10. Diesel
10
DIESEL
“ M orning, sleepy head,” Chase greeted as Diesel walked down the stairs and into the living room. He was hooking up some monitors to laptops and appeared to be loving every moment of it.
“Hey,” Diesel responded, trying to walk off his massive headache. He was going to have to find where he packed his damn painkillers after breakfast.
Shouldn’t they be in your toiletry bag? that annoying voice inside his head asked.
Yeah, you’d think, but when he checked this morning, they weren’t.
Inside the kitchen, Jared was flipping pancakes without a shirt.
Back at home, Daddy M had a strict “must wear shirts at the breakfast table” rule that everyone followed—except Diesel because, hey, Bruno needed to breathe. But whenever Daddy M wasn’t around for breakfast, Jared never seemed to be able to locate a shirt.
Diesel was pretty sure that, if given the chance, Jared would live his whole life never wearing a shirt. He was too proud of his body to ever want to cover it up. And, of course, if given the choice, Isaac would probably never wear pants.
The two of them were made for each other.
“Pancakes are almost done,” Jared called over his shoulder. “Want to grab some mugs for coffee?”
Nodding, he began opening cupboards at random, searching for the highly coveted coffee mugs. Thanks to his lack of sleep and massive hangover, today was going to be a high caffeine intake day.
The sound of Jared humming caught Diesel’s attention. He was shaking his butt while flipping pancakes in the pan. How could one man be so chipper and energetic first thing in the morning? He swore if Jared asked him to go for a run with him, he was going to have to punch the guy in the throat. Friendship be damned.
Grabbing three mugs from the cupboard, he finally had to ask, “What’s with the endorphin overload this morning?”
Jared picked up the pan and flipped a pancake onto a plate like he was some sort of master chef or something.
“FaceTimed with Isaac this morning. Did you know the boy can do the pretzel?” Jared’s eyes lit up as he talked about his fiancé and their stupid early morning sex games.
“Hope you washed your hands before making my pancakes.”
“Don’t worry, I whipped you up a special batch of whipped cream. I know how much you love having cream on your cakes.”
Diesel couldn’t help but chuckle. The dude had a sick sense of humor which was probably why he and Isaac got along so well—well, once they stopped prank-flirting with each other and finally admitted that they wanted to bone… and cuddle… and all that other lovey shit that couples do when they decide to bind their lives together for some untold, freakish reason.
“Jare still shaking his booty?” Chase asked, walking into the kitchen and washing his hands in the sink.
“Yeah, it’s sickening that one man should be so chipper first thing in the morning,” Diesel responded, still eyeing his best friend.
“You didn’t see what my boy did with his leg behind his head.” Jared’s smile was practically swallowing his face.
“Judging by the chub in your joggers, I’m guessing it was something dirty and demeaning,” Diesel added, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He had taken a seat at the table facing the stove and Jared’s shaking ass.
Jared and Chase finally joined him, each reaching for a cup as well.
“Why’s there an extra plate?” Diesel asked, noting the extra place setting laid out across from him.
“It’s for Zero. In case he joins us for breakfast,” Chase answered, reaching for the pancakes and dropping two on his plate.
“Zero?” Diesel asked.
“Yeah, the guy staying across the hall from you. He’s the one who’s been working this case these past few weeks.” Jared picked up the maple syrup and began drowning his pancake.
Seriously, how sweet does this guy like his cakes?
“Speaking of the devil,” Chase said, rising from his chair to shake hands with the man who had just entered the room. “Perfect timing.”
“Yeah, I could smell breakfast from upstairs and had to come check it out.”
From his periphery, Diesel watched as a body moved from behind him and circled the table, taking the spot directly across from him.
What the fuck?!
Color drained from both their faces as Diesel and their new breakfast guest locked eyes with one another.
Freezing mid-sit was the demon cocksucker himself—shirtless and looking sexy as fuck.
Eyes locked together, neither said a word.
“Zero, this is Diesel and Jared,” Chase introduced, oblivious to the sudden awkwardness in the room.
Jared wasn’t.
Time once again began moving forward, and the demon cocksucker, a.k.a Zero and, apparently, his new co-worker, finally sat his firm ass down at the table.
“I’m Jared,” a voice said from across the table.
Diesel finally exhaled, remembering that breathing consisted of two ways—in and out. Kind of like how his cock was sliding in and out of Zero’s mouth last night.
Fuck , this was going to be awkward.
“Nice to meet you, Jared,” Zero finally said, extending his hand across the table and releasing Diesel from his death-like stare.
Was this what mice felt like when caught in the gaze of a pissed-off snake?
Diesel felt a kick from under the table and glanced over to see Jared giving him a what the fuck’s up look.
“And this awkward piece of shit is Diesel,” Jared finally said, reminding Diesel that he still hadn’t spoken.
“Does it talk?” the cocky cocksucker across the table asked Jared, giving a smirk as he reached for the plate of breakfast sausages.
“Most days, but it appears that today we got grumpy D instead.”
