Since then, he’d tried to hide his attraction for Ethan. The minute he got Ethan and Christen out of his car, he had wasted no time getting the hell away from them. Tyler remembered he had spent more time on his date trying to figure out what color Ethan’s eyes were and less time paying attention to Tonya.
Physical attraction aside, Ethan was smart and interesting. He wondered why he had waited so long to make his move. The timing was never right. There was always something holding him back. For casual sex, you sure are pinning like a needy boyfriend, the voice in the back of his head chastised. It wasn’t a question of whether he liked Ethan, he did. They were good together, but casual was all he could give anyone.
Tyler looked at the clock on his phone and realized it was later than he thought. Definitely too late to call anyway. Plus, if he did call, he would look desperate and needy. Throwing his phone on the bedside table, he laid back and tried to get some sleep. He was never desperate or needy for company. It wasn’t his nature.
** ** ** ** **
CHAPTER FIVE
“So how are you really doing with all of this?” Ethan asked his best friend.
“I’m hanging in there,” Christen answered. “I mean there is nothing I can do with Jaxson entering the picture.”
“And you had no idea he was Mark’s son.” Ethan whistled shaking his head. “How did Mark take the news that he was going to be a grandfather?”
“He doesn’t know,” Christen replied. “I asked Jaxson not to say anything until I know what the fuck I’m going to do. Anyway, enough about me, how are things going with you?”
“Things are great,” Ethan lied. In the past couple of weeks since he’d returned and had his confrontation with Sean, he’d been on edge, as if someone was watching him. It could all be in his imagination, but each time he stepped outside. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
“Are you sure? You don’t sound as if you’re fine.” Ethan heard the uncertainty in his friend’s voice.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and quietly sighed, hiding it behind his lie. “Of course I am,” he shrugged his shoulder’s forgetting that Christen could not see him, when he asked. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know, you sound weird,” Christen stated.
Ethan scoffed or tried to anyway. Sometimes he believed Christen should have been a detective rather than a doctor. “You’re reading too much into things. I’ve just been pretty busy playing catch up the past couple of weeks.” Plus, fucking your brother on the side. “I hired a couple of new teachers, and I’m implementing the new mentor program for the coming school year. So things are looking up.”
“Do you realize you haven’t mentioned Sean not one time, are you guys doing ok? Have you spoken to my mom yet about planning the wedding? Are you sure you want to move all the way to Chicago? I can’t understand why Sean can’t just move to New York instead.”
Ethan chuckled at Christen’s barrage of questions. “So many questions, ones I cannot answer right now; I have a meeting in a few minutes. I will tell you that things are fine and no, I haven’t spoken to your mom.” He closed his eyes. He’d never hidden things from Christen before, and it was killing him to do so, but Ethan wasn’t in the mood to hear Christen say ‘I told you so’ when it came to Sean. “I will give you a call in a few days, I promise.”
“Why do I get the feeling you’re avoiding me?” Christen asked.
That’s because I am. “I could say the same thing about you,” he joked.
“You’re not funny.” He could practically see the pout on Christen’s face over the phone.
“I’m not, it’s just with the time I took off to visit with you, work kind of piled up, you know,” Ethan said, shrugging his shoulders as if Christen could see him.
“I’m sorry.” Christen sounded guilty. Fuck, now I made him feel guilty when it wasn’t his fault in the first place.
“It’s not your fault. In all honesty, I needed the small break anyway,” Ethan assured. “I’m just sorry I didn’t help you unpack all those boxes.”
“Oh man, I’m not ready to go through those boxes myself. I have no idea how I accumulated so much stuff,” he whined.
“Buck up, ya big baby,” Ethan teased. They laughed until Christen told him that he had to go.
“Okay, then I’ll let you go,” Christen told him.
“I will call you in a couple of days,” Ethan said. “And Christen…” The unspoken words of ‘don’t worry things will be fine, and I’m here for you if you need me’ hung in the air between them. He didn’t need to say the words, Christen knew he was there for him, no matter what.
“Thanks, Ethan.”
“You got it.”
They said their goodbyes and Ethan sat on his couch, not quite sure what to do with himself. He wondered when he would see Tyler again. They had agreed that their relationship would be casual, not setting specific times or dates when they would meet up. Since their weekend, they’d seen each other a few times. He had to admit, he was having fun.
It was all sex; a few times they’d gone out to dinner or happened to catch a movie the other wanted to see. But neither would call what they were doing ‘dating’. It was more like two friends hanging out. As promised, Tyler didn’t ask any personal questions, and Ethan didn’t offer up any information on his own.
However, they did talk about other things. Ethan found out that, other than cooking, Tyler mentored kids whenever he could on the weekends and liked to travel whenever possible. Ethan realized he loved getting to know Tyler and that than his recent perception of the other man was not what he initially thought.
Also, the more time he spent alone with Tyler, it brought back the memory of the first time they met. It had been summer break and that year his parents had decided they wanted to travel Europe. Thinking back, he wasn’t sure if they went together or separately. His and Christen’s summer internship would be starting in a couple of weeks and Christen had offered him the extra room at his house.
