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“Look, I’ve been second-guessing this trip because I’ve been concerned about where we’re at in this relationship. Spell it out for me precisely, Mitch. Is this an ultimatum?”
“Yes.” Mitch’s voice was matter of fact. Emotionless.
Cole blew out a breath, trying to calm down. Every time he thought about Mitch forcing him to his knees and treating him like a sex toy, righteous anger stole over him, outweighing the hurt and disappointment.
“I don’t want it.” He was being vague, but the alternative was spelling out exactly what he didn’t want, and even though he generally hated peopling, he didn’t want to be cruel. Telling Mitch he didn’t want him, that he didn’t like the person he’d become was too much. “I can’t be that person for you.”
“Very well. Looks like you’ll be doing the trip solo then.”
The weight he’d been carrying lifted off him, dissipating like fog in the morning sunshine. The blanket of unhappiness that had been shrouding him was pulled back, freeing him from its heavy confines. But he was oddly bereft too. Mitch had been a constant for him for two years. Ending things was right, but it didn’t make the idea of change any easier. “All the best, Mitch.”
“Yeah, you too. If you change your mind—”
“I won’t.” They said their goodbyes and he hung up, relieved that both the conversation and their relationship was over. “Thank fuck,” he muttered, then winced at how cold it sounded.
He felt eyes on him and looked up, his gaze clashing with the big-guy hottie.
“Everything okay?” the other man asked.
Cole nodded, pursing his lips, and furrowing his brow. He didn’t want to get into details, but it seemed important—both to them because of their expectant gazes and to something inside him—that he explain. “I’ve just been stood up. My ah… friend decided not to come.”
*****
Cole had noticed Ava’s perfume first, its light floral scent heady as she stepped up behind him at the airport. He’d inhaled slowly, taking it in as he tried to conjure up a picture of her in his mind’s eye. But his imagination hadn’t come close to picturing her beauty. He was drawn to Ava, her frustration at the delayed flights and the take-no-shit attitude she possessed hot as hell.
But as much as he wanted to be pressed up against her, there was another person who was in the box seat. Bryce. Not all was lost though. In the crush of the train carriage, Cole was shoved up against him, their bodies aligning until the warmth emanating from Bryce soaked into him.
Bryce shifted, but lost his balance, stepping on someone’s bag that had been carelessly thrown on the floor. Arms flailing, he reached for the railing. Cole didn’t hesitate, wrapping an arm around Bryce’s waist and hauling him against his chest. Bryce was bigger and probably stronger than him, but Cole could usually hold his own. His wiry strength had been built from hours of lifting beams and heavy tools and balancing on hard-to-reach places.
Cole halted his fall, but it presented another problem. His cock was tenting his cutoffs and there was no way Bryce could miss it. But he didn’t push away angrily. He didn’t shove Cole or call him something derogatory. It was almost as if Bryce had leaned into him. But that was just wishful thinking. The lurch of the train starting its journey pushed the already off-balance man against Cole.
Cross-eyed with lust, Cole breathed deeply, trying to will his cock under control. It was useless, though. Bryce’s rich scent filled his nose, and as he drew a deeper breath, he imagined the microscopic scent cells filling his lungs, taking that small part of Bryce into him until it was impossible to separate them.
It was a hell of a turnaround for a man who’d been in a relationship only a few moments earlier. But had he? He and Mitch had never discussed being exclusive. Cole was, but he knew that Mitch took women out to keep up the façade of an eligible, straight bachelor. How else would he have pulled it off?
But as he took in the man before him—Bryce’s broad back, his muscles rippling as he held onto the rail above his head, and his perfect bubble butt—it occurred to Cole that the affection and attraction he’d once had for Mitch had been waning. It was virtually non-existent nowadays, far longer than even he’d realized. It wasn’t like he was going to jump into bed with Bryce, or even Ava, but the knowledge that he was ready to move on was somehow comforting. He might have been a cold-hearted bastard for not being in love with Mitch, except that Mitch didn’t love him either.
From his peripheral, Cole watched as a man edged closer to Ava, eyeing her like a piece of meat. Cole gritted his teeth, shifting his position and trying to block the man’s path, but Cole was hemmed in—suitcases on one side and Bryce on the other. But he need not have worried. Bryce shifted, using his big body to block the path of the man.
A wave of affection washed over him, dousing the protectiveness that had erupted in him. It was as if he’d poured water on a bonfire, the sizzle and hiss indicating the settling of the fire. Somehow he’d ended up tagging along with two people far too gorgeous for their own good, and he didn’t hate it.
Swaying closer together, Bryce said something to her, his voice low and raspy and the glint in his eye wicked. Ava laughed, her smile lighting up her whole being. Sparks ignited when their gazes locked and she slowly inhaled, her chest rising and her nipples hardening under Cole’s stare.
Cole looked his fill at them as Ava dipped her gaze eating up Bryce’s sheer size like she’d done in the airport. Her tongue poked out between her lips, briefly licking them before she bit down on her bottom lip, catching the plump pink skin under straight white teeth. She was looking at Bryce like he was a lollipop she wanted to lick. Cole could relate. Where she was tall and moved like a cat, effortlessly graceful and sexy, he was huge. Built like a brick shithouse, and all golden tanned and smiley. He was the epitome of the all-Aussie bloke.
Cole was openly staring, but he didn’t give a rat’s arse. Neither did the others if Bryce’s smile and Ava’s coy look was anything to go by. Bryce grinned in his direction and followed the movement of Cole’s hand as he reached down trying to discreetly adjust himself. Bryce bit back a laugh and Cole rolled his eyes, unsure whether to be annoyed or embarrassed.
Apparently, Bryce didn’t care. Even Bryce’s blue eyes were smiling, sparkling with some inner happiness he had going on. People like that annoyed Cole. All cheery and filled with positivity, they never looked at the hard reality of things. Bryce probably hadn’t been around long enough to see the shitty side of life. But at the same time, he drew Cole in like the sun held the planets captive.
Energy buzzed around him, and Cole got swept up in Bryce’s gravitational current.
They were both impossible to ignore.
“This is us.” Bryce motioned to the upcoming station, and Ava turned so she could slip behind Bryce and follow in his wake rather than having to cut through the path of people herself. Flicking his gaze to her, Cole’s breath caught in the same way it had when he’d first seen her. He nearly swallowed his tongue. Her body was gorgeous—curvy in all the right places and petite yet tall at the same time. The denim cutoffs she wore barely covered her arse and left no need for his imagination to summon up images of what her creamy thighs would look like. Of course, that left room for him to imagine them wrapped around his waist. Or his head.
Her flowy green singlet set off her emerald-green eyes, and her dark hair framed her pale skin like a halo. The sparkly sandals were cute on her feet and Cole found himself wanting to start right there, taking off every stitch of clothing as he kissed his way up her body.
She was breathtaking, and the instant desire that slammed into him had the strength of an ocean liner. He lingered, taking in every detail, and when their gazes had finally locked, Cole swallowed. He was instantly unmoored by the keen intelligence in her eyes and the way they darkened when she watched him eat her up.