Jared was going to die if he didn’t fuck right off.
“Oh, sorry. Was just thinking about this disappointing hookup I had last night at a bar. Had to come home and rub one out to get that unsatisfied feeling out of my balls,” Diesel said with a sly grin of his own.
“No worries, man. I know the feeling. I gave a mercy blow job to some dude who had been rejected at a bar last night too. Poor guy had the smallest cock dangling between his legs. Had to make him feel special somehow.”
Jared and Chase both laughed. Diesel was seething.
Small dick, his ass.
“Good for you. Even the small-dick boys need a good BJ every once in a while,” Chase added through a mouth full of sticky syrup.
Zero gave a nod as he raised his mug to take a sip.
Asshole.
“Wait,” Jared said, head snapping around at Diesel. “You left the house last night?”
Dammit. Talk about ratting your own self out. Thanks a lot, fuck-face.
“Yeah, I was bored, so thought I would grab a drink at a bar.”
“Why? Is Mr. Talkative not allowed out after dark?” Zero asked, seeming amused as he took a bite of his breakfast.
“No. Diesel is kind of grounded at the moment,” Chase answered, giving Diesel a disapproving glare.
“Yeah, Daddy M even gave him a nifty little tracking bracelet,” Jared added, pointing at Diesel’s wrist with his fork.
“Wow, sounds like someone’s been a naughty boy. Care to share?” Zero asked, appearing to love every minute.
Digging into his breakfast, Diesel refused to look over at the annoying man. Who comes to breakfast shirtless, wearing only a pair of loose-fitting board shorts? Then his eyes slipped to Jared. Fucker.
“Looks like his batteries might have run out again,” fuck-face added.
“Ignore D. Sometimes he can get a little moody, especially before eleven a.m.,” Jared offered.
Why was Jared being so chatty with the new guy?
“So, when do we get to meet the rest of the crew?” Jared asked, going in for a second helping of pancakes.
From the corner of his eye, Diesel watched as Zero’s lips wrapped around his fork, gently pulling the meaty sausage from its tongs. The thought of those lips wrapped around his cock last night made blood flow right to his dick. He had to admit, he hadn’t had a blow job that good in ages.
Still, the look of his smug face, scruffy facial hair and chestnut eyes… everything just made him want to bury his knuckles into his stupid lips.
And then force-feed him your cock?
Fuck that voice.
“Actually, I am the crew.”
Sound returned to the room as Diesel caught the words falling out of Zero’s mouth.
“What do you mean that you’re the crew?” Diesel snapped, annoyed if it was just him.
“Zero’s been here doing surveillance. Trying to see if there is any truth to the things written in Edwin’s journal about the doctor. So far, he hasn’t been able to corroborate the man’s story.” Chase was the one speaking. He looked annoyed and, quite frankly, pissed that they hadn’t been able to uncover anything so far.
Reaching across the table, Diesel placed two pancakes onto his plate before reaching for the bowl of whipped cream. Yes, Jared wasn’t kidding when he said he liked cream on his cakes. Whipped cream and strawberries were his favorite, but since there were no strawberries on the table, whipped cream alone would have to suffice.
“What have you found so far?” Diesel asked, still not sure how he was going to work with his annoying hookup. The whole point of having a hookup was so you didn’t have to see their stupid face ever again.
Putting his fork down on his plate, Zero placed his elbows on the table and crossed his fingers under his chin.
Diesel couldn’t help but notice the way the man’s muscles seemed to bulge as he leaned forward on the table in contemplation. His arm sleeve tattoos seemed to come to life as he moved his body against the table. There was something about guys and tattoos that always made Diesel’s dick hard.
Cocky bastard. Trying to show off his muscles like he was some kind of king shit or something.
“Not a whole lot.” Zero’s voice broke through the internal debate that Diesel was having. “I’ve been able to document his weekly routine. Mostly work, coffee, gym, and biweekly dinners at a friend’s place. The guy is pretty average and seems to stick to his routines,” Zero explained, seeming a bit flustered himself.
“Well, hopefully, we can change that,” Chase added. “With more of us on the case, hopefully, we can find the chink in his armor.”
Diesel wasn’t sure how much he would be able to contribute to this case, but it was definitely going to be an interesting assignment. Still beats sitting at home, benched, until Master M deemed him fit for performing.
His eyes drifted up to Zero, who was already watching him as he placed another forkful of pancakes into his mouth. The man began chewing like he was making love to the freakin’ batter.
Of all the people he could have picked up at the bar, it had to be the one guy who was sleeping across the hall from him.
Zero gave him a wink.
Diesel’s eyes narrowed, hoping Zero could read the fuck you behind his glare.
Under the table, Diesel felt another kick. He glanced over at Jared who was giving him a questioning look.
Diesel just shook his head. He didn’t need the guys explaining what he already knew—never shit where you eat. Jesus, could he fuck up any more?
Had he known, he would have told his dick to fuck right off and gone home to take a cold shower.