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  This absolutely was crazy, and they both felt it.

  They were also both helpless to put the brakes on.

  “You’re not that far from my office, either,” Bryce called to him from the living room as Dustin collected his laundry. Dustin added the clothes he’d been wearing to the basket and grabbed clean clothes to put on, shorts and a shirt, about the same level of casual as Bryce wore. “I could easily spend nights with you and leave for work from here, as long as I’ve been home the night before to check on Archer.”

  “It’s about the same distance for me to work either way. Maybe a few minutes longer from your place. No big deal.”

  Bryce’s voice in the master bedroom doorway startled Dustin, and he turned.

  “My bed’s bigger.” Bryce smiled.

  When had he smiled this much lately? “I do like your bed.”

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.” He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, smiling up at him.

  Fuck it.

  Dustin knelt in front of him, even though Bryce didn’t give him any kind of command, verbal or non-verbal.

  Bryce stared down at him for a long moment, the smile fading from his lips. “Why did you do that?” he quietly asked.

  Doubt filled him. “I…did you not want me to?”

  “That wasn’t my question. Be honest.”

  Dustin stared at him, now feeling emotionally off-balance. “Because it felt right.”

  He reached out and stroked Dustin’s head, gently tugging him closer, to rest his head on Bryce’s thigh, below the hem where his shorts fell.

  “It feels scary-right, buddy.”

  A shiver rippled through Dustin and he wrapped his arms around Bryce’s lower legs. “Yeah. Scary-right is an apt term, Sir.”

  It soothed Dustin when Bryce stroked his hair like that. He closed his eyes and pressed his cheek against Bryce’s thigh. Neither of them had shaved that morning, and he hoped his stubble wasn’t irritating him. He inhaled—soap, fabric softener.

  Bryce.

  He pressed his lips against Bryce’s inner thigh. “I’m fifteen years older than you. I—”

  Bryce’s fingers tightened on his head. “Dude, firm rule. No saying you’re almost old enough to be my dad. Seriously. Forget the age difference. It doesn’t matter to me. If anything, you should be worried that I’m going to be so horned up over the next couple of months that I’m going to want to be fucking you every time you bend over in front of me until I get the new relationship energy out of my system. And yes, you’ll be spending your time with me mostly naked.”

  Dustin forced his eyes open and looked up to see Bryce’s playful smirk was back. “Yes, Sir. What about Kira?”

  “What about her?”

  “If she’s living with you…” He didn’t know where to go with that.

  Bryce shrugged. “If it makes her uncomfortable, we won’t do it. If it doesn’t, you’ll be naked. It’s my house.” He tipped Dustin’s chin so they were looking into each other’s eyes. “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes, Sir.” The answer fell from his lips, automatic.

  Yes, he did trust this guy, even though common sense and reason told him to be careful.

  Bryce smiled. “Good boy.”

  * * * *

  It had surprised Bryce when Dustin dropped to his knees like that, but he decided to go with it.

  Dustin was absolutely correct—this did feel right.

  Everything about this felt right.

  That scared the hell out of him.

  He kept looking for a shoe to drop, or…something.

  Anything.

  There didn’t seem to be anything, though. This was a guy who seemed to be exactly who he said he was. Did Bryce expect him to be perfect? No, absolutely not. Neither was he.

  But all the things that mattered…

  So far, those things were lining up like some magickal astrological chart. The guy had many of the same books he did. He kept his place tidy.

  He was fucking adorable and hotter than hell in bed.

  They both had their own issues.

  Bryce urged him up, patting the mattress. Dustin rose and sat next to him, where Bryce indicated.

  Bryce laced fingers with him, looking into his eyes. “There was a look on your face earlier. After I fucked you, and then rolled you over. You were staring up at me with a look on your face. What was it?”

  He watched the way Dustin’s throat worked, how his gaze darted down for just a moment before rising back to his eyes. “I was shocked I was hard again.”

  “And?” There was more. He could sense it.

