Элла Франк - Try

Logan tipped his head back and laughed derisively. “Oh, trust me, Tate, I haven’t started to do anything sexual to you, and for the record, I had a third drink tonight. It may have tipped me over the edge of sober.”

“A man your size? I doubt it.”

“You noticed my size? I’m flattered.”

“Don’t be,” Tate spat at him. He finally pushed off the wall and took a step toward Logan, lifting his head and squaring off with him. “I thought you were only inappropriate when you were sober. So, what would you call this?”

Licking his lips, Logan boldly ran his gaze down Tate’s black shirt and vest to the pants he was becoming obsessed with undoing. “I call this going after what I want.”

A waft of air brushed against Logan’s face as Tate scoffed and pushed his face in even closer to his own.

“Then, in case I’m the first, let me introduce you to what me walking away is called…”

Logan watched Tate turn and make his way into the bathroom.

Over his shoulder, Tate called out, “Rejection.”

For the life of him, Logan couldn’t decide why that made the guy even more appealing.

* * *

Tate finally made it into one of the stalls and shut it. He locked it quickly just in case Logan decided to follow him inside and do—

Hell, who knew what.

The man had no fucking boundaries. Not to mention, he seemed to have a death wish.

What if I was a homophobic asshole and decided to beat the shit out of him?

Tate turned in the stall and leaned his back against the door. Then again, the likelihood of that happening was slim. Tate could hold his own, but Logan was a big guy.

Lifting a hand, Tate ran it over his face and up through his shaggy hair. Squeezing the back of his head. He tried to ignore the fact that his hands were shaking as he brushed both of his palms down the front of his thighs, and realized for the first time that he was still sporting a major erection.

Jesus, he thought as he jammed his hand against the traitorous cock in his pants, what the fuck is Logan doing to me?

Tate had no answers. All he could hope for was that the guy would be gone when he came back out and that he would not turn up tomorrow night.

* * *

“You’re leaving?” Logan heard from behind him as he made his way to the front door of the bar.

He turned to see Amelia jogging over, slinging her purse on her shoulder. Her blonde hair was now tied back for the evening, and her cheeks were a nice rosy pink from their earlier activities.

Logan shrugged into his black jacket and looked down at her with a wink. “I was about to. You just get off?”

“Not yet,” she replied with a saucy grin, tucking her hands into her black pants, pushing her breasts up into his face. “Want to help with that?”

Logan was positive the answer here was yes. He was single, she was single, and they could so go back to his place and finish what they started. But he also knew that she was not the person he wanted.

As he looked just beyond her shoulder, he saw Tate come back out from the hall, and he glanced around the emptying space. Their eyes met, and then Tate moved his to Amelia. Logan wasn’t surprised at the contempt he saw crossing the other man’s features.

Why the hell not?

Logan touched Amelia’s chin and looked down, so they were eye-to-eye. “I’d love some company if you’d like to join me.”

The smile that slowly spread across her lips made Logan’s cock take notice, and he was relieved to know that it still functioned without him looking at Tate.

She let her top teeth bite into that ripe bottom lip as she nodded. “I’d like.”

“Good.” He took her hand. “Just so happens, so would I.”

* * *

Tate pushed through the front door of the crappy apartment he’d moved into after the divorce, and threw his black backpack along with his jacket on the floor. Moving down the narrow foyer, he placed his helmet on the kitchen countertop and made his way to the fridge where he opened it and took out a beer. He was about to shut the door, but at the last minute, he grabbed a second.

Well, if ever there is a night for two beers, tonight is it.

Slumping down onto his couch, he picked up the remote and turned on the TV as he kicked off his boots. As the sports channel replayed a baseball game from earlier, Tate uncapped the first beer and took a large gulp.

After undoing the buttons on his vest, he lifted his hips and pulled his shirt from his waistband, sighing at finally being able to relax and unwind. As he started to zone out, he lifted the drink back to his lips and took another gulp, reflecting on everything that had happened and his own reaction to it. He knew that Logan was no doubt screwing Amelia’s brains out, and he was happy to find that the thought of that was welcome.

Why? Because, otherwise, he might have gone home to jerk off while thinking of me?

Finishing the first beer, Tate reached out and grabbed the second.

Taking it with his left hand, he tilted it up to his mouth, and all of a sudden, he had a flash of Logan looking at him while Amelia was sucking his cock. Tate recalled the way Logan’s eyes had seemed to spark and heat. If it was physically possible to feel heat from a look, then Tate could have sworn he had felt it lick along his skin at that precise moment.

Tate just needed to be more alert when Logan was around. Logan had admitted he flirted with anything that talked, but that didn’t mean Tate needed to worry. Surely, Logan wouldn’t push anything that wasn’t welcome.

And it is not welcome, Tate told himself as he glared down at his currently under control lap.

Whatever had happened earlier was just some kind of involuntary chemical or physical reaction.

Something that couldn’t be helped, right?

Yeah, right.

He was pretty sure it wasn’t normal for a straight man to get a raging erection from a guy coming, but then again, he had nothing to compare it to.

I just need to get laid.

