Page 44 of Fire & Ice

Lee's unexpected remark has Tripp laughing, even as Lee pats his arm and moves past him into the store with a crafty smile on his face. In his pants, the cock cage bumps against Tripp’s thigh, reminding him of his future reward if he can make his Dom proud.

Alright, maybe he can get through this after all.

Tripp inhales a deep breath of the crisp air before following his brother and his…Leeinside, wrinkling his nose against the too-clean scent of new clothing and fancy shoes.

Tuxedo shopping.

One step up (barely) from the kind of clothes shopping Marley drags him along for every couple of months—i.e., Tripp plays the part of the gay bff, sitting in uncomfortable chairs while Marley blasts one-hit-wonders from her phone and pretends she’s in a makeover montage from the eighties. At least here there’s champagne, and Tripp manages to down four flutes before Lee gently takes away the fifth and pinches his flank in silent warning.

Tripp’s tipsy brain digs it.

Somewhere between having his inseam measured by a way-too-handsy attendant and actually getting into the fitting rooms to try things on, Tripp somehow stops hating this whole thing. Sure, Brett and Christian are up to their normal douchebaggery, but Beau seemsreallyhappy, glowing even, anddamn,does Lee look mouth-wateringly delicious in formalwear.

So delicious, that Tripp doesn’t even bother to make a token attempt to control his face when Lee emerges from a fitting room to strut in front of the group. When he comes out, Christian and Brett are still changing, and Tripp is sitting with his legs spread between Beau and Sandy in the line of chairs facing the mirrors. The three of them are just waiting their turn, shooting the shit about the various shades of red and where each of them appears in major league sports logos.

Which is probably a blessing, since there’s nowaythe asshole twins would ever let TripporLee hear the end of it, had they been there to witness the way Tripp’s jaw dropped like a cartoon character at the sight of his friend all glammed up.

To be fair, Lee looks like he just strode off the cover of GQ, a transformation worthy of Jack Dawson inTitanic—broke-ass scrub to regular first-class swell, with nothing but some starched fabric and a nifty-looking bowtie. Damn, but he wears it well.

Lee knows it too, judging by the way his eyes find Tripp’s immediately, all-knowing and crinkly at the corners as he winks and steps up onto one of the little podiums before turning to face the mirror. His eyes find Tripp’s there, too, and he turns this way and that, admiring his own form as the attendant moves to adjust his cummerbund and then crouches down to do some pinning.

The cut of the tux doeseverythingto accentuate Lee's trim waist and broad shoulders, the muscles in his arms, and the swell of his ass and thighs, and Trippknowshe’s basically drooling, can’t find it in himself to care. He knows one thing, though. Lee is abastardof a tease when he wants to be.

Before Beau can let go of the comment that’s clearly dancing on the tip of his tongue—or Tripp’s dick turns this outing into the most awkward family moment in history—he snatches up his tux and hightails it for the room Lee vacated, pulling the curtain shut with more emphasis than is strictly necessary. As he dresses, Tripp simultaneously wills his dick downandlets his mind wander, even though he knows that’s a terrible, terrible idea.

It’s not that he’s afraid of being called out for ogling—let these fuckers know he’s doing Lee, Tripp’s not the least bit ashamed of the facts. The man ishot,and anyone who’s got a problem with the idea of two dudes hooking up isn’t someone whose opinion Tripp gives a rat’s ass about. No, if anything, so long as Lee doesn’t care about people knowing, Tripp’s pretty damn proud to be able to say that he’s hitting that.

No, the problem is—once again—Trippand his inconvenient, unwantedfeelingspopping up and rearing their ugly heads at the worst time.

Yes, seeing Lee in a tux makes him want to get down on his knees (plural)right there in the middle of the shop, audience and all, but it also hurts like it hasnogoddamn right to do, and he’s an idiot for even entertaining that. Tripp wishes more than anything that he could simply be happy with what the two of them have, that these fleeting thoughts aboutwhat ifandif onlywould leave him the hell alone and stop waltzing through his brain, but he’s not in control of when they come and go.

The fact is, seeing Lee in a wedding tux reminds Tripp that this is theonlyway he’ll ever see the man looking like that. That no matter how happy he is with their current relationship status, that reality still blows. It’s worsened by the fact that Tripp never even considered himself a “picket fence and two-point-five terriers” type of guy before, never imaginedwantingto give up his wild and free single life to commit to one chick or one dude.

With Lee, though? Fuck, Tripp can’t even pretend. He’d sign on that dotted line tomorrow if Lee was an option, if Lee wanted it too.

But he’s not and he doesn’t, and Tripp needs to knock off the sappy, self-pitying BS and get with the program before somebody catches on. He sighs as he pulls his crisp dress pants into place, tucking the overly-stiff button-down he’s already wearing into the band as he settles it around his hips. If there’s one upside to all of this angst, it’s that the risk of his dick going wayward and making things painful for everyone has effectively dropped tozero.Any arousal he might have felt over seeing Lee all dolled up has been quenched, like a bucket of ice water thrown onto a campfire, courtesy of Tripp’s errant emotions.

As he twists to check his angles in the small mirror, trying in vain to secure the snappy cummerbund, there’s a knock on the wall just outside the curtain and Lee's voice following close behind.

“Everything alright in there? May I help with your band?” Rolling his eyes, Trippalmostsends Lee away, but then he figures,what the hell?He’s already in this deep, might as well try on some of that masochism for size, let the guy torture him in private.

“Yeah,” he calls back, voice slightly unsteady, enough that he hopes Beau's jerk friends aren’t listening. The second he receives permission, Lee slips inside and pulls the curtain behind him, which thankfully, extends all the way to the floor. Tripp has to hand it to him—he doesn’t fuck around or carry on with some fake pretense for why he’s here.Nope, he just slams Tripp up against the wall so hard the mirror shakes, plastering himself flush to his back.

Instantly, whatever Tripp was thinking before? That bunch of bull about his arousal being doused? Yeah,scratch that, he’s inbigfuckin’ trouble. His breath puffing cloudy condensation onto his own reflection, Tripp gives a token struggle, but that just prompts Leander to grab his wrist, twist it behind his back, and hold on tighter.

“Fuck,” he murmurs, as the obvious bulge of Lee's erection makes itself known in the crack of his ass. “This is cheating,” he complains, the cage swiftly growing tight and painful around his own cock.

“Is it?”

“Ungh,” Tripp moans, using his free hand to press down on his crotch. His mind flips desperately through everydisgusting, dick-deflating image he can summon while an undeterred Lee nips gently at the shell of his ear.

“You look incredible,” Leander growls, apparently uncaring about Tripp’s discomfort, or perhaps enjoying it, probably the latter.

“Iknow,” Tripp replies defensively, shifting uncomfortably against the wall as Leander grinds into him enthusiastically and without shame. “Listen, it’s a damn miracle all the blood in my entire body didn’t rush to my dick when you walked out, I could’ve ended up rolling around on the floor screaming about my balls, right in front of Beau! You get that, right?”

“I really do,” Leander replies thickly, and with blatant appreciation for the imagery. “Perhaps I should be insulted that you didn’t.”

“I ran back here, didn’t I?” Tripp mumbles, his dick finally giving up the ghost under the pinching pain and pressure it’s been getting in response to the multiple failed attempts to stand up and say hello. Alright, so the details of his escape areslightlydifferent than he’s claiming, but Lee doesn’t need to know that.

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