40. Gavin

FORTY

gavin

FOR A GUY who said he didn’t do well with parents, Daire had sure as hell won mine over. Bringing him to officially meet them was already a huge feat for me, considering I’d never brought Joey around. Maybe there had been something deep inside me, even then, that knew he was bad news and my family would see right through him.

Daire, though, they’d embraced immediately. Even though he’d been hesitant and nervous when we arrived, once he realized he didn’t have to play defense, that he was accepted as he was, I could see his shoulders visibly relax.

A couple hours later and we were both back in our element, commandeering the bar at Church, an exclusive members-only nightclub we frequented that used to be something much holier. From the outside, you’d think the Gothic revival building with its stained-glass windows was still hosting Sunday services—not the debauchery that ensued late into the night.

Dirty deeds were already going down in the green velvet booths lining the room, while burlesque dancers performed in the center.

But I only had eyes for one man.

Daire had gotten rid of his jacket on the way over here, and with the buttons undone halfway down his shirt, the sexy, tanned skin it revealed had me two seconds away from dragging him into the confessional booth.

The only thing that stopped me was that one of the guys had ordered us a round of shots—and the hot remix that pulsated through the club. Daire wasn’t a dancer, but I was, and he didn’t seem to have a problem letting me grind all over him.

Oh how far we’ve come since the yacht...

As I shimmied down his body, I let my hands trail over him, making sure everyone could see that this man was mine.

It wasn’t just amusement on Daire’s face as I slowly rose back up, keeping my body pressed against his as I swayed my hips to the beat. If the semi in his pants didn’t tell me, the predatory look in his eyes did.

He was enjoying this as much as me.

“This is freaking me the fuck out,” West said, shaking his head at us. “Daire hasn’t growled all night.”

“Not true.” Travis shook his head. “Someone looked a little too long at Gavin a second ago, and that familiar snarl came out.”

Their words only made me hotter for the growly one now smoothing his hands over my ass, because damn if I didn’t love the way Daire wanted to rip out any eyes that lingered on me too long.

“Yeah, but it’s weird, right? Dancing, talking, drinking with us other humans as though he’s actually enjoying our company?”

Travis snorted. “Well, I don’t think he gives a fuck about your company. But Gavin’s? I think he wants to enjoy more than his company, if you get my drift.”

When they all went a little too quiet, my eyes shifted to the bewildered faces watching us.

But Travis wasn’t wrong. I did want to enjoy every bit of Daire I could get. Especially when he leaned down, put his lips to my neck, and kissed a scorching path up under my ear.

“Mmm,” he said, and the sound vibrated through me much the same as the throb of the bass thumping through the speakers. “You keep rubbing your dick all over me and we’re gonna finish this dance somewhere private.”

“Is that supposed to make me wanna stop?” I tipped my head back, allowing him access to my throat.

Daire trailed his teasing tongue down to my primly buttoned shirt, and when he got to my designer bolo, he nuzzled his nose into the black flower at the base.

“Later, I wanna see you in this, and only this.”

I gripped the back of his hair, yanking his face up so I could look him in the eye. “Around my neck?”

“I was thinking a little lower.”

“Were you now?”

He nipped at my chin and then scraped his teeth along my jaw, making my head spin. Who needed alcohol with Daire around? His lips and words intoxicated me, to the point my head was spinning and I felt like I could damn near float across the floor.

“I can’t decide which is more disturbing: Daire and Gavin or the fact that Preston brought Mr. Carrington here.” East swirled his martini, nose wrinkled as he stared between the two couples.

Archer rolled his eyes as he took a shot from the glasses the bartender was lining up, one for Preston and then one for himself. “For fuck’s sake, it’s Archer, you little shit.”

Preston chuckled, resting his back against his twice-his-age boyfriend. “Besides, only I get to call him that, and on special occasions.”

“This is so much TMI I’m gonna need ten more of these.” Donovan began to pass the shots around to the rest of us as Daire snorted.

“Like you can talk,” he said.