Starting to feel more relaxed, Tate shuffled further down into his couch and assured himself that was all it was as he cradled his beer.

I’m frustrated. I just need to find a woman. Of course, I’m going to get hard while watching a guy like Logan getting head, especially with all the sex talk he threw around.

The guy was basically a walking hormone.

It was only natural, right?

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday passed by without incident.

Thank God for minor miracles, Tate thought as he rode to work on Tuesday evening.

Sunday and Monday were his days off, and Logan had stayed away from the bar Saturday night. The only reason Tate knew that was because his dumb ass had watched the door all night.

Logan had managed to somehow stay on his mind all the way through lunch at his mother’s on Sunday where she and his sister, Jill, had spent half of the conversation grilling him about his love life. It irritated Tate to no end that all he could think about was the fact that the most intimate contact he’d recently had was with a guy who wouldn’t leave him alone, but he didn’t think his mother would appreciate that little tidbit. Actually, his entire family would flip out.

Today though, he was determined to move past it all. Fixating on a stranger in the bar was not smart in any way, especially when that stranger was male. He needed to find a woman to focus on.

A hot, curvy, available woman.

Pushing through the bar’s front door, Tate carried his helmet under his arm and made his way over to the bar pass where he saw Amelia wiping down the counter. She must have arrived early, which was fine by him because it gave him a little extra time to clock in.

Once in the break room, he quickly hung his jacket and placed the helmet on top of a crate. The door swung open, and Tate turned to see Amelia come through, pushing a towel into the waist of her pants.

Tate looked over his shoulder at her and gave a friendly smile. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself.” She leaned her hip up against a table opposite him.

“You have a nice weekend?” Tate asked conversationally.

Amelia nodded, giving him a sassy wink. “Yep, sure did. Went out with some friends Sunday night. What about you? Anything exciting?”

Tate laughed, shaking his head. “Ah, that’d be a negative unless you count going to my parents’ for lunch after church exciting?”

Amelia’s eyebrows rose as she scrunched her face. “Um, no. I don’t call that exciting at all. Torture maybe?”

“Torture is exactly right,” Tate mumbled as he punched in.

There was a slight pause in the conversation and then, “So, Tate, you dating anyone right now?”

Jesus, not her, too.

Looking over his shoulder, he noticed she was focused on his ass. “Nope. Not right now.”

If he were smart, he’d ask her if she was dating anyone either. Tate didn’t think hooking up with Logan for one night counted. Maybe he could finally put an end to his sexual frustration. She did have a nice set of breasts, and her ass was perky and round, just how he liked it. But like an idiot, he didn’t. That didn’t stop her though.

“Me neither.”

Tate faced her, pushing his hands into his pockets, and before he even knew it, he opened his mouth. “What about Logan?”

Immediately knowing it was the wrong thing to say, he watched her face light up as she moved in close, placing her hand on his arm.

“Logan is…Logan,” she replied with a small shrug.

She went to move past him, and Tate let her, but not before asking, “What does that mean?”

She chuckled as they made their way into the main bar area.

“Logan’s got high standards, but he’s also the kind to try anything that captures his attention. That’s what makes it so much fun to make him yours.” She paused and stared into the mirror at the back of the bar. She pulled out a tube of lip gloss from her pocket, painted her mouth, and stuffed it back into her pants. “For the night at least.”

Tate frowned at her casual assessment of using someone for sex, and he wondered why it made him feel bad for Logan. It wasn’t like Logan gave a shit where he stuck his cock. He would be the first to admit that.

“Well, I’ll take your word for it.” Tate moved around her and was about to head out to the bar.

“You don’t have to, you know.”

Stopping, Tate rounded back to see a sneaky grin come across her innocent-looking face. “Excuse me?”

She sidled up close and touched his hand, which was resting on the bench for support—or from the shock of the comment, he wasn’t sure.

Have I really been out of the dating game for so long that this shit is now normal to discuss?

“He’d let you join in with us.”

Tate swallowed once and shifted his feet, looking down at the small hand covering his. When he felt his cock harden, he wondered exactly which part of the scenario it was reacting to—the thought of Amelia naked, the invitation to a threesome, or the man who would watch him as he slid inside the woman now peering up at him.

Removing his hand slowly, Tate made sure not to say anything offensive as he shook his head. “Nah, not really my thing. After a bad relationship, lunch at my mother’s is about as much excitement as I can handle for a while.”

Amelia tilted her head to the side and batted her eyelashes as she giggled. “Maybe it’s time to let us corrupt you.”

Somehow, Tate figured she wasn’t the one who would do the corrupting. That particular person was missing for this conversation, yet somehow, his fingerprints were all over it.

“I don’t think so, but thanks for the, uh…invite.”

Just as Amelia was about to reply, a noise from the door had them turning to see four businessmen, mid-twenties, pile into the almost empty bar. With that, she turned to Tate and indicated with a tilt of her head that she would take them.

She gave him a quick wink. “No hard feelings. The offer is open.”

I’m sure it is, Tate thought, moving to the opposite end of the bar, but it’s a little too open for me.