The Hot Floor (22 page)

“There are stories?” Evan scratched his head, looking bemused. Jesus. Did he really not realise what a catch he was? It just made him all the more adorable, though. “Is that why I’d get so many clients calling me when there was nowt needed fixing? Actually, I still get it sometimes. The other week, I had this lad answer the door in nothing more than a leopard-print thong and a spray-on tan.” Jealousy stabbed me in the guts, but Evan just wrinkled his nose and set my mind at ease. “Totally tacky and not my cup of tea at all.”

No leopard-print thongs or spray-tans. I added them to my mental list of Evan’s turn-offs. Compared to the list of his turn-ons, it was pretty meagre.

“Well, anyway, I got about a bit, and me and Rai weren’t exclusive to begin with, so I was still screwing around when we started seeing each other. That’s where I was the night he was attacked. With a couple of blokes I’d done a job for the week before. They wanted to cook me a meal to say thanks, and give me a good seeing to as well. I was in bed with them when Rai was having his head kicked in. I’m never going to forgive myself for that.”

Evan’s expression was so bleak, this time, I was the one to grab for his hand. “Hey, you weren’t to know.”

“Mebbe not, but Rai knew. I’d told him that’s what I was doing that night, and that’s why he’d gone out clubbing. When he came round in hospital, I told him I wasn’t going to let him out of my sight ever again. He told me I was a control freak.” Evan gave a wry chuckle. “He told me some other shit too while he was off his head on pain meds. Stuff about some macho ex who’d fucked him around. Taken the kink places Rai didn’t want it to go. I’m not surprised he has problems trusting, when you hear about some of the things that sadistic bastard made him do.”

I shivered, even as my blood heated. Rai might be tough inside, but he was only a little guy and definitely not a fighter. It wasn’t hard to see how someone bigger and stronger could have overpowered him. “How could anyone treat him like that? Makes me sick.”

“My thoughts exactly. I tried to get that arsehole’s name off him, but he wouldn’t tell me. Still won’t.” Evan’s hand squeezed mine tightly, almost crushing my fingers to pulp. Shit, you really wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of Ev, gentle giant though he was most of the time.

“So that’s why you talk so much?” Evan gave me a quizzical look, but I could see his thoughts were still swirling around revenge. “About sex and that, I mean?”

“Aye, I reckon. I mean, I wouldn’t want to do owt if he wasn’t totally okay with it. The rules we come up with, they help him feel safe, help him to be himself.”

“Do you think he’d ever talk about all that with me?” I asked.

Evan gave me a long, level stare. “Do you want him to?”

I shrugged, trying to hide the
yes!
my mind was screaming out.

“I don’t know. Mebbe he would. He only really told me back then because he was off his tits on the meds, but he’s changed since then. Much more relaxed. Less bitchy. And he really cares about you, so maybe. You’ve just, you’ve got to understand, he doesn’t talk about the stuff that makes him feel vulnerable with anyone. Doesn’t really let people near him. You might not realise this, but you’re the closest friend he has next to me.”

I let my gaze skim over the water, bright with the evening sky. I felt like Evan had the key to something I really needed to understand. Something about Rai, about myself, and how we could make this work.

Whatever
this
was.

My phone buzzed with a text coming through. I noticed Evan pulling his phone out of his pocket too. Had to be Rai.

Hey, boys, fancy getting all hot and naked and waiting for me in bed? I’ll be back in half an hour, tops. xoxo

“Well, what do you reckon?” Evan asked. “We can be back in ten if we get going now.”

Leaving us twenty minutes naked on our own together? Rai would really let us do that?

“I’ll take it by your smile that’s a yes.”

We trotted back to Evan’s van, and he negotiated the city-centre traffic to get back to the house. Walking up to the front door, I barely noticed the shabby neglect of the exterior. This house shone to me because it was our place, and Rai trusted me enough to let me get into bed with his boyfriend. Trusted both of us. What a buzz!

