7. Liam

Liam

Chapter seven

Trivia night was something I rarely participated in but often attended. Mostly because watching Maeve and Rhys get rabid about winning entertained me, but tonight, I swung by as a survival mechanism.

The past week, when I wasn’t working, Ollie got up in my space, whether it was catching me for dinner, taking a bird-watching walk, or swinging by with breakfast. Maeve had joked that my boyfriend might as well move in at this point.

The worst part about all this was that I fucking loved it.

I adored the nonstop time with Ollie, the closeness, the way our bodies kept finding excuses to brush against one another, to touch, to be near. Which meant I’d been in a perpetual state of turned on. I’d jerked off so much this week that I was pretty sure my dick would fall off.

I leaned back in the booth seat at Fun-Guy Sports Bar, nursing a pint of lager while Maeve and Rhys bickered over inane information on the Victorian era, which was this month’s topic for trivia night. Cole lost himself in a discussion with Theo and Lex about one of his earlier plumbing jobs, and I just enjoyed not having to talk for the first time all day.

“Who was the dead kitten tea party guy?” Rhys asked, tapping his fingers on the tabletop.

“Ew, what?” Theo asked.

“Walter Potter,” Maeve burst in, a live bomb of enthusiasm. “The taxidermist.”

I shook my head, casting a glance to Cole. “You’re the one dating him.”

Cole’s grin spread across his face, all dreaminess. “Yeah, I am.”

“Better brush up on your Victorian-era knowledge, gorgeous.” Lex nudged Theo in the side. “If you fuck up, I’m pretty sure one of these guys is going to shank you.”

“He understands the stakes,” Rhys said darkly as he skimmed his phone for god knew what other Victorian trivia tidbits he could find.

“Who’s your fourth?” I asked. Theo, Rhys, and Maeve were the staples, and they dragged someone else into the fray every month.

“Remember the chick from the coffee shop?” Maeve waggled her eyebrows. Of course I remembered her. I ran into her in our kitchen in the morning, midweek. “She goes to steampunk conventions and is a huge Victorian buff, so we invited her to this one.”

I placed a hand on my chest. “You’re seeing her beyond a single night? Better start picking a wedding date.”

“You’re one to talk, Liam Kelly,” Maeve said. “Don’t think I’m unaware of how often a certain Brannon boy is over our apartment.”

“What, Cormac? I’ll tell him to go get a life,” I said, my skin prickling at the indirect mention of Ollie.

Theo wrinkled his nose. “I thought Ollie was straight.”

“Please.” Lex draped an arm around Theo’s shoulders. “That boy has bisexual written all over him.”

My heart tumbled at hearing someone else say the secret wish I’d been clutching tight for too many years. And with the way Ollie kept looking at me like he wanted to kiss me—how I’d been almost positive we were going to multiple times now—my terrible, hopeful heart believed that might be true.

Perfect recipe for heartbreak.

“Speak of the devil.” Cole gestured toward the door. “You didn’t tell me he was joining us tonight.”

I blinked twice. Ollie strode in, still in his jumpsuit with the Brannon name stitched on, the sleeves rolled to his elbows, looking like pure, rugged sex. My fingers itched to run through his thick, windswept hair, and when his brilliant smile burst on his face and his eyes lit up, my heart beat faster.

“Definitely bi,” Rhys said.

I balled up a napkin and lobbed it Rhys’s way. “Shut up. He’s coming over here.”

“Hope you don’t mind me joining tonight.” Ollie walked right up to our booth. “Liam said you guys usually do trivia night, and I’ve got all this spare time on my hands right now.”

Cole scratched his nape as he looked up at Ollie. “How are you faring with that?”

“I think my house might be haunted,” Ollie said, scrunching his nose. “There are a lot more thumps than I realized at night.”

I swallowed hard, wanting to hurl myself at Ollie. He hated being alone. Not like he needed someone chatting all the time, but after coming from such a big family, he was used to having other people around him.

“He meant about the divorce,” Maeve said, blunt as always.

Ollie shrugged. “Josie and I weren’t right for each other. We just sucked at acknowledging it.”

