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Jack swallowed. “Hey. The, uh, movie ended.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “I just…You fell asleep.”

  “Guess that wine hit me harder than I thought.”

  “Guess so.”

  Tyler’s eyes focused on the thumb making out with his lip. “Jack—”

  “I know,” Jack said softly. “I know. You’re just…you smell really good.” A lame finish, but hell, he was thinking with his dick only at that moment.

  “I need to go.” Tyler sat up and Jack ached from the loss as he knew he would.

  Jack made himself nod as he rose up from the couch, following after Tyler, who was already heading for the front door. “Are you sure you’re okay to drive?”

  Tyler rubbed his hand over his head but it did nothing to tame the mass of brown curls. “Yeah, yeah. I’m okay. I’m good.”

  He reached for the door and opened it and Jack wasn’t sure what made him do it, but he slammed his hand on the edge of the door and closed it again with a loud bang. He slammed his other hand down and trapped Tyler’s between his arms.

  “Jack?” Tyler exclaimed, eyes going almost comically wide.

  Jack leaned forward, his arms bending at the elbow, until his lips were a centimeter’s distance from Tyler’s. This was a mistake, yeah, he knew it. Couldn’t stop himself anyway.

  He crushed his lips over Tyler’s. At first the other man was unyielding. Jack might as well have been kissing a block of ice. But then Tyler suddenly gave up a little gasp, a bare whimper, and started kissing Jack back with a desperation that stole his breath and especially his sanity.

  Tyler closed his eyes and clutched at Jack’s shoulders. Jack fit himself in between Tyler’s spread legs. He set about devouring Tyler’s mouth. He tasted of the wine he’d been drinking and a hint of popcorn and garlic. Without really giving himself time to think it through, he pressed his body into Tyler’s, and he knew by the way Tyler’s eyes suddenly snapped open that he’d felt the unmistakable ridge of Jack’s arousal. And he could also tell it was like throwing ice water over Tyler as suddenly his eyes narrowed and he shoved Jack away hard.

  “What the fuck, Jack?” Tyler asked, blue eyes flashing angrily. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand like he couldn’t stand to have Jack’s taste on him anymore.

  “Tyler—”

  “I’m going home. Thanks for dinner.” This time when Tyler opened the door Jack didn’t try to stop him.

  Tyler walked outside and closed the door, leaving Jack staring at nothing.

  Chapter 5

  Tyler tried to sit still as the makeup artist applied the stage makeup to his face. It was opening night and Tyler was jittery. He tapped his right foot.

  “Stay still,” Ginny, the makeup artist, told him for the second time. She leaned in close, her breasts in his face. “Did you touch your hair?”

  He shrugged. “I had an itch.”

  She snorted and reached for a comb. “Next time just suffer. I can’t have your hair sticking up every which way.”

  Tyler sighed. Tapped his foot again. Ginny hit his head with the comb. “Hey!”

  “Well, how many times I gotta tell you? You have nothing to be nervous about anyway. You’re good, Tyler.”

  He eyed her suspiciously. “Yeah?”

  “Yes. Better than most of them, really. You’ll do fine.”

  Tyler bit his lip. “Kevin said it’s a sellout.”

  “It is and that’s good. And when all of them see it, word of mouth will keep them coming in.”

  “They’re coming in for the celebrity,” Tyler reminded her. The star of the play was a well-known television actor who had decided to branch into theater. Everyone knew the actor was the draw for their audience.

  “I know that’s why, but that’s what I mean. Word of mouth will keep them coming.”

  “Hope so.”

  “Your friend coming?” Ginny asked, bending over to pat some more makeup on his nose.

  “Yeah, Jack’s coming. I think anyway. We sort of had a semi-falling out.”

  “What’s a semi-falling out?”

  “A long story. Anyway we’ve talked some but really haven’t gotten together in a while. He’s working a lot and I’ve been busy with the diner and the play. Still, I’m pretty sure he’ll be here.”

  Ginny straightened. “And your family?”

  “There’s only Aunt Ruby and my sister who give a fuck. Aunt Ruby had to work the diner tonight. She’ll come in for another performance. And my sister is in Wisconsin.”

  “Well, it’s good your friend Jack will be here then. Okay, Tyler, as long as you don’t get another itch, you’re ready to go. Try not to touch anything.”

