Chapter 4
FOUR
Rhett
It didn’t bother me that Shane slept with my son.
What bothered me was that I didn’t know how to move things forward between us.
It was like I went back in time to when I was a teenager and discovered a female body for the first time.
Or when I found out that I was attracted to guys as well.
Brady’s mom helped me deal with that and had been nothing but supportive.
It left me feeling vulnerable. I had words to say to Shane but they were stuck in my head. So instead of voicing those thoughts out loud like I wanted to, I left my truck.
I didn’t bother waiting for Shane because I knew he would follow me. We had work to do. On this collaboration and us. But there wasn’t an us was there? Not yet. Maybe not ever. But a little hard fucking wouldn’t hurt.
The home I had ever since Brady was a boy was small, but perfect.
It had only ever been just the two of us, so we didn’t need much bigger than a single-story house.
It had two bedrooms, a single bath, a finished basement and a giant backyard.
That was what had sold me on the place back when I first started looking for a home.
I had been young but the owner gave me a chance when they saw that I was a single father with a baby.
It also helped that I had a steady construction job at the time.
My income was stable even though I wasn’t rolling in cash.
Brady’s room hadn’t changed since he moved out a few years ago. Even the metal swing set I bought for him when he was a toddler, still sat in the backyard. It was sometimes strange living there by myself, but I could never move. There were too many memories.
I unlocked the front door, held it open, and waited for Shane to walk past me.
When he entered my home, a sense of peace washed over me. He looked good standing there in my space. It wasn’t like I brought a lot of people home anyway. But I liked the fact that Shane was there.
“Nothing’s changed,” Shane pointed out.
“No, it hasn’t. I even left Brady’s room the same.” I chuckled. It was more to myself, but when Shane looked at me over his shoulder and gave me a small smile, my stomach tumbled.
I tossed my keys into the clay bowl sitting on the table, in the hallway that led to the living room.
Brady made it when he was in high school.
It was an ugly little thing but he was proud that he made something with his hands that didn’t fall apart.
It was a mixture of different colors. Brown being the most prevalent throughout.
I loved it and I loved that he had given it to me.
Every time he came over, he would comment how ugly it was.
But I knew he was happy that I still kept it because why wouldn’t I? My son made it.
When I clicked the deadbolt into place, Shane turned around. Deep crimson hit his cheeks. Now that he was locked in my house with me, a wicked thought came to mind. Him on his knees, a collar around his throat with a leash hooked to the wall behind him. He couldn’t escape.
My dick twitched, my eyes widening at the fantasy.
Clearing my throat, I averted my gaze and headed to the kitchen. “Did you want a beer?”
“Sure.”
I had to put some distance between us and take a moment to get control of myself. He was just a guy. A little younger than what I usually went for but a guy nonetheless. An attractive one too. But still just a guy. You got this, Rhett. You have to have this.
Being alone with him, having him in my space, made me feel things I wasn’t used to. Sure, I had people over before. I wasn’t new to one-night stands, but this was different, and I couldn’t explain why.
“Rhett?”
I jumped, spinning around.
“Sorry.” Shane gave me a small smile. “Is everything okay?”
“I just really hate not having money,” I blurted. Where the hell did that come from? This house was paid off, so I couldn’t complain there. But with the bar not doing as well as it should have been, besides these new feelings regarding Shane, money was all I thought about. Clearly.
“Don’t we all.” He came up to me and reached into the fridge. Pulling out two beers, he handed me one. “Let me take a look at your books.”
I nodded, following him out of the kitchen.
“All of my stuff is in my office,” I told him, walking through the living room and down the hall that led to my bedroom and my office.
“Sorry about the mess. I randomly decided to redecorate after having a few too many drinks one night and ordered a whole bunch of stuff online. Piece of advice, do not drink and shop at the same time.”
“Noted.” Shane laughed and went up to my desk. He started rummaging through papers and bills, the frown between his brows getting deeper as time went on. “This says you spent five grand on expenses but there’s no details as to what those expenses were.”
“It was just a lot of little things.”
“Yeah, that added up to five grand.” He placed the paper back on the messy pile and took a swig of his beer.
“Listen, you have to keep track of every single penny you spend. It’s the only way you’ll figure out where your money is going.
The small shit adds up. Trust me. I keep telling Noah that we don’t need half the crap he buys but he always insists.
