“You’re gonna tell me nowitnever happened?” Noah’s laugh was harsh, devoid of humor. “Just admit it. You’re a manwhore who can’t keep it in his pants—”
Kaj threw a jab, fast and brutal, striking his jaw squarely. Then he shoved his chest. Noah stumbled, crashing through a door when his back hit it as a metallic taste flooded his mouth. His head buzzed. He didn’t know what hurt more right now, his neck from the sudden jerking motion, his ego, or his face.
Still processing the blow, Noah glared at Kaj with a hand on his cheek, dark strands falling over his eyes. That was when he realized there was a table with chairs around, a couch, and a pile of instrument cases. The place was dimly lit, but it was definitely some sort of staff or backstage room that surely should have been closed.
“Want to keep running your mouth?” Kaj kicked the door behind him shut and slightly raised his fist while Noah stood there paralyzed. He definitely wasn’t planning to let him go. “I didn’t think so.”
A switch turned off, and Noah lost sight of himself.
With an erratic thumping in his chest, he jumped on the offensive. He struck as hard as he could, not leaving the drummer time to do much other than defend himself. He wasn’t the best at this, but having friends who’d gotten in trouble for unknowingly sleeping with someone else’s girlfriend, it wasn’t his first bar brawl. However, when his guard cracked for a split second, everything he gave came back a hundred times harder. This fucker was stronger than he remembered.
The fight was a messy blur of punches and snarled insults, fueled by years of unresolved anger and unspoken heartbreak. Noah landed a hook on his opponent’s ribs, only for Kaj’s fist to connect with his side in return.
“Come on, you stupid fuck.” Kaj laughed after spitting a mouthful of blood on the floor. “Get it out. Trust me, you’ll feel a lot better.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Noah pushed him, panting and squinting his left eye as blood dripped down from his eyebrow. He had nothing to say. All this anger, he was the one provoking it.
“That’s all you’ve got?” he mocked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “You couldn’t kill me even if you tried.”
Kaj was right. He had too much to lose.
His family.
His career.
Himself.
He hated Kaj.
Noah used to be a nice guy. No one had ever made him so furious in his life. He hadn’t known he had it in him. But every word, every condescending look and punch felt like he was being dragged across pavement, flaying his skin. And that was something he wasn’t going to allowanyoneto do.
Black dots printed on the inside of his eyelids when Kaj took another shot at his face. His cheek burned. His breathing was ragged. His ears rang. The room spun around. He was numb andhypersensitive at the same time, adrenaline pumping so fast he barely registered the pain.
Unsure how it happened, Kaj grabbed him by the nape. He bent him down and thrust his knee into Noah’s abdomen several times. But the last one... it hit the jackpot on his right side. All kinds of disgusting tingles shot through his limbs, paralyzing and blinding him as his entire system collapsed.
Disoriented, Noah groaned when he fell to the ground. And suddenly, Kaj was straddling him, their faces barely a few inches apart.
“What was that again?” he asked with a hand around his neck, pupils so dilated the blue in his eyes was completely gone.
“Fuck you!” Noah wheezed, wrapping his hands around Kaj’s wrist. “Fuck you, Larsen.”
Noah frowned in confusion when their mouths smashed together.
He writhed beneath Kaj while trying to decide whether to punch him again or keep his hands where they were to avoid being choked to death. But he fell into a chasm of blaring alarms and fire as his body sent contradictory signals to his brain. The frustration, the pain, and everything else they had both been nursing for years was transforming into greed.
They couldn’t confide, but neither could let go.
“Fuck!” Kaj cried out, tightening the grip on his throat when Noah bit his bottom lip.
Breathing heavily, with their nostrils flaring and chests heaving, they stared at each other in silence. Unreal pale-blue eyes blazed with an intensity he’d never seen as Kaj slowly inched closer to his face again. The vein in his neck pounded violently. And there, as their hard dicks pressed against each other through their jeans, Noah became hostage to his most primal urges.
Unable to think logically anymore, he let go of Kaj’s wrist and fisted the front of his T-shirt, opening the gates of hell as he pulled him down.
Teeth clacked and tongues rolled while their hips grinded with desperate need. Maybe the lack of air was mixing up the emotions in his head. Maybe he had a concussion or some other serious brain damage. He was lightheaded and his vision was blurry. His heart was unbridled in his chest, screaming to hurt this man for the torment he’d put him through. However, the lust hatching within had already unplugged his body from his mind.
Recycled lies.
Same old desire.
