Chapter One #2
Something about Kerry’s attitude rubbed him the wrong way.
He knew the man was hurting. Hell, Kerry had recently learned the person who killed his sister twenty-five years ago was a woman he loved like family.
But Keegan’s days of being someone’s punching bag were over.
He straightened his spine and pulled his shoulders back.
“Brendan isn’t a pimp. He’s someone who cares a great deal about my happiness and well-being.
And who better than Sven to give me pointers on how to meet men?
” Keegan notched his chin higher in a challenge.
“Unless you’d like to volunteer as tribute.
Is there something you’d like to teach me? ”
Kerry’s raven-black brows crept toward his hairline, and his mouth slanted into a smirk. Keegan’s heart tripped over itself as he braced for a response. Had he crossed the line they’d been straddling since their first dance?
“The Hunger Games?” Kerry sidestepped the question, and Keegan felt like he dodged a bullet.
Keegan controlled his breathing so his relief wouldn’t whoosh out of him in a dramatic exhale. He responded with the three-finger salute Katniss gave in the movies.
Kerry shook his head and sighed. “But you haven’t watched Jurassic Park.”
“Nope.” He knew the franchise was Kerry’s favorite, but he wasn’t sorry he prioritized The Hunger Games.
Besides, he hoped to watch the dinosaur movies with Kerry someday, but it felt like he was waiting for an invitation that would never come.
“Secular music, movies, and television were forbidden in my home, and I have to catch up on twenty-five years of pop culture. Cut me some slack.”
Kerry crossed his arms over his chest. “I question your priorities.”
“It seems like you have a lot of opinions about what I should do with my free time and my body,” Keegan said.
Kerry’s beautiful mouth formed a grim line as he stared at Keegan with a stormy expression. “The kitten has claws.”
And Keegan would like to take them to Kerry’s back as he—
“Here we go,” Sven loudly announced as he thunked a frosty mug of beer onto the table hard enough to slosh some over the side. The intrusion made Keegan and Kerry jump like they’d gotten caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
Keegan watched the foam slowly glide down the side of the glass and had the strangest urge to lick it.
He had little experience with beer, but he’d need to get acquainted with it if he wanted to play a significant role in Cash’s future alehouse.
Foam-licking wasn’t included in the training his mentor had excitedly suggested to him a few weeks ago.
Yet Keegan’s tongue darted out and slowly swiped his bottom lip.
A hoarse grunt came from across the table, and Keegan darted his gaze back to the brooding man whose onyx eyes seemed transfixed by the motion.
Kerry blinked and shook his head as if to clear his thoughts or return from somewhere he hadn’t meant to go.
But Keegan wasn’t willing to relinquish the ground he’d made. “Kitten, huh? I guess it’s an improvement over what you called me the first time we met here.”
“Oh, this sounds titillating,” Sven said, leaning in. “What did he call you?”
“Mind your own business,” Kerry told Sven.
Keegan kept his gaze locked on Kerry when he answered his friend’s question.
“He said this meat market was no place for a little lamb like me. That was a long time ago, and as you’ve pointed out, I’m not the same person I was back then.
” The dance he’d shared with Kerry probably only lasted three minutes, but it changed his life.
He doubted the encounter had even registered as a blip on Kerry’s radar.
“God, this is good,” Sven said. “Tell me more.”
Kerry scowled at his brother. “Stay out of it. You’ve caused enough trouble tonight.” He turned to Keegan and growled, “Dance with me.”
Keegan faked a swoon in his chair and fanned his face with his hand. “How could I resist such a sweet invitation?”
Kerry stood up fast enough to nearly topple his chair.
“Now, Kee. I want to talk to you and don’t want him to overhear.
” He jabbed his finger in Sven’s direction, and Keegan turned his head to catch his friend watching them with rapt attention.
He’d placed his elbows on the table, laced his fingers together, and rested his chin on the bridge they made.
The little shit didn’t bother to fake his interest.
Sven batted his eyelashes. “Most people take it to the parking lot or restroom.”
“That isn’t the kind of talking I intend,” Kerry growled. The king of laid-back charm exhibited a vastly different personality, and Keegan didn’t know what to make of it.
“Pity, and since when have you danced to fast music?” Sven countered.
