“Where were you?”
Atticus frowned.“What?”
“Carson’s in my bed.I know he’s not here for me.”
Oh, brother.Not this bullshit again.
“I was asleep.Until your rude ass woke me up.”
Slade pulled back as though he’d been slapped.“Was your door locked?”
“You know it wasn’t,” he countered.
Slade frowned.“Bullshit.Why else would he come to my room?”
Atticus spun away from him, heading back to his bedroom.He wasn’t in the mood for their bullshit right now.He had an hour left to sleep, and he intended to do it.What those two did was their business.Not his.
“Where are you goin’?”
“Where does it look like I’m goin’?”he muttered before closing the door.
This time, he locked it.
Slade tried the knob on Atticus’s door, intending to follow him into the room.
Locked.
“Sonuvabitch.”
Fine.Two could play that game.
He spun on his heel and headed back for his bedroom.When he saw that Carson was still in his bed, he did his best not to look at the man.Definitely not at his bare chest or those rippling abs now on display since he’d turned on the bedside lamp.
“I’m goin’ to work,” he told Carson, tearing his gaze away.
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am,” he lied.Since he was currently working with Luca, there really wasn’t anything for him to do at HQ, but Carson didn’t need to know that.
“Slade.Come here.”
He swallowed hard, hating the way his chest felt tight with hope.It always did that whenever Carson gave him any attention whatsoever.That was part of the reason he wasn’t willing to give in to this.Yeah, he’d pretended that night when Atticus made Carson come over.Pretended to forgive the past, pretended it didn’t matter.That was the night hope started to bloom again.The night Carson had accomplished the goal of confusing Slade with his sweet words and well-placed apologies.
But those only lasted for a minute before they got back to basics.Sex.The real reason they’d been so good together.
Sex was the easy part.He had never denied his attraction to Carson.Not ever.And having Atticus there, watching, had only made it hotter.Not to mention, Slade had gotten really good at having an audience.After all, that was what Carson’s role in their previous relationship had been.
Oh, wait.It hadn’t been a relationship because Carson wasn’t interested in something real, something permanent.At least not with him.
And neither was Atticus, as he had so kindly informed him after their last encounter.
I think we should do more of this.
Yeah?
Definitely.Let’s just keep it casual from here on out.Just fucking.You good with that?
Fearing he would sound like a love-struck moron if he insisted on more, Slade had said,I guess I’ll have to be.
