Love Life & Circumstance (17 page)

Just ask him, Seth. Give him a chance to explain.
He leaned back and lifted his eyes. “Elijah, I…” A loud knocking on the front door interrupted him. Elijah cursed while Seth disengaged and hurried through to the living room. Who was out in this weather, knocking on his door? He swung the door open and briefly caught a glimpse of man before he was engulfed in a hug.  Rocky darted in to escape the rain and tangled in Seth’s feet. To keep from falling, he wrapped his arms around his very affectionate visitor. The unmistakable scent of Hugo Boss hit him in the nose, identifying the man who held him.  When the hug went on for more than a few seconds, Seth cleared his throat.

“Kris, what are you doing here?” Kris Jackson belonged to the big city life of Atlanta.  An agent for several of Atlanta’s star athletes, he moved in big circles and ate up the limelight surrounding his clients. The two of them had been an item according to the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s society editors.  It wasn’t a wrong assumption given they were spotted out together very frequently. Kris preferred someone who understood his job and didn’t demand attention when he attended important business functions. New dates never made that cut, and Seth attended by default. In reality, they were really great friends who enjoyed a lot of the same things, especially a good fuck when other options were slim.

Gorgeous beyond words with midnight black hair, piercing green eyes and a hard muscled body which was pressed fully against Seth at the moment, Kris drew men and women to his side like a sex magnet.  Only the man’s innate pickiness kept him from being a man whore.

“I just heard about Bethie. I flew straight down. Sweet Christ, Seth, why didn’t you let me know.” Finally, Kris let go and stepped back. Warm hands came up to cup Seth’s cheeks. “I would have been here for the funeral. I know you were all alone, stoic as always. My poor guy.” Firm, familiar lips captured his own and disappeared almost as quickly. Seth blinked in surprise. Caught in Elijah’s fist, Kris’s designer shirt tugged tight against his chest. Elijah towered over the other man, a dark scowl on his face.

“You need to keep your mouth to yourself.” The possessive threat sent shivers of pleasure through Seth, but had the opposite effect on Kris.

“I happen to like my mouth on him, and unless he tells me otherwise, you can kiss my ass.” When Elijah’s other arm drew back, Seth instinctively reached for it and stepped in front of Eli.

“Don’t. He’s my friend.” Seth met Elijah’s stormy gaze.

“More than a friend,” Kris piped up.

“Shut up, Kris.” Seth didn’t bother turning around, he kept his gaze focused on Elijah. “He’s a guest in my home. He’s traveled a long way to check on me. I won’t have you punching him.”

Kris grunted as Elijah released him, but wisely, stayed behind Seth. Elijah’s gaze burned into Seth. Anger and something more elusive twisted in the darkened depths of his eyes. “So this is why you were trying to get rid of me so damned hard. You should’ve just told me you already had a date for the evening.” The angry growl re-ignited Seth’s temper, but before he could respond, Elijah sidestepped Kris and shoved out the screen door.

“Eli,” Seth moved to follow the other man, but Kris stepped in his way.

“Let him go. Apparently, he needs to learn some manners. Manhandling guests is not cool.”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?” Again, Seth tried to go around the man.

“And, since when do I listen?” A sardonic smile played at the corners of Kris’s mouth as he stepped into him and slid an arm around Seth’s waist. “He’ll come back. He seems quite taken with you.  And, can I say…dayum! No wonder you chose to stay in Podunk, Alabama. Coming home to that big hunk of man has to be a-fucking-mazing.”

In all the years he’d known Kris, the touchy feely aspect of his nature never bothered Seth. Until right then, when it kept him from going after Elijah.  Wiggling away from his closest friend, Seth offered an apologetic smile. “I’m really, really glad to see you. It’s been too long, but, Kris, I have to go after him. I hope you understand.”  Realization dawned on Kris’s face.

“Oh my God. You’re serious about him.”

Seth nodded. “I am.”

“Go then. Shew, I’ll grab my suitcase from the car and make myself at home.” He glanced out the door. “After, it stops raining.”

“Thanks for understanding, I’ll be back shortly.” Seth grabbed his keys from the wall hanger by the door and frowned. Elijah’s set hung on the peg next to his.
What the hell?
Outside in the driveway, Elijah’s work truck sat sandwiched between his truck and Kris’s rental. Seth dashed out into the rain and tried the driver’s side door. Empty. Where the hell was Elijah? Seth ran to the edge of his yard, but the dark and the rain obscured the road in both directions.  Back at his vehicle, he climbed in without sparing a thought for his soaking wet clothes on the leather interior.

