“I only ask this because you’re covered in tattoos.”
Langdon smiled and flexed his arms. The guy really was gorgeous. If Derek were inclined to give up control in the bedroom, this would be the guy he’d want to do it with, but he was getting sidetracked, and besides, Langdon had a fiancé.
“Do you know Eclipse Ink? It’s close to here.”
“Yeah. That’s where I go.”
It really was a small world sometimes. What were the chances?
“How long have you been using them?”
“I followed my tattooist there.”
“Someone you’d recommend?”
“Absolutely. Kieran is excellent.”
Well, how about that!
CHAPTER 5
KIERAN
Kieran groaned as he turned over in bed. It felt like a “don’t give a fuck” Sunday. He had no plans and intended to keep it that way. It hadn’t been too late when he’d gotten back to the flat, and he’d only had two drinks. He wasn’t sure why he’d felt compelled to go to the Back Room. He’d never been there before, as it wasn’t his kind of place. Kieran enjoyed feeling used when he was having sex, but being fucked by anonymous dicks did nothing for him. He had to know the guy was getting off on his submission. That’s what turned him on the most.
Seeing Derek working behind a bar was strange. It was very different to how Kieran had seen him as a teenager when he was a lawyer. He’d always had a frown on his face then, but he looked happy serving drinks now. Derek had worked long hours back then, which hadn’t seemed to bother his mum, and when he’d been home, he’d always had smiles for Kieran and his sister Kelly. It had been a stark contrast to his mum’s other husbands and boyfriends over the years, who had found the kids to be a nuisance. Derek had taken to the stepdad role with ease. His mother had never been neglectful, but she was someone who always put herself first. WithDerek, it had been different, which is why his betrayal hurt even more.
It didn’t help that Derek had been a walking wet dream back then, and nothing had changed. The guy was still an arsehole for what he did, but Kieran could appreciate hotness when he saw it. He was gay after all. There had been some physical changes to Derek in the last ten years. He was broader, his stomach less flat, his hair had grey in it, and he was now covered in tattoos, which Kieran couldn’t help but be curious about. What had made him go from buttoned-up lawyer to ink fiend?
Seeing Derek for longer than the few seconds on Pride Day had confirmed that Kieran had been fucking doppelgängers of his stepdad for the past decade. That was something to unpack with a therapist. It might be a bit messed up, but it kinda made sense. Derek had been Kieran’s sexual awakening. Looking back, after he’d come out, he’d definitely had a crush on his PE teacher when he was eleven, but he hadn’t recognised it for what it was. Then, when he was sixteen, he’d seen Derek in just a towel and knew from that moment he was gay. There was no internal debate. As soon as he saw that ripped, hairy body with just a towel hiding the promised land, Kieran knew he was both gayer than a pride flag, and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life pleasing men who looked like Derek.
He knew his stepdad being his sexual awakening was an eye-rolling cliché. Hassan had ribbed him enough about it over the years. When Derek had told Kieran he was bisexual, it hadn’t given him hope or anything like that, because Kieran would never do something like that to his mother. What it had given Kieran was a sense of belonging. He wasn’t the only one who had feelings about other men. He’d known he wasn’t the only gay person in the world, but when you’re thinking about how people are going to react, you can’t help but fear the worst. Knowing his mum had married a bisexualman had made him feel like it would be safe to come out, but he still hadn’t felt ready to say anything when he first realised he was gay. Looking back, he suspected Derek had picked up on something. Hopefully not his crush, as that would have been embarrassing. But by Derek talking about his own sexuality, he had given Kieran an opening to share his own. Kieran didn’t do that for another year, and in that time, the crush on his stepdad only intensified.
He’d been seventeen when he lost his virginity to a guy his own age. The guy was a jock and drop-dead gorgeous, but he knew it. He was open about being gay at college, and when he asked Kieran out on a date, he’d agreed. Kieran had been embarrassed when he’d said he hadn’t been with a guy before, but Fergus had been nice about it, taking his time and not pushing things. Kieran hadn’t wanted to wait too long, and after three dates, he wasn’t a virgin anymore. Fergus had bigged himself up a bit about how good he was going to make it for Kieran, but he’d cum within thirty seconds of getting inside him. To be fair, Kieran had been so turned on he wasn’t far behind. After a couple more encounters with Fergus not being able to last longer than a minute, they called it a day. It wasn’t about that, though, because they were teenagers and Fergus would be hard again within two minutes. It was that Kieran had realised the only thing they had in common with each other was that they were both gay.
Kieran rolled out of bed, wondering why he was thinking about his first boyfriend. Had Fergus even been his boyfriend? They’d never used that label, but they’d gone on dates and fucked a few times. It was an intense two weeks, at least!
“He lives,” said Sarah, a bit too loudly for Kieran’s liking.
“It’s only eight o’clock. Why are you being so loud?”
“Just got in,” she said, clearly hyped up from her shift at the hospital.
“Where’s Hassan?” he asked, turning the kettle on to boil.
“Went out to get some breakfast supplies.”
“Didn’t we get a shop on Friday?”
“Said the bacon was missing or something.”
“When are you back at work?”
“I’m on nights all week, so I need to get some sleep.”
Rather her than him. Kieran had never worked a night shift in his life, and when he saw the schedules Sarah and Hassan had, he was glad he’d never become a doctor. The kettle finished boiling, so he made himself a brew. Sarah declined. He was squeezing the bag when Hassan walked in.
“You’re awake.”
