Chapter Six
Bailey
Next to me, still sleeping, was Keston. It had been a shock that he’d agreed to stay.
I’d figured after that night of confessions, he’d want to fuck me and forget me, but it was nice to know we’d most likely have another go-around before he left.
Yeah, my ass ached like a bitch, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to say no.
Keston sighed in his sleep and turned on his back, the sheet slipping, allowing me to devour his naked body. I’d been having sex since I was a teenager, but no one I’d ever been with possessed his pure physical perfection. And while it was usually about the sex, Keston’s dry wit was also a turn-on.
Fuck it, who was I kidding? I had the hots for the whole gorgeous package.
Itchy from dried sweat and Keston’s come, I decided to take a shower and slipped out of bed.
I closed the door behind me to keep the sound from disturbing him and turned the taps on.
Steamy hot water poured down on me, and I luxuriated in the heat.
I drizzled body gel in my hand and spread the foamy bubbles everywhere.
It had cost me a fortune, but it was an indulgence I didn’t mind splurging on.
When you grew up watching every penny, the little luxuries in life meant everything.
I finished and toweled off, wondering if Keston had any plans for the day.
I realized what I was doing and I grew angry with myself.
There I went again, puppy-dogging. I’d already ignored Dr. Sharpe’s advice by having sex with Keston.
The least I could do was not follow him with my tongue hanging out.
“Dumbass. He got what he wanted all along, and you fell for it.” Yet the despair in his eyes from the previous night was real and not a pretense to get me naked.
He’d come to me with a real problem. Not his brother or a friend.
There had to be something there, aside from sex. Or maybe I was too damn hopeful.
It was why I’d been in therapy for over fifteen years.
Low self-esteem from my mother’s abandonment, filling that void with sex, always falling for unattainable men, hoping someone would love me.
I was almost forty and damn tired of the scene.
I’d become that guy. The regular at all the clubs.
The one they could always count on for a quick blowie in the bathroom.
The extra, fun gay to round out their dinner parties or brunches.
That was what they saw because it was all I let them see.
But fuck…this past year, seeing Grady fall for his girlfriend and Weston and Brenner coupled up, so nauseatingly in love, I wanted what they had.
And if I thought maybe I’d found someone who might be interested, he usually was.
Only not with me. They wanted someone younger.
Richer. Hotter. I’d tried it all—dating apps, lunch meet-ups, dinner dates, cruises.
…God, it was pathetic. I was pathetic. Was I ever going to realize I’d missed my chance and should let it go?
Some people were meant to be alone, and I was one of them.
Keeping quiet, I dressed, letting Keston sleep.
But being awake meant needing coffee, so I fixed myself some and took it to the seat at the bay window.
I finished my first cup and refilled it, returning to the window.
As I sipped, I stared out at the street, mostly empty, aside from parents with strollers, and dog walkers.
“Any of that left for me?”
Keston stood in the archway between the living room and hallway, wearing only his briefs and a half smile.
God, I wished I could frame that picture because if anyone ever asked me what my perfect man looked like, Keston half-naked and sleepy-eyed, and with all that messy, dark, silky hair would be who sprang to mind.
“Uh, yeah. Sure. I’ll get you some. How do you like it?” I put my mug on the ledge.
“Black as sin.”
I poured it out and brought it to him. He drank it in one long swallow. Fascinated, I watched him lick his lips.
“Speaking of sin…” He turned around, and as if tethered to him, I followed him to the bedroom. He set the empty mug on the night table, and with one hand pushed me to the bed.
I gazed up at his serious face. “What?”
“I’m thinking how I want you. On your knees or on your back.”
“Stay here all day, and you can have it both ways.”
Those blue eyes gleamed. “Yeah? You’re not busy, Uptown Boy? No brunchie brunch with your lawyer buddies?” He eased off his briefs, and his dick sprang free.
“Yeah, so what? Come with me.” Whoa. That slipped out.
Keston snorted. “Oh, sure. Your friends would really go for that.”
My temper spiked. “Hey. You don’t know them. They’re good people, down to earth and nonjudgmental. Seems like you’re the one with the hang-ups.”
“I like seeing you get all riled up. It’s hot.” Keston crawled on the bed with me. “I want you face-to-face so I can shut that mouth of yours.”
Annoyed as I was, the moment his lips brushed mine I lost the ability to form a coherent sentence.
