Chapter Two
German moved from room to room, turning off each light.
He didn’t know who spent their time out here, but they obviously didn’t pay the light bill.
German chuckled at his thoughts. He supposed no one here worried about things like that.
Valon likely had someone on his payroll whose job was to turn every light on every morning, or some shit.
It was possible a darkened pool house was an invitation for stalkers to hide or whatever.
It was a good thing he had worked there for a short time. He knew how to set the alarm.
As German pressed the first number of the alarm code, someone knocked on the door. German’s brows snapped together. It was two in the morning. He opened the door, fully expecting Marc to be on the other side. His brain froze at the sight of Blaze.
Blaze was all smiles. He held up two bottles of champagne. “Since you refused to come to me, I’ll bring the celebration to you.” Blaze strolled through the door and passed German like he lived there.
German stuck his head out the door and looked right, then left. “Where’s Diesel?” He turned and found Blaze digging for glasses.
“Nathaniel’s finding him a room so he can get some sleep. It’s not like he’s needed here.”
That was true, but Diesel was a buffer. German definitely needed that when it came to Blaze. He closed the door.
Blaze found two cups. “These’ll do.” He popped the cork on an expensive champagne.
German had only had the brand because of his job.
While it was only around seven hundred dollars a bottle, a pittance to the upper class, Hell would freeze before German ever spent that much.
He had to admit it was the best-tasting, though.
Blaze handed him a cup.
German couldn’t look anywhere else. Blaze looked relaxed. Meanwhile, German was a fucking mess.
Blaze’s light green gaze lifted and held German’s stare. “What made you change your mind about tonight?” He took a drink as if he hadn’t just put German on the spot.
“You sent someone else to fetch me. It didn’t seem like you cared if I showed up or not.” He really needed to get his wits back. German couldn’t keep telling the truth like that.
Blaze tossed back the rest of his drink and started to pour another. He stopped. “This is ridiculous.” He popped the cork on the second bottle and handed it to German. “Fuck pouring the shit.”
German shook his head. “Give me the one you’ve been drinking. You’re the main character tonight.”
Blaze never broke eye contact and didn’t budge from holding the bottle out to German. “I’m the main character every night.”
That was likely true. German took the bottle.
Blaze smiled. “That’s the spirit.” He turned away and headed for the couch. The pool house was just that: a smaller house with all the comforts of home. “Plus, I know where Valon keeps the booze. There’s no need for me to ration that shit.”
German chose the chair across from him—just as he had last time they were here. “Yeah. Me too.”
Blaze’s gaze swept German’s body as he turned up the bottle.
German kind of wished he wore a shirt, but he had been ready for bed.
“So, we’re seated, we have drinks, and nothing but time. You’re the only one I wanted there.”
German turned up the bottle. The last thing he needed was anything else bringing his defenses down, but it was Blaze. He was in trouble. German chugged a good quarter of the bottle before he found his voice. “What’s your real name?”
Blaze’s mouth turned up in one corner. “So we’re dodging the subject, huh? The name on my birth certificate is Justin, but it’s legally Blaze now.”
German nodded. “I wanted to be there, but I also don’t want to be another of your so-called friends. Justin is a nice name. I get using a stage name, but why legally change it?”
Blaze didn’t miss a beat. “Marketability, keep my family safe by making them harder to find, and all the other reasons most celebrities do. There’re a lot of decisions I didn’t get to make. You’re not my so-called friend. You’re just my friend, or so I thought.”
It hit German. He had hurt Blaze by not showing up. None of the people who stayed glued to him cared about Blaze. German did, and Blaze knew it. “Does that mean you didn’t get to pick your name? You didn’t think wrong. I am your friend. This is better.”
Blaze set his feet on the edge of the coffee table, getting comfortable—like settling in for a conversation.
“Valon opted to keep his name since it already had a rockstar vibe. I opted for Blaze since that’s what everyone called me at music camp, and I idiotically didn’t realize it would be a legal change. ”
“What about the other guys?” German was fascinated. The more he learned, the more he wanted to know.