  A sweet pink flush rose in Dustin’s cheeks. “I think my exact thought was that I realized I was going to end up being a complete slut for you, based on how you’d made me feel already. I don’t honestly think I can say no to you, within our limits.”

  Bryce’s free hand cupped Dustin’s cheek, and he leaned in and kissed him. He ran his thumb over Dustin’s cheek, enjoying his morning stubble rasping against the pad.

  “Believe it or not, the feeling’s mutual. This isn’t a one-way street. Yeah, I’m the Dom, I’m in charge, but it’s still a partnership. I don’t take that responsibility lightly, either. Maybe the other guys you’ve been with were stupid enough to make a snap judgment about you, or were looking for other qualities, but I need more than they were looking for. Way more.

  “What I need is someone who gets me. Who gets that yeah, some of it’s sex, some of it’s play, but the biggest part of it is the two of us. Being able to talk. Being honest with each other. Being authentic with each other.”

  He stroked Dustin’s lips with his thumb of the hand still cupping his cheek. “I might be in the middle of a case and when I come home, I’ve got my laptop and notes spread out all over the coffee table and I barely do anything but work. I like what I do. Doesn’t mean I don’t love you or want to be with you, but if I’m trying a case where someone’s life is on the line, I need to focus. You have issues? Well, so do I.

  “One guy I dated got pissed off because I had a client who was facing life in prison without parole. I had DNA evidence clearing him, and the fucking prosecutor still took it to trial. Had to have a special hearing to get a ruling from the judge to allow it into evidence. Defendant was black, victim was white. No, he was no angel in his past, had a juvenile record, but this was a rape case and the worst he’d ever done was tag a highway sign and steal a couple of cases of beer. And in that case, he was innocent. Guy had cleaned up his life and had a kid and a wife and a good job. But the guy I was dating at the time was pissed off because I wouldn’t go clubbing with him. I’m sorry, innocent man’s life on the line here. Little more important.”

  Dustin nodded.

  “Other guys had similar problems with me and my work,” Bryce continued. “So, yeah, I get it. Sort of a reverse problem from what you had. One guy actually told me dating me when we weren’t in bed or in the dungeon was like dating an ‘old man.’”

  Dustin leaned in and slanted his lips over Bryce’s. Hard and hot and yeah, morning stubble on both of them meant his kiss felt raw and fucking real.

  “Can I sit there with you if I don’t disturb you?” Dustin asked when he lifted his lips from Bryce’s.

  “Huh?”

  “Like…” His face reddened. “Like could I lay there on the couch or on the floor with my head against your leg or…something? If I promised not to interrupt or distract you?”

  Bryce didn’t know why he was suddenly blinking back tears, or why Dustin’s eyes also looked a little too bright all of a sudden.

  “Yeah,” Bryce hoarsely said. “That’d be fine, buddy. That’d be fine.”

  * * * *

  Bryce helped him load his laundry in the trunk, his overnight bag in the backseat, and they headed out for breakfast. Bryce knew a little Amish place off Bahia Vista, and that’s where they went. Being a Monday, it was past their rush hour and they practically had the place to themselves.

&nb
sp; During their little chat on his bed, Dustin had seen his own old pain mirrored in Bryce’s blue eyes. No, he hadn’t thought about things like that, in those terms.

  Maybe I’ve been dating the wrong kind of guys for me.

  He never would have anticipated the instant rapport he had with Bryce. Hell, he’d never had this level of rapport with a guy within a few weeks of dating him.

  Truth be told, he’d never had this level of rapport with any guy he’d dated.

  If someone else told him this story, a friend asking his advice, he’d grab them, shake them, and ask them what the hell they thought they were doing. Tell them they were being reckless and careless and a bunch of other -lesses that he probably wasn’t even thinking of right then.

  That you take things slow and carefully.

  Well, what the hell had that gotten him so far?

  Big fat nothing, that’s what.

  Trusting his friends, though, good quality friends, seemed to have changed his life.

  Because he was already thinking about Bryce in life-changing terms.

  The cheerful waitress took their drink orders and left them with menus.

  “Any recommendations?” Dustin asked.

