Take What You Want (27 page)

Chase looked at Alex and
their gaze locked. Chase swore he saw the same feelings glistening
in Alex's eyes. Did he really need to say the words out loud?
Couldn't Alex feel this? Or, maybe it always felt like this for
Alex.

Alex
inched forward on his knees and wedged himself between Chase's parted
thighs. They were nose to nose now; breath to breath. Alex pressed
his forehead to Chase's and took a long intake of air into his lungs,
breathing Chase in.

“
I
won't make you say it, Chase,” Alex whispered. He laid a soft
kiss to Chase's cheek and slid his face across Chase's, stopping
beside his ear. “I hadn't expected this either, but here we
are.” Alex leaned back and looked at Chase again. His eyes
were closed and Alex waited while they slowly opened revealing the
beautiful, fluid gems beneath Chase's lids, and his breath caught.
He stroked the side of Chase's face with both hands and found himself
lost in Chase's eyes. “I
know,
Chase,” he said. “I know because I'm right there with
you.”

Alex
hadn't pushed Chase to say the words. Turned out, words weren't
needed. The feelings seemed to be there, simmering below the
surface, and implied with every glance or touch Alex offered. At
least, that's how it felt to Chase. There was that lingering
question in Chase's head, as to how deep Alex's feelings ran; and
that bothered Chase. He didn't want to be
in
this
by himself. He wanted Alex to be as emotionally invested as he was,
but maybe Alex didn't want that with him.

By
the time Monday rolled around, Chase didn't want to leave for work.
Driving away from Alex's house that morning made his chest ache. The
visual of a naked – and well-fucked, Alex sprawled across those
white sheets danced in Chase's head all the way to work and then
some.

Two hours into the new work
week, Jayson pulled on to the job site where Chase had a crew
building a new deck on an ocean-side estate up in Chilmark. Dread
washed over Chase, as he watched Jayson step from his truck. He
hadn't bothered calling Jayson back after his visit to Alex's place
on Saturday. What was the point? He knew the conversation they were
going to have wouldn't be comfortable for either of them.

“
Thanks
for the return call,” Jayson said, as he approached Chase.
“Since you didn't, I figured I better come see you.”

Chase hung his hammer in the
holster on this work belt. “Sorry about that,” he said.
“I forgot.”

Jayson nodded, but it was
obvious he didn't believe Chase's excuse. He scanned the carpenters
working with the decking boards at the corner of the house. “Is
there someplace we could talk, privately?”

Chase directed Jayson to the
driveway side of the house and the three-car garage situated at the
far end of the property. One of the wide wooden doors of the garage
was open and Chase stepped inside out of the sun. Chase leaned up
against a sawhorse and watched Jayson pace the cement floor.

Jayson scratched at his
head. “Look, this has really been eating at me, so I gotta
ask,” he said. “What the fuck is going on between you
and that Zander dude?”

“
Alex
– his name is Alex,” Chase corrected, and crossed his
arms over his chest. “And, we're friends, although I'm not
sure that's any of your business.”

“
How
long have we known each other, Chase?”

“
Ten,
twelve years, maybe,” Chase said. “But, I'm still not
sure that gives you the right to butt into my personal life.”

Jayson shook his head.
“Jesus Christ, Chase! You know what I'm asking here, just
answer the fucking question so I don't have to say it out loud!”

Chase clenched his jaw
together; the muscle there relentlessly twitching. He wouldn't make
eye contact with Jayson and he refused to answer the unasked
question.

“
Holy
shit! You
are
fucking around with him,” Jayson said. “Does Danni
know?”

Chase shot off the sawhorse
and stood up straight with his hands on his hips. “Of course
she fucking knows!”

“
And
she's cool with it?”

“
It
was her idea,” Chase said, his voice lowering. “So,
again, I don't see a reason for you to concern yourself with this?”

“
I
don't understand why you'd fuck up what you have with Danni,”
Jayson said.

“
Who
said I was fucking things up with Danni?” Chase said. “Nothing
has changed between me and Danni.”

Jayson
looked at him in disbelief. “How could this
not
change things with her?”

“
It
just doesn't. Okay? So, let it go,” Chase said.

Chase was the one pacing the
garage floor now, using his fingers on his forehead to try and
massage a tension headache away before it took hold of him.

“
I
can't believe you're into dudes,” Jayson said. “All
these years and I never once suspected you went that way.”

“
Well,
now you know,” Chase said. “So, I guess I'll get back to
work.”

“
Chase,
don't leave,” Jayson said. “Listen, I don't necessarily
have a problem with this, as long as Danni is okay with it, then I
guess it's your choice.”

Chase spun around and faced
Jayson. “Is that your fucked up attempt at giving me your
blessing?” he asked.

“
I
guess so.”

