Chapter Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

Vince

I t was definitely time Vince got laid.

He liked the feel of Colby against him too much. He'd always been attracted to the man. How could he not be? Colby was gorgeous. But the hard-on beneath his sweats right now had more to do with Colby than typical morning wood. It probably didn't help that somehow during the night they had moved around so Vince was lying on his back, Colby on top of him, his head on Vince's chest and his body between Vince's legs. It was intimate as fuck, and he had to admit he enjoyed that part.

When Colby woke up, there was no chance he'd miss said erection poking into him.

Even though he had an alarm set on his phone, they were both pretty good at waking up without it, so Vince's eyes opened before it went off. If Colby didn't wake up on his own in a few minutes, the dinging from their phones would certainly do it, and then they ran the risk of an awkward moment—more for Colby than Vince.

It was less than a minute later when Colby shifted on top of him, and then his whole body went rigid. Vince's dick stirred, the feel of the friction against his shaft sending a shot of pleasure through him.

"Yeah…I know…it's impressive," Vince said, hoping to keep the mood light and playful. He didn't want Colby to think too much about this, to worry and stress that Vince would take it as more than it was. Vince knew where they stood, and that was okay with him.

Colby snorted before looking up, his hair messy from sleep. Vince grabbed his cap from the floor. It had fallen off at some point. "What's impressive? I don't see what you're talking about."

"So we're gonna play it like that, huh?"

"Would you rather I tell you there's a monster in your pants?" Colby sat up, leaning against the back of the couch.

Vince did the same. "Yes. I would very much like that. It wouldn't be the first time I've heard it, but it's not something a guy can hear too much."

Colby rolled his eyes and chuckled. "I hardly felt a thing."

"Liar." Vince winked.

Colby ran a hand over his face. "I'm sorry about that…falling asleep on you that way. And I guess, with you that way. It's the second time I've ended up staying with you all night."

Vince shrugged. "No worries. I like sleeping with someone…having another person in bed with me. There's comfort in it. I was never one to just jump out of bed with a man after we fucked either. Not like that's what this was, but the sentiment is the same—the physical contact with another person. Don't tell me Colby Covington is the fuck-and-run type." He nudged Colby with his arm, thankful that things were okay with them. That the awkwardness wasn't uncomfortable or too heavy.

"Ah, hell. I don't know. Yes and no. Sometimes because I didn't want women to get the wrong idea. It could be nice, but…stressful too."

Vince frowned, unsure what Colby meant. It seemed to circle back to the intimacy thing, making him wonder again if Colby was on the ace spectrum. But then sex and intimacy weren't always the same, and cuddling wasn't either. "How so?"

"I, um—" Beep! Beep! Beep! The phone alarm went off, stopping Colby from saying whatever it was he was going to say. "We should get ready for work."

"We have a few minutes if you want to talk."

Colby wrinkled his nose. "There's nothing to talk about. You got hard cuddling me, is all," he said playfully. If he was bringing up the erection, he definitely didn't want to talk about anything else.

"You're hot, and I'm a gay man. It happens." They both stood.

"Damn, I'm hot, huh?"

Vince rolled his eyes, the two of them heading for the door, then back to the house. "Please, like you don't know you are." Colby didn't reply right away, prompting Vince to ask, "Wait. You know you are, right? I noticed you right away, babe."

Colby looked at Vince over his shoulder, smiling practically ear to ear. He might not be queer, but he clearly enjoyed being considered good-looking, even if it was from a queer man.

"Shut up." Colby waved him off.

"You shut up. You're smoking hot. Great body. Love the big pecs."

Colby covered his chest. "What? My pecs are normal."

"Your pecs are fucking great."

Colby shook his head, but again, Vince could tell he was enjoying this, which made Vince enjoy it even more. Making Colby feel good lit something up inside Vince but also soothed him. He wasn't sure if that made sense, but it was how he felt. Vince liked being his friend, making him smile. It was an unexplainable rush.

"I can't figure out what to do with you sometimes." Colby opened the house door for them. "You're so different from anyone I've ever met."

"That's probably a good thing. Two of me might be a bit much."

"It's definitely a good thing, but not for that reason. You're…fun." Colby looked away, almost like he was embarrassed.

"You're fun too."

"Oh yeah. Real exciting."

"Hey." Vince held Colby's chin, which was lightly stubbled, not having been shaven yet today. "You are. I have the best time with you. It just feels…natural."

Colby breathed deeply, hesitated a moment, then said, "It feels natural for me too."

Which was different for Vince but also not. He was the kind of guy who could adapt to almost anything. He was a people person, confident in who he was, and he liked being who he was. So it wasn't like he struggled with people or anything, but being around Colby felt extra natural for whatever reason.

"We should go shower," Colby said, before his eyes widened. "Not together, perv."

