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They looked between each other, and Ava figured it was as good an idea as any. Road tripping was hardly the start to her holiday she’d imagined, but at least she could still get there on the same day. Without Bryce’s offer, she’d be hightailing it back into the city and trying to rebook a flight for the coming days or finding another rental.
“You guys aren’t serial killers, are you?” Ava asked, half-joking, half concerned that she was actually considering this and completely fine with it.
Bryce laughed and shook his head, and Cole paled. “No,” he uttered, his voice laced with horror.
Ava grinned and nudged him gently with her elbow. “Come on, a girl has to ask.”
Cole looked away, colour staining his cheeks pink. It was the first time she’d seen a chink in his scowl that he wore like a wall of armour.
“Why the hell not, then? Let’s do this.”
Two
Cole
C
ole had slept like shit, tossing and turning over whether to bail. Should he? Shouldn’t he? The questions chased each other around in his head, going faster and faster until his mind was spinning. Lack of sleep and not enough caffeine left him testy. Kicking the bed and nearly breaking his toe was the icing on a fucked-up morning cake. The universe was definitely sending him a message. Maybe he should have stayed home. He grumbled unhappily, gritting his teeth and shaking his head, hoping the blocked nose he had was the worst of his allergies. Fucking dust storm.
The pressure was building, wisps of steam escaping—and not just from his sinuses. He was like a volcano about to erupt. Every little thing that had gone wrong in the last few months was one more crack in the surface. One more weakness in the paper-thin crust holding back a cataclysmic eruption.
He was on the edge.
Ready to detonate.
Cole wanted to roar until his voice was hoarse and every person on the planet had disappeared.
He needed on that plane yesterday. Cole closed his eyes and forced his thoughts into happier territory, one that didn’t revolve around work and his relationship that was on the verge of falling apart. He just… didn’t want to deal with people. The ideal trip crystallized, a picture forming in his mind of a week with no interruptions, no banal conversation, and no Mitch. Shit. His shoulders slumped.
His phone rang and Cole’s gut clenched. He held his breath, not sure if he wanted the confirmation that would come with the telephone call if it was in fact Mitch.
He looked at his screen. Mitch. Fuck. Mitch. He groaned, checking his watch for the time. His boyfriend was late. Not that it mattered if their plane was delayed.
Maybe he won’t come.
No, that’s too much to ask.
He wasn’t supposed to be hoping to avoid his boyfriend. Cole knew it wasn’t a healthy position for their relationship to be in. But it had been rocky between them for a while—the bad times now outweighed the good. Being Mitch’s dirty little secret was never Cole’s preference, but he’d done it for his guy. Naïvely, he’d thought things would change when Mitch got settled in at work. Then there was the big deal he was trying to snag, then the promotion… Cole understood—he did—and he would never force Mitch to come out before he was ready. So Cole had agreed to keep their relationship a secret.
But then things had started changing. Mitch was breaking out some sort of bossy-arse persona. He thought it was sexy slapping Cole around and demanding his compliance. But he’d never once asked whether Cole was into it. Never checked that he was okay. Being forced to his knees when he walked into Mitch’s apartment was one thing. Getting a cock shoved so far down his throat that he couldn’t breathe and held there despite his protests made him want to lash out. It didn’t turn him on. No, it pissed him off. He was lucky that Cole hadn’t dented Mitch’s pretty nose.
It didn’t help that work had been shithouse too.
But the phone in his hand wasn’t going to answer itself. “Hey,” he said cautiously, forcing a calmness into his voice that was a total lie.
“So, um, yeah… I wanted to speak with you about our holiday.”
“Okay,” Cole responded, dragging out the word. If Mitch wanted to make this work, he’d try. But alarm bells sounded in his head, his gut telling him to proceed with caution even if he did.
“I wanted to talk about expectations. I want more from you.” Cole froze, his mouth popping open and his breath rushing out of his lungs. Was he serious? Wasn’t Cole giving him enough already? His dignity sure as hell thought so. “I want you to submit to me. This is your chance to please me.”
“Yeah, nah,” he responded, shaking his head. There was no way. They were already on an uneven keel. Mitch already dictated everything to do with their relationship, always worried about being seen. He wanted to hide what they had, entirely separating his personal and professional lives, but it wasn’t that easy. Cole was Mitch’s dirty little secret, and Cole couldn’t bring himself to give up what little control he had over his own body. There was no empowerment for him when Mitch took over, because he’d never been asked to relinquish control. Mitch had simply tried to take it.
“You won’t get another chance, Cole,” Mitch warned, as if it was supposed to change Cole’s mind. “I’m giving you a gift here.”
“It’s not a gift when I’ve told you before it’s not something I want. I’m not into it, plain and simple.”
“You should—”