Lex leaned in and whispered, “Bet there’s something else he’d like to suck.”

I elbowed him right between the ribs, gratified by the curse he let out.

“You’re always welcome to hang with us,” Theo said, smoothing over everyone else’s obnoxiousness. I wanted to hug him for that alone.

“Come on.” I patted the small open space beside me on the booth. Because I clearly could survive being squished up against his massiveness. Fuuuuck. The thought of his body crushing me into the mattress had saliva pooling in my mouth. Hell, I’d love to live between his legs.

I picked up the silverware and sucked on the spoon, needing something to stave off the need rushing through me right now. No one questioned it. They’d known me long enough. Whenever I got anxious, ends of pens, spoons, straws, anything I could suck on for a little while usually made its way into my mouth. So sue me. I had an oral fixation.

Ollie slid in beside me, the tang of metal and sweat emanating from him, which always hot-wired my brain to think of sex. He’d been welding all day, and those scents lingered on his skin, which made me want to get down on my knees for him that much more. The gauges in his ears, the little nick at his chin from an old scar, all of it just turned me on even more. Tonight was supposed to be a distraction from the insane attraction I had for my best friend, but the crush I’d kept a handle on for over a decade now amplified a thousandfold.

I sucked on the spoon a little harder, trying not to pop an erection while I squished in a booth beside Rhys and Ollie. Rhys all but climbed into Cole’s lap, as much as he could. These booths were long enough to fit six people, but we were full-grown adults and now at seven. Ollie didn’t bother making space between us. He simply wrapped his arm around my shoulders and tucked me into his side.

My heart fluttered. This man did everything I could want—from the excessive PDA that worked so much better than words to the way he constantly took care of me. My attempts at relationships had paled in comparison to the connection Ollie and I had, so why even try for much beyond sex? Especially after the disaster of Hal.

“Cute.” Ollie leaned in and tugged at the end of the spoon in my mouth. His eyes glittered with playfulness, and the drool almost dripped from me at how effortlessly sexy those smooth, teasing gestures were. He touched me with a possessive ease that stroked something deep inside me. Like I was whole and perfect and not flawed and chipped from my tumbles throughout the years.

“Where’s your lady friend, Maeve?” Rhys said, his leg jostling against mine as he tapped his foot on the floor. “If Candace shows up late, we’re going to have to drag one of these fuckers in. And I doubt any of them know shit about the Victorian era.”

“Hey, I’m offended,” Lex said. “I might be half-rats, but I’m here to take the egg any day of the week.”

“Don’t mind him,” Theo said. “We’ve been watching a lot of Ripper Street.”

“Candace texted she was on her way,” Maeve said. “She’ll come.”

“Bet that was what you said last time,” I mumbled around the spoon in my mouth. I removed it and placed it on the table. Ollie’s gaze burned into me, and when I glanced at him, he didn’t look away. Instead, he just stared at me, heat blooming in his expression. My skin felt stretched too tight, and sweat pricked on my forehead, probably from being tucked against this furnace of a man.

“Fuck, I want someone to make me come,” Ollie said to Maeve, and my cheeks burst into flames. She sent me an arch look full of “why don’t you do it.” I shifted in my seat, my cock going stiff as hell at the idea of an orgasm with Ollie.

“Been a while?” Rhys asked, his expression sympathetic.

“Fucking ages,” Ollie groaned, and with the way I was curled up against him, I felt the rumble of his chest. “If I needed any clue that my relationship with Josie was dead in the water, that was one of about a dozen signs.”

“You mean the constant fighting wasn’t a tip-off?” I asked innocently, trying to distract myself from the raging lust burning me from the inside out.

Ollie squeezed his arm around my shoulders tighter. “You’ve met my family. Of course that wasn’t a tip-off.”

I snorted. “Fair.” The Brannon household was a detonated bomb of bickering every time the family gathered together, which was often.

The door to the bar swung open, and Maeve’s pink-haired damsel entered.

“Told you,” she said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. “Like you haven’t been stood up before.”

