a world away, but it has some of the most prestigious law schools, Finn. It would be the best thing…”
Daniel’s mouth fell open as Brantley continued with his spiel about fuck only knew what, and when he finally drew to a close, the first thing out of his mouth was, “You want me to move to Chicago?”
When Brantley shifted on his kitchen chair and reached for his hand, he pulled it away. “Answer me.”
Brantley clasped his hands together and shook his head. “I don’t want you to go.”
“But you think that I should.”
“I think it would be a great opportunity.”
“And what about us?”
Brantley shut his eyes and rubbed a hand over his tight lips. That was answer enough right there. If he went, there would be no them.
“I’m not going.”
“Finn—”
“No. I don’t want to go to some fancy lawyer school. There are plenty around here. I want to stay with you.”
“Well, that would be stupid,” Brantley snapped, pushing back from the kitchen table so hard that the wooden legs of the chair scraped along the tiles.
He spun away and walked over to the sink, where he placed his hands on the marble counter. His shoulders were bunched as he stood there, and Daniel’s heart thundered in his chest.
Did he want Daniel to leave? No, Brantley loved him…
“Look,” Brantley said softly as he faced him. “This would be an amazing opportunity for you. You’re smart, ambitious, and so talented. I can’t ask you to stay here ? —”
“You’re not asking me,” Daniel said as he walked over to where Brantley stood. He laid a hand on his chest and smiled at the man frowning at him. “I want to be here,” he told him, sliding his hands over his shoulders to loop them around his neck. “There’s no place I’d rather be.”
“Finn.” Brantley sighed, resigned to defeat as his arms encircled Daniel’s waist.
“You know, my name would sound so much better preempted by Oh God, Finn.” Daniel winked.
Brantley swatted his ass. “You really need to think ? —”
“Shh,” Daniel whispered against his lips. “There’s nothing to think about. I know what I want, and it’s not in fucking cold-ass Chicago.”
When he nipped at Brantley’s lips, he smiled and told Daniel, “You have a horribly filthy mouth for such a bright young man.”
“Do I?”
“Yes,” Brantley said with a stern look.
“Maybe you should punish me.”
“ Maybe you should go and do your homework.”
Daniel gave him a quick kiss and stepped away. “Geez. Such a hard-ass, professor .” He rolled his eyes, and as he walked to the arched entryway that led into the living room, he looked back over his shoulder in time to see Brantley pulling a form from his back pocket and throwing it on the counter.
He knew that Brantley only wanted what was best for him. But there was no equation in which leaving him would ever be it.