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he went back to Montana.
FYI, that was disturbing, Evan drawled as he stepped out of the bathroom. Nick s
head snapped up and his eyes flew open; he hadn t even heard the door open! Evan
approached slowly, a tentative look on his attractive Nick guessed he had pretty eyes
face. Those eyes now were lit with a hint of anger, maybe, but they were also slightly creased
at the outer edges, as if Evan was trying really hard to battle back a grin.
I may even be traumatised for life, Evan continued as he drew closer. On the other
hand no pun intended, he chuckled, deepening those creases, you can rest assured I
won t be tackling you and risking another coating of that stuff. Evan stopped in front of him
and grinned, offering his now washed hand. Nick hesitated only a moment before shaking
Evan s hand. Once the proper introductions had been made, Evan cocked a hip and gestured
at the bed. Can I have a seat on the hot pink love quilt? I d like to talk, and listen, if you re
all right with that.
Nick tipped his chin at Evan and studied the quilt. Love quilt? Nick scrunched his
brow as he stared at one particular patch. Oh. Josh& Nick felt the smile stretching his lips
wide. Only his Josh would have a quilt covered in penguins in various states of affection.
Nick thought it was probably all PG depictions, but then again, what did he know? Maybe
Josh was wilder even than Nick suspected. For some reason Nick s warm fuzzy feelings
ebbed away as he wondered faintly how well he really knew Josh.
So, Evan began, bouncing butt first on the bed, his hip and shoulder slapping
against Nick s and nearly bumping him off the bed. Nick yipped and glowered at Evan, who
only cackled softly. What? You were looking all too serious, and while we have some
serious things to discuss, the man who is, for all intents and purposes, my little brother,
seems to trust you. I hope you re not an asshole, because Josh deserves a relationship with
someone who fucking worships him, you know?
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We re not in a& a relationship, Nick spluttered once his brain unfroze from commit
induced terror. I& we& He glanced up at Evan, saw the patient expression, and fool that
he was, loosened his tongue enough to fit his foot, boot and all, in his mouth. I was using
him to
Okay, probably he shouldn t have started off his explanation quite like that, Nick
thought when he found himself knocked onto his back. Damn, Evan was fast. He had Nick
down, his arms pinned under Evan s knees in a flash as Evan straddled his torso. Evan s
hands were braced on either side of Nick s neck, and while Nick knew he could easily throw
the other man off he thought he didn t because of one simple fact.
I swear to God, Evan, if you don t get off Nick I m gonna snatch you bald headed,
Josh sniped from the doorway where he leaned heavily on the frame. Evan looked so startled
Nick wanted to laugh, but more than that, he wanted to touch Josh, maybe hold him just for
a few minutes like he hadn t got to do after their earlier interlude. Nick craned his head
around as much as he could while Evan seemed to freeze where he was. Nick didn t care, he
could see part of Josh s face, the line of his hot little body. What bits of the man Nick could
see had his dick trying to harden again, or maybe it was that sleepy slurry voice. Either way,
Nick would rather not get a hard on with Evan straddling him.
Evan! Josh half yelled half growled. Evan jerked like someone had tagged him with
a cattle prod then he rolled aside, flopping to his back beside Nick.
I wasn t gonna hurt him, Josh, Evan grumped, just ask him some questions, like
why he didn t speak up about who he is. Evan sat up and Nick did the same, trying to keep
an eye on Josh and Evan both. I guess I should ask you instead. Why haven t you said
anything? Don t you think Annabelle would like to know? Rory, too?
Josh immediately looked so guilty, his head dropping low and his shoulders slumping
as he seemed to sag into the doorframe. Nick couldn t stand it. He got up, reaching Josh in
two long strides. His hand was shaking when he brushed at Josh s shoulder once before
timidly resting his hand on the tense flesh. Hey, Josh, I
You really should just go, Josh muttered, his lithe body tensing even more. This is
a family discussion. He didn t look up, and Nick was actually glad for it since he knew he
had to look stunned. It wasn t just the words that gave him that good old just been kicked in
the balls by a mule feeling. The intensity of the pain he felt at the rejection, that was really
what shook Nick. He wasn t supposed to fall for Josh at all, hadn t thought he had even after
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the best sex of his life. But he wouldn t be so hurt if Josh didn t mean something& big, and
Nick didn t want it, didn t want to hurt or give the man or anyone else the power to do
even worse damage should Nick be dumb enough to fall in love.
You got it, Nick said coldly, not surprised Josh still wouldn t look at him. He leant
down and whispered against the perfect shell of Josh s ear. Thanks for the blow job. It
was& nice. Then he left the apartment, ignoring the other men s voices, and vowed to never
be so careless with his emotions again. If just liking someone set you up to ache like this,
Nick couldn t imagine how painful it would be to actually love someone.
Yes he could, Nick realised as he steered his truck out of the driveway. Hadn t he
watched his entire life while his mother let Ian Calhoun use her, humiliate her, denigrate
her and Nick all in the name of the love she professed to feel for the bastard? Yeah, he
had, and that was enough of a lesson to keep Nick from feeling any more pain at Josh s
casual dismissal as Nick drove to his hotel. He could be packed and on the road in less than
an hour flat.
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Chapter Eleven
Nice? Josh s stomach roiled and dipped. His ankle throbbed as he d whacked it against
the doorframe when he d rounded the corner. If he hadn t had something to lean up against,
he would be flat on his ass right now. He might as well be, as off balance as he felt. What was
he doing, messing around with a guy who wasn t gay? Sure, he d entertained lots of fantasies
about converting a straight guy to the dark side, but really, it had always only been a fantasy.
After all, how would he ever be able to trust a man who d spent his life prior to Josh having
sex with women? Who was to say this imaginary man would never want another woman,
when they d been enough for him in the past?
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