Stay A Little Longer

by Jess Bryant

  He squinted against the morning light as his eyes fluttered open and confusion made his head spin. He wasn’t at home. The out-of-date wood paneling told him that much. So did the slightly scratchy sheets he was tangled in. He shifted on the bed, trying to remember where he was and…

  Holy shit. He whipped his head around and swallowed a gasp. It hadn’t been a dream at all and the memories came rushing back as he fully woke.

  He was in bed with another man. He was in bed with Lance. Deputy Lance Nichols whose bed he’d accidentally stumbled into last night and then… then Lance had come home and threatened to shoot him, he’d had a freak out and Lance had calmed him. Comforted him. And then Trent had kissed him.

  He licked his lips and felt his cock twitch with the memories. He’d done a hell of a lot more than kiss the guy. He’d all but dragged him into his lap. He’d pinned him to the bed and jerked him off. He’d come all over the both of them with Lance’s hand on his dick and his tongue in his mouth. And then he’d fallen asleep apparently because the last thing he remembered was grinning at the gorgeous man with his arm thrown over Trent’s waist and wondering how the day from hell had taken such a strange and amazing turn.

  He took a deep breath and Lance’s arm tightened around him. Trent bit his lip to stifle a smile the sleeping man couldn’t see. God he liked that. Liked that even in sleep Lance didn’t want to let him go. Liked it too much probably considering they’d talked all of five minutes before their bodies had taken over and done the talking for them. It was so completely out of character for Trent he couldn’t help but stare at the dark-haired man that had broken through all his barriers with one kind gesture.

  Lance hadn’t kicked him out. He hadn’t been disgusted when Trent said he was gay. He’d locked the gun up to prove that Trent was safe here. And then he’d trusted Trent with his own truth, that he was gay too.

  And just like all of those hypocritical, conservative asswipes thought, two gay men half-naked in a bedroom together couldn’t control their hormones, Trent had all but attacked him.

  Not that Lance had complained about it. Hell no. He’d met him stroke for stroke. He’d been more than willing. He’d wanted it, wanted Trent and what he had to offer. Just remembering the way Lance had responded to his touch, to his kiss, to his demands… ah, fuck, he was going to come in his briefs again if he didn’t get his thoughts under control.

  With his eyes shut in sleep, the intensity of the other man disappeared. Relaxed, he was even more beautiful than Trent had realized. His thick, dark eyelashes rested against high cheekbones and he looked peaceful. The tension he’d radiated last night was gone and in its place was a small smile from slightly bruised lips.

  Trent hoped Lance was dreaming of him too. Of what they’d done together. Of what else they could do together if…

  His phone buzzed again and Trent swallowed a curse and reached out to grab it from the nightstand. If Rick was calling again it could only be more bad news and Trent didn’t want to hear it. He was happy. Tucked into bed with a beautiful stranger that had taken care of him last night. He was content to ignore the real world for a while longer. Only the real world wasn’t content to let him.

  He squinted at the name on his phone screen, “Shit.”

  Lance made a disgruntled sound in his sleep and Trent winced. Shit. Shit. Shit. He stared from the buzzing phone to the beautiful man and back again. It wasn’t Rick calling. It was Lemon. And he also had five text messages from her. The call went to voicemail and with a sad and heavy sigh, Trent forced himself to do the responsible thing and crawl out of Lance’s bed.

  Gently, trying not to wake Lance, he slipped from beneath the heavy arm. He ended up on his knees on the carpet and held his breath. Lance sniffed again and curled into the warm spot that Trent had left behind. When his breathing went steady again, Trent forced his eyes away to focus on the phone in his hand.

  The first message from Lemon had come in an hour ago. It was simple. It said she was up and around and for him to call when he woke up. The second message had come in twenty minutes later asking if he was still asleep. He rolled his eyes because really, what sort of response had she expected from that if he was? The third message said that she was starting to worry and to call her back. The fourth was the one that had woken him and said if he didn’t message soon she was coming over to check on him. The last and final message which came in after the phone call said she was on her way over and he better be dead because if he wasn’t she was going to kill him for making her worry.