Vince held up his hands. "Hey, I didn't say a word. You're the one who went there. I was thinking nothing but innocent thoughts." Nah, really, he would love to shower with Colby, to look at him and touch him and make him feel good, but that wasn't in the cards for them. "I'm a good boy," he added, then swept past Colby, down the hall and to the bathroom.

He hoped like hell he had time to jerk off before they had to leave.

The next two weeks went by like most of the time in Briar County did—at a slow pace, filled with hard work and good people. Vince and Colby had fallen asleep together two more times—once in Vince's bed and once in Colby's—both times after watching a movie together. The second one, they'd woken up with Vince's arm around Colby. He must have gravitated toward Colby in the middle of the night. There was enough space, and they'd each fallen asleep on their own side, but by morning, Colby had been on his back, Vince on his stomach with a leg and an arm thrown over him.

They'd joked about it, not making a big deal of the situation. Again, that was something Vince was thankful about. For him it was nothing, but that didn't mean it would feel that way for Colby.

They'd checked the beer often while it was fermenting, tasting it at different steps to see how it changed. It wasn't the best yet, but that was all part of the process.

Today was beer day, and then this weekend was their Asheville trip, both of which Vince was excited about. Technically, they should bottle the beer and let it sit a bit before they drank it, but they were too impatient for that. They figured they could taste it now, bottle it, then compare when they returned home. Vince had purchased special beer mugs for the occasion, ordering them online and having them engraved with Colby's name. He'd worried they wouldn't arrive on time, but they'd come that morning. He couldn't wait to see Colby's face when he opened them.

They went to work as usual, then had come home and showered—separately.

Vince was just leaving the bathroom, wearing nothing but boxers, when he ran into Colby in the hallway—who wasn't watching where he was going. Colby gripped Vince's waist to steady himself.

"Shit. Sorry," Colby said, letting go of him. "I'm excited. Are you ready?"

"Yeah, hold on a minute. Come here." He led Colby to his room, then plucked the box off his mattress.

"What's this?"

"Open it and see."

Colby's forehead wrinkled as he took the box from Vince. He was careful as he opened it, his big hands gentle on the container as if he was afraid to mess something up. When he flipped the lid open and saw the two beer mugs tucked inside, he just stood there staring at them for a moment. He didn't say anything, the air in the room thick around them. Was it too much? Vince didn't think so. He wasn't one to second-guess himself, but now he did.

"You did this for me?" Colby asked softly, without looking at him.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I? I would have put the name of your new beer venture on them, but since you don't have one yet, I went with Colby. You can't drink your first batch of beer in a regular old mug. I'm queer, babe. I don't work that way."

Colby snorted a laugh, pulled one of the mugs out, and set the box on the bed. "They're beautiful, Vince. Thank you. I…don't know what to say."

Colby was such an enigma sometimes. He'd grown up in a family that loved big and showed it every chance they got. They were close, and Colby must've gotten a million gifts from people he cared about over his lifetime, but every time Vince did something nice for him, Colby acted like it was the first time it happened. Like maybe he thought he didn't deserve it or wondered why Vince would do it. Vince didn't understand that, but then, sometimes people just were who they were. It didn't mean something bad happened to them or that they were mistreated. Everyone was different.

"You don't have to say anything. You just need to hurry your ass up so we can taste our beer." Vince grabbed a pair of shorts from his bed and went to tug them on. Colby's hand on his arm stopped him.

"Thank you for this. It means a lot to me. I wouldn't be doing any of it without you."

Vince gave him a smile. "You don't know that. You might have, but you're welcome all the same."

Colby let him go, and Vince finished pulling his shorts on. He stepped into a pair of slides, and then they went outside, each holding a mug.

He let Colby do the work from there as this was his project—what Vince had a feeling would become his passion. Colby got everything ready, filling their mugs, then holding his up for Vince. "To new beginnings," he returned Vince's words from the last time they did this.

"To new beginnings," Vince replied, and they both took a sip.

Vince wasn't a beer expert by any means, but the bitter drink tasted like beer to him. "I like it."

"It's okay." Colby took another sip. "Not great, but I think part of it is that we haven't let it sit after fermenting. The wheats and flavors still mix during that step. It'll be better then, and when it's cold. Still…" He grinned. "We fucking did this."

Colby's wide smile was contagious, and Vince was happy to catch it. "Yeah, we fucking did."

They drank their beer—that wasn't really great yet, but neither cared. While they worked on bottling the rest, they talked, and Vince nearly buzzed from Colby's happiness.

That night, when they climbed into Colby's bed to watch a movie, Vince realized he felt more settled than he ever had.

"Operation Husbands Get Laid is in full effect," Vince teased as they drove into Asheville.

