Shit, shit, shit! Caleb winced at his misfortune, then shook all over and got his head back into the game. There were still several seconds before the elevator doors closed. If he ran, he could make it in time to jam his foot in the door and stall the elevator. It’d give him a chance to woo Jayne and get him to come back to the condo, this time for sausage instead of bacon.
Aching for what was still to come, Caleb broke into a sprint. If anyone from the neighboring units decided to poke their head out into the hall to see what was going on, they’d have front-row seats to him in the tight boxer-briefs that drove Everett wild, his cock bouncing behind a buttoned flap that was notorious for coming undone. Like a bad episode ofBaywatch, Caleb’s too-loose button strained with every jostling step, until, with a final jolt, it jogged free, liberating Caleb’s dick.
At that exact moment, Jayne poked his head out of the elevator.
“Shit!” Caleb gasped. He covered himself with his hand, but the damage was already done. With a roll of his eyes, Jayne retreated into the cabin. The doors slid closed. “Fuck!”
Caleb skidded to a stop, glared at his boner, then tucked it back into his boxer-briefs. “You couldn’t have waited five more minutes?”
His cock, still visible through his open fly, throbbed in a blatant act of treachery.
“If you’d waited five more minutes, it could have been him manhandling you,” Caleb grumbled. “Now he’s gone.”
Disappointed in how the situation had turned out, Caleb did up his fly and headed back to his condo. Everett stood in the doorway, a lopsided smirk on his face.
“Don’t even start,” Caleb said, holding up an accusatory finger as he brushed by Everett. “You were directly responsible for this, you know.”
“I know,” Everett admitted, barely holding back a laugh. “I’ll be the first to admit that it’s my bad—but uh, everything that just happened?Soworth it.”
One day they’d laugh about it, but right now, all Caleb could think about was throwing Everett onto the bed and taking his ass as penance for his wrongdoings.
“And by the way, if you’re thinking about struggle-fucking me, think again.” Everett winked on his way past. There was a sly look on his face—the kind he got when he believed he’d done something particularly clever. “I’m not interested in eating any of your charred carbon—”
“Bacon,” Caleb grumbled, following Everett farther into their dwelling.
“—because last night, while I was sitting up awake tending to Jayne’s laundry after you passed out, I got hungry and ordered a chili-cheese dog.”
Caleb stopped walking. He stared. “No.”
“Andthe sloppiest, greasiest, beaniest chili-cheese fries, too. The good waffle kind. I ate so late, I’m not hungry.”
“You ordered delivery fromLancester’s?” Caleb asked in stunned disbelief.
“You were asleep.”
“You could have woken me up!”
Everett snickered. He turned around and started walking backward so they could look each other in the eyes, headed for the kitchen. “You snooze—”
“Don’t even finish that sentence.”
“—you lose.” Everett laughed again. “Anyway, I’ve got to get going—Gage asked if I’d be okay with picking up the kids from his babysitter while he makes his way back from… wherever the hell he is. I’ll be back with his spawn in about an hour, so make sure you take a cold shower while I’m gone, and maybe put on some pants your dick can’t escape from.”
Caleb glared for another second longer. Then, slowly and deliberately, he lifted his hand and shot Everett the bird.
“Love you, too,” Everett said with a wink. “You can get me back later—if you dare. I’ll be waiting.”
He turned the corner and was gone.
“Stupid Everett,” Caleb grumbled petulantly to himself. He crossed his arms over his chest and, despite everything, admitted to the empty living room, “I love you, too.”
6
Everett
Caleb’s bronze Jaguar XJR rolled effortlessly up the ramp of the condo’s underground parking facility and came to a smooth stop inches from West Madison street. Traffic was always bad on Saturdays, but this morning, things were far more backed up than usual. Everett drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, then sighed and let his head drop against the headrest.
It was going to be a while.
