Behind the Stick Read online

  “Any other night and I’d be happy to be distracted, but I’ve already got plans with a handsome man tonight.”

  Jesse’s eyes gleamed. “Dude, bring Luka along. I am all over getting up in that big guy’s business, if you know what I mean. I could climb him like a tree.”

  “Nope.” Kyle put a hand over Jesse’s mouth. “Not happening. You put that thought out of your filthy brain right the fuck now.”

  Jesse leaned back and away from Kyle’s hand. “Ugh, you’re no fun. You need to learn to share your nice things with others.”

  “Luka is mine.” Kyle pinched Jesse’s side and made him squawk. “Now quit whining and come help me mix drinks so he and Cam don’t think we’ve forgotten about them.”

  * * * *

  “Did you want to head over to Jesse’s tonight? Because we could have.” Luka ran his nose over the nape of Kyle’s neck. They lay boneless and content in Kyle’s bed, the sheets tangled around them, and Kyle smiled.

  “You sayin’ you’d rather be there with them than here with me, Clarke?” He put a hand over the arm Luka had slung around his waist.

  “Definitely not.” Luka kissed Kyle’s shoulder. “Just curious, that’s all. I don’t mind spending time with your friends when we’re together.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” Kyle rolled over and faced him. He scanned Luka’s sleepy expression and felt smug—no signs of stress in his face now. “I turned them down because I’m more interested in hanging out with you. But in the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that Jesse and Cam had more on the agenda planned than gaming.” He saw the penny drop in the way Luka’s eyes widened fractionally.

  “I see. So-o-o Fallout is, what—foreplay for you and Cam?”

  Kyle laughed so hard tears leaked from his eyes. “Oh, man, I’m telling Cam you said that. He will love it. But, no, we don’t game before we start fooling around.”

  “What would have been different about tonight?”

  “Jes is feeling guilty about going MIA for so long. Cam too, I think. I guess they figured they’d sweeten the pot and mix in more than just sex. That’s my preference anyway, and they know it.” Kyle brushed his knuckles against the scant hair on Luka’s sternum. “I like dinner and a show, if you know what I mean.”

  Luka chuckled. “I do, yeah. Your…evenings with them go for a while, huh?”

  “If we plan them out beforehand, sure. We usually make food and drinks at Jesse and Cam’s and hang out for a while before anything else. Maybe watch a movie or go out dancing. But other times, they’ll show up at Under the way they did tonight, and we skip the rest and just fuck like minks.”

  “Wow.” Luka let out his own belly laugh. “You think Jesse and Cam wanted that?”

  “I know they did. Jesse told me as much while we were talking in the office. He also made sure to mention that you were more than welcome to join in.”

  “How very generous of him.” Luka shook his head. “How does it work when the three of you are together?”

  “You mean, who’s on top and when? You’re such an alpha male,” Kyle snarked, and Luka broke up laughing again.

  “Hey, the engineer in me wants to understand the mechanics!”

  “Yeah, okay. The answer is we’re all flexible.”

  “Thanks to the yoga.”

  “Hah, you goof.” Kyle stroked Luka’s ribs with his fingers. “I meant that we do what feels good in the moment. All three of us are vers, which makes it easy to go with the flow.”

  “Fuck.” Luka hummed. “I told you I’ve never hooked up with more than one guy before.”

  “But you’re thinking about it now, right?”

  “Maybe?” Luka rolled up on his elbow and snugged in closer to Kyle. “I guess I’m curious. About you more than anything else. I mean…you’re so hot.” He slid his knee between Kyle’s. “I feel like watching you with another man would be mind-blowing.”

  Kyle’s body responded to the idea. “I like the idea of you watching,” he murmured.

  Luka moved his hand from Kyle’s waist and palmed his hardening cock. “Yeah, you do. A lot.” Another hum rumbled through Luka’s chest, and Kyle’s shaft twitched under his touch. “You like being watched?”

  “I don’t know, maybe.” Kyle closed his eyes. Heat spread through him in a slow wave. “When I’m with Jes and Cam, sometimes Cam pulls back while Jes and I keep going. All of us like that, especially Cam. With you there—” Kyle broke off and bucked his hips as Luka took him in hand. “Mmm, Luka.”