But it wasn’t only me affected. I could see by his widening eyes, their blue turning bright as sapphires.
How his nostrils flared. The rapid beat of his heart when I rested my hand on his chest. His dick dripped precome, joining the mess I’d already made on my stomach.
He rolled on the condom, and I braced myself for him to ram it in me like he’d done the previous night, but no. Not this time. Keston inched in. Slowly. Taking his time, placing kisses on my face and neck while he slid in. I wanted it hard, and I dug my heels into the bed, tilting my hips.
“Fuck, Bailey, you’re sucking my dick into you. I wanted to take it easy because of last night.”
“Screw that. Give it all to me. Make me feel.”
His brows drew together, but I slid a hand around his nape and locked my ankles behind his waist, burying him completely. He moaned, his eyes fluttering shut.
“Dammit. I swear it’s like my dick’s on fire every time it’s inside you.”
“Burn, baby, burn.” I snickered, until he touched my prostate and I cried out with pleasure-pain. “Oh, fuck.” I worked my dick furiously, each brush against it sending white-hot bursts of electricity through my blood.
Realizing he’d hit that spot, Keston thrust hard and fast, pushing me to the edge. I lost sense of where and who I was other than a throbbing element of lust, need, and desire. He pounded into me, and my aching cock exploded in my hand.
I quivered and shook on his shaft, my body squeezed so tight, I could feel each hot pulse as he emptied into the condom. His mouth settled over mine, and we breathed life into each other.
“I don’t think I even said good morning,” I whispered.
“It sure as hell is.” Keston pulled out slowly, got rid of the condom, and got to his feet. “Can I take a shower?”
“My water is yours.”
I watched him leave and sighed. I could cancel brunch and spend the day with Keston, but dammit, what was I going to therapy for if I was going to ignore everything my doctor said?
But Keston reappeared, naked and gleaming, dark hair wet and hanging in his face, and I sat up and blurted, “I was serious, you know. You could come to brunch. We do it almost every weekend. It’s Grady’s friends—West and Brenner.
I think you’ve met them. It could be fun—” I stopped, seeing his frown.
“Sorry. I’m working. Gotta get downtown and go home to change first.” He dressed, then circled the bed, leaned over and kissed me, much softer and sweeter than I’d anticipated. “Thanks for the advice last night. I’m gonna look into it. Bye.”
No mention of getting together another time. Dammit, he could’ve at least pretended he wanted to see me again. I watched him walk out, and when I heard the click of the door lock, I fell back on the bed with a sigh. Another one bites the dust.
**
“So what’d you do last night? Did you have a date?” West poured me a mimosa. He and Brenner had ordered a spread from Citarella, and there were the usual bagels, lox, cream cheeses, and all kinds of sides.
I sipped and debated whether to say anything.
Keston hadn’t said to keep what happened between us a secret, and I was the type who lived for shock value.
Being so friendly with Grady, it was possible Weston and Brenner knew something more about Keston than I did.
Sure, he was fucking gorgeous and had a magic dick, but I wanted to dig below the surface to the layers of pain built on a foundation of hurt and betrayal.
“Not exactly.” My teeth sank into an everything bagel with a healthy schmear of cream cheese and piled high with lox. “Mmm. You two know how to throw the best brunch.”
Ignoring my comment on their brunch prowess, Brenner rolled his eyes. “Not exactly? What does that mean? A wild sex party?”
I finished chewing. “I hooked up with Keston. And it wasn’t the first time.” I waited for the explosion and was not disappointed.
Brenner’s jaw dropped, and his blue eyes popped wide. “Keston? As in Grady’s brother? That Keston?”
“Bailey, you dog.” A wicked grin kicked up Weston’s lips. “How the hell did that even happen? I wouldn’t think you two ran in the same circles.”
“Well, that’s not snobbish at all, West,” I remarked, my tone mild but with enough of a rebuke that he flushed bright red.
“I didn’t mean anything other than from what Grady’s told me, Keston’s pretty much a loner, and I know you’re big into the pickup and party scenes.”
Ouch. Those words, though unintentional, still hurt.
More than I’d ever let on, but that was me.
King of hidden emotions. I took another sip of my drink.
“Well, aren’t differences what make the world go around?
Are you and Brenner exactly alike?” I held up a hand.
“No, don’t answer that. You are. Both lawyers, great-looking… ”