by Jet Mykles
This week had to end for him to get his sanity back. But after one night of blessed, much-needed sleep, he’d milk every bit of Luc that he could out of the weekend before Luc left and normal life resumed.
Resolved, he parked in his drive then headed for his front door.
“Hey.”
“Shit!” Keys in his hand, Reese jumped a mile when he heard the soft voice from the corner of his landing.
Luc sat there, on the cement floor, knees up, arms draped over them, a cigarette dangling from two fingers. Dressed in jeans and a faded blue T-shirt, with that rich red hair tucked up under a black baseball cap, Luc might have been anyone. Maybe. But Reese, who knew better, couldn’t help but admire the fit of worn denim on long legs or appreciate the shortness of the shirtsleeves that left finely honed arms bare. Dozens of slim bangles dangled from both slim wrists. Luc grinned at him, reaching up to tip down the big black sunglasses he wore so that Reese could see those sable eyes.
“Didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You did.” He took a deep breath to try and still his racing heart, glancing around furtively to see if anyone saw them. “What are you doing here?” The Lexus wasn’t parked on the street. How did he get here?
Luc nudged two six-packs that sat at his side. “What? Can’t a friend bring over some beer?”
Reese glared, hurriedly sticking his key in the front door. “You shouldn’t be here,” he hissed. “Some of the people I work with live in this complex.”
“Relax,” Luc drawled, picking up the beer and following him into the townhouse. “No one even knew it was me. I had a driver bring me.”
Reese snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure no one noticed that.” He dropped his briefcase and keys on the small table in the entryway. “Was it a limo?”
“No.” Luc strode past him to the kitchen. “I think it was Honda.”
“What?” He followed, baffled.
“I called a Lyft.” Sunglasses clattered on the counter.
His curiosity overshadowed his ire. He had to work his mind around to Luc doing something as normal as calling a Lyft. “Wow. Did the driver recognize you?”
Luc paused in tearing open the cardboard box to give him a flat look. “Actually, no.”
“What?”
“There are some people who don’t know who I am.”
Reese let that settle for a bit. He supposed that made sense but… How could you not know Luc Sloane? He supposed he was a tad biased.
While he was distracted, Luc extracted two of the bottles from the cardboard box and opened one. “The hat and glasses do work, but I don’t think the guy had a clue. Looked more like a rap fan to me.” He grinned and held the chilled bottle to Reese.
Reese took it. Still cold but sweating. Luc couldn't have been outside that long. He still glared. “You shouldn’t have come.”
Luc opened his own bottle. “What? Don’t want to see me?”
Reese took a healthy sip of beer, leaning his hip on the edge of the counter. His head hung of its own accord and he stifled a yawn. “I told you, I’m beat.” But the beer was welcome.
“I know.” After dropping the baseball cap on the counter, Luc stepped up to his side, and despite his body’s weariness, Reese’s skin tingled in anticipation of the man’s touch. Luc smoothed a hand over his shoulder. “I seriously just came to hang, if that’s really all you want.”
Reese pulled his head up to eye him. “Why?”
Luc kissed his temple. “I like spending time with you.”
Reese shut his eyes and leaned into Luc’s soft caress, too tired to hide his appreciation of the words. Too tired to bristle. Luc was getting to him. The man made him feel special, and he still couldn’t figure out why Luc bothered. This was going to be so hard when it ended.
His eyes must have been closed longer than he realized. Luc chuckled, threading his fingers through Reese’s hair and planting a kiss on his forehead. “You really are worn out, aren’t you?”
Realizing he was curled into Luc’s side, breathing heavily, Reese pulled his head back, blinking his eyes open. “Huh? Wha…?”
The bottle of beer was pulled from his lax fingers and joined Luc’s on the counter. Luc’s hands reached up to turn Reese around and point him toward the stairs. “C’mon. Let’s take you to bed.”
“No, I—”
“For sleep, idiot.” He pushed gently. “I am not into necrophilia.”
“’M not dead,” Reese mumbled halfway up the stairs.
He got a swat on the ass for that. “Sure you’re not.”