  “Thanks, Ginny.”

  * * * *

  It wasn’t until after the play was over that Tyler could even tell if Jack had really come to see him. When he’d been on stage the audience was just a sea of heads, the bright lights making it nearly impossible to recognize anyone.

  The lights were also damn hot, and by the time they got their second curtain call, sweat trickled down his forehead and into his eyes.

  Gross.

  Tyler smiled brightly and got off the stage. When he went out to the lobby with the rest of the cast, he spotted Jack standing off to the side, wearing black pants and a black shirt, and he wasn’t alone. Next to him was a guy about the same height as Jack with blond highlighted hair, quite good-looking. He couldn’t help but wonder if the guy was Lawrence. Jealously twisted his gut though he knew he had absolutely no cause or right to feel that way.

  Plastering on his best actor’s smile, Tyler approached them. “Hey, you made it!”

  Jack grinned. “Of course I did. And you were fantastic. Everybody was. But especially you.”

  Tyler’s smile was genuine this time. “At least you know the right thing to say.” He looked to Jack’s companion. “And who is this?”

  “Oh. Sorry. This is one the doctors from the hospital. This is Geoffrey Spencer. Geoff, this is my talented friend, Tyler Larson.”

  “You really were great,” Geoff said, shaking Tyler’s hand.

  “Thank you, Geoff, and it’s nice to meet you. How’d Jack manage to drag you along?”

  “I didn’t drag him,” Jack said with a laugh. “He wanted to come.”

  “Yeah, he never stops talking about you, Tyler.”

  Jack blushed. “That’s not true. Anyway, I told him about your play and how important it was and he wanted to come.”

  Tyler nodded. “Thank you. The more the merrier. And tell all your friends to come see us, too.”

  “I will,” Geoff promised. He looked at his watch. “I really should be going. Thanks for the invite, Jack. And, Tyler, it was great to finally meet you.”

  “Nice to meet you, too.” Tyler smirked at Jack after Geoff had walked away. “You brought a date?”

  “He’s not a date. And anyway, I thought you might like him.”

  Tyler stared at him. “What?”

  Jack shrugged. “He’s hot and gay. And a doctor.”

  “You seriously brought a guy to set me up with?”

  “Well, I don’t know about setting you up, exactly.”

  And to think he’d actually missed Jack and had trouble thinking of anyone else. What an idiot he was. Why should he care anyway? He and Jack were not a couple and weren’t going to be. But of course Tyler knew why, deep down, he knew. He didn’t want to admit it out loud though.

  “Sure,” he said. “That’s great. Give him my number if he asks for it.”

  “Okay.” Jack searched his gaze. “So, um, I guess you have stuff to do back stage?”

  “Just remove my costume and makeup. Then I gotta get the bus home.”

  “I’ll drive you.”

  “You don’t have to. It may take a while before I’m done here.”

  “I want to. No reason for you to take a bus when I can just drop you off. It’s practically on my way anyway.”

  Tyler gave up protesting. �
�All right, wait here, and I’ll be out as soon as I can.”

  * * * *

  “You really are good, you know that?” Jack asked him as they made their way in Jack’s car to Tyler’s apartment.

  “You sound so surprised by that.”

  Jack shrugged. “I guess I am. I was. I don’t know. Do you know how many people in LA say they want to be an actor? And just having the desire doesn’t make you good.”

  “I guess that’s true,” Tyler acknowledged. “But if you’re serious you take acting classes, learn from experience by taking small parts. It’s not really that different from being an apprentice electrician.”

  “Hmm. Never heard that comparison before. Anyway, I guess until I saw you with my own eyes, I didn’t realize how serious you are about it. It’s nice.”

  Tyler rolled his eyes. “Thanks for thinking my career choice is nice.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  He sighed. “Yeah, I know. Sorry.”

  “You’re always ready to believe the absolute worst of me,” Jack said after a quiet mile or two.

  “Excuse me?”

  Jack grimaced. “Everything I say you twist around to make me look like a jackass.”

  Tyler glanced at his profile, the grim set of his jaw. “I didn’t know I was doing that.”

  “Seems like it.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Jack nodded. “Okay.”