West pointed to Daire’s mouth. “Do you see this? Words are coming out of this hole in his face. What is happening?”

Daire snapped his teeth at West, almost nipping his finger.

“Whoa, down, boy,” West said, but smartly stepped back over to JT.

I sniffed at the glass and should’ve known before I did what that clear liquid was. “Tequila? Really?”

“Buyer’s choice.” Daire shrugged.

Something fruitier would’ve been more up my alley, but I had a cocktail to wash it down with.

“All attention on my gorgeous ass.” East tossed the back panel of his jacket aside to show off the fit of his pants that, yes, encased a decent ass. He picked up the final shot and held it up in the air. “Cheers to Gavin, cheers to Daire. Cheers to fucking the growl right out of the bear.”

I laughed and clinked my glass against the others, and as I downed the tequila, I heard Donovan say, “Man, I can’t drink to that.”

East let out an exaggerated sigh as he set his empty glass on the bar top. “Fine. For you: cheers to Gavin, cheers to Daire. Cheers to getting the grumpy bastard to care. How’s that?”

Donovan nodded. “Better.”

Surprisingly, the tequila was smoother than I expected, and tasted even better when Daire turned me in his arms and his mouth came crashing down on mine. The taste of the liquor on his tongue was so appealing that I decided this was how I’d take my shots from now on—with Daire’s mouth as my chaser.

“Get a room!” someone called out as another one of our friends added, “They have a whole fuckin’ apartment.”

“Right, so wait—dating, fucking, and living together. Does that mean you two are…boyfriends?”

Archer took a sip of his drink. “Moments like this, I swear I feel like I’m back in college.”

“And not when you put your dick in Preston?”

“East.” Preston shoved the loudmouth in the arm, but I was too busy replaying Travis’s question.

Boyfriends?Was that what we were? I knew what I wanted, but we hadn’t been putting labels on things, and I didn’t want Daire to feel pressured.

Something he clearly wasn’t feeling when he nipped my ear and told the group, “Well, we definitely aren’t girlfriends.”

A thrill shot down my spine as I turned in his arms, my heart full of hope as I stared at him with a mixture of nerves and excitement. “You want to be my boyfriend?”

Daire grazed his lips over mine, tightening his hold on my waist. “I already am your boyfriend.”

It was such a Daire response, so blunt and possessive, his voice brooking no argument—not that I wanted to give one. I’d been wanting to claim him as mine from the moment he took me in the Sprinter van.

But, feeling a little bit flirty, a little bit cheeky, I decided to revive #OperationTortureDaire. “You think so, do you?”

“I know so.”

I wound my arms around his neck, threading my fingers through his hair. “I don’t remember you asking me.”

Daire chuckled, a sexy sound that made my dick punch against the zipper of my tight tartan pants.

“You want me to ask?”

I shrugged, playing coy. “It would be nice.”

“Gavin?”

“Yes, D?”

“You’re really going to make me say this?”

“I mean, if you want to take my flower later.” I batted my lashes for added effect, and he grabbed my ass, pulling me in against his rock-hard cock.

“Be my boyfriend?”

I nipped along his jaw line to his ear. “You can do better than that.”

Daire growled. “Be mine. So I can be yours. And everyone else can fuck right off.”

Holy shit.When Daire brought it, he brought it. I wasn’t sure I’d swooned so hard in my life.

“Now that’s the easiest yes I’ve ever said.” I angled my head to take his lips again, but someone called out, “They have a confessional for that.”

Those booths were about the only thing that had remained and been turned into private places to hook up. Surprisingly, I’d never ventured into one, but with Daire, and all these eyes on us, I could see the appeal.

“Hmm, that’s not a bad idea,” I said, brushing my mouth against his as I let my hand fall over the curve of his ass. “What do you think? Feel like taking my flower earlier rather than later?”

Daire’s cock twitched against my hip, and when I heard a low rumble from his chest, that was all the answer I needed. I intertwined our fingers and walked backward through the crowd, leading him toward the sinful booths, eager to thank God for this broody mystery of a man that was all mine—and apparently now my boyfriend.