The Delicious Series: The First Volume

by Stella Starling

  Mace grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen and wandered over to his window, staring idly down at Delicious. Tired or not, he was tempted to call Danny. Tempted to go see him. He really didn’t have it in him to go out to a bar, but if Danny were already home, Mace would be tempted to talk his boyfriend into letting him come over.

  He laughed at himself.

  Danny tempted him, period... but Mace really did need some sleep. And besides, no matter how good things were between them, Mace knew it wasn’t smart to assume Danny wanted all the same things he did. At least, not yet.

  So far, Danny had seemed just as eager to be with Mace as Mace was to be with him. Danny had even said that he loved him, too—the words tumbling out of him joyfully and exuberantly as he’d bounced his way through the lunch break Mace had stolen him away for after his own declaration—but even if those words were ones that Mace had secretly ached to hear, he also found himself afraid to fully trust in them, no matter how transparent Danny tended to be with his emotions.

  Mace’s lip quirked up at the understatement when it came to Danny’s ability to express himself, and he let his fingers skim over the camellia by the window, absent-mindedly plucking off dead leaves as he thought about how open his boyfriend was. Danny didn’t even try to hide his feelings—or if he did, he didn’t do a very good job of it—but Mace was coming to consider that a good thing.

  He knew it frustrated Danny when Mace didn’t share his own more freely, but even though it took some effort, he thought he was getting better at it… even when he had to fight down the voices of his past that tried to tell him it wasn’t smart to let someone else see quite so much of him. Warning bells still went off inside him when things were too good, and he worried that he needed Danny in his life a little too much. That Danny made him too happy. That it might gut him when—if—it ever ended. It could be dangerous to count on someone else, to trust that they’d stick around if things got rough.

  Mace took a breath. Those had been hard-earned lessons, but his life was different now. There was no need for things to get rough. Mace lived a quiet life. He’d never have to put Danny’s feelings or his loyalty to the kind of test that Kelsie and Trevor had both failed, once upon a time.

  And maybe he would call Danny before hitting the sack. Tired or not, he would practice saying the things in his heart out loud. Practice trusting that it was safe to share them with his boyfriend. Practicing letting himself believe that it would be worth it.

  He was just about to turn away from the window to do that when movement on the quiet street caught his eye. Someone was at the bakery.

  Danny?

  His heart sped up for a moment at the thought, but that didn’t make sense, not unless Mace’s wishing had conjured him.

  He went and grabbed his phone, dialing Danny’s number as he came back to the window to look again. The building across the street was still dark, and as tired as he was, it would be easy to convince himself that he’d just imagined the movement he’d seen.

  Danny’s number went to voicemail, and Mace ended the call without leaving a message, frowning down at the darkened store. Something felt off, but he couldn’t figure out what was bothering him about the unremarkable scene below him. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to convince himself to go to bed. It was really too dark to see anything, so maybe he had just imagined it, except… oh. That was it. It was too dark. Mace could usually see a tiny, orange light blinking near the bakery’s entrance, and ever since the time that Danny had almost forgotten to arm the security system, Mace had been subconsciously double-checking that it was there at night.

  And right now, it wasn’t.

  Shit.

  Had Danny forgotten to arm the alarm again?

  He tried his boyfriend’s number again with the same result, then took another quick second to debate whether to mind his own business. But the bakery was important to Danny, and Danny was important to Mace, so in the end there really wasn’t anything to debate about Mace taking care of it.

  He threw on a t-shirt to go with the sweatpants he’d been planning on sleeping in and headed down the stairs and across the street. He knew he could set the alarm and be back in under five minutes, and in the morning, he’d get in touch with Danny and find out what could have distracted him enough to have made him forget to arm it again.

  Except of course it wasn’t that easy, because life didn’t work that way.

  And the bakery wasn’t empty, after all.

  “What the fuck?” the intruder screeched, straightening up too fast and banging his head on the counter when Mace opened the door to Delicious. “What are you doing here?” he sneered, rubbing at what Mace hoped like hell would become a goose-egg on his scalp.

