Shifting Gears (Crossroads Series Book 2) (20 page)

Rod chuckled like Landon hoped he would. “Jesus, I don’t know what I’ll do if we don’t come home with a bike today. I was awake all last night thinking about it—oh and the fact that I feel like I’m suddenly being forced into abstinence, but that’s besides the point.”

“Huh?” Landon didn’t like the sound of that. He crossed his arms. “What does that mean?”

“It means I like sex. I miss sex. I want to fuck, Landon.”

“I want to fuck too, and if I remember correctly, it was a week ago that I blew and fucked your brains out.”

Rod glanced his way but then looked at the road again. “I’m a slut. Didn’t you know that?” He said it playfully, but Landon heard the truth behind his teasing.

“I own a sex store. I’ve worked in one for years. I’m
gay.
We only care about fucking. Maybe it’s different for you since you’re bi?”

“Stop the goddamned car.”

“What? I’m giving you shit. Ignore me. I didn’t sleep well last night and—”

“Stop the fucking car. I’m not playing around with you.” Landon had no idea where that had come from. Actually, scratch that. He had a pretty good idea where it came from, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t taken aback by it.

“Ooh, I like it when you’re bossy.”

“Pull the car over, Rod.”

Rod sighed as he slowed down and pulled toward the side of the quiet road.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that. My head is all fucked up right now.”

“Why?” Landon asked.

“Sleep, remember?”

“You’re lying. Be real with me. I deserve that.”

“This. Us. I have no fucking clue what’s going on, and I don’t like it. I have sex with people, Landon, and then we go our separate ways. My head is all twisted up!”

“Is that why you pushed sex with me so hard? So I’d walk away afterward?”

“It’s what happens. It would be easier that way.”

Landon sighed, those words hollowing him out. Breaking his heart. “Do you think my brain isn’t fucked as well? I don’t do this either, Rod. Whatever we’re doing, I’ve never done it, but I’m here, trying to work my way through it. I want to figure this out with you.”

There were a few beats of silence in the car. Both men were breathing heavily. It was Rod who broke the silence first. “Well, obviously you’re a lot better at it than me.”

There was laughter in Rod’s voice, but Landon didn’t let it distract him. “I like you. Jesus, that makes me sound like I’m fourteen, but it’s true.” He liked Rod in ways he never imagined.

Landon looked over to see him gripping the steering wheel tightly. His fingers were discolored, and he didn’t meet Landon’s eyes. “I like you too. I guess we both sound like twelve year olds.”

“Fourteen.”

“Whatever.”

“I’m the most sex positive person you’ll find, Rod. There’s nothing wrong with wanting sex. There’s nothing wrong with hooking up, and blowjobs with people you know or people you don’t know, if that’s what you want. As long as they’re both consenting adults, that’s all that matters. If someone made you think otherwise, they have the problem and not you.”

He nodded. “I know that in here.” He tapped the side of his head. “It’s here,” Rod tapped his chest, “that the message gets lost sometimes. I thought I was over that shit. Jesus, I’m too old to struggle with daddy issues.”

“You feel how you feel. That’s all that matters.” He reached over and stroked Rod’s cheek. It was then that the younger man finally looked at him. “I love having my dick buried inside you. Know that…but I like spending time with you too—talking to you and riding with you. Being real with you. Can you handle that? Because if you need something different, tell me now. If you want to walk away, then tell me. If you want to fuck other people, then that’s something we need to have a discussion about. I’m not sure if I can deal with that, but we can talk.” They didn’t have any real commitment between them. They were free to do what they wanted, but the idea of Rod with someone else made him see red. It made his gut clench and white, hot anger shoot through him.

“I don’t want to fuck anyone else. Does that mean we’re dating?” Rod’s eyes went wide. He had such expressive fucking eyes. It was all there in his blue orbs—the confusion, fear, and yeah, the excitement too.