“Steve and Goose. Of course, Steve changed his to Syx. We met at that same camp. Because our sounds matched, we were put together. Fate, I suppose. That’s also where I met Goose.”
German sat forward. “Wait. Goose is Goose’s actual name?”
Blaze chuckled. “It may as well be. It’s what he’s been called his entire life. He’s Canadian. It seems he sounded like a goose when he screamed as a baby. It stuck. Do you care if I light up?”
“It’s not my place. I’m unbothered.” For the most part, he was fine with drugs, except for the part where addicts tended to ruin their lives.
“Your face says otherwise.”
German forced a natural-sounding laugh. “No, seriously. I’m not your dad. If you want to ruin your life, then that’s your prerogative.”
Blaze burst out laughing.
German stopped breathing. Before meeting Blaze, German thought he had understood the word stunning. He hadn’t known a damn thing. He had to do something, anything, to make Blaze less attractive. “I’m just fucking with you. Smoke away.”
“If you’re sure.” He unbuttoned the top five buttons on the dress shirt he still wore from the awards. German knew it was exactly five because he watched and counted. Blaze rolled up his sleeves, revealing his sexy forearms—drummer arms.
“I’m sure I have a t-shirt around here you can borrow, if you want to be more comfortable.”
Why had he said that? Even to his ears, German sounded a little too eager.
Blaze hadn’t missed it either. It was in his eyes as he unbuttoned the rest of his shirt and shrugged it off.
He wore a tight, sleeveless ribbed tank top underneath.
God, it was almost worse than if he went shirtless.
The white shirt drew the eye to the cut way his shoulders dipped as they met the chest. German kept forcing his eyes away, only for him to find himself staring again.
Blaze had a smattering of freckles on his shoulders. German was in so much trouble.
German chewed on the side of his thumbnail as Blaze lit up. He set his feet on the opposite side of the coffee table, matching Blaze’s pose.
Blaze took a drag before motioning German’s way. “You want one?”
“No, thanks. You know I prefer to watch.”
Holy shit. He had said that. German had really fucking said that, and there was no going back in time to punch himself. The way Blaze relaxed deeper into the couch spoke volumes. His mind went exactly where German’s had gone. Right here, where they had been last time.
It had been a long, strange night. Everyone was high, including German, but only from the secondhand smoke.
His head spun as the party wound down and people got friskier.
Someone had dimmed the lights at some point, setting the mood.
That should have been German’s cue to get lost. Instead, he sank deeper into the chair, sitting across from where Blaze matched his pose on the couch.
Smoke hung heavily in the air, giving everything an edge of unreality.
Maybe that was why German didn’t look away when Brie went down on Blaze.
With his head resting against the couch behind him, Blaze smoked and stared at German through hooded eyes.
The only clue he gave that some guy currently bobbed on his dick was the way his chest rose and fell faster by the second.
German never broke eye contact. He wished he could claim that he didn’t know why.
Unfortunately, he was painfully aware of the way Blaze made his dick hard and how much he wished he was Brie.
Blaze's sexy lips parted as he visibly got closer to blowing. German didn’t want the moment to end.
As soon as that orgasm hit, this would be over and the awkwardness would set it.
Except Blaze pushed Brie away without coming.
Unfazed, Brie immediately fell nose-deep into a pile of cocaine nearby.
Blaze palmed his cock. Neither of them ever looked away from each other.
Desire, like German had never experienced, gnawed at his gut.
He felt the pre-cum wetting his underwear.
His erection begged for the same treatment Blaze gave himself.
Blaze made a jerky head motion, and German knew exactly what he wanted. He urged German to join him.
German didn’t want that. He was too enthralled.
“It’s okay. I like to watch.” The words came out so softly, he couldn’t believe Blaze heard, but Blaze worked harder to come.
German’s pulse beat so loudly in his ears, he couldn’t hear a thing.
Everyone else had disappeared around them.
Logically, he knew at least three guys still hung around while the rest had already passed out.
When Blaze finally blew, German feared for his sanity.
He scared himself with how far he would have gone in that moment with only the slightest urging.
German would have done anything Blaze asked. He just wanted to stay.