Olivia Cunning - Double Time

“Definitely,” Trey’s deep voice sounded behind him. “Reagan’s bed is much more comfortable than the bunks on the tour bus. And she’s a fantastic cuddler.”

Ethan scowled into his cup of coffee. So it wasn’t the light of his life emerging from her bedroom, but that dipshit she’d brought home the night before. Ethan glanced over his shoulder and found the guy dressed in a T-shirt with a towel wrapped around his hips. Trey looked even sexier in the morning with his hair all astray and a shadow of beard growth on his jaw—the bastard. At least he didn’t have a lollipop in his mouth this morning.

“Your jeans are in the oven,” Ethan told him and turned his attention back to his coffee.

Trey chuckled and Ethan wished he didn’t have to hate him.

“There’s a place they haven’t been before,” Trey said. “And they have been in a lot of unusual places.”

“They were still wet.” And the faster they dried, the faster Ethan could shove him out the door. Then Ethan could console Reagan when she became upset that her new boyfriend had already taken off on her. She needn’t know that Ethan had bodily removed Trey from the apartment, right?

“The smell of coffee woke me.” Trey glanced hopefully in the direction of the coffeepot.

“I didn’t take you for a morning person.”

“Went to sleep earlier than usual,” he said with a devilish grin. “Reagan wore me out.”

Ethan’s heart skipped a beat. The man was utterly, devastatingly gorgeous when he smiled. Maybe instead of kicking him out of the apartment he could catch his attention in another way. He’d love to take a go at him. The only thing that kept Ethan perched on his stool instead of reaching for the half-naked man in his kitchen was the memory of Reagan’s face when she’d caught him with Joseph. She’d been devastated. If Ethan made a move on Trey, she’d probably never forgive him. He couldn’t take that chance.

“Help yourself,” Ethan said, waving a hand at the coffeepot.

Trey glanced around the kitchen and peeked in a cabinet looking for a mug.

“That one,” Ethan said, pointing at the cabinet next to the stove.

Trey opened the cabinet indicated and retrieved a mug. And dropped his towel. Ethan stifled a moan. The man had a perfect ass. Well, except for the ridiculous tattoo on one cheek. “What in the…”

Trey glanced over his shoulder at Ethan and followed his line of sight to his ass. “Lost a bet.” He ran a hand over his flank. “People keep telling me to get it removed, but it’s a great conversation starter.” He grinned as if to prove his point.

Ethan chuckled. “You dropped your towel on purpose, didn’t you?”

Trey shook his head. “Why would I do that?”

“Hell if I know. Put your jeans on.”

“Do you find my tattoo offensive?” he said, opening the now-cold oven and pulling out his jeans, which were so stiff they could probably stand on their own.

“No, I find your ass distracting. If you don’t want me to come over there and…” Ethan pressed his lips together so he didn’t continue that thought. “Put your jeans on.”

“Two days ago, I would have told you to make me.” He shook his jeans out and hopped from one foot to the other as he put them on. Ethan forced himself not to stare at Trey’s cock as he pulled his jeans up and tucked it into his pants. “But things have changed.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ethan asked as he watched Trey pour a cup of coffee.

“Reagan,” he said, as if saying her name explained everything. And in actuality, it did. They were on exactly the same wavelength, and it only made Ethan want him more. And not because he thought it would get rid of him. On the contrary, he wanted him to stick around indefinitely.

“I hope you have better luck with it than I did,” Ethan said. He took a sip of his coffee and watched Trey put the carafe back in the coffeemaker.

“Sugar?” Trey asked.

Ethan pushed the sugar bowl in his direction. Trey circled the counter and took a seat next to Ethan before shoveling spoonful after spoonful of sugar into his cup.

“So how was work?” Trey asked, stirring his coffee with the sugar spoon. When he licked it, Ethan’s entire body tensed.

“It sucked.”

“What do you do exactly?” Trey glanced at him and Ethan got lost in his emerald green eyes for a long moment.

“Depends on the day,” Ethan said. “Last night I guarded big slabs of beef.”

Trey paused. “I like my beef big. The bigger the better.” He tossed the spoon on the counter and massaged his forehead with one hand. “Sorry. It’s a habit. I need to watch what I say.”

Ethan chuckled. “What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without a man?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He averted his sexy green eyes as he took a sip of his coffee. He reached for the spoon and added more sugar.

It was only a matter of time before Trey messed things up with Reagan. Ethan just had to be patient. And not be the one who Trey strayed with. After Trey and Reagan inevitably broke up, then maybe Ethan would have his chance with Trey. Ethan watched him wrap both hands around his coffee mug. The man had phenomenal hands. Long, strong fingers. Thick wrists. Sinewy forearms. Ethan tore his gaze away and stared into his empty coffee mug with a scowl. It was hard to be good when temptation sat on the stool next to you. Close enough that with each breath, Ethan caught Trey’s scent mingled with Reagan’s. The combination blew his mind. Ethan decided he should head for bed. He could think about having sex with Trey and jack off. No one got hurt that way.

“So do you always guard big slabs of beef?” Trey asked. “Any experience dealing with heavy metal fans?”

Ethan turned his head to look at him. “I’ve done security at a lot of concerts.”

“Metal concerts?”

Was he questioning Ethan’s ability to guard Reagan? “A few.”

“She’s going to be a superstar. Are you ready for that?”

Abandoning his plan to head for bed, Ethan climbed from his stool to get more coffee. “Is she ready for that?”

Trey chuckled. “It definitely fucks with your mind. If you aren’t careful, you start to believe the things people say, both good and bad. You’re a god. A talentless hack. A sellout. The best thing that ever happened to the planet. A menace to society. It’s enough to drive a person nuts.”