  Luka bent down and pressed his mouth close to Kyle’s ear. “With me there, what?” he asked, his tone teasing. His deep voice prickled Kyle’s nerves and raised goosebumps on his skin.

  “It’d be even more intense.” Kyle slid his arms around Luka’s neck. “You could just watch if you wanted,” he got out between kisses. “Don’t have to join in if you don’t want. Just watch us like porn.”

  Luka hauled him closer. “The more you talk, the more I like this idea. Tell me what they’d do to you,” he demanded.

  Luka rolled on top of Kyle and kissed him until he could barely string two words together. Kyle liked that just fine.

  Chapter Eight

  “I can’t remember the last time we had a night that slow, can you?” Lane tossed a pair of shorts into her bag.

  Out of habit, Luka glanced at the clock on the wall of the locker room to be sure she hadn’t jinxed them. Nothing guaranteed a call coming in like talking out loud about a slow night, but nah, they were safe. Luka could hear the next shift filtering in, and he and Lane were off duty as of now.

  “Same, actually.” Luka closed his locker. “I got a solid amount of sleep for the first time in forever.”

  “I know. I don’t know what to do with myself!”

  “You could always visit that girl of yours.”

  “Yeah, I dunno. I think maybe stuff with Charita is fizzling out,” Lane said as they left the locker room. “She’s not on board with my schedule, and she freaked out over the thing that happened last week when that dude took a baseball bat to the rig.”

  “Ugh. I’ve been there. Way too many times to count.”

  Lane nudged Luka with her elbow. “How about you? How are things with the sexy bartender?”

  A wide grin split Luka’s face before he could stop it. “They’re going really, really well.”

  He was half-afraid to say that for fear of jinxing it too—firefighters were a superstitious lot when it came right down to it—but things with Kyle just felt right.

  “Damn.” Lane sounded envious. “They must be for you to look like that.”

  Aside from the bullshit with Luka’s family, everything with Kyle had been great. “It’s…seamless, you know? None of the usual games or bullshit where we’re holding back or trying to pretend like we don’t want to be together. It’s a refreshing change of pace.”

  “I’m happy for you,” Lane said. She waved goodbye to her work partner, Michaela, and Munson. “A part of me wants to punch that stupid look off your face, but I’m happy for you.”

  “Thanks, asshole,” Luka said with a laugh. “Thanks a lot.”

  “Yeah, anytime,” she said. “You off to see your man then?”

  Luka considered the idea. Thanks to both his and Kyle’s work schedules, they’d had little time together lately. And if Kyle would be gone for a few days, why not sneak in some alone time before Oliver showed up?

  “We had plans to meet up later today so he could introduce me to his brother—they’re going on a road trip this weekend. Now that I think about it, maybe I’ll go straight there. Kyle said he’d be doing laundry and stuff around his apartment today. I was planning to crash at home, but now that I don’t need to…” Luka nodded. “Yup. I’m heading to Kyle’s.”

  “Go get ’em, tiger,” Lane said.

  “If I never heard those words come out of your mouth again, I’d die a happy man.”

  * * * *

  It took nearly an hour to get from th
e station house to Chelsea. Luka jogged up the stairs to Kyle’s door with high spirits. A decent night’s sleep and the prospect of a few extra hours with his man had him in a good mood nothing could shake.

  Luka restrained himself from pounding on the door. He’d systematically cleared apartment buildings countless times with a good heavy knock and “Fire Department! Open up!” However, Luka suspected neither Kyle nor his neighbors would appreciate that approach and gently rapped his knuckles on the door instead.

  Luka shifted his duffel bag higher on his shoulder as he waited, anticipation building in his stomach. When the door opened to a shocked-looking Kyle, Luka grinned at him. “Surprise!”

  “Hey! What are you doing here?”

  Kyle raked a hand through his wet hair, his expression puzzled. Unease stirred in Luka’s gut. This was far from the enthusiastic welcome he’d expected.

  “I had a great shift and actually slept last night, so I decided to come here straight from work rather than go home for a few hours first. Hopefully, it’s a good surprise?”

  “Yeah, sure, definitely.”

  Luka nodded toward the doorway. “Uh, are you gonna let me in?”