  Mace laughed, even though no one could have mistaken the sound for amused. What was Mace doing there? The guy had balls, he’d give him that. It was Tad, the man who’d been bothering Danny earlier in the day.

  “Looks like I’m stopping you from your little crime spree,” Mace answered, his eyes flicking over the other man as he tried to assess whether he was armed. It didn’t look like it. There were neither any tell-tale bulges, nor the body language of someone who was going to reach for a weapon. Still, Mace wouldn’t make the mistake of relaxing.

  “You?” Tad asked, eyeing him contemptuously. “I may not have put up a fuss in front of your pretty boyfriend, but don’t think I’m going to let you interfere with this, asshole. I’ve got too good of a thing going.”

  “How did you get in?” Mace asked, wondering how long he’d need to keep Tad talking.

  “People are easy,” Tad answered, obviously happy to comply. What a fucking idiot. He tucked something into the back of his jacket and sauntered around the counter toward Mace. “Give them a little attention and they’ll tell you anything. And it’s always birthdays.” He laughed scornfully. “Did I say ‘easy’? Because I meant stupid.”

  “Mm,” Mace said noncommittally, crossing his arms and shifting to more fully block the door. Speaking of stupid, did Tad really think he was going to be able to get past him?

  “Get out of my way.”

  “Not gonna happen.”

  “I think it will. What do you want?”

  “Nothing you’ve got to offer me.”

  Tad raked Mace with his eyes. “You like dick, obviously, since you were panting around that pretty little twink. Want me to blow you?” he asked.

  Jesus. Mace’s stomach turned.

  “No?” Tad said, arching an eyebrow when Mace didn’t answer. “Pity, but fine.” He waved a hand behind him, taking in the bakery. “There wasn’t much here, but I’ll split the take with you. Most of the equipment worth anything is too big to take. Fucking bakeries. I shouldn’t have bothered.”

  “That’s the first thing you’ve said that I agree with,” Mace said, smiling coldly. Tad’s face was suddenly illuminated by flashing red and blue lights from the street, and Mace’s smile widened. “But too late now.”

  “What the fuck?” Tad screeched. “I disabled the fucking alarm!”

  “And I hit the panic button on my way in.”

  “You fucking asshole!” Tad screamed, lunging toward the door. Toward Mace.

  Mace didn’t flinch, not even remotely intimidated by the jackass. It was just a matter of minutes until someone else came and took him off Mace’s hands, and Mace had faced too many much-more-legitimate threats in the past to feel anything but contempt for the man’s panicked flailing.

  Tad bounced off his chest, eyes darting toward the police cruiser pulling up to the curb outside the bakery’s window, but Mace had been right. It was too late for the guy to make a break for it.

  He turned an ugly shade of red and for a moment, Mace thought the guy was actually going to try something, but then the panic on Tad’s face was replaced with something more calculating. “I should have fucked your boyfriend the first time he asked me to,” he said, curling his lip.

  Mace clenched his fists, watchi
ng the colors from the police lights streak across Tad’s face as he counted down the seconds until he could walk away. Tad’s statement was bullshit and Mace knew it, but he still didn’t like to hear the guy talking about Danny… or thinking about Danny. or disrespecting him, as if someone as bright and beautiful as Danny would have even given Tad the time of day.

  Tad bumped his chest into Mace’s, sneering at him, but with a lifetime of learning to keep his cool under his belt, Mace just let it roll off him. He shut down his face. Put away his emotions. Stood his ground and reminded himself that Danny wasn’t there, so nothing Tad said could hurt him.

  “You know what your little Danny likes?” Tad goaded him, testing Mace’s resolve because hearing Danny’s name roll off Tad’s tongue did get to him, no matter what he’s tried to tell himself. “He likes my cock,” Tad went on, palming himself and thrusting his hips toward Mace. “Your boy can’t get enough of it. Every time I come in, he begs me to let him wrap those pretty lips around it. To push it into his hot little mouth so he can suck me like—fuck.”