Out on the street, he drove in the direction he expected Elijah to have taken; the road toward home. After two miles of nothing, he whipped around. No way, Elijah could have gotten that far on foot. Seth hadn’t been inside with Kris that long. As he retraced his route, he rehearsed what he would say. He should have just told Blaine his connection with Eli and been done with it. But no, he had to read the damned documents and sull up like a damned bull.  Why hadn’t he just confronted Elijah when he got home?
Because you were scared it was true.

Passing his house, he immediately began to watch for Elijah. About a mile and half down the road, an oncoming car illuminated a hulking figure at the side of the road. Seth slowed, but so did the other car. The figure wavered, and then crossed in the multiple headlight beams. Definitely Elijah. Seth slammed the Rover in park and reached for the button to lower the window. The interior light of the other car popped on illuminating the driver.  Seth’s heart sank. Rhett. Elijah had called Rhett.  Jealousy and regret burned his gut as the passenger door closed and cut off the light. Seth shifted gears and hit the gas as the other car surged forward. He drove aimlessly before remembering Kris waited back at his house. With a curse, he turned and headed for home.

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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

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"
More than friends.
" The words echoed through Elijah’s thoughts to deliver a full on skull fuck . Jesus, he wanted to go back, and plant the wedge of his fist between that smarmy motherfucker’s pretty, white teeth and keep on going until there was fuck all left of his face to see.

"
I happen to like my mouth on him
.” Anger surged through Elijah like a freight train on a collision course with the bowels of hell. The stranger’s taunting smile and matter of fact admission that he and Seth were, or had been lovers…a deep growl ripped from Elijah’s chest and tore from his lips. He couldn’t go there. He refused to think about what was going on back at Seth’s house between him and that fancy assed bastard.

“God damn you, Seth.”  The thought of that smooth city slicker getting his greasy ass paws on Seth sure as hell stoked his Deacon temper. Tension coiled inside him to clench his gut and squeeze the pumping mass of Elijah’s heart. He should have guessed Seth hadn't wanted him there; he should have realized sooner that someone as gorgeous as Seth wasn’t single, or even into monogamy. Hell, if Elijah had known Seth was so accommodating, he wouldn't have manned up to Rhett the way he had when his best friend made a play for Seth. And, didn't that just light the fuse of Elijah's foul mood.

The fact that Seth hadn't put his friend in his place for treating Eli like he was a God damned piece of meat irked Elijah to no end. But, what hurt more was that Seth hadn't had the balls to tell the man that he and Elijah were together.  "Ya should have known better, Deacon. They’re all the damned same underneath." Everyone he'd ever met had some sort of agenda. Why would Seth be any different? Maybe he wasn't. Where the other blood suckers wanted him for his money, or because they thought he looked good, Seth's agenda had been a lot more personal. Seth wanted Hope and Elijah had parental rights to her.

 Oblivious to the direction he’d set off in, Elijah just kept walking. With each step, the depth of his mood turned ominously bleaker. Rain poured from the heavens to plaster his hair against his face and his clothes flat against his skin. Drenched through, Elijah paid no mind to his surroundings as his mind tumbled and whirled. He just didn’t care. A visit to the hospital to see Hope was out. After the three or four glasses of wine he’d had, there was no way he could show up at the hospital without seriously making a right damn fool of himself. Elijah couldn’t face going home. Before the events of the last few weeks, he’d have hightailed it back to his father’s house and talked to him. But, this was one subject Elijah was sure that the Pastor Deacon wouldn’t have wanted to hear about, even if he was still alive.

God the loss hurt. And, the ache was compounded by the fact his daddy had known all about Hope. It hurt just as much as him wondering if right then that cock sucking bastard was making Seth moan in that cute whiney way he did right before his orgasm hit and those long hard thighs clenched around Elijah’s waist. Only this time, it wouldn’t be Elijah filling Seth in the way he liked too, it’d be him; that mother fucking, dick sucking, son of a God damn bitch.