  Tyler looked down at his own hands, twisting in his lap. “So, you really want me to go out with your doctor friend?”

  Jack shook his head but said nothing. Tyler decided to let it drop. A moment later, Jack pulled into a parking space right in front of Tyler’s first floor apartment.

  He got out of Jack’s car and was a little surprised when Jack got out, too. He’d assumed Jack would just drop him off and be on his way. Jack followed him to the front door.

  “Wanna invite me in for coffee?” Jack asked after Tyler spent a minute or so simply staring at Jack, wondering what he wanted.

  “Okay,” Tyler agreed with a nod. He stuck his key into the front door of his apartment and twisted it to open it. As he walked inside he had a moment of embarrassment when he remembered he didn’t clean the place. It was a mess, really. He’d never been much of a housekeeper.

  Jack pushed the door closed with the palm of his hand and then turned to Tyler.

  Tyler swallowed heavily. It was hard to mistake the look of sexual hunger in Jack’s gaze. He backed up a step, shook his head. “This…this was probably a mistake.”

  “A mistake?” Jack lowered his gaze to Tyler’s lips and God help him, but desire, hot and quick, pooled in Tyler’s stomach. He backed up again and ended up butted against the hallway wall.

  “Jack—”

  Jack stepped close and caressed Tyler’s bottom lip with his thumb, sending a shiver up his spine. “You have no idea how fucking much I want you.” His thumb parted Tyler’s lips and he pushed it past Tyler’s teeth, widening the opening of his mouth. “This tongue of yours. I remember the way it tastes, the way it feels wrapping around mine.”

  Tyler’s breath hitched, his chest tightened. “We can’t. Lawrence—”

  “Is over,” Jack said, shaking his head.

  Tyler frowned or tried to, anyway. It was difficult with Jack lightly grazing his lips with the pad of his thumb. And hell, his cock decided it liked what Jack was doing very much.

  “It is?”

  Jack nodded, his tongue darting out to trace Tyler’s lips where his thumb had trailed before.

  Tyler’s brain was foggy with lust. “We’re supposed to be just friends,” he protested, but it sounded weak even to him.

  “I know,” Jack said, hoarsely. “But every time I’m near you I can’t help but want to touch you.”

  Jack’s lips were on Tyler’s before he could say anything else. They were hard, demanding, his tongue probing into Tyler’s mouth. Tyler clutched at Jack’s broad shoulders, pulling him closer when he probably should be pushing him away. But God, his kisses felt great. And damn he’d wanted Jack for too long.

  When Jack’s fingers scraped against the zipper of Tyler’s jeans, he whimpered. Felt a little silly for it, but what the hell. He closed his eyes, tilted his head, and gave in to Jack’s kiss even as he felt a tug on his zipper. The top button of his jeans popped open and a warm hand slipped inside his briefs.

  Tyler gasped at the feel of Jack’s hot hand wrapping around his straining shaft. “Fuck.”

  Jack pulled Tyler’s dick out of his briefs and pants, stroking it slowly and with almost feather light touches. He dropped his head to Jack’s shoulder, a groan escaping his lips.

  “Wanna fuck you,” Jack said close to Tyler’s ear. “Wanna bend you over right here and fuck you until you can’t stand.”

  Actually that sounded pretty fucking perfect to Tyler, too. He thought he nodded or maybe even said yeah. Whatever. Jack yanked his jeans down to his knees and then sank onto the floor.

  Tyler opened his mouth to say something, hell if he knew what, when Jack’s hot mouth engulfed his cock. His brain short-circuited any other thoughts but…come…come…come.

  Damn, Jack was good at sucking, and Tyler’s dick was pounding into Jack’s mouth like a jackhammer. Ha!

  Jack paused, released Tyler’s dick, and looked up at him. “Are you laughing?”

  “Gah, sorry, weird sense of humor. Can you…uh…continue?”

  Jack smirked. “Maybe. Maybe I’ll just get to the fucking you part.”

  Tyler swallowed his own tongue. Okay, not really. “Yeah, yeah, okay. Get to it then.”

  Jack rose and roughly turned Tyler around to face the wall. “Better brace yourself, pretty boy.”

  Tyler snorted. “I think I can handle you.”