He’d spoken to Marilyn Hamilton quite a bit over the phone and gotten to know her very well. When Christen had explained to his mom that Ethan was coming home with him for the summer, she was ecstatic and had welcomed him warmly.
Tyler was the one who had picked them up from the airport and had not been ecstatic about the idea. He complained the entire ride home that he had a date with some girl he had been asking out for months, who had finally said yes. He was going to be late picking her up for their first date, all because he had to pick up Ethan and Christen. The whole drive home he had thought Tyler was a jerk snapping at Christen, which left a bad taste in his mouth. Ethan thought it would have been better if he and Ethan had rented a car.
For months during the school year, Christen did nothing but gush about how wonderful his big brothers were. After meeting Tyler, he was not impressed and made no bones about hiding his opinion. When Tyler pulled up to Ethan’s home, he practically threw them out of the car and sped off for his date. Hence, began their small feud.
Ethan chuckled at the memory and realized that he was getting to know a very different Tyler Hamilton. Or possibly getting to know Tyler period. It was new to him. His weekend and casual hookups with Tyler period, were something he had never done before.
He had always gone from one relationship to another, searching for that one partner ready to make a commitment. He knew he rushed things with Sean and every other relationship he’d ever been in, he wondered why he had done that. He’d never given himself a chance to let things happen naturally.
Months before meeting Sean, he'd been seeing a teacher, Jay, who worked for a private school. They had a lot in common, and Ethan thought their relationship had the potential for something good. But somewhere along the line he had realized that there was no heat between them and the relationship had fizzled out. He and Jay remained friends but hardly saw each other.
With Sean, Ethan had entered their relationship with his heart and not with his eyes wide open,
and that one failed; he had been expecting too much and kept his eyes closed to everything that was not right about Sean. It was the reason why he refused to tell Christen about his breakup. His friend had objected to the way everything had seemed to move too quickly between them. He also hadn’t liked the way Ethan had changed to suit Sean’s needs. However, even after spending the weekend and meeting up occasionally with Tyler, Ethan still cared for Sean.
Hell, I planned on marrying the guy.
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs and closing his eyes against the tears that threatened to fall. No, he would not cry. There was no sense in it. Breaking off their relationship was the right thing to do.
“If he cheated on you once, he will do it again,” whispered a very sarcastic voice that sounded like Christen in the back of his mind.
Ethan sat up quickly. “Fucking bastard, I got lonely too, but I didn’t cheat on you!” he yelled to the empty room. Fuck it, no use crying over spilt milk or in this case a cheating bastard.
** ** ** ** **
Tyler fell on his back panting, sweat soaking his body. He reached over to the side and pulled a handful of tissues from the box sitting on the nightstand beside the bed and cleaned off the cum on his stomach before removing the condom. Balling it up, he then threw it in the wastebasket beside the bed.
“Well, I will certainly hand it to you, Mr. Hamilton, you are quite talented.”
Tyler chuckled and rolled over, resting his head on one elbow facing Ethan. “I do aim to please.” He smiled pleasantly.
“You certainly do.” Ethan leaned up and pecked him on the lips before, flopping back down on the bed with the mounds of pillows bunched up under his head. He sighed in pleasure.
Tyler studied Ethan. Even with his eyes closed, he looked content and happy. Pride swelled in Tyler’s chest for being the one to put that glowing look on Ethan’s face and he wanted to keep it there. He shook his head, frowning at his thoughts. Clearing his throat, Tyler got up from the bed and walked over to pick up his pants, which had been thrown on the floor earlier. Pulling them on, he zipped them up, leaving it unbuttoned. They hung low on his narrow hips. He looked at Ethan, who was still lounging on the bed with the sheet draped over his waist. If Tyler knew how to draw or paint, he would have captured Ethan’s beauty on canvas.
He also wanted to crawl back into bed and fuck the man once more but held himself back. He needed to keep his distance for a bit. Lately, he wanted Ethan’s presence and body more often. He couldn’t stay away, like an addict pining for their favorite drug. Each time he told himself not to call or text Ethan, he did it anyway.
“Twice in one week,” Ethan said, sitting up resting on one of his elbows.
“Are you complaining?” Tyler asked, raising a brow in question.
Ethan snorted. “Fuck no.” Then he looked away. “But it seems like something is bothering you. You can talk to me about it, you know.”
“What about the rule about no personal questions. Or does that rule only apply to you?” Tyler snapped. Shit. He hadn’t meant to sound like that. He expected Ethan to be pissed. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you,” he apologized. “It’s been a stressful couple of days.”
Ethan sighed and got off the bed. The sheets fell to the floor and his beautiful body was on display for Tyler to see. He crowded Tyler’s space. “You’re right. I stepped over the line of our agreement.”
Tyler reached out and pulled Ethan’s body against his, wrapping one arm around Ethan’s slender waist, while the other went to his luscious ass. Ethan didn’t put up any resistance and wrapped his arms around Tyler’s neck. Their lips instantly met in a burning kiss, and he tasted his cum on Ethan’s tongue. When he had first walked into the room, Ethan had pushed him up against the door, dropped to his knees, and almost sucked the life out of him through his cock.