They'd gotten two rooms at the hotel where they would be staying, making sure they were adjoining so they could be close and hang out easily, but also have their own space when each of them found someone to hook up with for the night.

"That has a unique ring to it, doesn't it?" Colby said.

"I have friends who are poly. Great couple. Crazy in love. They just like to fuck other guys from time to time."

"No shit? That's something else I haven't seen in Briar County." Colby chuckled. "Are you poly?"

"I'm not. I don't have a problem with both of us hooking up with other people when we're just having sex, but if we're in a relationship, I'm too fucking possessive and greedy to want to share my man. That's why the shit with Gregory was so hard. He knew how I felt about that. I'm not knocking being poly; it's just not for me. I am knocking cheating, though. We had a commitment, and he betrayed that."

Vince was surprised he'd said that. It wasn't often he talked about Gregory to anyone. It made him feel stupid that he'd let the man do the same thing to him twice.

"I'm sorry. He didn't deserve you. It's not hard to be honest."

"No, it's not. But then, who am I to talk shit? I kissed him when I was with Holden." His gut cramped up just thinking about it, that he'd let himself do and be something he wasn't for Gregory.

"If I remember correctly, Holden doesn't blame you for that. He was already falling for my brother when that happened, and both of you knew it was over between you."

"That doesn't change what I did." Shit. Why had they gotten on this subject again? But for some reason, he wanted to be honest with Colby about what happened.

"Vince, I'm not sure I've ever met a man better than you. Holden loves you and isn't angry with you. Don't be angry with yourself. There's not a part of me that thinks you would cheat on someone you're with. There's not a part of me that wouldn't trust you. Hell, I trust you more than anyone in my life."

Vince tensed, though he didn't know why. That was a big admission, made Vince feel special. "Funny, because I'm not sure there's a better man than you."

"Guess that's why we're married," Colby joked, and they both laughed. "So, what is the plan for the weekend?"

"First, we're going to have a lot of fucking fun, just you and me. Second, as far as the sex goes, we're each other's wingman. I think we should focus on you first. If we don't end up at the gay bar, I can just use an app."

"There are apps for straight people too, and I want to go to the gay bar. It was fun when we went in Chelsea. I'm curious what it's like here."

"Okay, we can do that. We'll chill tonight since we got here late today. Tomorrow is Thursday, and we can have fun and hit up a gay bar together. It'll be a husbands' night out. Friday we can figure out getting laid in our own way, and then Saturday it's us again." That sounded like a good plan to Vince. While he wanted to have an orgasm with someone other than himself on this trip, he also wanted to spend most of it having fun with Colby.

"But what if you meet someone at the bar tomorrow?"

"Then I'll see if they're free the next night."

"No." Colby shook his head. "I'm not going to cockblock you. That's only the plan if you agree that if you're interested in someone, you won't let me stand in the way."

"Babe, it's not that—"

"Nope. I'm not changing my mind on this."

Vince chuckled. "I won't argue. Damn, you're good, though. I bet you could negotiate world peace."

"The two of us together could."

They arrived at their hotel and went up to their rooms. Once inside, they opened the adjoining door and ended up together in Colby's room anyway.

"In some ways the other room feels like a waste," Colby told him as they sat on the king-size bed.

"It does now, but you might not say the same if you're with a woman and I'm watching TV in bed with you and complaining that you're shaking the mattress when your thrusts are too much." Colby snickered, but Vince continued, "That reminds me of college."

"Wait. What? You were in bed with other people having sex?"

Vince laughed at Colby's wide-eyed, properly scandalized look. "Yeah. Or fucked with someone else in the bed or the room with me."

"Jesus. I…can't imagine." He leaned against the headboard with his legs on the mattress, so Vince did the same. "Did you like it?"

"Hot as hell," Vince replied. He wondered if he should end it there, change the subject and they should go out to dinner or something, but Colby was watching him like he was curious, and Vince didn't want to let him down. He didn't mind sharing with Colby either. "I can't pretend it hasn't happened as an adult too. I'd be at a party, and people would start going at it. I used to have this friend who liked to watch people fucking, and I'd let him watch me sometimes. I got a bit of a rush out of it. Makes you feel sexier and…wanted."

"I can see how that would happen. Makes sense to me."

"What about you, Colby Covington? You ever had sex with an audience?"

He barked out a denial. "No. Absolutely not. It sounds hot, but I don't know that I would ever actually be able to go through with it. Do you still do stuff like that? Not that it matters. I'm not judging you, and I hope it doesn't sound like I am."

Vince shook his head. "There's not a part of me that would feel judged by you. That's not really how you roll, and nah, not anymore. That was more for my younger years."

"Tell me other interesting things you've done in your life," Colby said, and that's what Vince did. They ended up calling for room service rather than going out to dinner, and when they went to sleep that night, they did it right there in Colby's room…together.