Order (Tattoos and Ties Duet #2)(15)

“Why all the doom and gloom, Pierce? Nothing’s changed,” he said to the empty room, trying to pick himself up, shake off some of this sadness plaguing him since reading all this terrible information.

“Except, everything’s changed.”

What was he doing?

Hell, if this relationship ended, Key could be hurt, but as fast and loose as Alec had been with his heart, Alec would be destroyed.

Building resolve, Alec knew he must guard against ever hurting Key—he’d been through too much in his life. Alec must always be open and honest with Key. On this point, there was no room for failure.

The image of Key on his knees, begging Alec for time, soared to life. Key had never been afraid of anything until Alec. The true understanding of what that meant nearly crushed his soul.

Alec’s phone chirped, and he looked to where his phone rested on the desk, thankful for the interruption of his downward spiraling thoughts. Alec reached over, expecting to see some partying photo from Blaine. His buddy had been sending them all night, taunting Alec with the good time he and his new best friend were having. Instead of Blaine’s name, he saw Key’s.

It was insane how much his heart needed to hear from his guy tonight. No doubt, Key had overcome his upbringing, but Alec seemed to be the one needing comfort as he imagined the life Key had once endured. Alec swiped a thumb across the screen to one of Key’s longest messages ever.

“Goodnight sorry I did not call before now. Tried to make it over got tied up.” The simple words were read as if Key had caressed his heart. Instead of texting, Alec pushed the phone option, calling Key as he rose from his office chair, pulling the chain to his desk lamp.

“Did I wake you?” Key asked in lieu of a greeting. “I didn’t think I should text.”

“Not at all. I’m awake. I’ve been working. I’ve got a case that’s bothering me.” Alec rolled his eyes at the extreme understatement as he left the office. The lights behind him dimmed as he started down the hall, his newest smart home feature.

“Have I been comin’ over too much?”

Alec ducked his head, chin to chest, watching his feet move and smiled. Key always worried he was an imposition. Alec’s heart warmed. He couldn’t change Key’s life up until the time they’d met, but he could do his part to give Key a better life now. He just had to figure their way out.

“Not at all. I want you here. Maybe a more honest explanation as to why I’m still awake is that I don’t sleep as well without you here. I seem to think you belong here with me,” Alec mused, knowing he’d never spoken truer words.

“Hmm…” Key’s voice turned husky and deep—his sexy-time voice. Next came a yawn that slipped out and dented the mental image Alec had drawn of his guy readying for sex. Key was more likely readying for bed, but that was okay too. “You’ve never told me that before.”

“You know I’d rather you be here. I’ve made that clear.” Alec put the phone on speaker mode, placing it on the sink counter in his bathroom. He dropped his shorts, and immediately bent down, reaching for them to fold. That was the-always-clean Key coming out in him.

“You could do better. I’m a freak show. If you knew what I was thinkin’ half the time…”

“Like what?” Alec interrupted when Key gave another yawn. There were all these imaginary lines he and Key never crossed. They only spoke of what the other was willing to say and never prodded for more. That needed to change. Alec wanted to be Key’s anchor, which required trust and honesty to achieve.

“I watched a gay couple once at a dance club…” That had Alec picking up the phone as he interrupted again.

“You go to dance clubs?” Alec shook his head, thinking about his very reserved, not overly outgoing Key in a techno music blaring club with bright lights flashing… Yeah, Key wasn’t a dance club type.

“As a wallflower. So these guys were clearly together and trashed and all over each other.” Key gave another deeper, much longer yawn. Alec tossed his shorts on the built-in dresser, forgoing the brushing of his teeth to keep Key on the phone and talking. “The guys ended up doin’ it in the parkin’ lot. I mean right there, close to my bike, on the pavement. I don’t know if anyone else saw. It was late and dark, but they were fuckin’ hot. I wanted in on that shit, wished I was bolder. I’m a freak.”

Oh, that took an unexpected turn.

“Then I’m your kind of freak. I’d watch too.” Alec turned down the bed before crawling under the sheets. “Alexa, turn off my bedroom lights,” he said to his Amazon Echo. The lights slowly dimmed as he settled into place. “I was at a club once with my friends and walked out to my car to find my friends had moved their good time from the cab of their pickup to the pavement of the parking lot. Later, I found out they claimed they needed more room. It’s hot. I snapped a picture. Until I met you, I haven’t ever been so overcome that I couldn’t wait to get somewhere more private, but it’s hot as hell to think about doing you at a dance club.”

“Hmm…” Now that tone was most definitely lust-infused, and Alec perked right up. “I don’t know, I’m pretty possessive over you. I’m not sure I want everybody to see what you got. I’d be fightin’ every motherfucker off you…” Key paused, giving a throaty chuckle before adding, “Not that we could even go out.”