“How do you deal with that stuff?”

“Trust only the people who are living it with you and the people who knew you before you became famous.”

“She knows she can trust me,” Ethan said. He took a seat again. His arm brushed Trey’s as he settled on the stool, and he stifled a groan of torment. The man was utterly delectable. Even when he wasn’t trying to be.

“Don’t betray that trust. She’s going to need you.” Trey caught his eye and held his gaze. “Almost as much as she needs me.”

Ethan’s first instinct was to protest. Reagan didn’t need anyone but him. He would protect her until the end. Keep everyone at minimum safe distance. No one would touch her or even look at her. He knew that wasn’t realistic, and though he only managed to hold Trey’s gaze for several seconds before he had to look into his coffee again, Trey was right. Reagan would need Trey, or someone in a similar position, to go to when things Ethan couldn’t understand weighed her down.

“She’s important to me. Her happiness is important to me.” Ethan had no idea why he was spilling those feelings to a man he hardly knew. A man who happened to be his competition for the woman he loved. Except Ethan wasn’t competing anymore. He was sitting on the bench watching from the sidelines like some loser.

“I know,” Trey said. He clapped him on the back. “It’s important to me too.”

Trey’s hand slid down Ethan’s back. It took every shred of Ethan’s willpower to stay on his stool and not tackle Trey to the floor and rip his clothes off.

“So have you always been in security?” Trey asked. His gaze drifted down Ethan’s body and he shifted on his stool uncomfortably. “You definitely have the right build for it.”

“I used to be a police officer.”

“Used to be?”

Ethan nodded. “I got fired for beating the shit out of a suspected child molester. Police brutality.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“Well, I might have gotten off easier if I hadn’t already been on probation for beating the shit out of a guy who assaulted his wife.”

“You probably just got carried away.”

“Like I did when I beat the shit out of a guy for raping a sixteen-year-old girl?”

Trey winced. “I guess.”

The thing was Ethan didn’t regret getting violent with those criminals. Not at all.

Trey touched his knee. “Do you miss it?”

Ethan shrugged. “Sometimes. I have too much of a temper to be any good at it. I enjoyed protecting the innocent and hurting those who hurt them, but that’s not what the job is really about.”

“So now you guard… beef?”

Ethan scowled. “Uh. Yeah.”

“Good morning,” Reagan said in a sleepy voice behind them. “I need coffee.”

Ethan shouldn’t have looked at her. She’d put on her panties and a T-shirt, so most of her was covered, but the messy hair, blurry eyes, and the sexy smile she gifted Trey were too much for him to handle.

Trey wrapped an arm around her narrow waist and directed her to stand between his legs with her back against the counter. He drew her against his chest, embracing her with easy affection. Ethan couldn’t decide what he wanted more at that moment, to be the person wrapped in Trey’s strong arms or the man holding Reagan. How could he want both of them? And be jealous of both of them? This was a total mind fuck.

“You can share my coffee,” Trey murmured against her cheek.

She leaned back and accepted Trey’s cup. She took a sip and pulled a face of disgust. “This isn’t coffee. It’s syrup. How much sugar did you put in this?”

“Enough,” he said and took his cup back to take a sip.

“I’ll get you a cup,” Ethan said and rose to make Reagan’s coffee. He knew how she liked it. One sugar and a splash of milk.

“You’re such a good roommate,” she murmured, relaxing against Trey again. He seemed to be holding her up. “When do you have to get on the plane?” Reagan asked. Her hands tightened, clenching his shirt.

“A few hours. When’s the limo supposed to be here?”

She glanced at the clock on the wall in the living room. “Fuck,” she murmured. “In twenty minutes.” She clung to him, pressing her face against his shoulder. “Do you think the band will mind if I show up like this?”

“I’d say they wouldn’t mind at all,” Trey said, “but if you want them to concentrate on their music instead of your gorgeous ass, you might want to put on some clothes.”

Ethan extended her cup of coffee toward her. She gave Trey a leisurely kiss, her hands messing up his bed-hair even more, and then reluctantly drew away and took her cup of coffee. “I guess I’ll shower. Maybe try wearing a little makeup today.”

She moved away from Trey and sipped her coffee on her way back into her bedroom.

“Are you leaving on a trip?” Ethan asked Trey, not knowing if he wanted him to stay or go.

“Yeah, I’m still on tour. Just came back for one night. Brian’s wife had a baby yesterday. We have a show tonight.”

“He’s going to perform in a concert the day after his wife had a baby?”

“We scheduled our tour dates so he’d have a week off when the baby was born, but Malcolm decided he wanted to come out two weeks early.”

“So you’ll be gone for two weeks?” Ethan wondered how mopey Reagan would be during that time. She obviously liked this guy. She wasn’t going to like being away from him for two weeks so early in their relationship.

“Yep. Then we have a week off. Then we’re going back out on tour with Exodus End.” He grinned. “And Reagan.”

“And me,” Ethan added.

“I guess that’s right. Should be fun.” Trey’s ornery grin did strange things to everything in Ethan’s boxer briefs. He wasn’t sure “fun” was the right word. Torture might be more appropriate.

Reagan almost swallowed her tongue when Harold showed her into the kitchen and she found Dare slicing fruit on the dark, granite countertop of the kitchen island. He was shirtless. His hair wet from a recent shower. Beard stubble recently trimmed. His expression dreamy and contemplative. Dare Mills. Yum-to-the-um.

Dare glanced up from his task and smiled at her in welcome. “There you are. I never got your number yesterday so I couldn’t call and let you know that today is a no go.”