  “Shit.” He muttered again, swiping his hair back off his forehead.

  Lemon was on her way here. Or rather, next door, to the trailer he was supposed to have spent the night in. She was coming here to check on him and she would be here any minute.

  Fate was a small town. He wasn’t entirely sure how far away her house was from the trailer park but from what he’d seen when he drove through last night in the dark a person could get all the way across town in less than ten minutes.

  “Shit.”

  “Mmm…” A hum of annoyance came from behind him where he’d propped his back against the side of the bed, “Trent?”

  He turned his head to find Lance’s dark eyes half-open. His hair mussed from sleep. That dark five o’clock shadow on his jaw. The bruised lip no doubt from where Trent had bit him. He was fucking edible and Trent wanted nothing more than to have him for breakfast. But he didn’t have time.

  “Shh, it’s okay. Go back to sleep, baby.”

  Lance rubbed his cheek against the pillow Trent had used but pouted adorably, “Not a baby. What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve gotta go.”

  “Mmkay.” Lance’s eyes had drifted back shut but the pout was still on his face.

  Trent frowned at the easy acceptance. He didn’t want to go. He wanted to spend all day in that bed with this man. He wanted to get to know him better. Wanted to touch him and kiss him again, wanted to find out if he’d whimper Trent’s name when he pushed inside him for the first time. And fuck, he was going to need a cold shower before Lemon arrived if he didn’t stop thinking about screwing Lance into his mattress. Lance who didn’t seem to care at all that Trent had said he was leaving.

  He couldn’t stop himself from reaching up and running a hand through that thick mop of dark hair, “I had fun last night.”

  “Me too.” Lance’s eyes flickered open to slits and he squinted “Why aren’t you in bed? It’s too early to be up.”

  Trent’s frown faded away and he smirked. Adorable sleepy bastard. Did he even know Trent had said he was leaving?

  “It’s not that early. It’s almost nine.” He stroked his fingers through the thick strands of his dark hair and gently lowered his head to place a chaste kiss against Lance’s bruised mouth. At least he’d intended for it to be chaste. Lance apparently had other ideas because as soon as Trent started to pull away he looped his arms around his neck, keeping him close and his tongue swept out to lap at Trent’s bottom lip.

  He groaned, “Baby I need..”

  Lance kissed him again and Trent gave in to the moment. He closed his eyes and deepened the kiss. Morning breath be damned, he wasn’t leaving this trailer without the taste of Lance on his tongue. He’d never gotten to have this before. Never woken up with another man. Never had sleepy morning conversations or sweet, goodbye kisses. He stroked his tongue deep, tasting, memorizing, and only when Lance went soft beneath him did he force himself to pull away.

  “I have to go.”

  Dark brown eyes met his, sleepy and a little dazed, “Will I ever see you again?”

  Trent’s lips twitched, “Do you want to see me again?”

  “Yes.”

  No hesitation. Not a flicker of doubt. Trent’s cock twitched again at the eagerness. Damn it, how did he have it so bad for a guy he barely knew?

  He needed some space. Some air. Needed to sort through whatever it was that made his heart jackrabbit when those dark eyes met his. Was he just needy and
emotional right now because of everything that had happened?

  Probably. But that assessment made something in his chest hurt. He didn’t want to think that he’d used Lance last night. He wanted it to be more than that, no matter how crazy the thought might be.

  “Then yes, absolutely yes.” He answered before he thought it through fully. “You’ll see me again.”

  He’d intended to tell Lemon he couldn’t stay in Fate when he saw her this morning. He’d come here to crash for one night and then he’d planned to be on his way. He’d wanted to be alone with all of his conflicting feelings and emotions, to figure out who he was and what he wanted.

  But then he’d stumbled into the wrong trailer and the right bed and bam, he didn’t want to be alone anymore. He didn’t want to leave Fate. Not yet. Not until he worked out if he’d somehow lucked into exactly what he wanted and ended up right where he was supposed to be.

  Fate.

