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“Good to meet you, bud. Ignore Liam. He gets hangry when he hasn’t eaten a steak in a few hours.” They shook hands with a smile, and a thick sludge slithered through him like oil, sitting heavily in his gut and coiling tight. An irrational anger pulsed in his veins, the desire to get Lij’s hands off Kingston surprising Liam. It lifted, like the sun coming out from behind a cloud once Lij let go and stepped back. But Addy had seen something in him. With her eyes narrowed as if she was trying to solve a puzzle, she studied him. Her keen gaze assessed the freefall in his belly as he zoomed around the rollercoaster that had taken up residence since they’d arrived home.
Liam shifted his weight from side to side, understanding in that moment what it was like for an organism to be studied under a microscope. He was all muddled up inside, confusion reigning supreme as his gaze ping-ponged between the woman he seemed to be seeing for the first time, and the man who’d captured her attention. And his.
Instinct told him to hide. To get out from under Addy’s watchful gaze before he revealed just how shaken up he was. Frustrated, he turned and walked away from them. Better that she think he was a rude prick than one who was... he didn’t even know what.
Snatching up the ball, Liam jogged up the drive and let his back gate bang closed behind him as he walked out back. It would be less than five minutes of peace that he had before Adelaide barged in and ripped him a new one, but so be it. He rolled his eyes and went straight to the kitchen, putting together a protein shake for his mid-morning meal. Lij was joking, but he actually hadn’t been that far off the mark. He did get hangry.
Six
Kingston
K
ing dashed up the stairs to the landing where he’d dropped his phone, answering it on the third ring as it was about to go to a message. “Hey, you, how are you?”
“I’m good,” Eve answered. In a sing-song voice, she added, “Whatcha doing? I haven’t interrupted anything have I?”
He barked out a laugh. “Only gardening.”
She grumbled, unimpressed. “Disappointing. How did the date go?” Eve, god love her, was nosy but it was out of friendship, not a need for gossip. She was a vault and loyal to a fault. She’d seen him at his worst and was like a guard dog with him, complete with both bark and bite for anyone who hated on him.
“The date went brilliantly.” He hesitated, not adding more. He was oddly protective about the time he’d spent with Adds. He wanted to shield their fledgling relationship from anything that might damage it. Like a tiny seedling, he wanted to let it take root and strengthen first before exposing it to hail and frost. It wasn’t that he wanted to hide or tuck themselves away in a bubble. Instead, it was more that he wanted to enjoy their time together and ride the high of a new relationship without the pressure of other people’s expectations. These last few days had been special to him. If it made him selfish to want that to continue for as long as possible without the world sticking its nose in, so be it.
“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to give me?” she asked with an exasperated sigh.
He rolled his eyes at her antics. He trusted her. He knew Eve would always be in his corner. “I only just dropped Adds home. I didn’t go inside or anything, but I met her brother and his best mate.” He didn’t elaborate. He wasn’t even sure how to. Eli was a lot like Adelaide—he could see the familial resemblance—but Liam? The man had taken his breath away. He was gorgeous. Brown hair and green-hazel eyes that zeroed in on him and pinned him in place. It was as if Liam had looked straight into him, seeing inside him to his very core. He’d tried to stay calm, tried to slow his frantic heartbeat to something that wouldn’t give away how strong his attraction had been.
Liam ticked every one of King’s buttons. Tall and lithe, with compact muscles that whispered speed and power. Seeing the way he handled the ball, even just as he and Eli tossed it between them in the yard, was a study in restraint. King had flat out drooled. That natural talent, honed by years of dedication and hard work, was breathtaking. The first thing he’d done when he’d arrived home was look him up and watch reels of his plays. It had hit him then how tossing the ball to Eli in the yard wouldn’t even use 1 percent of the talent the man had. He was literally a Master—both in name and in ability. And yeah, gorgeous.
King snapped back to the conversation when Eve asked, “Does she still live at home? How much younger than you is she?” The surprise in her voice lifted her tone to a higher pitch, but there was no judgement. Never judgement from her. He hadn’t told her they were a few years apart—King hadn’t mentioned anything other than she was beautiful and fun and had a second date planned.
“She’s twenty-three and still lives at home because she helps care for her grandfather.” He bit back the smile that threatened to rival the sun for size and added, “We had a great time, Eve. I really like her.”
She squealed. “I’m so happy for you. You deserve someone who makes you sound all giddy.”
King huffed out a laugh and was grateful to be alone where no one could see the heat crawling up his throat to his cheeks.
“Tell me a bit about her. I don’t even know her name.”
“Okay, um… Like I said, Adelaide’s twenty-three—”
“Pretty name.”
“Yeah, it is. She’s an old soul but fun and passionate too. We can talk for hours. I told her I’d lost a lot of weight and she was incredible about it. Looked at me like I was some kind of superhero for changing my life.” This time, his smile was one of those sappy I’m-already-falling-head-over-heels-for-this-woman smiles as he spoke.
“That’s because you are, King. It took guts to follow the nutritionist’s advice and that PT you had was insane—what was his name?”
“Mike. He’s a good guy. Did what it took to get me where I needed to be so I could run. It was so far above and beyond when he taught me how to surf.”
“But see that’s it, King. You inspire people to do that because of who you are. The way you stuck with the plan and achieved your goals was inspiring.” He waved off the compliment. She’d said it a thousand times and he’d never believed her. Odd that when Adds said it, he started to listen.Huh.
Leaning back against the wall, his elbow propped up on his bent knee and his eyes closed to the sun, he added, “She works in sales. Think Avon and Tupperware but adult toys, and she has this great Patreon—”
“Wait, what?” Eve asked. “Say that again.” He did, getting as far as mentioning her Patreon for a second time before Eve interrupted him once more. “King, are you sure that it’s a good idea dating her?”
“What? Why?” he asked, his indignance clear in the defensiveness of his tone.
“Bloody hell, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.” He growled and she hurried to continue. “I meant that don’t you have a morality clause in your contract? If you’re dating a woman who sells sex toys, then you might be risking your job.” Her voice was gentle, but he could hear the concern in it. “I don’t want you to get hurt because of what someone else thinks.”