He didn’t bother to argue. He loosened his tie as he turned into his bedroom and managed to toss it aside before the inviting warmth of his unmade bed sucked him in. Face-first.
Behind him, Luc chuckled. Gentle hands removed Reese’s shoes and socks, then turned him onto his back. Luc crawled up to straddle his knees while he unbuttoned Reese’s shirt.
Reese watched him, completely entranced by the fact that a huge megastar was tending to him. “Shouldn’t you be rehearsing?”
Luc pulled Reese’s shirt out of his waistband to finish unbuttoning it. “We did. Spent the whole morning at Purgatory.” Luc’s happy little smile was endearing. “Didn’t need to do much more than decide on a playlist and go through it so we broke off early, and I came to see you.”
Reese blinked, yawned. “What do they think? About us?”
Luc hauled him by the shirt into a seated position so he could slide it off Reese’s shoulders. “Are they supposed to think about us? Thought you wanted to keep this quiet?” He watched his fingers as he unbuttoned Reese’s cuff.
“I do. But they know, right?”
“They know.”
“And?” They used to be his friends. Not super close, but they’d been friends. How would they take this… whatever it was between him and Luc?
Luc unbuttoned the other one. “Don’t worry. I told them you wanted to keep it low-key and why. They understand.” He pulled the shirt off, grinning. “Even Darien, and you know it’s hard for him to keep anything under wraps.” Luc pushed him to lie back.
Reese had to take that at face value. A tiny bit of his brain wanted to ask if Luc had mentioned his offer to take Reese to Italy and, if so, what they thought, but he didn’t have the brainpower to deal with the answer. “Shouldn’t you go see your mom?”
Luc started on his belt. “Didn’t you know that she moved?” He laughed fondly. “She had me buy her this awesome condo in Daytona. She’s become one of the Florida retirees, despite the fact that she’s not really old enough for it.” He paused for effect. “And she’s totally into racing now.” His face showed his disbelief.
Reese laughed. He’d met Luc’s mom. As far as he could tell, she was the source of not only Luc’s red hair but also his self-assurance, charm and sense of humor. She’d raised Luc on her own since his father died when he was very young, and she’d instilled self-confidence in her only son.
The belt jangled open, and Reese felt the fly of his slacks loosen. Luc stood, dragging Reese’s pants with him.
Luc lightly slapped his bare thigh. “Turn around into the pillows.”
Reese yawned, even as he complied. “I really should—”
“You really should get some sleep. Take a nap. I’ll have something ready for you to eat when you get up.”
Reese would have thanked him. He meant to thank him. But the pillow felt so nice, and Luc’s attention had spread such a warm, fuzzy feeling through him, that he fell instantly asleep.
◆◆◆
Luc stared down at the gorgeous creature nestled in the sheets. He didn’t ever do this. Oh, he’d had lovers stay the night, both male and female. He’d cuddled. He’d even done the breakfast in bed thing. Once. But he’d never stood over a lover like this, awestruck by sheer beauty. He’d never wanted to take care of someone the way he wanted to take care of Reese.
Carefully, he smoothed a hand over soft curls, smiling when Reese snorted and snuggled deeper into the p
illow. He almost had him back, that quirky kid with the blue—or purple or red—hair who looked at him like he turned the world. He’d been so blind back then, so cocksure of himself that he’d missed this gem. This fucking precious pearl who’d dimmed and tarnished because he’d tossed it away. Well, he was smarter now and far more able to polish and shine and protect this treasure than he’d been back then. But he still had to convince Reese that he wanted the treasure.
And that was about as poetic as he got.