  “Their banana pancakes.” His blue eyes twinkled over the top of his menu. “Not as good as mine, but pretty dang good.”

  “Banana pancakes, huh?”

  “Yeah. It’s a thing.” His focus returned to the menu. “Something Kira and I started in college. Every Sunday morning, we’d cook a big breakfast and stand there in the kitchen, singing and dancing and acting silly, but it was our thing, you know? We both love Jack Johnson’s music, and one of his songs is Banana Pancakes. Well, I found a couple of recipes and fine-tuned it.”

  “Her boyfriend didn’t mind?”

  “Asshole usually had to work on Sundays so he rarely spent Saturday nights with us.” He laid his menu down, the evil grin making Dustin’s cock twitch. “And he was allergic to bananas.”

  Dustin snorted. “No.”

  “Yep. Oh, totally deliberate on my part, believe me. But Kira loved my banana pancakes. So I was usually guaranteed at least one peaceful weekend morning where I didn’t have to look at Shawn’s fugly mug.” He closed his menu. “Fuck it, I don’t know why I bother looking at their menu, I get the same thing nearly every time.” He cocked his head at Dustin. “You’re not allergic to anything, are you? Food or medicine?”

  “Nope. Not that I’ve discovered.”

  “Me, either.” He folded his arms in front of him on the table and leaned in, dropping his voice. “Breakfast is my treat, by the way. We’ll stop on the way home and get groceries for dinner tonight. You can pick that up.”

  “Tonight?”

  A sexy eyebrow arch as he smiled. “Yes. My boy’s going to cook me dinner tonight. Your choice. I’m not picky.”

  Dustin’s heart was still thumping over the my boy part of that comment.

  The sexy blue eyes narrowed even as the evil smirk returned, and Dustin’s cock twitched again.

  Oooooh boooyyyy…

  “You like it when I call you my boy, don’t you?”

  Dustin nodded. “Yes, Sir,” he whispered.

  Bryce reached across the table and gently squeezed his hand. “I like it, too. More than you will ever know.”

  Chapter Nine

  They stopped at Publix on the return to Bryce’s, and together they unloaded the groceries and Dustin’s things from the car. While Bryce put away stuff in the kitchen, Dustin moved the sheets from the washer to the dryer and started his first load of clothes.

  This felt…

  Domestic.

  Not in a bad way, either.

  In the past, it’d always felt like he had to be the uber-best version of himself possible, and always got the distinct feeling the other guy felt and acted the same way.

  This…wasn’t that. Not at all.

  In all the good ways.

  This felt not like he was with someone he’d met less than twenty-four hours ago, but someone he’d met twenty-four months ago.

  Someone he could be his authentic self around.

  He felt like the Bryce he was seeing was the real Bryce, too. Not some best-case-scenario mask Bryce had stapled into place to impress him.

  Maybe it was the safety-net feeling of knowing people he trusted had colluded behind the scenes to pair them. He’d been set up on blind dates before, but there’d been no two-way discussions about them before the actual match-up.

  Just, “Hey, I know a guy, you should go out with him.”

  Those kinds of blind dates had always ended badly for him. Maybe not flamingly badly, or back-of-a-squad car badly, but none of them had ever led to more than three or four dates before either he knew it wasn’t going to work, or before the other guy said yo, sorry, no hard feelings.

  Returning to Bryce’s bedroom, where Bryce had insisted Dustin put his things, he quickly stripped and put his clothes away before heading out to the kitchen to see if Bryce needed any help.

  He liked Bryce’s double-take when he appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Can I help, Sir?”

  A sexy smile filled Bryce’s face. “FYI, I love that you remember stuff I tell you and I don’t have to repeat myself a bunch of times before it sticks.”

  He walked in, Archer trying to twine around his legs as he did. “I try to pay attention, Sir.”

  “Fuuuck.” He pulled Dustin into his arms and leaned against the counter, staring up into his face. “That is sexy as hell, boy.” He draped his arms around Dustin’s neck. “Only one thing would make it more perfect.”

  “What’s that, Sir?”