Elijah kicked out at a rock lying in the road, just as a bolt of lightning lit up the night sky. It streaked across the road in front of him and slammed into the trunk of a huge old oak tree, splitting it apart in an explosion of splintering wood. The aftershock knocked Elijah clean off his feet. He landed ass first and waist deep in the creek that ran along the side of the pavement and covered his head against the falling branches. He thanked the Lord Almighty for saving his sorry excuse of an ass and bowed his head, to rest it on his knees. He didn’t care that he was ass deep in a stinking creek. He was done, done with being the strong silent type and needed to be done with Seth, however much it tore him apart.  With a grunt of effort, Elijah hauled his miserable, soaked ass out of the water and trudged back onto the road.

The static in the air caused by the storm crawled over Elijah to make the small damp hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand on end. Overhead, the storm proceeded to light up the night sky and fill the air around him with the scent of scorched earth and smoldering wood. Elijah cursed vehemently as more lightning crashed overhead. His muscles tensed and his whole body trembled with pent up aggression and the need to let off steam. Thunder clashed in the heavens above. The explosion of sound was so loud that the vibrations of it ran up through the sodden soles of Elijah’s shoes and tightened the grip clenched around his heart.  He was beyond pissed at his latest set of circumstances and wondered what else life would throw his way.

Standing in the middle of the road Elijah finally realized how far he’d walked, and in the opposite direction of his own damned home. “Great, just fucking great.” Elijah admonished his own stupidity and looked up at the sky. “Bring it on Big Guy. You can’t make things any worse than they already are.” He bellowed at nothing or no one, just as a set of headlights flashed him then crawled to a stop a little ways in front of him. Elijah studied the car and shook his head in disbelief. “Rhett…are you serious? Of all the people that could come to the rescue it just had to be him? Well shit!” A second car pulled to a stop behind him, so he quickly crossed the road without glancing back.

The heavens chose that moment to open up the clouds and make sure, just for good measure, that not an inch of Elijah had the chance to dry. “Yup, ain’t life a damned bitch? Ya live by the rules, trying to be good, and then shit just happens in mother fucking threes.”

Bone deep numb and freezing his ass off, Elijah climbed into the car but stayed silent, refusing to talk to Rhett.  They drove in silence back to the apartment Rhett kept in Dothan. Elijah could always bank on his best friend to bail him out or have his back, but since Eli had confronted Rhett over his come on with Seth, Rhett had been a stranger. The usual every day phone calls had slowly dried up, and Rhett had regrettably started to pull away. Elijah missed him, but knew it was probably for the best. If Rhett really did have feelings for him, then Elijah didn’t want to hurt the guy he’d known all of his life, which was why, going back to Rhett’s place was a really bad idea. But, they’d been best friends for longer than Elijah could remember, and he felt a familiar sense of comfort on entering Rhett’s apartment. Rhett finally broke the silence between them.

“Go get yourself cleaned up, dude; you stink worse than skunk. I ain’t ever gunna get that stench outta my car. There’s some old sweats of yours in the spare room, help yourself to towels, and I’ll make us a drink.” Rhett’s matter of fact voice as he issued his orders sounded more like a front to Eli, like the guy was covering up some major hurt.

Elijah chose not to answer Rhett, and walked off toward the bathroom. He felt as if all the shit over the last few weeks was finally catching up with him. He felt more tired than he’d ever been before.  The searing spray of Rhett’s state of the art multi-head shower pounded into Elijah’s tired aching neck, back, chest and legs, as he scrubbed himself off so hard his skin tingled and turned a deep ruddy shade of red. When he finally felt clean, he just stood beneath the burning heat and bowed his head between his tired slumped shoulders and tried in vain not to think about Seth.

Elijah knew that it was early days, and that the two weeks they’d spent together probably didn’t mean much to Seth. But, to Elijah, it had seemed like a dream come true. To have a family with Hope and to curl up around Seth’s body after hours of touching, stroking, and loving him so completely had rocked Eli’s world. For Elijah, Hope and Seth came together as easy as peanut butter and jelly to give him a whole new sense of worth. That feeling was why he’d made the plans to move up north. He knew it was a rash decision, but he’d been sure that after he’d spoken to Seth the other man would have seen it made sense. Or, he would have if Mr. Asshat hadn’t turned up and ruined his plans.  But then, Seth hadn’t looked too disappointed at the guy’s arrival, especially when he’d helped himself to Seth’s mouth.