Order (Tattoos and Ties Duet #2)(4)

This was too much. How could he have let hope, of all things, cloud his reality? Hope and fairytales went hand in hand, both big fucking wastes of mind-space. He wanted to cry, which pissed him off even more. Thank God for the burst of anger, because now the bullshit pain wasn’t the only thing driving him. Keyes bucked his body out from underneath Alec’s and flipped the covers off, sending his phone flying. He literally jumped out of bed, making a beeline for his jeans draped over the bedroom chair. He shoved his feet in the legs of his jeans, forgoing his underwear. He needed out of this house. He couldn’t fucking breathe. He needed to be back in his world, back to what he knew, and never venture out again.

Luckily, Alec had removed his jeans in such a way that his keys, wallet, and belt were still in place. Keyes shoved his dick inside and zipped himself up as the memory of the unspoken need darkening Alec’s eyes when he’d arrived sent his rage skyrocketing. He didn’t get the jeans much more than zipped when he dropped down in the chair and started to shove his sockless feet inside his dirty work boots.

“What’s happened, Key?” Alec asked, his tone even but on the controlled edge of panic. Keyes looked up to catch Alec pulling on his athletic shorts which spoke volumes to the gravity of the situation. Alec rarely wore clothes around him.

Letting his anger fuel him, Keyes pushed to his feet, leaving the boots untied as he left the room, gathering his hair to tie in a knot at the base of his head. The fucking hair band he always kept at his wrist wasn’t there.

“Goddammit!” he yelled as he jerked his T-shirt off the kitchen stool and pulled it over his head while leaving the house. He never broke stride as he bent to sweep up his hair tie off the back porch where it had fallen last night and stalked toward his motorcycle.

“Keyes, stop. Don’t go. You’re just freaked out,” Alec said in his attorney-like listen-to-me voice.

The lawyer had gotten it completely wrong. Keyes wasn’t freaked out. He was absolutely aware of how badly he was losing his mind. He knew exactly what he was doing and that was getting the fuck out of Dodge. He had to get away from all the realizations threatening to suffocate him. The sooner he left, the faster he could try to move past this huge lapse in judgment. Fairytales were for children’s books, and he sure as hell didn’t live in a damn book. He ignored Alec’s pleas as he grabbed his helmet and shoved it on his head before jumping on the bike and pushing the key in the ignition.

“Your phone, Key,” Alec yelled.

He glared at Alec as he purposefully drowned him out by revving the engine. He kicked the bike into gear and whipped a circle around Alec who stood in the middle of his driveway. Alec could keep the damn phone. He didn’t need it.

What a fool. He’d been stupid enough to hope for something more, something that couldn’t be. Hope was nothing more than prolonged torture. The crushing pain that tried its best to paralyze him right this fucking minute was proof of that. Fuck it all. His heart shattered at his overwhelming loss.

Fuck hope. Fuck happiness.

All his life he’d kept his head down, his heart and feelings hidden.

Alec had opened him, changed him, made him want more.

Fuck his old man. Fuck being afraid.





Alec stared after Key as he tore down the long drive on his bike. He walked the length of the back portion of the driveway and stood there as understanding set in—his love had left him. Overwhelming pain followed. He had messed up, miscalculated, and let all his emotions get the best of him.

They couldn’t end this way. Alec pivoted on his heels, heading for the house. He needed to go after Key and apologize and assure Key everything was going to be all right. He’d take back the words. That made Alec stop at the threshold of his backdoor. He actually stumbled over his feet as his heart screamed not to ever take away the truth of those words. He loved Key. He loved him with every ounce of his being.

Yes, he got that times were difficult for the both of them.

No, he couldn’t see how their future might work out, but a solution surely had to present itself, and he would wait for however long it took. He loved Key. Simple as that.

Alec sighed. He saw no other choice but to go to the tire shop. He had to. He’d figure out what to say on the way, he just needed to see Key’s face, talk with him while reading his facial expressions. Alec started for his bedroom when he heard the distinctive rumble of Key’s motorcycle. He rushed to the kitchen window above the sink, keeping hold of his internal panic as he watched Key drive past. Alec sprinted toward the back door, throwing it open as his biker parked in the center of the driveway. Key left the engine running as he slung his leg over the bike and ripped off his helmet. He carelessly let it fall as he stalked forward. Alec stopped dead in his tracks as Key took long strides toward him with the most determined look covering that extraordinarily handsome face.

He couldn’t help the step backward as Key reached for him. In the three seconds it took for Key’s arm to lock around his waist and the other to lock around his neck, Alec was struck by the intensity Key commanded. He was a mighty force in the world, intimidating in both his size and strength, but that rush of sudden anxiety fled as the biker drew him against that hard body and drove his tongue deep inside Alec’s mouth. Nothing tasted as sweet as his biker’s kiss. Alec met the move with one of his own. He dropped the cell phone still clutched in his hand as he wrapped himself around Key, holding on with a strength that only desperation could create.