Chapter Twenty-Nine
Irving
I startled awake to the sound of a car blasting its horn, the noise shaking me out of a deep slumber. Ezra jumped beside me, pulling the sheet up to his chin and yelping.
It took me a minute to realize where I was. Dim lightbulbs, rough sheets, Ezra’s legs tangled in my own…
And then I saw Brick, and it came back to me.
I remembered this desperate need to please him and the relief of earning his attention. I remembered the way his hands felt, hard against my butt, and the explosively full sensation of his cock, plowing against my prostate. The whole afternoon and evening came back at once, my mind reeling as I remembered the look on Ezra’s face, the sound of our moans, and the ache of the rope against my wrists.
Holy hell.
Brick was sprawled out on the armchair, an empty beer bottle on the ground beside him as he blinked. Ezra and I must have fallen asleep, and for some reason, he had decided to let us keep the bed for the evening. But with the car horn still blaring, we were all plenty awake now.
“We’re still here,” I said, my mouth dry from sleep.
“Is it morning?” Ezra asked, still confused.
“It’s morning,” Brick answered.
I tried to read his body language as he rose from his chair and set to work tidying the place. He tossed the rope back in the cardboard box and flung his beer bottle into the trash can. The room was turned upside down, with blankets and pillows thrown in every direction and Brick’s own mess sprawled out from a few days of motel living. Even though we had all been sleeping a moment ago, however, he seemed like he was in a hurry to get things packed up again.
“Are you rushing out the door?” Ezra asked. “I mean, I know you have big plans, but it’s good manners to buy the geeks you fuck breakfast before you disappear into the sunset.”
Brick grabbed his T-shirt from the floor, sniffing it then sliding it on. “I’m not leaving for a week now,” he said flatly.
I shook off a little more of the grogginess, then pulled myself out from under the sheet. I realized I was still in my underwear, which made me feel shy, even though I had spent the day before a lot more exposed than I was now. When I glanced over Ezra, he was kicking off the sheets and stretching out his legs, the outline of his cock visible in his briefs.
“A week, huh?” Ezra asked, flipping over to give Brick a good view of his butt. “Lots we can get up to in a week…”
Brick flinched when Ezra said it. Squatting down, he grabbed our shorts and tossed them our way. “It’s going to be a busy week, and I’m not so sure it’s a good idea for you both to be hanging out with me anymore.”
A sinking feeling hit me in the gut when he said it. I had been expecting Brick to leave and knew better than to get used to this fling. He was on his way out of town, and even if he weren’t, the first time we almost hooked up had taught me how unpredictable he was. But it still hurt to hear him reject us like that.
Everyone I cared about was always abandoning me. Why would he be any different?
I cursed myself under my breath. This was sex. It was dirty, kinky sex in a motel. What kind of a nerd went and started developing feelings for someone after sex like that?
“How can you be busy?” Ezra asked, sitting up and grabbing his shorts. “What, exactly, is going to keep you busy when you’re staying in a motel in the middle of nowhere?”
I grabbed my own shorts, tugging them on quickly. I was glad to have something to cover myself before I got turned on by watching Brick talking sternly to a nearly naked Ezra. An awkward erection was the last thing I needed, considering the tense room I’d woken up in.
Brick’s fingers twitched by his side. Beneath his brow, I saw something working through his eyes, the green of his pupils flaring up and sparking. Finally, he sighed, and I watched as the tension dropped from his shoulders. “The truth is, I’m not doing as well hiding from those guys as I thought I was. I’ll be fine, I just have to take care of some business this week. But the second someone spots you two with me, you’re in as much trouble as I am, and I’m not having that.”
His voice got strained and more urgent when he said the last part. I noticed the way he kept cracking his knuckles. His energy reminded me of the time he had thrown that guy out of the Steel Rose. His hands had been bouncing around all anxiously, and his eyes had lit up with fire, just like they were lit up now.
I realized that I had seen him that way a few times, in fact. Whenever Ezra and I pushed and got him to talk about his past, he always tensed up and usually tried to shove us out the door or take off a few minutes later.
Ezra hopped off the bed, his shorts still unzipped, and grabbed his shirt and glasses from the nightstand. “What, you think we can’t take care of ourselves? I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, but we’re pretty damn tough.”
Brick cursed, turning and kicking one of the cardboard boxes. “I can’t take care of you, okay?” he said, his voice straining at his mouth. From the way his hands were clenched into fists, I knew he must have wanted to scream. “Do you get that? I can’t guarantee you’ll be safe, and neither can you. I might be able to win a fistfight, but that doesn’t mean shit if these guys decide they’re going to mess with you. They’ll hurt you in ways you can’t even imagine if they think it means they can get to me. Because I can’t stop fighting, and it’s my fucking fault you’re tangled up in this mess anyway.”
Ezra looked taken aback by the fierce pain in Brick’s voice. I understood he was telling us the truth and that the danger was real, but something else started to click into place, too. He’d said a few times that he couldn’t stop fighting. What did that even mean?
I stepped forward, swallowing despite my dry mouth, and forced myself to talk. “Brick, I want to ask you something.”
When he turned to face me, I saw that there were tears gathering in the corner of his eyes. Even with the snarl on his face, I could see them.
