They were chilling by the edge of the water, Reid and Ace still in their swimsuits, Blade in a pair of jeans with no shirt on.
Nikolai turned to face his boss. “He’s here on vacation. He told us this when he first arrived.”
Marcus turned and locked eyes with him. He didn’t say anything, just stared as if searching for the truth.
“And it just happens to coincide with randomly bumping into you while being chased by men in suits? Your buddy doesn’tseem like much of a gambler or a cheat,” Marcus noted, making it very clear that something didn’t smell right.
Nikolai looked over at his best friend. The man was laughing and chatting with the guys. He looked at peace, like he didn’t have a care in the world.
“I’m not saying that your friend is dangerous. I’m just saying that I think there’s more to this random trip than he’s letting on.”
Perhaps Marcus was right. He needed to get to the bottom of what was going on.
A few hours later, Marcus and the guys headed home to get ready for their evening shift at Ride ’em Hard. Marcus had given him another night off, so he decided it might be cool if they stuck around and watched the sunset by the water.
He wasn’t trying to be romantic… It was just something cool that Reid might like to see.
Who didn’t like a nice sunset?
They weren’t animals.
Just two, straight dudes… who occasionally got naked together… enjoying the sunset… while not thinking about the incredible blow job he received from his… straight buddy?
Nikolai felt his dick chub up.
What the fuck was happening to him?
"Your friends are awesome, by the way,” Reid gushed as he sat down on the blanket next to Nikolai. “Ace and Blade even invited me to their wedding if I’m still around when it happens. I hope that’s okay?"
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Niko said, a tad annoyed.
He wasn’t annoyed with the invitation; he was annoyed with the conversation that was about to come.
“Uh, is everything alright? You seem a bit annoyed with me all of a sudden. Should the guys not have asked me to come?”
“No. No. It’s not that.” Niko turned to face his best friend.
His soft blue eyes looked worried, like he had done something wrong and wasn’t sure what he should do to make things better.
“Why are you here?” Niko spat out. There was no finesse, no lead-up to the question. Just wham, bam, dick in your face.
Reid’s mouth dropped open.
“What?” he croaked, clearly about to lie to him. “What do you mean? I’m here on vacation.”
“First, I randomly bump into you while some angry-looking dudes are chasing you, then, a few days later, you show up here claiming to be on a road trip? I know something’s up, and I’ve tried giving you your space. But now I’m starting to get worried.”
Reid started fidgeting with his toes as he sat there looking at everything except him—another sign that he was about to lie. Reid had a tendency to fidget when he was nervous, and the only reason he had to be nervous around Niko was if he was lying.
“Reid, we used to be close. What is it you’re not telling me?” Niko asked, placing his hand on Reid’s bare thigh, hoping that the contact might comfort him.
He watched as the fidgeting began to slow.
“I’m here because I need to lie low for a while. There are some men who might be after me.”
“Those guys from LA?”
Reid nodded.