Laughing softly at himself, he left the room, closing the door behind him. He took the opportunity to explore since he hadn’t done so before. Maybe his home would give Luc some clue to unlocking Reese. But nothing was there. Almost literally, nothing. The furniture was all mega-store kit types. Only the basic toiletries and essentials were in the upstairs bathroom and the downstairs barely had that. Of the few personal touches, he would bet good money that those were all Reegan’s or their mom’s doing: throw pillows on the couch, knick knack bowls on the shelves, things like that. Maybe some of that had been the girlfriend, but Luc chose to believe it was family. The kitchenware was basic, nice but nothing to brag about. Other than the carpet, there were no rugs. There were two books on the shelves, both old paperbacks, no magazines, nothing that took up idle time other than maybe the laptop on the cookie cutter desk in the second upstairs room that should be a guest bedroom but looked to be more of the landing place of odd things. Spare and impersonal, this place was so not Reese! To add insult to injury, the only evidence he found of Reese’s artistic talent were a few dusty sketchbooks that lay discarded in the mostly empty closet in the second bedroom under an easel and two blank canvases.
Angry at what little he found, Luc stood at the kitchen sink, staring out the window at the side of the neighboring townhouse. Reese shouldn’t be living like this. His place should be a riot of color and a fucking mess. He should be so lost in his world of fantasy that he couldn’t be bothered with mundane thoughts about cleaning or paying bills. He should be laughing all the damn time, not hiding his self like it was something to be ashamed of. If he wanted to teach, he should be teaching art or acting or something that let his inner light free.
“Fuck.” Luc dug into his eye sockets with thumb and forefinger.
He’d done this. Or, at least, he’d started it. He’d broken a fragile creature. Instinct told him to go upstairs, wrap himself around Reese’s body and spew out apology after apology until Reese finally got it. To make promises and oaths to take care of Reese from now on and never let him go.
To tell him that he loved him.
But it wouldn’t work. If telling him he was beautiful made him balk, admitting love would make him lose his mind. He had to believe in Luc. That would probably take time.
As Brent was fond of pointing out, Luc had no patience.
But he’d force it. For Reese. For the life he wanted, the life he could make, for them.
◆◆◆
His rumbling belly woke him. He sat up, disoriented in his darkened bedroom. The glowing display of his alarm clock said 9:00. He was alone, but smelled pizza. Yawning, he got up and headed downstairs, not bothering to put on any more than the briefs he already wore.
Luc looked up from the movie he was watching in the main room. “Hey, sleepyhead.”
Reese yawned again, waving.
Luc laughed. “Pizza’s keeping warm in the oven.”
Oh, what a wonderful man! Reese dug out half a loaded pizza from the oven and ate a full slice leaning over the box on the counter.
“Hungry?” Luc asked, amused.
“Starving.” Talking with his mouth full and he didn’t care. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
His belly partially mollified, Reese was able to fully appreciate the sight of Luc at his ease. The baseball cap was hooked on the back of a chair, so the beautiful red hair was free except for the band that held it loosely at the back of his neck. He slumped down in Reese’s couch, bare feet propped on the coffee table. Three empty beer bottles sat beside them, with a half-empty one propped on his belly.
Reese gathered up another slice of pizza and fetched his own beer from the fridge before he went to join Luc. “You’re still here.” He sank onto the couch beside Luc.
“Obviously.”
“Why?”
“Should I go?”
“No, but …” He chewed while he thought, flashes of the fit he’d pitched the previous night scrolling through his head. “I don’t think I’m up for sex tonight.”
“That’s okay.” Luc upended the last of his beer into his mouth.
“It is?”
“Sure.”
Reese frowned at Luc. “Then why—?”
Laughing, Luc leaned forward to gather the empties from the table. “Stop thinking so hard. I’m here because I like being with you and I didn’t feel like sleeping alone.” He stood. “And I’m okay if it’s just sleeping.”
He wanted to press. He wanted to know. He wanted Luc to explain what the hell was going on. But he was still tired and this quiet time was really fucking nice. He didn’t want to ruin it.
Reese took another bite of pizza and watched the man take the bottles to the kitchen. He came back with another one, bringing the box of pizza with him while he was at it.
They spent the next few hours flipping through channels on cable and speaking about nothing in particular.
Reese started fading around 11:30. He woke with a start when Luc hauled him to his feet and steered him toward the stairs. He went without comment and crawled into bed, peeking over the covers while Luc stripped to his boxers, shut off the lights, and slid into the sheets beside him.