We were a blur of discarded clothing on our way to the bed, and then I had Evan, all six foot two of solid muscle, to feast myself on. I kissed him, and he ground me into the mattress with the bulk of his body, his battering-ram cock. We tangled tongues for what seemed like hours, kissing deep and hungry. It was different without Rai pushing his way into the kiss. I missed having him there but took my time to savour the soft prickles of Evan’s beard against my chin, my lips. I sucked on his tongue and frotted against him as best I could, given the weight that was pinning me down.

Evan gave a nibble to my lower lip and pulled his head back. “You’re a shit hot kisser.” The blue of his eyes was nothing more than a thin ring around dark pupils. I’d done that to him. Just me.

“Better than Rai?” It was out of my mouth before I’d had a chance to think about it.

Evan’s brow furrowed. “That’s not fair. I won’t answer that.” He started to pull away from me, so I clung on with both arms.

“Please, Ev, I didn’t mean anything by it. Shit!” Shame heated my face.

Evan sighed, but he stopped trying to pull away from me. “Do you really want me to start comparing the two of you? Rating you against each other?”

“No, no, I don’t.”

“You’re both so different. We’re all different, and that’s fine. I’m not about to start asking you whether you prefer fucking me or Rai.”

“It’s pretty hard to—”

“I don’t want to know!”

Shit. Now he sounded seriously pissed off. My legs were starting to get pins and needles, so I let go of my hold on him and wriggled. He got the message and rolled off me. I’d assumed he’d leave the bed in disgust, but instead he lay there, staring at me with a strange kind of melancholy in his eyes. I stared at the cracks on the ceiling, trying to calm down my burning cheeks and the awful stinging in my eyes.

“I’m really sorry, Evan.” My voice came out small, pitiful. “I fucked up.”

“No, I’m sorry. I should have—
we
should’ve—discussed this with the ground rules. I just hadn’t thought this far ahead.”

“I don’t think any of us have.”

“Mebbe we need to. Me and Rai want to have a proper discussion with you soon, about how things are going and where we go from here. Just not while we’re naked in bed.”

“Oh.”

“You’re way too distracting,” Evan said, running a finger down from my chin to my belly. I shivered with sensual pleasure.

“Ohhh!” I wanted to give in. To just go with the physical sensations, but I had to ask. “Can we do it later? Once Rai’s home?” I didn’t want an impending meeting looming over me for days, robbing me of sleep.

“No chuck, he’s been in a meeting all evening. He’s not going to want another, and besides, there’s summat we’re waiting to hear back on first.”

“What’s that?”

“You’ll find out. Now stop fretting and start enjoying yourself, okay?”

“Okay.” I tried to wipe out my frown, but I hated them having secrets from me. How was I meant to relax with something like that hanging over me?

“Come on, lad. Just trust me. Trust us. You can do that, can’t you?” Evan reached out and grabbed hold of my hip. It seemed effortless, the way he pulled me onto my side to face him.

I gazed into those kind eyes and nodded, biting my lip.

Evan’s thumb passed by my mouth as he stroked my jaw, and I reached out with my lips and grabbed it. He made a turned-on noise in his throat as I ran my tongue over the pad and bit down gently.

“Mmm, you’ve got such a wicked tongue,” Evan rasped. “I want to feel that all kinds of places.”

I smiled then, finally, thinking of one of my favourite places to lick on Evan’s body.

That was how Rai found us when he got home. Evan moaning on all fours with my tongue buried in his arse, his muscles squeezing around me as he rode my face.

“OhmyGod!” Rai sounded like he was in shock, so I broke off from rimming Evan and tried to speak, my tongue too thick and strained to form sensible words. Ones like “don’t worry, I’m not stealing your boyfriend.”

“No, don’t stop,” Rai commanded, beginning to tear off his clothes. “That’s seriously hot. You two, together. Shit hot. Are you going to fuck him?”

I nodded, speechless.

“Yeah, do it,” Evan pleaded.

“I want to see that,” Rai said, dropping his trousers to reveal his already stiff cock. “No, I want to be on the bottom of the pile. Ev in the middle. Can we do that? Please?”