“Um…I think so… Shifting gears, like I said. Strange, isn’t it?” He’d never wanted to date someone in his life. He wasn’t even sure how to do it.

“Absolutely. Damn, I did well. My boyfriend is hot.”

Landon chuckled. Jesus, he liked this man. Liked the way he made him smile, the way he made him feel…like this right here? Like his life was enough. He’d never felt that before.

He wrapped his hand around the back of Rod’s neck and pulled him forward. Their lips met, the kiss going full throttle, from zero to sixty in five seconds flat. Their tongues tangled, delved into each other’s mouths as though they couldn’t get enough. Landon’s dick went hard and he was suddenly wishing they were somewhere else right now.

When they pulled away, Rod said, “I might fuck up.”

“Me too. We’ll take it slow.”

“Okay.”

“Now can we go look at this bike for you? I really want to see you on a bike. Or we can go home and ride mine. It gets me hard thinking about you and motorcycles.” He winked, hoping his joke eased Rod’s tension.

“Then I guess we better go get me a bike. Then we can go home and you can ride me.”

Landon couldn’t fucking wait for that.

***

Rod bought the bike. It was gorgeous—a deep, sparkling blue, that he really hoped he would be able to ride. Landon had test driven it first, then Rod. He’d only gone up and down the man’s driveway, but he’d ridden with Landon when he really let loose on the open road. He’d told Rod it was a good bike and that was all the convincing Rod needed.

Now, they were on their way back home, but they were stopping by Landon’s house first. This day was surreal as hell for him. He still wasn’t sure what he thought about their discussion in the car. Dating? It was a foreign fucking language to him, but he felt a calmness inside him at the same time. A need that was too strong to walk away from. He liked Landon, and it seemed that Landon cared about him too. He wasn’t sure quite how that happened, if they were both out of their fucking minds, or how long it would last, but he was going with the flow for now.

Landon gave him directions, and before he knew it Rod pulled up in front of the homey, yellow house. It was small, bigger than his own place, but a cute, little one-story house that he tried not to imagine a young Landon growing up in.

He leaned back as Landon opened the door. He looked at Rod, before getting out and said, “Are you coming?”

“I thought you were going to have a panic attack when your mom and sister stopped by the shop when I was there, so I figured it would be safer for me to wait here.”

“I wasn’t that bad.” Landon nodded toward the house. “Get out of the car and come inside with me. Jesus, this is weird, coming to my mom’s house before I go home with a guy. I need to get out of this house.”

Rod killed the engine and then got out of the car. “It’s not that bad. You just moved back a couple months ago. There’s nothing wrong with staying here for a while. I’m sure your mom loves that you’re here.”

He was envious of that. He’d never know if his mom was the kind of person who didn’t care that she had a gay son. If she would have just wanted him happy regardless. “I’m nervous. What if your mom doesn’t like me?”

Landon stopped walking and looked at him like Rod was crazy. You’d think he’d be used to the look by now.

“She’s already met you and she liked you.”

“She did?”

Landon nodded, looking almost sad. “Yeah, she did. Of course she liked you. Now let’s go.”

“Wait, but that was before we decided to date. I’m dating Landon. We’re dating. Landon and I are dating. I’m dating someone.” When Landon’s brows pulled together, Rod added, “Sorry, was testing the words on my tongue.”

“You are so fucking crazy.” Landon wrapped his arm around Rod’s shoulders and pulled him toward the house. He opened the front door and Rod followed him in. He’d tried to sound as though he was teasing out there, but he really did worry. What if he was too much for her? What if she liked him fine as Landon’s friend but didn’t feel the same now that they were dating? Christ, there was that word again.

Landon’s dark-haired mother scrambled up from where she’d been lying on the couch. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing Rod by.”

He stopped walking. “I can wait in the car.”

Landon groaned.

Joy’s brows pulled together the same way Landon’s did. “Why would you do that? I’m just embarrassed that I’m vegging on the couch so late in the afternoon. Today is my lazy day. I might have at least brushed my teeth after lunch if I would have known you were coming over.”