  “We’ll see.” Jack leaned in and bit the soft spot between Tyler’s shoulder and neck.

  “Ah, fuck.” Tyler gasped.

  “Still think you can handle me?”

  Tyler panted, closed his eyes. Heard the sound of Jack undoing the zipper of his pants and then lowering them.

  “You better have lube,” Tyler thought to say.

  Jack’s hand smacked hard across Tyler’s right ass cheek, making him groan. “Of course I do.”

  “Not sure I wanna know why.”

  “Quiet. You’re prettier when you don’t speak.”

  Tyler laughed. “Fucker.”

  Jack chuckled. The sound of a foil wrapper being torn came next and then slick fingers entered him. Tyler pressed back against the invading digits, not even trying to stifle the wanton moans pouring from his lips.

  “Jesus, you’re hot,” Jack growled. “Want to fuck you.”

  “Do it.”

  Jack’s fingers slipped out but only seconds later they were replaced with the slicked up head of the man’s fat cock. Tyler relaxed, spread his legs farther, and leaned against the wall, pushing out, even as Jack pushed in. Inch by inch he filled Tyler up until his ass felt stuffed, almost unbearably so.

  “Damn, you got a big dick.”

  “You complaining?”

  “Not exactly.” Tyler huffed out a breath. “Give me…give me a moment.”

  Jack’s fingers dug into Tyler’s hipbones. For several long minutes the only sound in the apartment was the two of them panting heavily. Finally Tyler gave a curt nod and with a sigh of relief, Jack began to pound into him. Deep thrusts, shallow thrusts. Jack alternated them. Driving Tyler wild each time the deeper ones stroked his prostate.

  They’d fucked before, all those years ago, and Tyler remembered it, but it seemed like perhaps they’d both learned a thing or two since then and it was mind blowing.

  “Fuck. Tyler. You’re. So. Damn—” Each word had been punctuated by a push inside him, until words seemed to fail Jack and he just erupted with groans and pants until he was slamming Tyler so hard into the wall, Tyler wondered if the plaster would come off right when Jack did. Ha!

  “You’re laughing again,” Jac
k ground out.

  “Yeah, I—fuck.”

  With a throaty groan, Jack’s orgasm burst forth as his fingers dug into Tyler’s flesh, leaving indents and bruises for sure. He suddenly pulled out of Tyler, and dropped to his knees again as he spun Tyler back around and once more swallowed Tyler’s cock.

  The intense rough sucking proved to be his undoing as he came less than a minute later, pouring his seed down Jack’s throat.

  Somehow they both ended up lying on the hallway floor next to each other, exhausted and sweaty.

  After a long time, Tyler wasn’t sure how long, he stirred. “Hmm. Jack?”

  “Huh?”

  “When did you break up with Lawrence? And how come you didn’t tell me before?”

  Jack shifted a little, his legs bending at the knees. “Well…”

  Ice formed in Tyler’s stomach. “What does well mean?”

  “I haven’t yet, but—”

  Fuck. Fuck. Tyler scrambled away from him. “Get out,” he said furiously.

  “What?”

  “Get the fuck out. Get out.” Tyler got to his feet, pulling on his clothes.

  “Tyler, will you listen?”

  “No, you fucking bastard. Get out. I can’t even fucking believe you.” He picked up Jack’s clothes, threw them at him.

  “But I’m going to—”

  Tyler stomped to his front door and yanked it open. “I don’t want to hear it. Or anything else you have to day. I don’t want to see you again. Out, Jack!”

  Jack stumbled out to the porch, his clothes half on. “Tyler, please, I just—”

  Tyler slammed the door in Jack’s face and locked the door. He wanted to punch the wall. Almost did. But he wasn’t stupid enough to hurt himself over such a cold bastard.

  “Fuck you, Jack.”

  Chapter 6

  No matter how many times Jack tried to contact Tyler, he was ignored. He pretty much figured that Tyler had blocked Jack’s number on his phone after the first few times he’d tried.

  Jack had even gone by the diner, but Tyler’s Aunt Ruby had refused to allow him inside. He’d thought about staying in the parking lot to wait to see Tyler, but Ruby had apparently hired a thug—okay, security guard—to protect her nephew because one stood in the parking lot every time Jack came to check after his first attempt.