  The evil smirk appeared. “You wearing my cuffs and collar.”

  * * * *

  Bryce was going to tell him what else he thought Dustin should be wearing—although, technically, he wasn’t sure if “wearing” was the right term to describe a vibrating butt plug—when his phone blurped the custom ringtone he had for Kira for a FaceTime call.

  He dove for his phone where it sat on the counter and nearly fumbled it onto the floor before he was able to answer it, grinning. “Hi, stranger!”

  Kira smiled. “Hey, you.” She wore her favorite USF ball cap, the worn one he’d bought for her freshman year in college, and it looked like she was in her hotel room. “Sorry about flaking on you yesterday. You got a minute to chat?”

  “Absolutely, doll. Oh, I’m being rude. Hold on.” Before Dustin could get away, and being careful to hold the phone so he wasn’t showing all of Dustin’s secrets to her, he draped his arm around him. “Lookie here. Kira, meet Dustin. Dustin, my bestie, Kira. Dustin’s a real estate agent and friends introduced us at the munch last night.”

  She smiled and looked like she was trying to peek to get a better look of Dustin’s southerly real estate that wasn’t currently revealed to her. “Daaaamn, B. You worked fast. Lookatchoo.”

  “Yeah, well, long story. Um, actually, not really long. But good.”

  Dustin smiled, his face an adorable shade of red now. He raised a hand and waggled his fingers at her. “Um, hi. Nice to meet you. Bryce has told me a lot about you. Looking forward to meeting you.”

  “Damned lies, all of it. Don’t believe a word he says.” She grinned. “That Dom didn’t take long getting you out of your clothes, huh? And he’s playing hooky on a Monday? Ooooh, I know what you two are doing today.”

  Bryce refocused the phone on him, sparing Dustin more embarrassment. “If you were here already, you’d know what we were doing. So what was the deal yesterday, huh? You scared me.”

  “Sorry, B. I was in the middle of some stuff and in mixed company and didn’t want everyone there knowing my business. I really wasn’t able to talk.”

  Relief flowed through him. “Ahh. You coulda told a bitch that, honey.”

  “Sorry again. I’ll make it up to you, sweetie. Promise.”

  “You got flight deets for me yet?”

  * * * *

  Dustin could see the
phone’s screen from where he stood next to Bryce, even though he wasn’t currently visible in the frame now. A brief shadow flickered across her features.

  “Not yet. Soon. Still wrapping up some loose ends on this end. I don’t need the extra stress of a deadline in case something takes me longer to handle.”

  She’s lying.

  Maybe not lying, but there was something she was hiding from Bryce, and it immediately put Dustin on the defensive.

  Although he didn’t even know this woman, and had no reason to think that beyond his gut instinct.

  “Please tell me that means you are moving back here, right? You didn’t change your mind?” Bryce had crossed from hopeful to needy in tone.

  “Yep. You’ll be stuck with me. I don’t know how long I’ll be staying with you, sweetie. And I don’t want to cramp your style.”

  “Dustin’s cool with it, seriously. I already told him about it. Aren’t you?” Bryce tipped the screen toward Dustin, and he gave her a smile and a thumbs-up.

  “I’m good, honest,” he said.

  “Okay. We can talk about all of that after I’m there. As soon as I book the tickets, I’ll let you know.”

  Bryce had aimed the phone at himself again. “You wait too long, and I’m going to fly out there and abduct you myself.”

  Another one of those flashes. “Nah, sweetie. I appreciate it, but I got it. I’m perfectly capable of adulting on my own. Hey, I know you don’t talk to them a lot, but nothing to my parents about this yet, okay?”

  “Sure, but why?”

  “I don’t want them trying to talk me into moving to Oklahoma. I’d rather tell them I’m living with you after I’m already living with you.”

  “But they know you broke up with Shawn, right?”

  She sighed. “Yes, but they don’t know about me getting laid off.”

  Maybe that was what he was picking up, then. She was hiding info from her parents, and maybe it was translating into her talking to Bryce, even though it was her parents she was keeping in the dark.