Order (Tattoos and Ties Duet #2)(52)

“Lucky guy.”

He wasn’t sure Key felt that way, but he did.

“I am.” When he was sober, he’d have to examine all this uncertainty. Until then, well, he guessed he was going home to an empty house. At the door, he looked back, and Sean was standing there, watching him. He must have sensed Alec’s hesitation and lifted his glass, giving him a sexy grin. Man, Alec could have gone to town using that hard body. Instead, he pushed through the door without seeking out Janice for a proper goodbye, walking to the valet.

“Do you have your ticket?”

“I think I’ve had too much to drink. Is the car secure if I leave it overnight?” Alec asked, looking around for the parking lot.

“It’s in the private parking lot behind the building. We don’t normally have any problems. We have a security guard here overnight.”

“Cool,” he said and palmed his phone to pull up his Uber app. Luckily, there was one nearby. Once he was in the backseat of the car, he sent a quick message to Janice. It was lame, but he didn’t want to have to explain his sudden departure.

“I had a lovely time. Thank you for inviting us.”

There. That seemed like enough. He pushed send.

Alec looked around the car then out into the night.

Alone again.

He’d been having a good time and bolted because he got freaked out over some guy hitting on him. No, he got freaked out because he saw his past in front of him. What he’d now be if he hadn’t met Key. He was ridiculous. Maybe these prickly feelings were the need to run. Alec had his new course. He was a new man and needed to figure himself out as this man. Alec leaned his head back on the rest and ignored the slight spin as he let the motion of the car lull him into sleep.





Keyes blew through the open gate, squeezing the brakes as he trailed behind a car taking the circle drive to the front door of Alec’s place. He pulled alongside the car, got a good look inside as Alec opened the backdoor with a giant grin plastered on his face. Alec’s mouth was moving, but Keyes couldn’t hear a single word until he cut the bike’s engine, and by then Alec’s arms had snaked around his neck. Between the intense smell of alcohol on his breath and his eyelids drooping to half-mast, Keyes figured his tights-wearing superhero was drunk. He absorbed Alec’s body weight as he let the bike rest on its stand and the car left them both standing there in the driveway.

“…then you were here like I needed you to be.” Alec lifted on his tiptoes, pressing a sloppy kiss to his lips.

“Where’s your car?” he asked after Alec gave him a second simple kiss, coming closer to actually hitting the center of his lips.

“You don’t listen.” Alec grinned at him, seemingly content to stay like that forever. Keyes rested back on his seat, drawing Alec closer. He was fine with that idea. It was a little chilly out, but Alec had wormed his hands and arms inside the leather riding jacket to circle his waist. He was honestly okay with just about anything that involved this man and caught Alec’s wrist as he slid his hand up to his chest. He brought Alec’s palm to his lips, pressing a kiss there as drunk Alec did his normal thing, using all those words to explain in great detail about his night as if Keyes was living it in real time with him.

“…and then you were here. I think we’ve hit that mental telepathy thing. You knew I needed you.”

“Why did you need me?”

Alec gave him a pointed look and pushed back. “You didn’t listen.”

“Maybe not to all of it,” he said cheekily, keeping hold of Alec’s wrist as he turned toward the house. Keyes climbed off his bike and followed, Alec threading their fingers together. “Tell me again.”

“My car’s at the bar,” Alec slurred, unlocking the front door. “I drank too much.” He pushed open the front door, quickly disarmed the home alarm and stepped back into Keyes’s arms, sliding his palms up his chest to thread through his windblown hair. “I’ve changed so much since meeting you. Janice tried to set me up with this guy, and I completely freaked out.”

Keyes brow furrowed as he digested Alec’s unguarded words.

“His name was Sean, and he was in an open relationship. It’s certainly not the first time I’ve been propositioned by someone in a relationship, but now that I’m in a monogamous one, I just felt like I shouldn’t be there any longer. I wanted you there to defend my honor.”

While Alec spoke, he urged Keyes’s head down by pulling at his hair, a move Keyes generally loved, but since he didn’t like one single word coming out of Alec’s mouth, he fought the gentle tug. Oblivious to Keyes’s downward spiraling mood, Alec lifted on his tiptoes to press their lips together. Alec leaned flush against Keyes, his arms circling his back. Keyes gripped Alec’s hips, ready to push him away to finish this conversation when Alec’s tongue darted out, licking across his lower lip, demanding entrance. Damn it, he loved that move, even more than he disliked Alec’s words.

Torn between the hot kiss that was sure to end in a blow job and the knowledge that Alec had gone to a party tonight to be set up with another guy… Yeah, blow job first. Suddenly, he went from mouthing Alec’s cheek to nothing but air. His hand, the one he had lifted to Alec’s chin to better tilt him just to the right angle was now in Alec’s hand, his guy’s thumb slid over his swollen, bruised, and raw knuckles. Keyes let out hiss at the painful exploration and tried to pull his hand away.