2. Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Branson
Take chances. Some risks are worth it. If you fall, get back up again, but don't forget what made you trip. Learn from it then move on.
I f someone were to ask me how I felt about my best friend getting married, the first word out of my mouth would be ‘happy’ or ‘thrilled’ because I was. What they wouldn’t hear from me was the deeper, darker, bitter emotion that hit me every time I saw August and the love of his life, Caleb, together - jealousy. Because it’s pretty shitty to be envious of your friends and at almost twenty seven years old, I knew and understood that everyone’s lives moved at different paces and in different directions. That didn’t stop the aching pang at knowing he had what I’d been searching for: someone to love me - wholly and completely. Someone to call me theirs.
Instead, I've had endless bad dates, no shows and passion filled nights that died a sudden death as soon as the sun rose. I have worn my heart on my sleeve, out there and in view for all to see, and yet no one has taken the opportunity to care one bit about it or about me.
Case in point, the awful date I had a few nights before I left New York to attend the wedding in London. The guy had been so into me over messenger in the days leading up to the date. We bonded over our love of yoga, sports and travelling and when he finally suggested we meet at a sports bar downtown, I was hopelessly optimistic.
On arriving, he’d looked me over from head to toe as though he was assessing a car he might buy before gesturing to a high top table. Twenty minutes into our date, fifteen of which he spent checking out the man at the table next to us, it was clear that the night was going no further. He hadn’t even been shocked or remotely disappointed when I’d said I was leaving.
As I looked myself over in the mirror, straightening my bowtie and adjusting my cuffs, I was critical of what I saw, trying to discern what it was about me that made men walk away so quickly. I was not tall but also not short - I guess you could say average height - my blonde hair, though bordering on brown, was shaggy in a messy yet stylish way and my body was lean and toned. Not small but not overly muscular either. I took good care of how I looked, working out when I could, playing sports, doing yoga and eating well. Maybe my eyes were a little dull, the blue looking lacklustre at the moment. But that couldn’t be it.
Bloody hell, why was it proving so hard to find someone to love me, to care for me, to pamper me a bit? Maybe I was just genuinely unlovable.
I shrugged the thought away, not wanting to be all gloomy on this important day and reminding myself of the same thing I did every time I felt this way - you are perfect, amazing, wonderful.
Reaching for the pink rose on the side table, the one to be pinned to my suit jacket, I gazed in the mirror again just in time to catch sight of my bestie exiting the bathroom. He looked handsome in his dark grey suit and I noticed that the smile he wore reached his eyes and came with an air of confidence that told me he had no hesitation over taking this step.
“You look great, Auggie Bear. Caleb is going to cry, I am sure of it.” Happiness bloomed in my chest at the look on his face. August had been through so much to get to this point.
“Thanks Bran, you’re not looking too shabby yourself,” he replied while rustling my hair. I batted his hand away, chuckling at his antics and then strode into the now unoccupied bathroom to finish getting myself ready for the wedding. As Best Man - or one of them - I had a very important role to play and I was taking it seriously. I would have us both at the end of that aisle on time and I would do it looking well groomed and like I had my shit put together.
“That went well.” I felt the heat of a body at my back before the words hit my ears and I knew instinctively who it was. Turning, I took a step back and let my eyes roam over the tall expanse of man before me. Noel Bennett - hotel mogul, owner of this hotel and plenty of others across the world - and my co-best man. The guy was hot, cocky, and though a bit of an ass, he was surprisingly not as self absorbed as he came across. We’d gotten to know each other over the last couple of weeks as we helped plan this wedding - though every interaction to date had been solely focused on wedding prep and always when others were around.
“It did, they both look really happy.” My eyes trailed over to where Caleb and August were standing arm in arm talking to some of the wedding guests. My best friend was laughing and I don’t think I’d ever seen him happier. “And your speech didn’t suck, so I’d call that a success.”
Noel feigned a hurt expression while I laughed, thinking back to the day we’d sat down to write our speeches together.
“Are you going for embarrassing or romantic and emotional?” Noel asked, while my fingers were poised over the keyboard. Truth be told, I had planned to be a little sappy, though knowing August would probably hate that, I planned to throw in the odd story from our past that I knew would warrant a laugh or two.
“A bit of both, I think, you?”
Noel laughed, a sly grin pulling up the side of his lip. “Embarrassing, I’m going to make Caleb turn a pretty shade of pink.”
I scoffed, “You’re trying to rile August up aren’t you? You know he doesn’t like people teasing his fiancé.”
Noel bumped his shoulder against mine, and I couldn’t help the smile that rose on my lips - matching the vibrant one he wore. He really was a very attractive man.
“Me? Never.”
“Your funeral, Mr Bennett.” Heat flashed in Noel’s eyes at my words and I turned away, not meeting his gaze again until my speech was written.
The feel of his hot breath against my ear again shook me from the memory and catapulted me back to the present where he had moved closer, so close that I could smell every note of his cologne.
“Wanna fuck?”
Heat engulfed me and I pulled my head back to look into Noel’s darkened eyes. He was entirely serious and my cock reacted to not only his question but his intensity.
“Is this your way of wooing me?” With the frustration over my recent failure of a date fresh in my mind, annoyance at my string of bad relationships and my attempts to find my Mr Right, I knew right away that I’d say yes. He may not be Mr Right - I knew he had a reputation as a playboy - but Noel was hot, he smelled good and I knew without a doubt that he’d make it worth my while. Maybe blowing off a little steam with a hot guy was just what I needed. A sort of press of the refresh button before I got back on the proverbial horse.