  Lance smiled, “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” Trent kissed him again quickly, “But right now I have to go. I’ll see you later okay?”

  “K.” Lance nipped his lip slightly before letting him go.

  Trent could feel those dark eyes on him as he hurriedly found his clothes and jerked them on. He nearly tripped getting his jeans on because he glanced back to find Lance eyeing his crotch. That slightly arrogant, knowing smirk made his dark eyes light up and Trent had to look away or risk taking the bastard up on the blatant offer in his gaze.

  He tugged his t-shirt over his head and tried to remember where he’d kicked off his shoes. When he finally found them he had to sit down on the bed to pull them on and he felt Lance shift behind him. When a big set of hands slid around his waist he groaned and tilted his head to the side automatically, enjoying the feel of the five o’clock shadow against his sensitive neck as Lance kissed him there.

  “Baby…” He warned, “You gotta stop.”

  “Why?” A lick of wet tongue against his nape made him shiver.

  “I have to go.”

  “Or you could stay. I have the day off…”

  His voice was husky and rough but he forced the words out, “Lemon is on her way here. She’ll be here any minute. Rather, she’ll be next door at Seth’s trailer where she expects me to be.”

  Lance immediately stilled and tension filled the space between them as he pulled away, “She’s on her way here?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh.” The sound was strangled, tight, and when Trent turned to face him Lance’s face was pale, “Okay. Yeah. You should go.”

  Ouch. Trent flinched at the dismissal. What the hell was that? Lance had been all but suctioned to him a moment ago. Now he was retreating across the bed, putting as much distance between them as possible.

  His brows knit, “What’s…”

  “You’re right. You should go.” Lance’s voice was clipped as he cut him off, “I’ll see you later or, see you around or, something.”

  A sick feeling of dread crawled through his veins, “Lance? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Just… go on. You don’t want her to find you here. I get it. I don’t want her to find you here either.”

  Double ouch.

  The dread formed a lead ball and fell to the pit of his stomach. Shit. Fuck. Damn it all to hell. What was happening?

  They needed to talk. He had a sudden feeling that he’d misjudged this entire situation. They needed to work it out but damn it, Lance was right. He didn’t want Lemon finding him here. Didn’t want to have to explain what had happened or why he’d spent the night with a man he didn’t know. Didn’t want to be subjected to her judgement or her questions and certainly not more of her pity or concern. So he didn’t have time to talk about all of this with Lance right now.

  He stood and marched around the bed, cornering the other man against the headboard, “I’m going now but this isn’t over.”

  Lance’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. Damn if that didn’t make Trent’s cock twitch too. Everything about this man got to him. He wanted him again. Here and now. He wanted to make Lance beg for it, prove that this, whatever it was, went both ways. But that wasn’t desire in those dark eyes right now, it was fear and he knew enough about that not to push.

  “We’re going to talk about this later. Okay?” He reached out and gripped Lance’s hair, forcing his head back and his eyes up when he didn’t answer, “Say okay.”

  “Okay.”

  He slammed him mouth down hard as soon as he had the answer he wanted. Lance didn’t recoil. Despite his dismissal, he all but purred and opened for Trent instantly. Their tongues coiled together, seeking, exploring, claiming.

  It took everything in him not to open his fly with his other hand and make Lance beg for it. Instead he sucked on Lance’s tongue until he whimpered and then eased the pressure, content with the knowledge that whatever was going on in the gorgeous dark-eyed man’s head that his body still wanted Trent.

  He pulled back with a last lingering lick, “I’ll be back.”

  Lance snorted, “Okay Terminator.”

  “Shut up.” Trent barked a laugh, happy to see Lance’s sense of humor had returned and the mood had lightened.

  “Go away.”

  “I’m going.” He winked over his shoulder, “See you later, baby.”

  “Told you, I’m not a baby.”

  “You are when you’re mine.”

  The possessive words hung in the air between them but Trent didn’t turn around to see what Lance’s reaction was. He had to get the hell out of this trailer. It, and this man, were doing a number on him. If he wasn’t careful, he’d say fuck it, climb back in that bed and never leave. Which was fucking insane because he barely knew the guy.