“Who would stand up all this?” she said, gesturing from her artful red waves to the boho ensemble of an olive green crop top and drapey earth-brown skirt she wore.

“What are you drinking?” Ollie helped himself to my beer. His pink tongue darted out, and the beer glossed his lips after he put the glass back down. Fuck. I wouldn’t be able to handle this tonight. I needed to get home to jerk one out or something before my cock exploded and I embarrassed myself. Ollie hadn’t picked up that his presence was driving me insane, and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

Those daydreams of him finding the nearest surface, bending me over, and fucking me until I sobbed were the culmination of years of pent-up longing. However, if I didn’t get out of this bar soon, I was going to say or do something I regretted.

“Why don’t you finish it?” I said, nudging the glass toward him. “I was just swinging out for a little bit before their match started. I’m going to head out.”

Maeve’s brows drew together. “Are you sure you want to walk back? I drove us.”

“I’ll bring you home,” Ollie said. His pure goddamn sweetness made me want to scream. “But I’ll take you up on finishing your beer. It’s been a fucking day.” He brought the glass up to his lips again and tipped back. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he chugged, and I had to swallow the sigh threatening to escape my lips. When I glanced across the table to Lex, he made a blow job gesture with his hand and mouth while waggling his brows. I was going to murder him. Theo smacked Lex in the arm, and Ollie placed the pint on the table.

“Thanks,” I said, not putting my foot down like I should have. Maybe if I pretended I was sick, I could get him to leave me off at the door. Anything but the delicious agony of having him in my bed again. Waking up next to him, those broad arms wrapped around me. It hurt too damn much, and my dick couldn’t get enough relief from my hand.

“Have fun tonight,” Rhys called out, a twinkle in his eyes. I wanted to strangle him too. My friends were all assholes.

“Thanks, guys,” Ollie said, pure sweetness. “I’ll stay longer next time, I promise.” He pushed out of the seat in a smooth motion, and he hadn’t taken more than a few steps forward before turning to look at me. “You coming?”

Someone snorted behind me, but I got out of the booth and followed him, not giving my dickbag friends the satisfaction of looking back. The chick Maeve had fucked passed us, and I offered her a nod. I doubted I’d see her again.

The summer night air was heavy and warm, doing little to offer me relief as Ollie and I walked to his truck. A few folks hung around outside the building, the glow of their cigarettes stark against the shadows and the murmur of their conversations drifting my way. When I settled into Ollie’s truck, the tension that had been buzzing through me ratcheted higher.

“Are you okay?” Ollie asked. “I didn’t want to ask in front of everyone else, but you seemed off tonight.”

My heart cracked wide open. This man was fucking terrible for my self-preservation because of the sweet way he cared, how he put me first over and over again. “Just a stressful day. You know how it can be.”

“You need to start your own practice,” he said as he started the engine, the rumble vibrating beneath my feet. Within seconds, we hit the road, except he wasn’t heading toward my apartment.

“Where are you driving to?” I scanned the road, which led south, right out of town.

“Trust me,” he said, flashing a gorgeous grin that lit up those soft brown eyes. Fuck. My pulse thumped so hard it was a miracle he didn’t hear it. The truth was, I did trust him, more than anyone on this earth. Except he didn’t understand just how much of my heart he’d stolen at an early age and how easily he could obliterate it.

After a minute or two, the path he took became clear, and warmth spread through my insides.

“Parrish Trail?” I asked.

“You know it.” He slowed the car as he neared the shitty little trail we used to escape to in high school to sit by the bridge and talk. It was closer to our houses than Anson B. Nixon and a lot less crowded, especially at night. We hadn’t been there for a while, but when either of us had a shit day, we’d meet here and sneak a beer or sit there and bask in the sounds of nature around us.

My heart felt like it might escape my chest. He didn’t understand how this hope poisoned me at a deadly pace now that he was single, now that all my fantasies were brimming again like I hadn’t stamped them down for years. He pulled into the parking lot and shut the engine off. His door creaked open, and he hopped out before I could pull my composure together, so I scrubbed my face with my palms and followed suit.