It was so nice to have a warm body to snuggle. Piper was never a snuggler and he’d never been overnight with anyone else. In the past week, he’d only slept that first night with Luc, and he’d been too dazed to appreciate it fully. He turned around and squirmed until his back fit to Luc’s chest, snugging his butt against Luc’s groin. Thoughts of sex teased his brain, but his body just wasn’t up to it.
“Call in sick.”
Déjà vu. They’d had this discussion. “No.”
Luc grumbled, burrowing back under the sheets on Reese’s bed.
Reese grinned as he got dressed. He couldn’t help it. Even though they hadn’t had sex, waking up in Luc’s arms this morning had him in a fabulous mood. He wouldn’t tell Luc, but he was tempted to call in sick. He was still tired, and sleep sounded really good, especially with Luc lying practically naked in his bed. But there was a chance that someone might see him at the performance that night. The girls in the office and some of the other teachers were all excited about it. It wouldn’t do to call in sick then see them after hours.
The voice that came from beneath the covers was surprisingly audible. “What time are you coming to the club tonight?”
“Probably around eight.”
Luc pushed the covers down just enough to reveal his face. Static made wispy tendrils of his hair puff out oddly. “Can you come earlier?”
“Probably. Why?”
Luc flopped onto his back, shoving the covers down to his waist. “I forgot to ask you before. As a favor for Johnnie, could you stick close to Tyler?”
Reese froze, shirt halfway buttoned. “Why?”
Luc raised one long arm to tuck it under his head. “He hates crowds. Johnnie’s afraid that he’ll duck out and go back to the hotel if someone’s not watching him.”
Reese laughed. “You’re kidding?”
“Nope. It's happened before. He’s gotten better, but only when Johnnie or one of us is around.” Luc smiled. “It’s kind of cute, but it’s really annoying sometimes.”
Reese ignored the pang of jealousy at hearing Luc describe another man as cute. First, it was Tyler—who was very much taken. Second, Tyler was cute. And third, he had no right to be jealous. Luc wasn’t his, after all.
Reese resumed buttoning his shirt on his way into the bathroom. He kicked a
side the towel he'd used, landing it atop the small pile of laundry in the corner. “Sure. I can stick close. Will he get pissed off by being babysat?”
“You’re going to make it seem like you’re not doing that,” called the voice from the other room.
“Ah! Okay.” He picked up his toothbrush. “When do you need me to be there?”
“Seven?”
“Yeah, I can make that.” He’d just call Reegan and tell her that meet her at the club instead of her picking him up.
He brushed his teeth and finished his hair. Luc was still lying there when he got back to the bedroom. “You staying here today?”
Luc eyed him, looking like a decadent treat, mostly naked and sprawled in Reese’s bed. “You mind?”
Part of Reese wanted to rush and get his phone to snap a picture so that he could remember this. The artist in him memorized the tousled hair, lazy smile, and smooth, satiny, glowing skin. Mentally he catalogued the different mix of colors he’d need to accurately show the intriguing shadows of Luc’s body.
Enough of that; he had to get to work. “Mind? No. Just…”
“Don’t let anyone see me.”
“Right.” He grabbed a tie off the hanger in his closet.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Luc slide out of bed. The redhead came up behind him as he faced the mirror over his dresser, tying his tie. Their gazes met in the reflection. Reese’s heart flipped at the heat simmering in Luc’s expression. He willed his cock to ease off and not wake up.
Luc speared a hand through that red hair, trying to tame it. “Sure you won’t call in sick?”
“I can’t.”
He leaned in to kiss Reese’s neck just behind his left ear. “You mean you won’t.”
“Same thing.”
Luc’s head came up, and he met Reese’s eyes in the reflection again. All levity was gone from his face, those dark eyes glittering with intent. “Hey…”
Reese waited, but the sentence stopped there. He arched a brow. “Hey?”
Warring thoughts flew across Luc’s face, but Reese was at a loss to decipher any of them. Finally, Luc smiled. He put his hands on Reese’s shoulders to turn him around into a warm hug. “Nothing.”