They stopped kissing, but their lips were still connected. They opened their eyes staring at each other. In all the time Tyler had known him, he’d never been able to decipher what color Ethan’s eyes were. That night they had a green hue with sparks of silver and blue. Tyler was fascinated to see what other colors they could change into. He assumed it was a byproduct of Leap’s serum. Funnily enough, scientists were anticipating that one day in the future humans might shift into beasts, depending on the advancement of genetic research. This would also label Leap completely sane.
“I accept your apology,” Ethan whispered against his lips. “If you will accept mine?”
Tyler smiled, nodded his head, and then pecked Ethan’s lips before pulling back. “I have to go out of town for a few days. Call you when I get back?”
Ethan didn't answer right away. He kept staring at him, and for a moment Tyler wondered if that would be the end of their liaisons.
“You better,” he finally responded. He extracted himself from Tyler’s arms and walked over to the other side of the room, gathering his clothes and began to get dressed. Once he was fully clothed, he walked over to the door opening it. He stood with his back to Tyler. That was the way they were.
They met up, fucked and one of them left, until the next time; either at some hotel or another. But lately, it’d been more than that. Little by little, they had added cuddling to the list and had started to share things that might seem inconsequential to others, but meant that they were getting to know each other. Tyler stared at Ethan’s back, wondering if he was making a mistake by letting him walk out the door. Before he could stop Ethan, the door closed and he was left alone with his thoughts.
** ** ** ** **
Ethan stood outside the hotel door with his back leaning against it. He didn't know why, but he felt as if he was making a mistake. Yet, he wasn’t sure what mistake that was and he was confident he didn’t want to question it.
Before they began sleeping together, it was all based on attraction and lust. Now he wondered if it was turning into something more. But he was having fun and didn't want emotional feelings to stir and change things between them. The man was magnetic and funny. He was drawn to Tyler like a moth to a flame.
Ethan sighed, willing himself away from the door, and made his way over to the elevator before he could change his mind and walk back into the room; begging Tyler to fuck him one more time.
** ** ** ** **
It was a couple of weeks later Ethan was sitting at his desk, going over a list of projected students for the coming year. He was also looking at contracted bids for the new addition for more classrooms that he wanted to expand the school, adding on to what his dad left him. With more families applying, he did not want to have the problems of overcrowded classes. A ping from his phone alerted him that he had a text. Picking it up, he saw that it was Tyler’s number.
Ty: Hey, busy tonight?
He sat there staring at the message before answering. He didn’t want to seem too anxious when in actuality he couldn’t wait to see Tyler. He had been disappointed when Tyler had not contacted in a few days as he had stated he would.
Ethan: Nope, I’m free. Where do you want to meet?
Ty: Mind if we meet up around 8:00? How about we change it up for tonight and meet at your place?
That shocked him. Tyler wanted to meet at his house, his personal space. Why does this feel a bit more personal than the other times we’ve met up? Ethan looked at his watch and realized he had a couple of hours left at work.
Ethan: No dinner, or a movie just straight to the point? Geesh, where’s the romance?
Ethan smiled at his cheek, but when Tyler didn’t respond right away, the smile fell from his face and he began to wonder if he said something wrong.
Ty: I’ll bring dinner, be naked and ready when I get there.
Ethan’s skin prickled with desire. Hot sex, Tyler Hamilton, and dinner what could go wrong?
Ethan: So demanding, see you in a couple of hours.
Ty: You got it, sexy.
Ethan brightened at the compliment before placing his phone down on his desk; he c
ouldn’t erase the smile off his face. That was what he needed, someone to pass the time with, and not expecting anything from each other. Ethan tried to turn his thoughts from his pleasurable night to come, but found it difficult to concentrate. His cock pressed against the zipper of his pants made it impossible. Throwing down his pen, he closed his eyes, willing his cock to behave and tried to think of anything but being inside Tyler. Nothing worked.
After all, the man did say to be naked and ready.
Images of being on his hands and knees, legs spread and lubed ass ready for Tyler's viewing pleasure passed through his mind. He moaned just as his phone rang. Knowing exactly who it was, his erection instantly deflated. A phone call from my mother, shit, any mother, would do that.
“Mother, how are you?” he asked, not out of politeness.
“Tyler, I'm well.” Her tone was brisk as always. “How are you?”
He knew that it was not a social call. His mother never called without a motive. “I'm doing fine, what can I do for you, mother?”
She was silent for a few minutes. “Sean called me and he explained his side of the story. Ethan, don't you think you’re being a bit dramatic by breaking off your relationship? You won't find a better man than him to love you.”
He didn’t answer her question, and he didn't need to. There would be no use pleading his side, she'd already chosen whose story to believe. He shouldn’t feel disappointed, but he was. I sometimes forget that her bites actually hurt. “If that is the reason for your call I would rather not hear it. But then again there’s nothing like hearing my side of the story. Or is Sean's words the only thing that matters to you?”
Simone sighed. “Ethan, dear, he explained the situation to me. And I must agree it's your fault. I warned you that a long distance relationship will never work. You're weak when it comes to other men.”
Loving You: Mpreg Romance (My One-Night Stand Series Book 2) Page 8