  Mace barely felt the sting as his knuckles split against Tad’s teeth, but he sure as hell felt the despair that rolled over him in a cold wave as the door burst upon behind him.

  Shit.

  Fucking shit.

  He’d warned Tad not to talk about Danny’s mouth, but he hadn’t realized that hearing it would make him snap. And now, just like he’d said to Tad a few moments earlier, it was too late.

  Even though it had been years, the cold metal of the handcuffs on Mace’s wrists was instantly familiar, a sense-memory that cramped his stomach and triggered an icy, hopeless certainty that he was well and truly fucked. He took a slow breath through his nose, forcing himself not to react. The little bell over the door tinkled, but the cop who had cuffed him was holding Mace too tightly for him to turn around and see who had entered.

  Not that he would have. Hopefully, he’d used up his full quota of stupid when he’d slammed his fist into Tad’s face in full view of the two officers who’d responded to the alarm. That reaction had ensured that they hadn’t stopped to ask any questions before taking him down, and now their assessment of the situation was being colored by Tad’s smooth patter of lies.

  Mace had gone through this before, and he knew nothing was to be gained by trying to fight the cops’ assumptions at this point. The situation was too tense and there was nothing about it that looked good for him. Words had never been his strong suit anyway, so keeping his mouth shut and cooperating in the hope that this unexpected fuckfest of a night wouldn’t spiral any further out of control was probably his best bet… no matter how it grated on him to be treated like he was in the wrong, or to hear the bullshit spewing out of Tad’s mouth.

  He closed his eyes, a spiraling sense of loss threatening to suck him into into its depths. Tad’s lies were ridiculous, but Mace knew firsthand how little the truth could matter when circumstances conspired against him.

  The cop next to Mace jostled his shoulder and Mace’s eyes popped open. Tad was smirking at him from across the room, crossing his arms and leaning insolently back against the bakery’s front counter as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He wasn’t cuffed.

  Mace schooled his features, unwilling to give the man any more satisfaction, and contented himself for the moment with staring at Tad’s rapidly-swelling lip. If nothing else, it had felt fucking good to hit him. Still, that was going to be cold comfort for whatever lay ahead, and Mace knew it.

  “Are you the owner?” the cop who had been taking Tad’s statement asked, directing the question behind Mace.

  “Yes,” came a vaguely familiar voice. “I’m Gavin Campbell.”

  For a split-second of naive stupidity—because apparently he hadn’t reached his stupid-limit yet, after all—hope sprang to life in Mace’s chest. Gavin was Danny’s friend.

  Maybe...

  “We caught this man breaking and entering your business,” the officer said to Gavin, gesturing toward Mace as if the cuffs didn’t make it obvious who she was referring to. “He also assaulted this passerby”—Tad—“who triggered the alarm and tried to stop him. If you can confirm that anything is missing, we’ll book him on robbery as well.”

  Gavin walked around to stand in front of Mace, his eyes widening in shock for a moment as recognition dawned. Then they narrowed with accusation, killing that foolish seed of hope Mace had mistakenly let take root for a split second.

  “Mace?” Gavin said. “You’ve got to be kidding. You were robbing me?”

  Of course he would think that. Mace didn’t let the hurt show on his face. Didn’t even acknowledge it to himself. It wasn’t hurt, it was just… expected.

  “You know this man, sir?” the officer asked Gavin.

  “Shit. Sort of.” Gavin shook his head, tightening his lips in anger. “Danny fucking loves you,” he spat like an accusation as he gave Mace a look that made it clear just how misplaced Mace’s earlier hope had been.

  He clenched his jaw, looking away without bothering to try to defend himself. He didn’t really know Gavin personally, so it shouldn’t have surprised him that the other man jumped to conclusions about him and assumed the worst. If he’d thought any support would be forthcoming from that department, he’d obviously presumed too much… and apparently he’d gone fucking soft, because the man’s mistrust still hit him in the gut no matter how much he tried to tell himself it wasn’t a surprise.

  He didn’t need Gavin to believe in him.

