Vulnerable [Suncoast Society] (Suncoast Society #29)(12)

Leo then wondered how many other people knew about him being gay. It wasn’t exactly knowledge he spread around. Not that he was in the closet, but he didn’t flaunt it, either. He wanted to keep the peace as much as possible around Laurel and Eva. They’d told their mutual friends—and Eva’s judgmental family—that the divorce was due to them growing apart.

He confided in very few people the facts about their situation. Considering many of their mutual friends had remained friends with both him and Eva, he hoped that meant she hadn’t been telling many people, either.

With her upbringing, he suspected she hadn’t, the issue with Mark notwithstanding.

I need to suck it up and move on. Maybe if I move on, Eva will move on.

He suspected she still held out hopes for an eventual reconciliation. He didn’t want to be a total stone-cold dick to her, but he also needed to walk a careful line not to give her false hopes, either.

Maybe making friends and showing her he was trying to move on would help her do the same. He hadn’t said anything to her about his two encounters. It had been after they’d separated and he’d filed for divorce.

He also didn’t want to rub salt in her wounds, or make her angry.

Besides, those two men never even heard about Laurel, much less came anywhere close to being in contact with her. They hadn’t even known Leo’s last name, or him theirs. He’d gone up there on two different Saturday nights, during particularly stressful times when Eva was fighting him on custody issues. He’d wanted to blow off some steam.

The results of those encounters still unsettled him to the point he knew he’d never repeat them. He didn’t like the secrecy it implied, the lack of connection. The anonymity.

Hell, he and Eva had been dating for well over a month before he even made out with her. She hadn’t been the first woman he’d dated or slept with.

Although she would be the last.





Even though Keith had insisted Leo didn’t need to bring anything, on his way home to shower and change, Leo stopped by the store Thursday night and picked up a couple of bottles of ginger ale for Noel. The good stuff, not the discount store brand, either.

When Eva was pregnant with Laurel, it had been one of the few things to offer her any relief from her morning sickness. Fortunately for Eva, that had only lasted a few weeks, and mostly in the mornings.

When he arrived five minutes early, there were four cars parked in the driveway, meaning he had to park along the street. He’d hoped to get there before the other guy and settle in, but apparently he was as much a stickler for being on time as Leo was.

What’d he say the guy’s name was? Jesse. That was it.

Leo didn’t have any kind of preconceived notions when he approached their front door and knocked. He didn’t want to get his hopes up in any way, shape, or form.

This was just dinner. Nothing but dinner.

Just meeting a new friend.

Hopefully.

That was his goal, anyway.

Keith answered the door with a smile. “Great! You’re right on time. Come on in.”

“I brought this for Noel.”

She appeared in the dining room doorway. “Oh, awesome! Thank you!” She started to take them from him, but Keith swooped in and took them.

“No, you don’t. I’ll take them. You go sit down.”

“But, Sir—”

He arched an eyebrow at her and that was all it took for her to back down.

Leo wouldn’t deny the authoritative tone in Keith’s voice thickened his cock.

And that she’d called him Sir.

She stuck her tongue out at Keith, but gave Leo a smile. “Come on in and meet Jesse.” She led the way into the living room where another man stood at their entrance.

If Leo’s cock had been mildly interested before, now it was in full-on wide-awake mode. The man looked to be about four inches shorter than his own six one, and while in shape, he was slender, lithe. His dark brown hair was trimmed short and neatly styled, and his tan bespoke of hours working outside, most likely.

And his eyes…

Eva had sweet brown eyes.

This man had gorgeous mocha eyes he couldn’t help but imagine what they’d look like as he fed his cock down the man’s throat…

He hoped where he stood behind the couch hid his erection. “Hi,” Leo said, extending his hand over the back of the couch. “Leo Cooke.”

The man smiled as he shook with him. “Jesse Morrow. Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah. Same here.”

Boy, howdy.

“Come on in and have a seat,” Noel said, waving her hands at the couch and chairs.

Leo walked around the far end of the couch, hopefully allowing him to conceal the fact that he had to adjust his shorts in the process. Dammit, now he wished he hadn’t gone commando, but he was down to his last clean pair of underwear and hadn’t felt like doing laundry that night. He’d planned on doing it late tomorrow night, and wanted the briefs for work.

Maybe this won’t be as uncomplicated a meal as I thought it’d be.





Keith had described Leo to Jesse, but Jesse hadn’t been expecting the guy to look so hot. Yes, his brown hair was liberally peppered with grey, but his face didn’t look that old. Even hotter, that the guy hadn’t tried dying his hair.