1
Ty
Six Months Later
It wasa busy week as we all scrambled around the lake-house rental, making the necessary preparations for Jesse and Eric’s wedding.
Sam, Kelly, and I worked in the main living area, sorting through last-minute details to ensure everything was ready for the following day. Eric and Jesse deserved a special day to celebrate what they shared.
I couldn’t say their relationship had exactly excited me as much as pissed me off when I’d first discovered my best friend had been putting the moves on my dad, a man I’d had a hard enough time getting to know on my own. However, from the moment they shared the truth with me, despite my frustrations, I was certain they wouldn’t have even done that much unless there was more to it…and it also made me confront something I’d been grappling with all my life.
My own interest in men.
I’d been jealous that Jesse had discovered that part of himself, not only before me, but without needing my help. At the same time, he was there to help me through my own journey…been there for me when I’d needed him. And through his support and encouragement, helped me come out to my father.
I was free of the chains I’d bound myself in for so long, free to explore a world of interest, yet my mind kept drifting back to the man who was supposed to arrive that day to help us with wedding preparations.
Liam McKinney.
It’d been too long since I’d seen him.
Six fucking months too long.
Six months since I’d inputted my number into his cell. He hadn’t reached out, which was disappointing as fuck.
Maybe I’d been wrong about what I’d believed he’d felt that night when we were talking. But a part of me refused to believe it was true, and through the months leading up to the wedding, the thought of getting to see him again excited me—irrationally so.
I didn’t know him outside of what I felt when we first met…that spark that had ignited when I spotted him across the bar, not realizing who he was, only knowing that I wanted him with every fiber of my being. When Eric had introduced us, he’d offered that handshake, and his touch had been like a fucking Taser to my flesh, sending rushes of excitement and eagerness racing through me, and something else…something I couldn’t explain as he looked into my eyes. I felt an instant connection, one that extended far beyond anything I experienced with other guys or girls I’d been interested in. In that moment, there was no doubt in my mind about my sexual orientation: I was a Liam-sexual.
We played the nice-to-meet-you-for-the-first-time game. We laughed and made silly jokes and grinded on each other on the dance floor like we might have with any other acquaintance, even as I felt the sensation escalating with each touch, with the way his body felt when it was that close to mine.
Despite how I felt, Liam had seemed impossible to read. What had he wanted? Had he wanted anything at all from me?
I sat on the sofa, unboxing craft supplies, when he stepped into the living area. Sam and Kelly were at the dining table, cracking jokes about something as Liam and I just looked into one another’s eyes.
Standing at what must’ve been taller than six-foot-five, he wore a red tee that sculpted across his thick chest and around his biceps, the many dips and ridges in the fabric not-so-subtly hinting at the physique I knew was under it. He looked at me with those dark eyes, and they held my attention captive for a moment. It seemed as though it took me forever to trace over his face…which appeared somehow different than the last time we’d seen one another.
Had his scruff been that length that night, or had my memory of it been altered in some way? And damn my mind if that were the case, because those hairs were the perfect length. Although, what length wouldn’t have been perfect on a face that appeared to have been chiseled from marble. Yes, wasn’t this man a god sculpted from stone and brought to life by the gods…just for me?
“Oh, hey, man! You must be Liam,” Sam said, rising from his seat and approaching him, Kelly not far behind.
How long had I been staring at Liam before Sam spoke? It had felt like minutes, at least, but surely it had only been a few seconds. However long it was, Liam hadn’t let up his own stare either, assuring me of what I had to keep reminding myself—my feelings weren’t one-sided.
After Sam and Kelly made their introductions, Liam asked, “What can I help out with?”
“Kelly and I are good,” Sam replied. “We’re just finishing up party favors.”
Liam turned his gaze on me. “Ty, did you need a hand with anything?”
All I need is your hands all over me.
“Nothing all that glamorous right now. I’m making the guestbook. I was having one printed, but of course it didn’t show in time, so now I’m trying to throw one together.”
“Happy to help,” Liam said with a warm smile, joining me on the couch, sitting opposite me beside the stack of photos, which included duplicates from our family albums and ones I’d printed off my, Jesse’s, and Eric’s phones.
But even with the distance between us, as soon as he sat on the couch, I felt the warmth emanating off his body, smelled the faintest bit of his scent beneath the fragrance of his cologne. As he looked into my eyes, I reflected on a moment back at Eric’s condo in Puerto Vallarta, when he asked me about my sexual orientation. He’d seen me making out with a guy at the bar, and I was so worried he’d say something to Eric.
“You’re not gonna tell him, are you?”I’d asked.
