Chapter 6 Gavin
GAVIN
Gavin hadn’t been able to sleep a wink. Every twenty minutes, he kept tossing and turning.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t tired. Quite the opposite, he was exhausted.
But every time he closed his eyes, he kept seeing him, standing over him with that eerie smile on his face as he promised to write him a romantic Valentine’s card when he decided to end his life.
Each time he saw that face, his eyes jerked open, and his heart started pounding until he finally decided that he wasn’t going to get any more sleep tonight.
Slipping out of his bed, he stepped into the living room and stared at his two new best friends—both sleeping on the floor on a bed made of pillows.
Lucas and Ace had decided that a sleepover was warranted so they could spend more time getting to know their newest best friend.
Gavin kind of liked that thought—having two best friends.
While Gavin might have 1.8 million followers across all his social media platforms, he didn’t really have anyone he considered a “best friend” or even a close friend he could turn to for support or even help following such a traumatic experience.
Instead, he had a bunch of faceless profiles, all wanting a piece of him, all worshipping the ground he walked on.
And for what? Because they liked the content he was posting and the recommendations he was making.
Becoming a social media influencer was a gift and also a curse.
It took a lot of hard work to constantly create content and keep producing work that people wanted to see.
Sometimes he felt like his whole life was one big performance.
Tiptoeing through the living room, he looked at the photos that hung on the walls. Most were of Marcus and Ace, smiling together, surrounded by big, beefy bikers who seemed to always be celebrating one occasion or another.
They all seemed happy, every person in those photos.
There were no scowls or rolling eyes, no disappointed parents or empty chairs at birthdays. All the pictures showed a loving life surrounded by people who cared.
Not wanting to wake the guys, Gavin moved on to the hallway.
Marcus’s bedroom was located at the other end of the long, ranch-style home, presumably to give a bit of privacy between the two brothers when they lived together.
Ace mentioned that Marcus had bought the place from their stepparents and then remodeled the rooms to make the bedrooms bigger and more accessible to their lifestyle.
As Gavin continued down the hallway, his eyes were fixed on the bedroom door at the end. Most people closed their bedroom doors when they went to sleep, but it appeared that Marcus had left his open.
Did he just forget to close his door? Or was this Marcus’s way of reminding his family that he was always accessible, even when sleeping?
Gavin’s parents were never like that. They believed in boundaries and in being appropriate, never showing too much emotion or inconveniencing others when you could do something yourself. They were both CEOs of major marketing firms and believed that hugging children was a sign of weakness.
Was it any surprise that Gavin would seek out attention and approval wherever he could get it? Anonymous adoration as a social media influencer felt just as good as having hundreds of friends.
Gavin stopped just outside Marcus’s bedroom.
Jesus. His breath caught in his chest when his eyes fell on Marcus.
The man was lying on his stomach, his body spread out on the bed. His back muscles were exposed, taunting Gavin with every movement.
His eyes slid down his body, where a sheet was lazily thrown over his lower torso, leaving his left ass cheek partially exposed.
Thankfully, he was wearing a pair of black cotton boxer briefs.
If he weren’t, Gavin was pretty sure the bedroom doorframe would be covered in his cum right this very second.
Talk about a sexy beefcake. The man was hairy in all the right places—his legs, his face, even his forearms. But his back was smooth, covered in muscles and tattoos that only added to Gavin’s growing obsession with the mystery man.
There was something about a big, rough man that always made Gavin weak in the knees.
Yes, he’d slept with twinks, gym bunnies, and bears and chubs—hey, a dick was a dick, and a mouth was a mouth. He loved all body types, but his weakness was big, muscled daddies who liked being rough with their boys.
Instant hard-on.
The sound of Marcus’s soft snoring was gentle and peaceful—almost like a lullaby. For some strange reason, Gavin felt a sense of comfort listening to Marcus sleep and knowing that the big badass was only steps away.
He wasn’t trying to be creepy. He was just so goddamn tired, and the rhythmic sound of Marcus’s snoring made Gavin’s eyes get heavy.
Before he knew it, he found his body slowly sliding down the wall until he was seated on the floor, his back pressed against the wall, knees tucked up under his arms.
He rested his head against his knees and closed his eyes for just a moment.
A second later, he felt someone gently kick his foot.
Gavin jerked awake, his head snapping up to meet a pair of gentle brown eyes. His six-foot-four protector stared down at him.
“Did you get any sleep at all?” Marcus asked, staring down at him in nothing but his underwear. His chest had a light dusting of fur that hugged the perfectly sculpted curves of his pecs.
Without realizing it, Gavin’s eyes slowly slid lower to the eight-pack the mountain man had somehow managed to obtain.
“Jesus” slipped out of Gavin’s mouth before his eyes snapped back up to the smirking man standing above him.
“You checking out my junk, boy?”
Gavin hadn’t even thought about that. He’d been too distracted by the miles of muscle scorching his eyeballs. So, of course, his eyes naturally dropped to the massive bulge barely being supported by the thin material that mere mortals call underwear.
A snort escaped Marcus’s throat.
Gavin felt his cheeks flush.
“Uh—sorry.” He waited for his brain to come back online. “Jesus. Your muscles have muscles. Do you live at the gym or something?” Gavin asked, hopping up from the floor and nearly kissing Marcus’s bulge with the side of his face.
Another flash of crimson.
“I like to stay in shape,” Marcus said, returning to his room and stepping into a pair of joggers he’d thrown on the floor.
Gavin followed him into his bedroom.
“So, you didn’t answer my question. Did you get any sleep?” Marcus asked once again.
Shrugging his shoulders, Gavin sat down on Marcus’s bed.
“I guess at some point? Every time I closed my eyes, I kept seeing his smirking face staring at me. I kept hearing him say not to worry, he was going to leave me a really romantic Valentine’s card when he killed me.
I finally gave up trying to sleep and decided to snoop around your house instead.
Strangely enough, it was the sound of your snoring that finally made me fall asleep. ”
Marcus threw a shirt over his head and managed to squeeze his arms through the tiny holes.
“Well, I guess that makes sense. You see me as your big, strong protector. So it’s only natural that you would feel comfortable sleeping when you're around me.”
“So does that mean I get to cuddle with you at night?” Gavin’s eyes lit up, and his smile nearly swallowed his head.
“Nice try. I’ll get you a doll and slap a picture of me on its face. You can cuddle that instead.”
Disappointment set in as Gavin’s fantasies of being swallowed alive by Marcus’s swollen body evaporated before his eyes.
Gavin let out a sigh. “Fine… You’re no fun.” He looked up at Marcus, then back at the door. “Do you think they saw me sleeping outside your doorway, like a neglected little puppy?”
Marcus glanced at the door, then shook his head. “No, those gossip queens won’t open their eyes until at least noon. Something about beauty sleep and them not being spring chickens anymore.”
“Don’t let them hear you say that.” Gavin chuckled. There was something calming and relaxing about Marcus. He felt like no matter what, he could be himself around the big, burly man.
Placing his hand on Gavin’s shoulder, Marcus led him out of his bedroom and into the kitchen.
“So, what do you want for breakfast? I guess you don’t eat eggs,” Marcus noted, scouring the fridge as he tried to figure out what vegetarians eat for breakfast.
Gavin couldn’t help but smile.