Some of the tension inside him suddenly loosened. “Thanks for the warning.”

For a split second he wondered if he shouldn’t have said it, but then she smiled and Rod suddenly felt completely relaxed. “I like you. You should come around more often. If you can put up with my son, that is.”

“I’ll see what I can do about that. He drives me a little crazy sometimes, but I’ve always been a good Samaritan. He only tests me sometimes.”

“Me?” Landon nudged him. “I think it should be the other way around. And thanks, Mom. You’re a traitor.”

“I try my best.” She smiled and stood. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We bought Rod a bike. I just had to stop by and get some of my tools. I want to mess around with it a bit when we get back to his house.”

“Oh, great. Now I’ll have two people to worry about on those death traps.”

Rod’s pulse slammed against his skin at her words. She didn’t know anything about him, just that he was Landon’s friend, yet she would worry about him riding?

Sure it was probably just something you said to be polite, but it still meant a lot to him.

“He’ll be fine, just like I’m fine. Come out and see it,” Landon told his mom, and then the three of them went out to look at Rod’s new motorcycle. How in the hell had this become his life?

“
Why are we working on a bike that I just bought? Since we just got it, isn’t it supposed to be good to go? I want a refund.”

Landon looked up at Rod from where he sat in Rod’s garage doing a maintenance check. He grinned over at Landon as though everything he’d just said made complete sense, and Landon felt his heart rate hammer down. Jesus, this man did something to him. He exhausted him, yet breathed life into him at the same time. It was exciting and intimidating. These feelings shot into him, an injection he wasn’t expecting, a quick burn that shot through his blood stream.

“You’re looking at me funny. Why are you looking at me like I suddenly grew another head?” Rod asked.

“Another one? I can hardly keep up with the one you have. And to answer your question,
we
aren’t working on anything.
I’m
working on your bike and you’re complaining. It runs well, but it needs to be cleaned up a bit. We’ll want to keep up on things like that so she continues to run well.”

“He.”

“Huh?” Landon asked.

“You said she. My bike’s a male. Not that I don’t love women. Women are great, but I only ride men.”

Landon barked out a loud laugh, unsure why anything surprised him when it came to Rod. “You’re right. He. I’ll be done out here in just a bit. You can go in if you want to.”

Rod stood. Landon thought he was going to walk into the house, but he came over to Landon instead. “You’ll teach me to do that? Or to know when it needs to be done? I like to take care of my boys.”

“You do, huh?”

“I do.”

If he was being honest, he’d admit that he loved the fact that Rod wanted to be able to do things like this for his bike. “Yeah, sure, I’ll teach you. I don’t mind doing it for you though. That’s the perk of knowing a mechanic.”

“Yeah, but you won’t always be around.”

Landon fought to hold back his frown. “You planning on kicking me to the curb?”

“You’ll get sick of me before that. I’m going inside to shower. I’ll be waiting for you. Remember, you promised me a ride.” Rod winked and tried to walk away, but Landon reached out and wrapped a hand around his wrist.

“Nothing in life is a guarantee, but right now, I can’t see me wanting to go anywhere, anytime soon.” Maybe that wasn’t the best thing to say, but it was honest. Landon respected honesty. He wouldn’t make promises he couldn’t keep. People did that all the time, promised things they couldn’t promise, but not him. “Right now, there’s nowhere else I want to be.” And there wasn’t. He was taking a page out of Shanen’s book, and going for it.

Rod’s blue eyes stormed over, clouds of confusion rolling in. He didn’t believe Landon, but Landon could understand that. It was hard for himself to make sense of it, too. He only knew how he felt, right here, right now.

“You’ve gotten sappy. It’s cute.” And just like that he knew that whatever he said, Rod would make a joke out of it. That he wouldn’t believe him. Maybe Landon should try to fight harder, tell him, but hell, he couldn’t make sense of it all himself.