  Kyle grimaced. “Oh, man, I’m sorry. Of course. I just want to talk to you first.”

  Luka heard a door open inside the apartment, then a tall guy wearing nothing but a white towel stepped into his field of vision. The guy scrubbed another towel across his hair as he walked across the room, and despite Luka’s better instincts, his gaze was drawn to the water dripping down the pale skin of the guy’s chest and across the abdomen, both muscular and lean.

  “Kyle, I used up the last of the shampoo…” Half-naked guy stopped dead in his tracks as he met Luka’s gaze. “Oh, hi there.”

  Luka’s stomach gave an odd lurch. It was one thing to talk with Kyle about watching him with Jesse and Cam, but meeting a random hook-up was another thing entirely. Luka stifled a sigh. Beyond a passing comment or two, he and Kyle hadn’t discussed where their relationship was headed or what the parameters were. It looked like they’d be having it sooner rather than later now though.

  Luka glanced back at Kyle. “Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?”

  “Yeah.” Kyle rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. “Oliver got here early.”

  Luka’s gazed flicked back and forth between the two men. Oliver? But isn’t that…?

  The anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach melted. He hadn’t even considered the idea Kyle’s brother could be in his apartment.

  Luka laughed. “Right. Your brother.”

  Kyle went even paler than usual. “Oh, no, Luka. Did you think…?”

  Luka shrugged. “Well, it’s still early in the morning, your hair is wet, this guy walks out of the bathroom half-naked, and…yeah. Without context, my brain went places.”

  Oliver’s eyes got comically large. “Oh, shit! You’re Luka. Um, it’s great to meet the guy my brother is so smitten with and all, but I’d rather do it with pants on. So, I’m gonna go take care of that and give you two a moment to talk.” He reached for a backpack on the couch and fled into the bathroom.

  Luka sagged against the doorframe. “Surprise?”

  Kyle let out a chuckle and opened the door wider. “Let’s start from scratch. Please, come in, Luka. I’m glad to see you.”

  Once inside the apartment and the door shut behind him, Luka dropped his bag on the floor and held his arms out. Kyle stepped into them willingly, and Luka captured his mouth for a quick but heartfelt kiss.

  “That was awkward,” Luka said when he drew back.

  Kyle gave him a squeeze. “To say the least.”

  “Oliver got here early?” Luka prompted.

  Kyle straightened, but he didn’t let Luka go. “He made good time last night and decided to drive straight through. He got in at about two a.m. and crashed.” Kyle jerked his thumb to indicate the rumpled blankets and pillow on the couch.

  “Well, I thought I’d come over so we could have some alone time together before he arrived, and we all went out to dinner. You know what they say about good intentions and all.”

  Kyle grimaced. “The timing couldn’t have been worse.”

  “No harm done,” Luka assured him. “I feel like a complete asshole though.”

  “Why?”

  Luka bit his lip. “I kinda checked out your brother.”

  Kyle snorted. “Well, don’t tell him. His ego doesn’t need it. But under the circumstances, I think I can forgive you.”

  “We’re good then?” Luka pulled him closer.

  “Yeah, we’re good.” Kyle smiled. “Thanks for not flying off the handle when all the signs pointed to something else going on.”

  “Frankly, I was still trying to process,” Luka said. “Enjoying checking out the hot half-naked guy on one hand and feeling conflicted over meeting a hook-up on the other.”

  Kyle rubbed Luka’s back. “Let’s talk more about that soon. I know we discussed the thing with Jesse and Cam, but I haven’t hooked up with anyone since you and I started seeing each other, and—”

  The door to the bathroom swung open, stopping Kyle mid-sentence. Oliver poked his head out. “Is it safe to come out?”

  “If you have pants on, yes.” Kyle aimed a glance at his brother.

  “I am fully dressed.”

  Luka looked at Oliver as he emerged from the bathroom. With the pieces in place, Luka could see the resemblance between the brothers. Equally dark-haired and fair-skinned, Oliver was tall and rangy like Kyle, though his shoulders weren’t as broad. Something about his dark brown eyes seemed very familiar, and under other circumstances, Luka might have picked up on it.