  “Jesus,” Gavin muttered as the officer started peppering him with more questions, pulling his attention off Mace for a moment.

  Mace pulled in another slow breath through his nose, careful not to let anything show on his face as he clamped down hard on the feelings that threatened to swamp him at the inevitability of how it would all play out. Gavin had reminded him that Danny loved him, but Danny loved Gavin, too. Loved Gavin first. And Mace knew how loyal Danny was to his friend. He wouldn’t even try to fool himself that Danny would take Mace’s word over the bakery owner’s.

  And as much as that thought hurt, Mace had no one to blame except himself. A part of him had known he’d been getting in too deep, too fast. That he’d let himself feel things, want things, that he had no right to believe in cold ever last. Being with Danny had been more than Mace had ever imagined for himself—so good that it should have been obvious it was too good—and now, cuffed and hung out to dry again, he felt like a fucking idiot for having so easily forgotten what life had taught him at a young age.

  Everybody wanted things, but even if you got them, believing you could ever actually hold onto them was nothing but a recipe for disappointment.

  Wanting could hurt, but believing would wreck you.

  Mace needed to stop fooling himself about things that were going to be forever out of his reach. Danny had cracked something open inside him, making it too fucking tempting to hope that the future could be different than the past, and he’d left himself dangerously vulnerable to the pain that was his inevitable reward for such reckless stupidity. He’d once thought that someday, he’d have a better life… but the way his jar had shattered on the floor of his apartment was all too prophetic. He could reach for it, should be grateful he’d even had a taste of it, but it wasn’t his to keep.

  “What am I supposed to tell Danny?” Gavin demanded in a low hiss, turning away from the officer as she finished up her questions to glare at Mace again.

  Mace pressed his lips together, holding in the words that he knew wouldn’t make any difference. Mace had gone through this before, with people he’d had far more history with than his too-brief time with the man who’d shown him what it meant to love. With Kelsie and Trevor, Mace had foolishly expected them to stand by him. With Danny, he’d rather shut down that hope now than set himself up for the kind of pain that came from finding out it wasn’t going to happen.

  “Mace?” Gavin pressed, eyes locked onto his.

  Mace held his tongue.


  “You can tell your pretty little friend that this guy only wanted to get in his pants so he could get your alarm codes,” Tad said to Gavin, still smirking as he filled the tense silence with more of his poison. “You’re damn lucky I came by when I did.”

  “You fucking fuck,” Mace snarled, lunging for him. He wasn’t going to uselessly beg Gavin for his trust when it was clear that Gavin had already tried him and found him guilty, but hearing Tad twist things like that, taint the most beautiful thing in Mace’s life by putting such an ugly spin on it, broke through the tight control he’d been keeping on his emotions before Mace had a chance to think.

  Which of course meant that the officer holding him had a reason to take him down.

  Again.

  Jesus fucking Christ, he really was a fucking idiot.

  Mace forced himself not to resist as a knee was shoved into his spine, his cheek held against the floor as the cuff’s were tugged back to ensure that yes, they really were secure. But... fuck. He got a sick feeling in his stomach at the thought that Danny might actually believe what Tad had just said, and he shot daggers at the smirking dickhead with his eyes, wishing he’d had time to get in more than one punch before it had all gone to hell.

  Tad laughed, and Gavin whirled on him, narrowing his eyes.

  “You are a fucking asshole,” Gavin said to him. “I don’t believe for a minute you were just ‘walking by.’ Danny told me Mace was helping a friend out tonight, and I’m going to go ahead and take a wild guess that that friend was you.”

  Mace bit back the desperate words that threatened to burst out of him again, scrambling to get control of himself. He wasn’t going to make it through whatever was coming if he couldn’t fucking detach. No matter how much it cost him, he had to kill the part of him that wanted to stubbornly cling to the hope that things would be different this time around. If he didn’t let it go, if he couldn’t find a way to insulate himself against the inevitable outcome of this train wreck of a night, it was going to fucking crush him when Danny walked away the way everyone else in his life had.