Thehell he didn’t, but Blake had made a habit of not listening to Ethan when hespoke, so it wasn’t surprising that he acted as though this was the first timehe had heard it.
Lettingthe silence grab him by the throat and threaten to strangle him, Ethan wishedmidnight would hurry the hell up. He knew he shouldn’t have invited Blake,should’ve just attended this shindig solo, but he had an ulterior motive:keeping Beau at a safe distance. Granted, that plan had backfired almost as badas that piece of shit truck that his brother Sawyer had bought, souped-up andessentially ruined when he was a teenager.
“Wantto find somewhere quiet?” Blake asked, taking a step closer.
Instinctively,Ethan visually searched the open area, checking to see who might be watchingthem, or worse, listening.
Noone.
Hell,there wasn’t a single person in the whole damn place who cared what he wasdoing. They were busy.Verybusy. And half of them were fucking naked,so he was the last thing on their minds, he was sure.
Well,tonight he’s mine. So why don’t you take a seat over there and watch the show.
Nocan do. I only like to watch when there’s satisfaction to be found by everyoneinvolved. But, you go find him and don’t try to think about who Ethan’s reallythinking about when he’s fucking you.
Achill ran down Ethan’s spine at the memory of Beau’s words. How the hell didthe guy know what was going on in his head? And who the fuck was he to make athreat like that?
Butno matter how pissed Ethan wanted to be at Beau’s imperious attitude, he wasstill strangely drawn to the resolute, commanding cadence he’d used and thetake-no-bullshit way he had handled Blake.
Fuck,it turned him on.
Butthe truth was, Ethan was there with Blake, not Beau. And it didn’t matter howmuch Beau was baiting him, tempting him to want something he shouldn’t, he knewwhat he needed. Or, more accurately, what hedidn’tneed. A simple fuckbuddy was working just fine. Or it had been before Beau started shouldering hisway into Ethan’s life. Uninvited.
Ethan’sworld was spinning quite nicely. No major hiccups, no drama to interfere withhis work, and no jealous lovers to have to deal with. He didn’t needcomplications. As far as he was concerned, alone was the only way to go. Theless people knew, the better off they were. His main focus was to ensure hedidn’t draw attention to himself, easy as that. And Ethan was quite contentwith keeping his personal life on the down low. Up to this point, it had workedjust fine for him.
Takinganother swig of his beer, Ethan tried to break eye contact with Beau. Tried andfailed. That electrical current that sparked between them was still there,still blinding with its intensity and he was hard pressed to look away. Therewas no denying the fact that he wanted Beau. And vice versa.
Hejust wasn’t going to act on that attraction.
“Comeon,” Blake encouraged, grabbing his arm securely and urging him toward theother side of the room.
Fallinginto step with Blake, Ethan thought for a second that he was going to have tobe the one to hold onto Blake. Blake was stumbling as he walked which meant hehad already overindulged.
Notsurprising.
Lookingup, Ethan realized they were heading in the direction he was trying to avoid.Closer to Beau. Although his mind was resisting the action, Ethan let his feetcarry him forward, his mouth a grim line as he focused on not looking at thesexy, blond cowboy casually watching them come toward him as though it didn’tbother him one bit. And maybe it didn’t.
Unableto help himself, Ethan looked at Beau, their eyes meeting, holding. They wereat a stalemate, and he hoped Beau understood that. He wasn’t backing down. Nomatter what. And it would do Beau a world of good to realize that. Ethan didn’twant to be an asshole, but he wasn’t looking for complicated, and Beau, fromwhat Ethan knew about him, was the epitome of complicated.
Handsome,smart, funny, sexy… and looking for something serious. That, by Ethan’sdefinition, was complicated.
“Let'shead in there,” Blake said loudly, pointing to a set of closed doors on thewall behind where Beau stood. “Crave’s not open yet, so we’ll have the placeall to ourselves.”
Ethanknew Blake was talking for Beau’s benefit and not his. He didn’t give a fuckwhere they went, and if Beau kept looking at him like that, Ethan was going tolose every ounce of his self-control. Resisting the guy was becoming harder andharder, and he had a feeling Beau knew that.
Wasthat why Beau was pursuing him? Because he knew Ethan would eventually cave? Ifthat were the case, then Beau had another lesson to learn. Ethan didn’t givein. What he and Blake had was all Ethan could afford – consistent sex with oneperson and no emotional entanglements. After all, Ethan wasn’t promiscuous, hejust wasn’t interested in anything long term.
Asthey passed Beau, Ethan continued to make eye contact, wanting to ensure thatBeau understood the rules of this game. Ethan was with Blake. He didn’t give ashit if it was just for sex, he was still with Blake. It would keep thepotential for anything serious at bay, and quite frankly, the sex was good.Slightly monotonous, but nothing to complain about.
Blakeopened the door toCrave, the night club within Alluring Indulgence thathis younger brother Zane was responsible for. And just like Blake predicted, noone was there. There were dim lights that ran along the perimeter of the room,but for the most part, they were immersed in darkness.
Beforehe could say a word, Ethan found himself pinned against the wall, Blake’s lean,corded body pressed firmly against his.
“Youdon’t know how bad I want you right now,” Blake said, his green eyes sparklingwith passion.
Ethanpictured brown eyes. Smoldering hot, intensely sexy, chocolate brown eyes.
Shakinghis head to dislodge the image of Beau, Ethan downed the rest of his beer andset the bottle on one of the spare tables lined up along the wall beside him.
