Chapter 1

Dawson

"Bingo!"Nolan screamed, his shrill voice nearly exploding my eardrums even though he was at least three tables away.

Instinctively, my jaw tensed, his excitement like nails on a damn chalkboard.

"Fucking hell, I was one away from winning!" I groaned, ripping the sliver of thin bingo paper in half.

"Spend all your stripper money from the calendar so soon?" Cade ribbed me, his new boyfriend, Weston, shaking his head. He was still red in the face from the last round of karaoke.

"You're not supposed to show the firehose upfront, you know. That's what OnlyFans is for," Weston jabbed, flashing a cocky grin.

I rolled my eyes.

"No, and fuck you," I said sarcastically, throwing Mitch, Cade, and Weston into a fit of laughter.

"Sore loser," Cade said as he drained the last of his beer.

I watched in disdain as Nolan fucking Harding stumbled up to the stage, like a deer who'd been hit by a car.

What the hell has him out of his office this late, anyway?

He had the audacity to shove his black, nerdy glasses up his nose just a hair before grabbing his winnings, the light of the stage shining on him like some damn halo.

But Nolan was far from an angel.

He was, in fact, the kryptonite to my Superman, the Joker to my Batman.

He was my arch nemesis.

I watched him with a scathing look as Miguel handed him his winnings, his smile stirring some sort of hurricane inside of me.

Those pouty lips, that perfect jawline...

The thought of those lips wrapped around my cock until I'd face fucked the glasses right off his pretty face had fueled more of my fantasies than I cared to admit, but who wasn't prone to a hate-fuck fantasy every now and then? It didn't mean I liked the guy.

I most certainly didn't like him, and the desire to make his life a living hell was only equal to my need to run.

Run away from this damn disaster of a night.

At that moment, Nolan looked up directly at me, catching my gaze. I didn't miss the blush that spread across his nose, continuing on to his cheeks. The sight immediately caused my brain to spur those hate-fuck fantasies at the wrong time, causing my damn cock to twitch. I grunted in response, breaking his gaze, feeling hot all of a sudden.

"Fuck this, I'm out," I said as I pushed away from the table, leaving Mitch to browse his phone while Weston and Cade made out like two teenagers on prom night.

Mitchell waved a hand in the air, not looking up from his phone. "Toodles, Mr. March," he said dryly.

"Nice meeting you, Dawson," Weston said politely, between breaths. "Officially, I mean."

I waved him off with a half-smile, but he'd gone back to playing tonsil hockey with Cade.

I made my way toward the bar to pay my tab, feeling only slightly buzzed. Max saw me coming a mile away, reaching over a group of patrons to hand me my check, which I quickly paid.

"Thanks, Max," I said as I stumbled over some douchebag's big ass feet that were sticking out.

"Watch where you're going, asshole," Bigfoot spoke, turning to me with an angry expression.

"Keep all hands, arms, legs, and feet inside the airplane, asshole, and I won't have to," I nipped. Max shot me a scathing look as the man sweetly told me just where to shove his gigantic foot.

"You wish," I drawled, feeling more than irritated.

The night had been a bust. I was off my game.

I'd had a shit day at work, dealing with fucking Nolan again, questioning one of my recent claims for damages, my inbox starting to fill up at that point. Why the twat felt the need to question ninety percent of my claims was beyond me.

I had sincerely fucked up everything else in my life, but the firehouse was the one place I knew my shit. At least, I had until Nolan showed up two years ago after my ex left my ass high and dry to chase his financial dreams.

One of these days, I was going to fucking ruin Nolan for being an eternal pain in the ass.

I slapped some extra bills down on the counter for Max's tip as I turned away, charismatically flipping off Bigfoot in the process.

"Sayonara, assholes," I hollered over the chatter, heading through the bar to the shadowed corridor toward the side exit.

I knew most people didn't use it, because it was technically an emergency exit, but I didn't much care at the moment, and Max or Miguel would not stop me. Fire exits were second nature to me. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket, deciding I should probably queue up a ride, knocking into another asshole, who stepped on me.

"What the fuck, watch where you're—"

My entire body flared with heat when I laid eyes on the culprit blocking my exit.

"Perhaps your vision needs to be checked, Dawson, because lord knows if I was a snake I would have bitten you," Nolan snapped as he adjusted his crooked glasses like he was soooo much smarter than me.

Instinctively, I bit back, "Ain't nothing wrong with my vision, Harding. Not my fault your spineless ass blends into the fucking shadows."

Nolan had the audacity to scoff at me, like I was the one ruining his life.

"Besides, we both know your bite is about as hard as a toothless alligator."

Nolan scowled at me, crossing his arms as the bar lights shifted, casting stray green and blue lights our way. In the beams of colored light, I could see some slight definition in his biceps from the way his short sleeves cut against his skin.

Huh, that's new.

"You think you know me, huh? I got news for you, Dawson. You don't. You don't know what I'm capable of." Nolan's voice was full of false bravado, edged with something else I'd never heard before.

Something that made my blood heat and my cock twitch as his brown eyes roved over me before settling on my lips.

Was Nolan... was he flirting with me?

Maybe I'm more buzzed than I thought. Yeah, Uber is a definite.

I took a step closer to Nolan, backing him up against the wall next to the exit.

"Oh, I think I know what you're capable of. You're capable of being a giant pain in my fucking ass."

The thud of Nolan's back hitting the wall sounded as I leaned in closer. I held his fiery gaze, before I nipped my teeth at him, expecting him to jump like a scared dog, but instead, he only leaned in closer.

So close, I could feel the heat of his words on my skin, smell the sweet faint scent of lime and tequila on his breath.

And then the strangest thing happened. Nolan fucking whimpered.

Like some damsel in distress.

Like prey.

I snickered even as the sight of his tongue flicking out to moisten his lips caused my cock to twitch.

"Just what I thought. Snakes don't have backbones," I hissed. Then I saw something shift in his eyes, his shoulders tensing as he pushed into my space, his own lips pulled back in a snarl in retaliation.

"Maybe not, but their jaws can eat predators twice their size," Nolan answered, his deep breath full of snark like a petulant little brat.

"Is that what you want, Harding? To eat a predator twice your size?"

My head spun as my cock twitched and perked up, my entire being running on instinct.

Nolan pushed at my chest lightly with one finger, pushing me back.

"Wouldn't be the first time," he said, his voice filled with attitude as I stumbled backward.

His words fell on me like a heavy steel beam.

The unmistakable realization hit me. I'd never assumed Nolan was into guys. Hell, I'd assumed from his lack of conversation about anything outside of work and making my life a living hell, he was just another dorky asshole who'd been friend-zoned by all his chick friends, which was why I didn't feel too bad about dreaming about stuffing his mouth full with my dick as punishment during happy time.

My cock throbbed with interest. Clearly, it had a mind of its own.

My phone had the audacity to break up the wonderfully tense moment by sounding off the incessant rings that told me my ride had arrived.

"Saved by the bell. Lucky you," Nolan quipped, hip checking me as he slid past me, heading back toward the bar, leaving me hard, confused, and in shock.

What the fuck?