The current song ended, and a slow rhythm blared through the speakers before Kerry could form his answer. He triumphantly pointed both hands toward the ceiling as if his wishes alone conjured the switch.
Sven straightened in his chair and pulled a supersized fruity cocktail toward him. “It seems my work here is done,” he said before pursing his lips around the straw and sucking hard. The provocative pose no doubt earned a collective groan from his fan club. “Have fun, boys.”
Kerry shook his head and walked off without waiting to see if Keegan had followed.
But, of course, he would. He sighed and pushed back from the table.
It took everything in his power not to bound after him like a desperate little puppy.
Keegan glanced over his shoulder and caught Sven watching them with a smug expression that halted him mid-step.
Not long ago, Sven cautioned Keegan to guard his heart around Kerry, and now his friend made shooing motions to encourage Keegan to follow Kerry onto the dance floor.
Sven had told him Kerry would be tending bar at the Feisty Bull but hadn’t seemed surprised when Kerry showed up.
Keegan smelled a rat. Was that what Kerry had meant when he’d accused Sven of causing trouble?
“I look like a dumbass standing on the dance floor by myself,” Kerry called out.
When Keegan turned back around, a slender guy with light brown hair had stepped into Kerry’s personal space.
“That invitation wasn’t for you,” Keegan snarled, surprising himself with the ferocity in his voice. “Scram.”
The guy curled up his fingers to mimic cat claws and said, “Meow.”
Kerry seemed to get a big kick out of his feisty display if the massive smile on his face was any indication. “Even that guy knows you have claws.”
“Don’t get a big ego,” Keegan said.
“Why not? Everything else on me is big.”
Kerry looped his arms low around Keegan’s waist and pulled him close.
Too close. Keegan’s nose nearly collided with Kerry’s collarbone, but it allowed him to inhale Kerry’s intoxicating scent without being a creeper.
Keegan inhaled subtly to get another whiff of cedarwood, leather, and something smoky before he eased back a little and circled his arms around Kerry’s neck.
He willed himself not to take the bait with Kerry’s comment on his size, but he couldn’t help himself.
“Well, a guy your size would look ridiculous with little feet,” Keegan quipped, refusing to feed into the man’s inflated ego. “You’d tip over.”
“Yeah, I was talking about my feet.” Sarcasm dripped off his tongue, and Keegan longed to suck it off.
His recent thoughts about Kerry and their growing intensity rattled Keegan.
It would only fluster him more to catalog the size of Kerry’s features, such as the warm, large hands resting near the swells of Keegan’s ass, the broad shoulders blocking out the rest of the room from his view, or Kerry’s huge, cocky smile.
The man knew the effect he had on other people, and the spreading warmth in Keegan’s lower belly reminded him why he didn’t want to focus on Kerry’s powerful attributes, lest his mind wandered too far astray again.
Instead, Keegan considered the similarities and differences between their first dance and this one.
Keegan’s heart still tried to pound its way out of his chest, but he didn’t let anxiety drown out all his other senses this time.
He swayed naturally to the music rather than woodenly turning in a circle, keeping a foot of space between himself and the gentle giant.
Kerry had pulled him flush against his body this time, and Keegan was more than happy to keep it that way.
The heat and power radiating off Kerry were more intoxicating than Sven’s enormous cocktail.
Their changed physical dynamic was impressive, but the emotional shift was what kept Keegan awake, aching and longing late into the night.
They were inexorably drawn to one another, but neither seemed willing to do anything about it.
The glimmer in Kerry’s eyes changed from ornery to something else.
Surprise? A different kind of awareness?
It felt like Keegan should at least be able to recognize the response after years of intensive therapy, but the emotion eluded him.
Kerry leaned in, and Keegan thought for a moment he might kiss him, but Kerry nuzzled his nose against Keegan’s temple instead.
Black dots danced before his eyes, and Keegan realized he was holding his breath.
He inhaled deeply, and a lungful of oxygen cleared his vision.
Kerry lowered his mouth to Keegan’s ear. “Eighteen months, three weeks, and two days.”
The husky voice and Kerry’s proximity made it hard for him to think. “Huh?”
Kerry pulled back and stared into his eyes. “You said our dance was a long time ago. It’s been eighteen months, three weeks, and two days.”
Hoping not to betray his shock, Keegan said, “You don’t know the exact hour?”