“I’m not trying to woo you, Branson. You don’t want to be wooed right now, you want to be fucked. I can see it in your eyes and,” he glanced down my body, his eyes caressing a trail down my chest to the bulge tenting my suit trousers, “your body.”
Swallowing thickly, I nodded, then silently, Noel turned and headed towards the exit of the reception room, and I followed with no hesitation in my hasty steps.
“Fuck, you’re tight. So good, so fucking tight. Ahhh, feels so good.” I rolled my eyes at the blonde Adonis-like asshole behind me. The one railing into me while bending me over the wash basin of the hotel bathroom. His perfectly slicked back hair had fallen out of place and a stray curl fell in front of his eyes.
Around us, pieces of our clothes lay in disarray in the posh bathroom. Matching cummerbunds, jackets and bowties in expensive grey linen and green silk lay on the floor and on the basin counter, a sign of how fast and needy we’d both been once the door had been locked.
“So tight, so fucking tight,” Noel mumbled as he pushed in and out of me in a steady rhythm. His breath was hot, fanning over the back of my neck as he interspersed his ramblings with butterfly soft kisses to the back of my neck.
“Do you always talk so much? If I wanted a conversation I’d have stayed at the wedding.” I caught his eye in the mirror in front of me. His blonde hair was a mess, his shirt unbuttoned and his trousers hung just below his ass. “Less talking and more fucking. Please and thank you,” I said, throwing a grin his way. He was taller than me and slightly broader too. His hands were large and strong and the sight of him manhandling me was enough to have me almost busting on the spot
Noel gripped my hips tighter. “Oh, you’re a tetchy one. I like that, kitten,” he chuckled and fuck me, if it wasn’t the sound of an evil, villainous mastermind. His grin matched my own and I preened at the devilish glint in his eyes.
I arched my ass further back, giving my dick ample space to ensure it wasn’t rammed into the marble countertop. It had occurred to me to ask him why, since he owned this hotel, we were screwing in a bathroom attached to the event space and not some plush room or say, the penthouse suite. But I didn’t. This was a quick fuck. It would be over in fifteen minutes so the location didn’t really matter.
Noel released one hand from my hip and a moment later, his finger circled my rim, rubbing alongside his cock. I watched his expression in the mirror, his eyes trained on my ass, his lips parted as he pounded into me.
“So, so good, look how well you take me,” he said, not heeding my earlier request to quit talking. Then, in one swift move, he bent me forward even more, pressing my back down until my forearms were braced on the counter, my face almost flush with the surface. With the tip of his dick now pegging my prostate on every forceful thrust, I was riding on the edge. I slid one hand along the cool marble and down, taking my dick in hand and jerking it quickly.
It wasn’t long before my balls drew tight, and a hot flush washed over me, sending tingles through my limbs and I came with a loud groan, thick ropes of cum landing on the tiled floor at my feet.
“Fuck yes, kitten, squeeze me.” Noel’s thrusts grew erratic before he suddenly halted, falling over my back and shuddering against me, his orgasm momentarily stealing his words.
Noel was heavy, his thick body plastering mine to the marble below me.
“Hey hotshot, I need to breathe.” Pressing my forearm against the surface I made to stand and he straightened, pulling out of me slowly while running his hands over the globes of my ass, reverently like he was committing each curve to memory. He gave me one last squeeze, before walking over to the bin and discarding the condom. I knelt down and cleaned up the mess I’d made.
Once we were both dressed, I waved him off and made my way towards the toilet. “I’m gonna take a leak, I’ll see you out there in a bit.” I turned away from him, undoing my trousers and aiming my spent dick at the bowl. I waited to hear the sound of the door but when it didn’t come, I turned my upper body to find Noel leaning against it, his ocean blue eyes boring into me.
I scoffed, “Are you just going to stand there and watch me piss?”
“Yes.” His throat bobbed and I rolled my eyes again, sure he was messing with me.
“You want to hold it for me too?” I asked jokingly, playing along with whatever this was.
“Yes,” he said again as his eyes trailed down, over my chest, landing on my dick.
He had to be joking, surely?
It would be easy for me to blame alcohol for my next words, but the truth was, I was a little tipsy but I knew exactly what I was doing when I said, in a voice that didn’t even sound like my own, “Okay.”
Noel pushed himself up from the door and joined me in three quick steps. He spread his legs and stood so close I could feel his breath on my neck. Turning to face forward, I took a deep breath, willing my rapidly beating heart to steady itself. Tentatively, he rested one hand on my hip while the other came around my front, pushing my own hand off my dick and taking it in his grasp.
I had done a lot of things, with a lot of guys but this was…. new and completely unexpected. My body tensed up.
Noel kissed my neck and then breathed into my ear, “Let go.” It took a lot of focus to get the stream started, suddenly feeling a bout of stage fright, but a second later, I relaxed and a flow of warm golden liquid hit the toilet bowl. Noel’s breath hitched, followed by a low, rumbling growl that I felt as much as I heard.
“Does that turn you on?” I asked, resisting the urge to throw my head back and rest it against his solid chest. With the hand on my hip, Noel squeezed tighter as he replied, “What do you think?”
What did I think? The feel of his half hard cock growing against me told me the answer was yes. But how did I feel about this?
Now finished, I tucked myself away and pushed him back, walking over to wash my hands. “I think,” I started, “I think it’s time to get back to the wedding.” The fuck had been just that, a fuck but this last bit felt somewhat intimate.
A sort of hmph sound came from Noel before the sound of the bathroom door opening and closing. It occurred to me then that I had meant to ask him not to mention any of this to August or Caleb. I didn’t chase after him though, presuming that he wasn’t about to tell his best friend that he watched his husband's best friend take a piss. Or that he’d helped him do it.