He sounded so eager, so happy, how could I say no? I’d just have to hope the bed didn’t make too much noise.

Rai gave me a kiss on his way to positioning himself under Evan. “Mmm, love that flavour. You two are even tastier mixed together. Man cocktail.”

“Man sandwich,” Evan growled.

“Can you prep me, sweetie? Think Evan here’s a bit desperate to become the filling.”

And so I ended up with my lubed fingers stuck up Rai’s bum while the two of them snogged and I continued to worship Evan’s hole. I felt left out of the main action, but I was still glowing from Rai’s reaction to finding the two of us like that. When we got to the humping, with the two of them face-to-face and me stuck behind Evan, I had the same strange mix of hope and fear, of wistfulness and warmth. Evan was wonderfully responsive, pouring out a torrent of dirty talk and encouragement. Apparently my dick felt like “fucking heaven, so big, so perfect.” I was guessing by the broken whimpering that punctuated my thrusts, I was managing to nail his prostate every time.

But I couldn’t see their faces, and I couldn’t share in their kisses. I longed to be the one in the middle, knowing I was the centre of their attention. The one who could love them both and give them something more than just the two of them together. Something they seemed to need.

When I shot my load, I tried to pump all my love into Evan, and through him, into Rai. They might not ever know that was what I was doing, but it made me feel better, even if only for the afterglow.

Chapter Eighteen

“Looks like that’s all the stuff for our regular orders made,” Liam said after opening the lehr to check how much we’d made that morning. Our last morning in the old studio. “What do you reckon? Down the pub for the afternoon, or would you like to make something for yourself? I could teach you something new.”

“Pub!” Dylan voted, sticking his hand up.

They both turned to me. “I…I’m sorry, Dylan. There’s something I want to make. Two things, actually. Presents.”

“Well?” Liam prompted after I’d been silent long enough for Dylan to start checking his phone messages. “What are they?”

“Do you know how to make owls?” I’d watched a clip on YouTube of an Italian glassblower making the most beautiful glass owl, so I knew the gist of what I’d have to do, but that was no substitute for having Liam’s guidance.

“Owls? Yeah, I made a few, back in the day. They used to be popular, years ago.”

“They’re coming back in,” Dylan said. “You should see the state of Top Shop and Accessorise. Full of the bloody things.”

“What are you doing in girl’s clothes shops?” I blurted out. I’d have been mortified being spotted going in a place like that.

Dylan just shrugged. “They’ve got great accessories. I mix and match from all over. What? Just coz you’re lacking the queer eye, doesn’t mean we all are.”

I just stared, openmouthed. I guess I wasn’t any good at that kind of stuff. Kenny always used to tell me I looked like a straight guy. He’d meant it as a compliment, I think, as his family were less likely to guess the truth about him, although at times it came out more like a complaint. Especially if we were going out somewhere together.

Rai and Evan had never made me feel like there was any issue with the way I dressed. That was one of the many reasons I wanted to make them presents.

“Okay, then. A couple of owls. We should be able to do that.”

“No, just one owl. For my, er, boyfriend.”

Liam raised his eyebrows but didn’t quiz me on this boyfriend I’d never mentioned before. That was why I loved working for him—the man was unflappable.

Dylan, though. Dylan was a different matter.

“Boyfriend?” he crowed. “You never! Spill the beans, lover. I want to hear everything. When did you meet? Where did you meet? Is he hung?”

I ignored Dylan as best I could and focused on Liam instead. “The other thing I want to make is a…” I could say this. I could. It was only one word. Two tiny syllables. My face burned and my stomach fluttered as I forced the word up into my larynx. “A dildo. A big one.” There. That wasn’t so bad. I could work through the embarrassment—Rai and Evan had taught me how.

Dylan’s grin turned downright filthy. “Ooh, is that for you or your man? And don’t tell me you’re feeling inadequate in that area. You’re plenty big enough already. I remember.”

Liam’s eyebrows shot up in a silent question, and I wanted to kill Dylan for bringing that up. Still, maybe it would be better to get it all out of the way. Cathartic or something. What the hell.