Chase shrugged it off.
“News flash for you, Jay. I don't give a fuck if you have a
problem with this. It's my life. My choice. And, if you don't want
to be friends because of it, I'm okay with that, too.” Chase
shook his head and started walking back toward the house and the deck
job, then abruptly stopped and faced Jayson. “By the way, I
changed the pass code for the gate, so don't bother trying to get
back onto the property.”

Chase
started walking again. A few minutes later, he heard the engine of
Jayson's truck turn over and the crunch of gravel beneath tires as
Jayson drove out of the driveway.

Mid-afternoon, Chase got a
text message from Alex.

“
How's
your Monday going?”
Alex asked.

“
Sucks,”
Chase answered.

“
Can
I do something to make it better?”
Alex asked.

The implication Alex was
suggesting made Chase's lips lift into a slight smile – the
first glimmer of happiness he'd felt since leaving Alex's bed that
morning.

“
I
wish,”
Chase typed.

“
Come
over after work. I'll cook dinner. Will that make you feel better?”

“
It's
a good start,”
Chase typed.

“
You
can have me for dessert.”

That
comment gave Chase a full-blown smile and the beginning of a boner.
“Can
we start with dessert?”

“
Lol.
You can have whatever you want.”

“
Can't
wait,”
Chase answered.

“
Hurry.”

“
I
will,”
Chase replied, then slid his phone back into his pocket.

-0-

Chase finished off his
horrible work day and drove home. At least he had Alex waiting for
him, he thought, and that always put a smile on his face. He pulled
into the shared driveway for the estate and parked along side the
garage in his designated spot. He could see Alex sitting outside by
the pool when he approached the gate, then saw him wave for him to
come in.

He was filthy from work,
dirt and sawdust stuck to his t-shirt and worn jeans, along with
dried and new patches of sweat. Hot as it was outside this time of
year, his job made it necessary to keep his legs covered for
protection.

The
closer he walked to Alex, the bigger Alex's smile grew. “Damn!
You are sexy as hell,” Alex said. He used his barefoot to
kick a chair out from the table for Chase to sit down.

“
Sexy?
I'm hot and I stink,” Chase grumbled. “Sexy is the last
thing I feel right now.”

“
Why
not wear shorts to work?” Alex asked.

Chase shook his head. “The
jobs I do would destroy my legs, especially my knees.”

Alex pulled an ice cold beer
from a cooler sitting beside the table, popped the top, and handed it
to Chase. “You spend a lot of time at work on your knees?”

Chase grinned at the sly
smile on Alex's face. “No one gets head at work,” Chase
said. “But, I do spend a lot of time on my knees.”

“
Hmmm,
the guys don't know what they're missing,” Alex said.

Chase laughed and lifted the
beer bottle to his lips.

“
Tell
me why your day sucked,” Alex said.

Chase sighed loudly.
“Jayson paid me a visit this morning. It didn't go well.”

“
I
take it he had questions for you?” Alex asked.

“
Yep,
and he didn't like my answers,” Chase said.

“
You
told him about us?”

“
Let's
say, I didn't deny it,” Chase said. “He can fill in his
own blanks.”

Alex reached over and
touched Chase's forearm. “Shit. I'm sorry that happened.”

“
Whatever.
It was bound to come out eventually,” Chase said with a shrug.
“Secrets like that don't stay quiet for long on this island.”

Chase tried to act
ambivalent, but that wasn't what he was feeling. It hurt knowing he
could lose long-standing friends like Jayson because he wanted Alex
in his life. For all he knew, he was losing Danni, too, because of
this. That alone, had him continually rethinking what he was doing,
but it all came back to how complete he felt with Alex. Everything
about his life made more sense to him with Alex around. He felt like
a better man since meeting Alex, so why would he want to give that
up?

Chase pressed the beer
bottle to his mouth again and started gulping. He dropped his head
back over his shoulders, preparing to chug as much of the beer as he
could all at once. He hadn't noticed Alex had dropped to his knees
in front of him until he felt fingers working to loosen his belt
buckle. He nearly choked on the beer. He snapped his head up and
looked down at his lap and met Alex's piercing green eyes staring up
at him.

“
Keep
drinking your beer,” Alex said. “I'm going to unwind you
a bit before dinner.”

Chase
felt the button on his jeans release and the teeth of the zipper
slowly give-way and his cock began to thicken.

“
I
haven't showered,” Chase said.

Alex's hand reached inside
and freed Chase's cock. “Does it look like I care?”

Chase saw Alex's tongue
circle the crest of his cock and closed his eyes. “Fuuucck,”
he sighed.

“
Highlight
of your day?” Alex asked in between licks.

“
Good
God, yes,” Chase said. He lifted his head from the back of the
chair and watched the entire length of his cock disappear into Alex's
throat. He groaned loudly and shut his eyes again. He'd come too
quickly if he watched, but, damn, it looked good seeing Alex swallow
his cock whole and it felt even better.