  But he wanted to.

  Trent walked out of the trailer into the bright light of morning and squinted. Jesus. His life was a mess. He’d just been outed. He was basically in hiding. He had no idea if he still had a career or a label or even a manager since Rick hadn’t called since yesterday. He didn’t have a fucking clue what his next step should be but he knew what he wanted it to be.

  He wanted to find out if the man of his dreams lived in a beat-up trailer on the edge of a nowhere Texas town.

  His phone beeped in his hand again and he scowled as he read the message from Lemon. She’d asked if he was awake. Again. He wanted to angrily tap out that no, he was still happily asleep in the arms of a gorgeous man that had made him come his brains out and then asked him to spend the night but she’d already ruined that. Instead he typed out a quick, well, I’m up now and hit send, hoping it conveyed his irritation.

  Trent let himself into the trailer that sat not fifty feet from the front door of the one he’d just left. Even in broad daylight it was no wonder he’d gotten them mixed up. They looked exactly the same, faced each other and shared one driveway. He’d parked on the street so as not to take the only parking spot but he’d chosen the wrong trailer.

  Or the right one, he grinned to himself as images of Lance underneath him replayed in his mind.

  This trailer was colder. Emptier. And a lot less welcoming. It was bare except for a bed in the back room made up with some frilly sheets and pillows that must have been Lemon’s doing. He kicked his boots off haphazardly and set about rumpling the bed to make it appear as if he’d slept in it and just woken up.

  Not three minutes later there was a knock on the trailer door and then it swung open behind him as a sing-song voice said, “Wakey-wakey, I brought eggs and bakey!”

  Trent spun around in time to see Lemon come through the door of the trailer with a sack in one hand and two coffee cups in the other. God bless her but she was a sight for sore eyes. His best friend in the world, his sister by choice if not by blood, and he forgot all about her annoying messages that had dragged him out of Lance’s bed when she grinned at him.

  “Welcome to Fate.”

  He chuckled, “Thanks.”

  “So, what’s the verdict?” She put the food
and mugs down on the table and turned to him, hands on her hips and blue eyes serious.

  “Verdict?”

  “On Fate? What do you think? Are you leaving as soon as we finish coffee and gossip or…” She trailed off, a hopeful look on her face that he couldn’t have denied even if he’d wanted to.

  And he didn’t want to.

  He had his own reasons for wanting to stick around Fate. Namely the tall, dark and handsome neighbor that he could still smell on his skin. He should tell Lemon it was too early to decide, that he needed that coffee and a shower and a nice, long talk before he could make any big decisions.

  Instead he found himself saying, “I think I’m gonna stay a little longer.”

  Chapter Six

  “Really?”

  Trent nodded when Lemon’s eyes went wide. She grinned and let out a shriek of excitement. Then she was running towards him, or at least moving as quickly as she could in the small confines of the trailer. She threw herself at him and he caught her with a grunt.

  “You’re really going to stay?”

  “Sure.”

  “Eeek!” She squealed again and hugged him tighter.

  Trent chuckled at her overexcitement and hugged her back. God, it had been way too long since he’d seen his best friend. Hell, his only friend these days. It wasn’t like any of his other celebrity friends in Nashville had been blowing up his phone to ask him how he was doing following the outing of all outings. He squeezed Lemon tight, breathing in the familiar sunshine smell of her. How this crazy, impossible, irresistible girl had become like family to him he had no idea. She’d just decided it and he’d gone along for the ride. And damn was he happy that he had.

  Movement caught his eye over the top of Lemon’s head and Trent cringed as a big, dark-haired man stepped into the trailer. Green eyes pierced him, taking in the scene, noting exactly where Trent’s hands were placed on Lemon’s body.

  Shit. Shit. Shit. Trent cleared his throat and began to unravel himself from Lemon’s tight grip. He may never have been formally introduced to Shane Lowry but he knew enough to know that the intense and gorgeous man eyeing him with amused irritation was none other than Lemon’s fiancé.