Ross
Alec leanedback on his chair, wide-eyed, his nostrils flaring and brows scrunched. I chuckled while welcoming the hit of warmth his reaction gave me.
“The cockhead.” He shook his head, his features struggling to settle on a single reaction or emotion. “I know I had my head buried in footie and pussy at high school, but I swear to God, if I’d attended the same school as you, I would have kicked his arse. What a shit for brains.”
I snorted at the onslaught of images and wasn’t at all surprised he’d been having sex in high school. Nor was I surprised he put footie above women. He wasn’t quite that bad since I’d met him, or at least not as bad today as he was seven years ago, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of settling down anytime soon.
“Aren’t you a regular knight in footie boots.” I followed up with a grin, and he lost some of his vexation, offering me a smirk. “I didn’t tell you any of this so you’d start shit, though. It was a hell of a long time ago.” I’d folded and told him about Nick. I couldn’t not, as this was Alec, who was as relentless as a hard-on determined to say hello when watchingMagic Mike. He’d checked up on me a ridiculous number of times today about the new maths teacher and made it clear he wouldn’t let me leave the bar till I dished the dirt.
“I’m not going to go and kick the shit out of him or anything.” Alec rolled his eyes. “Give me some credit.”
I stared at him, unblinking.
“I was thinking more of screwing with his coffee, sweet-talking Angela who organises the timetables that he’s first pick for cover if someone’s away.” Alec looked far too pleased with himself as he took a swig of his beer.
“That sounds awesome and all, but no. He hasn’t mentioned it, and that’s fine. I just want to put it behind me.”
Nick being here had sent me spiralling yesterday, but today… after last night with Dan, fuck, my past and Nick barely registered on my radar.
The memory of being buried in Dan, of his mouth wrapped around my cock, yeah… those memories were absolutely worth the energy and investment.
“Seriously?”
“Yep. I already had… put it behind me,” I clarified, obviously not going into details about what filled my brain instead. “His crap behaviour back then has no impact on who I am today.” That was never clearer to me than right now. Last night had been the perfect night with Dan, effectively changing a weird day with my anxiety brewing to one of absolute perfection.
This morning I’d woken early to loud rain on the tin roof. Rather than finding sleep when I’d curled against Dan, restlessness had kept me frustratingly alert. Thoughts of Nick being back crawled into my brain when I’d thought about the day ahead. But then Dan made this weird snore-snort sound. Immediately distracted, the only thoughts consuming me had been how long it would take for Dan to wake up with my mouth on his dick. Less than seven seconds, apparently.
Alec huffed out a sigh. “You’re no fun.”
“Right. And here’s me trying to make sure you don’t get your arse fired.”
“I’ll shut up if you go and get the next round.”
I smirked at him, shaking my head. “My round anyway.”
As I stood, movement at the entrance drew my attention. On cue, my heart managed an impressive backflip, and those telltale wings took flight in my stomach. My grin was immediate.
I changed route and took the few steps needed to reach Dan. He leaned in and gave me a chaste kiss, not giving a shit that we stood in the middle of the bar.
There was little doubt locals knew both of us were gay before this moment, but Dan’s greeting cemented the deal. Sure, I’d come out when I was younger, but I’d only been out for another man when at uni and at my first job. For seven long years I’d been here, and I’d had a few discreet hook-ups with a couple of staff who were now long gone, but nothing serious and nothing public.
“I didn’t know you were coming?” I said, my gaze roaming his face. It had only been about nine hours since I saw him, but that didn’t deter from how much I’d missed him.
“We finished up early, so thought we’d come and join you.”
My mind caught on “we.” My attention shifted to his right, landing on my big brother. Craig’s arms were folded, his right brow quirked high.
“Good of you to notice I’m here too.” He tutted at me. “You can buy me a beer to soothe my hurt feelings.”
I snorted. “Right, hurt feelings. Is that what we’re going for?”
“Yep. You know what I like. I’ll go wait with Alec.”
He left us to it, and I headed to the bar, Dan at my side.
“You don’t mind me crashing, do you?”
“No,” I said immediately. “It wouldn’t be the first time you guys have joined us for a drink.” Even before Dan came home, Craig used to hang out. He’d become decent mates with Alec over the years too. The two of them occasionally went out by themselves when looking to hook up, which I fully supported. Before I’d introduced them, Alec had been foolish enough to ask me to be his “wingman” or some such nonsense.