  “It’s great to meet you.” Oliver reached out and shook Luka’s hand. “Kyle tells me you saved his life.”

  “Just doing my job.”

  “And he’s modest, too.” Oliver smiled at his brother. “Where do you find these guys, Kyle?”

  “In burning restaurants,” Kyle said in a deadpan tone. “I wouldn’t recommend it.”

  Luka snickered.

  “I know we talked about doing dinner, but since we’re all here now, why don’t we grab breakfast?” Kyle suggested. “Unless you’ve already eaten, Luka?”

  “I had a smoothie at the station earlier, but I could go for more,” Luka said.

  “Well, I’m starving so I’m in. Can we go to that hipster diner place?” Oliver asked.

  Kyle frowned. “This is Chelsea. Hipster diners are on every block, so you’re going to have to be more specific.”

  “Well, the one we went to last time,” Oliver replied. “Where I had the cheddar grits I liked so much?”

  “Oh! The one around the corner on 10th? Sure,” Kyle said.

  “I’ve been thinking about those grits since the last time I visited,” Oliver said in a wistful tone.

  Kyle glanced at Luka. “Sound good to you?”

  “Sounds great. Mind if I leave my bag here?”

  “Not at all.” Kyle glanced over at his brother. “You ready to go?”

  “Yep. Just let me grab my wallet and phone.”

  “How’d you discover this place?” Luka asked as they headed for the door.

  “Oh, just wandering around the neighborhood,” Kyle replied. “It’s less than a ten-minute walk. Their breakfasts are fantastic.”

  Luka raised an eyebrow. “Why haven’t you taken me there yet?”

  “I made you pancakes.”

  “Yeah, you did.” Luka smirked at him. “They were damned good, too.”

  Oliver clapped them both on the back. “Less talking about food, guys, and more going to get some. I am starved. Kyle didn’t feed me last night.”

  “I’m going, I’m going,” Kyle said. “And I made a damn potful of spaghetti for you at two o’clock in the morning, Ollie. What are you talking about?”

  “So, what do you do?” Luka asked Oliver when they’d reached the street and fell into step.

  “As little as possible,�
�� Oliver said with a smug look.

  Kyle aimed a glare at his brother. “Ollie has a BA in linguistics and an ESL certification.”

  “English as a second language?” Luka asked.

  “Yeah,” Oliver replied. “I float from school to school along the Eastern Seaboard as needed, so I’m kind of nomadic.”

  “Interesting. You enjoy it?”

  “I love it. Teaching students who are so eager to learn is hugely fulfilling, and I enjoy not being tied down anywhere. What about you? Are you happy with the FDNY?”

  “Oh, I love my job,” Luka said. “It veers between tedious and exhilarating, depending on the day, but there’s nothing I’d rather do.”

  On a Thursday morning, the Old Amsterdam Diner was busy but not packed, and they were seated without delay. The place was upscale—a swanky version of an Art Deco diner—and the smells were mouth-watering.

  Kyle ordered a pitcher of Bloody Mary and a basket of buttermilk biscuits. Oliver flashed a grin at the waitress.

  “I want a vat of your cheddar grits, too,” he said.

  She blinked at him. “A vat, huh?”

  “He means the largest order you have,” Kyle said with a laugh.

  Oliver nodded. “Yes, that. With two sunny-side-up eggs and a side of sausage. Please and thank you.”

  Luka ordered a scrambled egg breakfast sandwich and Kyle the smoked salmon pastrami and poached eggs, and Luka teased him about the lack of pancakes.

  “I saw they had Vermont maple syrup, Kyle.”

  “Which I’ll get my fill of this weekend,” Kyle replied. “Plus bring some bottles home.”

  “Now you’re talking,” Luka said with relish. “You know I’ll expect you to make pancakes for me again as soon as you get back, right?”

  Kyle’s grin was slow. “I think that can be arranged.”

  “If you guys weren’t so grossly cute together, I’d say it’s a shame you snatched Luka up before I could meet him, Kyle,” Oliver said from across the table. Luka remembered then that Kyle had told him Oliver identified as bi or pan.

  “You might have more luck meeting someone if you stayed in one place instead of moving around all the time,” Kyle said. “It’s a bit harder when you’re a nomad.”