“Amazing woman.”
“She sounds it, and hot, based on the picture you showed me.”
“Please don’t fuck Milo’s friends. That would be awkward.”
Derek had no intention of fucking any of Milo’s friends. He had plenty of people he could call on if he needed to empty his balls, but he could still mess with his best friend.
“It wouldn’t be awkward for me. They might struggle with walking the next day, but that usually passes within forty-eight hours.”
Edward blushed and looked around, worried someone might have heard them. He hadn’t been out of the closet for long, so understandable.
“I don’t think you’d be compatible with Milo’s friends,” Edward whispered.
Derek chuckled. “My tastes are varied. You know that.”
“Please... just be careful tomorrow. The press will be there.”
“I’m hardly going to fuck someone on the march, am I? I’m a private person in matters of my cock.”
Edward was still pink. “Private?” he scoffed. “You own a sex club,” he whispered so low Derek could barely hear him.
“Owner. Not a customer. And I seem to remember you getting plenty of use out of the place.”
“Be quiet.”
“Eddie, relax. This is a safe space. The place is busy, andyou’re sitting here in full view, as the most high-profile openly gay politician in this country. You’ve had your private business plastered all over the papers, and has one person come over here and bothered you?”
“No. They haven’t. It’s why I like this place. I don’t get harassed here.”
“Exactly, and that’s for three reasons.”
“Do I want to hear them?” asked Edward, but he smirked.
“Of course you do. Number one. They don’t give a fuck about politics so don’t even know who you are. You’re just another hot guy in a suit. But look around, there are plenty of those. Number two, they hate everything you stand for and would rather cut off their balls with a rusty razor blade than talk to you.”
“Jesus, Derek. Don’t hold back. Tell me how you really feel.”
“And number three is they know you won’t fuck them, because of well... you know.”
“Because they know I’m with Milo.”
His friend smiled at the mention of the man he loved.
“Yeah. Let’s go with that.”
Edward frowned, but Derek didn’t say that it was probably because some pictures shared in the press made it clear what his friend’s preferences were in the bedroom. A lot might have been blurred out, but not enough that they didn’t know what was going on.
“Shall we have one more?” asked Edward. “Then I need to get home to Milo.”
Derek nodded. Edward put the order in on the app so their drinks would be brought to the table. Modern technology had made him lazier, but not standing five deep at the bar was something Derek would happily sacrifice a flat stomach for.
Back at home, he couldn’t get Edward’s comment out of his head aboutneedingsomeone. He had a point. Derek had a pull to have a partner he could look after and spoil and then really let go with in the bedroom. His ex-husband, Matt, had supposedly been into it all, but it hadn’t taken long for the novelty to wear off for him. Derek had tried to keep things going, but losing the spark in the bedroom meant it hadn’t taken long for Matt’s eyes to wander. Then there was Jen. Nowsheknew just how to satisfy him in the bedroom. Their sexual compatibility had been like nothing he’d ever had with anyone before or since. Then she’d done the most diabolical thing, and he’d had to walk away. He could never in good conscience be with someone who’d done something so horrendous. It had been ten years, and Derek still thought about what he could have done to stop the situation ending up the way it had. It was one of the biggest regrets of his life.
Why was he thinking about something from ten years ago? Bloody Edward getting in his head. The downside of your best friend being a politician was that they could ask questions that threw you off, but then never answered the hard questions themselves. Edward was the exception: an honest politician. He’d make a great prime minister if he ever went for it. Six months ago, it would have been a certainty. Now he had Milo, his friend’s priorities had changed. Derek loved seeing Edward so happy, but that didn’t mean he needed it as well.
Thinking about his ex-wife reminded him of Kieran. Over the last decade he’d wanted to get in touch so many times but had always stopped himself. He felt responsible for what had happened, and wasn’t sure how he would apologise, or if he could even say the right thing. All Derek knew about Kieran was that he hadn’t finished medical school and was living in London somewhere. With ten million people, it wasn’t like he’d bump into him on the street, though. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if he saw Kieran again.
Ugh! He needed a distraction. It was Monday night and the club was closed, as it wasn’t viable to open every day, so they were always closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. It made staffing a lot easier, as his full-timers just did the same five days every week. The part-timers slotted in around them, which Neil dealt with when he wasn’t messing about. Before he started thinking too much about his staffing issues, he reached for his phone and sent a message to one of his fuck buddies. He had a couple who satisfied different needs.