But at the same time, he writes it down. I taught him that.”
“But what’s that going to do?” I grumbled, rubbing the back of my neck.
“It’s going to help you realize that you’re spending money on things you either don’t need or it’ll help you limit that spending.
” Shane placed his beer on a coaster and began going through more of my unpaid bills.
“This could take a while. I can get started tonight or we can make plans for me to come over a couple times a week. I can help you with this.”
“I can’t pay you.” Fuck, this being in debt shit was enough to drive me insane.
Money never used to be this tight but insisting on opening my own business and being my own boss, took over my damn life.
I should have thought this through but thank small mercies I was able to at least get my house paid off before things got real bad financially.
“I’m not asking you to pay me, Rhett.” Shane paused, staring at me a little longer than what was probably appropriate. “Not in cash anyway.”
“What sort of payment are you referring to?” My throat went dry at what he could possibly be suggesting.
“We do have to collaborate on something that could benefit both Coffee Beans & Love and your bar.” He sat back in the chair. “You can pay me in food for now and we can think of other forms of payments later.”
I sat there, staring at him. He couldn’t mean sex when it came to other forms of payments, could he? That was definitely where my mind went. Maybe I was hopeful because it had been so long for me that I was desperate.
“I can cook you something now.” My stomach rumbled at the thought of food. “I haven’t eaten anyway.”
“Sounds like a good idea.” Shane’s voice dropped an octave, sending a shiver down my spine.
Leaving my office, my body was hyperaware that Shane was following close behind me. I had been attracted to him for a while, but it was only getting worse as the days went on. Now that he was older, I no longer looked at him like my son’s best friend but someone I could have some fun with.
While Shane sat on the couch in the living room, I went to my kitchen to figure out what to actually cook us for supper.
I settled on a pizza I had made a few days ago and threw in the freezer.
I remembered back to when Shane would spend the night to hang out with Brady and how they always wanted pizza.
After I took the pizza out of the freezer to thaw, I grabbed us two more beers and joined Shane on the couch. “I pulled a homemade pizza from the freezer and will let it thaw about an hour before I throw it in the oven.”
“Sounds good.” He placed his bottle on the coffee table in front of us. “What are we doing?”
“Having a beer.” I gave him his second one, hoping he didn’t ask anything else because if he did, I couldn’t be held responsible for the things that would leave my mouth.
While I was currently questioning my feelings for him, if he got me into bed or even on the damn floor, a part of me would take over.
I was into some kinky shit and I prayed it wouldn’t scare him away.
“Yeah, I see that.” Shane turned toward me and took a long swig. I watched as he swallowed, the tendons in his neck stretching and moving as the liquid went down his throat.
My mouth went dry.
“You’re staring,” he finally said, licking his bottom lip.
“Am I?” I knew I was. I couldn’t help it.
Shane was hot as fuck and being there alone with him, only made these feelings more intense.
I needed to get control of myself before I did something stupid.
His hair was longer on top and shorter at the sides.
His skin was tanned like he often spent hours in the sun.
He had a single freckle on his upper right cheek.
It was the only mark on his otherwise blemish free skin. My tongue tingled, itching to lick it.
“Rhett?” Shane raised an eyebrow, tilting his head.
Jumping from the couch, I began pacing.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t do this. I shouldn’t want to do this. This can’t...I can’t...” I wasn’t making any sense, and my words were coming out jumbled.
“What can’t you do?” Shane stood from the couch and took a tentative step toward me.
“Don’t.” Lifting my hands, I had to prevent him from coming any closer.
“I’m not doing anything.” He took another step toward me, his chest bumping my hands.
“Stop.” That word didn’t come out as sure as I had hoped. Really, I didn’t want him to stop. I didn’t want either of us to stop. But his best friend was my son and I refused to come between that or to fuck it up for them.
“Do you really want me to stop?”
My chest rose and fell with ragged breaths.
“Do you really want either of us to stop, Rhett?”
My eyes moved back and forth over his face. A face I had known for years. “Shane, trust me, you don’t want to do this.”
“And why don’t I?” he asked, his gaze dropping to my mouth.
“Don’t push me.” My body was vibrating, and I was on the verge of snapping.
“What if I want to push—”
Before he could finish that sentence, I grabbed the back of his neck and crushed my mouth to his.