Not that he and Adam had been serious—and that was the problem, wasn’t it? Their relationship had exploded like a volcano, but it burned them up in its collapse. He’d been with other men since, but things didn’t feel the same and Cooper always found himself wanting.
Wanting more.
Wanting everything.
Wanting Adam.
So he’d fucked and dated and, for the most part, been alone.
“You’ll be fine,” he promised his reflection.
Cooper took off his glasses and tossed them onto the top of his dresser. He grabbed a clean jock out of his top drawer and a pair of tight black pants, then threw them down on the bed. He took a quick shower, cleaning and prepping for however the night might lead. Cooper promised himself to be open to whatever the evening had to offer. It was Devon’s birthday, and Devon would love nothing more than for all of his friends to end the night with a literal bang. He would love it more if the bangs were together, but Cooper wasn’t quite sure about how that would play out.
For the first time in months, thinking about getting laid had blood rushing between his legs. It was new, since in the past he’d been going to parties with the intent to shut Devon and Grant up about his attendance. This would be the first time in years he’d be going with the intent to score. Worst case, he decided, he could run into the city after the party and find someone to fuck if there wasn’t anyone interesting at the house.
Still unsure of where the night would take him, Cooper forced his quickly thickening cock and heavy balls into a tight rubber cock ring. He winced, groaning at the pressure around the base of his shaft. It took a handful of breaths to calm his nerves and his need. Maybe it had been longer than he realized since he’d thought about sex, because his body reacted like every nerve ending was a live wire.
Cooper stepped into his jock, adjusting all of the body parts that needed to be adjusted, then pulled up his pants and grabbed a plain white t-shirt from his dresser. He put his glasses back on and gave himself another look in the mirror, pleased with the way the cock ring and the jock made him look.
“You’ll be fine,” he promised himself again.
Even though for the first time in a long time, he didn’t believe it.
Chapter3
Adam
Adam pulled open the sliding glass door and gestured for Grant to come inside, but quickly turned back, holding his cell phone in the air and hoping Grant understood it meant he was on a call.
“And you’re sure it’s over?” he asked, heading back into his room and setting his phone down on the dresser.
“It’s over, Dad,” his son Wyatt said, sounding more defeated than Adam had ever heard him. “It’s just one more set of signatures and then we wait it out.”
“I hate this for you.” Adam sighed and worked his fingers through his hair, noticing that it had lightened and started to gray around his temples. He didn’t look old, and he wasn’t old. Barely mid-forties, but some days he felt agonizingly aware of the weight of the mistakes he’d made in his life and how they aged him.
Waiting until his son was an adult to have a relationship with him being one of the biggest ones. And most of all, he hated that their relationship had only developed the year before, when Wyatt had tearfully called him talking about the probability of his impending divorce.
“It’s better.” Wyatt didn’t sound like he meant it.
“Do you believe that?”
“I don’t have much of a choice.”
“Wyatt.”
“I did everything I could, Dad.” Wyatt’s tone turned frustrated, and Adam recognized himself in it. His chest ached for the hardships Wyatt was facing in light of his divorce and the unexpected way his life was about to change.
“I know, Wyatt.” Adam saw movement from the corner of his eye, and he looked over to find Grant lingering in the doorway. His expression faltered at the mention of Wyatt’s name, and he stepped back into the hallway. Adam held up a finger to indicate he would only be another minute. The call from Wyatt was unexpected, and he and Grant had plans to go celebrate Devon’s birthday later that night.
“I don’t want to keep you,” Wyatt said. “I have to get up early tomorrow anyway.”
“It’s Sunday.”
“I like to run early,” Wyatt elaborated. “You know that.”
“A glutton for punishment.”
“Trying to stay fit, Dad.”