Away from the middle of town, the starry sky grew brighter, sparkling like shards of glass sprayed across a velvet canvas—sharp and beautiful in the same breath. Despite the need and choking longing that had become an Ouroboros inside me, my shoulders gave up their grip, and I breathed in a deep lungful of the sweetened night air, heady with the lazy scents of summer.

Ollie had already made it to the beginning of the trail, but he waited for me by the sign, the trees leaning in and casting his massive frame in shadow. Even in the pitch of night though, my best friend was pure sunlight. His expression lay wide open as he stared at me, and the intensity of all his focus my way made my mind spin.

When I reached his side, my legs were a little shaky, and I wasn’t sure how much of a walk I had in me. However, being in this place with him in this moment imprinted in my mind. Like this snapshot in time was one I would need to remember. I sucked in a breath of the thick air, laden with tension and the scent of azaleas, and came to a stop in front of Ollie.

“You’re still buzzing.” Ollie placed his hand on my shoulder. I shivered, the weight of his palm on me something I wanted to memorize. I looked up at him, but I couldn’t spin a lie fast enough to sound believable.

His gaze zeroed in on my lips again, and the telltale tension amplified a thousandfold.

“Can I?” he whispered, his dark eyes blazing. The incredulous tone in his voice was my undoing.

I wasn’t sure what he even asked me, but when it came to Ollie, the answer was a thousand times yes. I trusted him more than anyone else on the planet.

He slid his hand up my neck and cupped the back of it, and I barely caught the movement forward.

All of a sudden, his lips were on mine.

When I was a kid, I used to watch the summer storm clouds.

When those darkening swells rolled in, when the tense air crept through and the breeze picked up, I would leap outside and stand there waiting for the first drops to fall. The tiny bursts of water would splash on my skin as my whole body vibrated with the anticipation of the onslaught. And then the sheets of water descended as they swept me away with a giddy abandon I’d never felt anywhere else.

Until this kiss.

My entire body lit up at the press of his mouth to mine, sheer electricity rolling through me. His grip tightened on my nape with a possessive hold I’d never dared to imagine I’d feel in reality—not with him kissing me like he needed this just as badly as I did. The scent of metal, sweat, and the summer breeze surrounded me, and a low, desperate moan escaped me, one he muffled with another claiming kiss.

Ollie tasted like the crisp beer we’d shared, and the heat of his mouth, his big body bracketing mine, the way he launched into control here like it was the most natural thing in the world—everything ramped up the sheer thrill racing through me. Like I’d captured lightning itself. He reached down with his free hand and grabbed my hip, pinning me in place, and thank fuck because that was all I had to keep me upright. My knees were trembling over a fucking kiss like I was still a teenager.

Except I’d been waiting for this one since then.

Dreaming of the moment Ollie would push through the space between us and claim me in every way possible.

He swept his tongue into my mouth in demanding strokes as he deepened our kiss, throwing his whole attention into it like he did everything. The man had a singular focus, and having that turned my way was a heady experience. The emotion welling inside me grew so intense I couldn’t stand it. Like this kiss had the ability to break me apart and remake me all over again. Low noises rumbled from him, and the way he crushed our bodies together, how he took what he wanted with each confident kiss, sent me reeling.

This was more than I’d ever imagined, and I’d spent years and years yearning.

Ollie finally pulled back, and our breaths echoed in the air between us. Yet he didn’t release his grip on me. Instead, he tipped his forehead against mine in a gesture so sweet that my eyes hazed over.

“Goddamn,” he swore, a wonder in his voice that licked through me like a flame, expunging the memories of anyone else and replacing them with him. Only him.

Ollie had kissed me.

He held me against his body like I was something precious, like he’d gotten just as turned on and blissed out as I had.

Ollie was married. Ollie was straight. Ollie would never look at me like that. The mantras I’d chanted for years shattered after this discovery.

I’d made the mistake of losing myself in relationships before, and I’d done a good job keeping things separate for years. Except there was no separate when it came to Ollie. The intensity of this kiss reached deep into my soul in a way no other guy had. He had the power to completely break me.