Page 28 of Something Unavoidable

Izzy didn’t argue. He wasn’t aiming for any ditches—but whatever got him out the door.

He’d almost made it when Marco stepped into his path.

“Izzy,” the bouncer said, a warning in his deep voice that made Izzy shiver a little. It was a shame he and Marco hadn’tbeen a good fit. There was another man with a sexy cock who knew how to use it. “Where are you going?”

Wherewashe going? Well, he was leaving. There wasn’t anyone to hook up with here, and Hunter wasn’t going to let him drink anymore. Izzy needed another distraction before his thoughts came back to bite him. “I’m going on a treasure hunt,” he told Marco, patting his bearded cheek. “Night, Marc.”

Marco frowned at Izzy, then turned the look on Ash. “Where are you taking him?” he asked, tone suspicious.

“Yeah. Where are you taking me?” Izzy repeated. “You’re totally sus.” He laughed. Sus was a great word. Props to Gen Z.

Ash stepped closer to Marco. He angled his body, but Izzy didn’t miss the hand that landed on Marco’s ribs, then slid along his side in a petting motion. Izzy blinked a few times, but he wasn’t imagining things. “Hey,” Ash said, voice softer and a little sweet. “Stand down, big guy. You know me.”

Izzy’s mouth dropped open when Marco’s frown deepened, but he mirrored the action, the caress hidden from the rest of the room by Ash’s open winter coat.

“He can be a handful,” Marco told Ash. “And the roads aren’t great.”

“I’ve got snow tires, four-wheel drive, and I grew up in the mountains,” Ash said, eyes on Marco’s mouth like he wanted to kiss him. “But I’ll be careful. Promise.”

Marco frowned. “You grew up in LA.”

Ash chuckled, warm and familiar. “Remind me to give you a geography lesson about the Grapevine.”

Marco huffed, but it was his amused huff, and his shoulders relaxed, which told Izzy they were golden.

Izzy led the way outside, shivering at the blast of cold air and blinking as snowflakes swirled in his face and stuck to his eyelashes. “It’s snowing,” he told Ash.

Ash laughed. “You don’t say.”

The air helped clear Izzy’s head for the moment, though he knew he’d get fuzzy again once the shock of it wore off. He started walking without a destination in mind, his boots kicking up little snowballs in the half inch or so of powder coating the sidewalks, his breath frosting in the air. The only light was from the streetlamps and what reflected off the cloud cover. Everything else on Main Street was closed and dark. Even the white twinkle lights were off this late. Izzy wondered where his coat had ended up. He couldn’t remember, and going back to look for it would be a pain. He’d just need to keep moving. It wasn’t that cold.

A moment later, he was handed a coat. He almost gave it back. He didn’t want Ash’s coat, and then he realized it washiscoat. Surprise! He pulled it on and zipped it up to his chin, shoving his hands deep in the pockets instead of fighting with his gloves.

“Where do you want to go?” Ash asked him.

Keegan’s disapproving frown popped into Izzy’s mind. Izzy pushed it away. “What’s up with you and Marc?” he asked instead.

Ash sighed and muttered. “Halfway to blackout and he notices that.”

“Duh,” Izzy said. “You were noticeable.”

“Actually, we’ve been very subtle,” Ash argued. “We’re just friends…who happen to have some outstanding sex when we’re both in the right mood.”

“I didn’t peg you as his type.”

“What do you mean?” Ash asked, tone careful. He clearly knew what Izzy meant.

“Dude, I’m drowning in Daddies. You think I don’t know what Marco’s into? I just didn’t think I was that far off withyou. Usually, I’m better at picking out the subs from the Doms.”

That made Ash laugh. “I’m not a sub.”

Izzy eyed him. “Oh. You’re a switch, then.”

Ash rocked his leather-gloved hand back and forth in a so-so gesture. “I don’t like labels. People in LA are obsessed with them. It gets old.”

“Alice doesn’t like labels either,” Izzy informed him. “She says she’s already got too many.”

“Who’s Alice?” Ash asked, snagging Izzy’s elbow and steering him around the corner onto Cedar. There wasn’t much on Cedar other than motels and B&Bs, but it connected to a few more bars and restaurants at the far end.

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