Page 29 of Burn It Down

Knox gives Dylan a meaningful glance and nods. Knox lost his dad a year after his divorce so I know Dylan’s words hit close to home.

“So, Dyl…can I call you Dyl?” Phoenix makes me pinch the bridge of my nose. “What’s the coolest car you’ve ever worked on?” He pops the top on a beer and hands it to Dylan.

“Well, just this morning a ’69 Corvette rolled into my lot, and if I’m being honest, that one’ll take the cake.” He flashes me a grin and my fucking knees buckle.

“Nah, I’m serious man,” Phoenix starts. “You guys specialize in imports, right? You gotta see some pretty sick rides. Don’t feel like you have to blow smoke up Bill Gates’s ass over here. On the water, he’s not allowed to lord his money over the rest of us.”

Getting defensive, I fire back. “What the fuck, Phoenix? I don’tlordanything over you.”

“Besides,” Knox says, coming to my defense with his feet kicked up on the side of the boat while we wait for Hudson, “if Jakewasgoing to lord something over you, it’d be the size of his dick, not his bank account.”

“I wasliterallyfreezing!” Phoenix shouts, making me laugh and tap knuckles with Knox. “Need I remind you assholes, I was naked and I’d just fallen in a frozen fucking lake?”

“Why were you naked on a frozen lake?” Dylan asks, taking a sip of his beer, mirth dancing in his eyes.

“It was a dare on a guys’ trip,” Phoenix explains.

“We were all naked on that frozen lake,” Knox points out. “But Jakey’s schlong was still halfway to his knees.”

“BUT I FELL IN!”

Knox chuckles, knowing he’s getting under Phoenix’s skin and laughter from the dock makes us look up to see Hudson carrying three boxes of pizza in his arms. “Not talking about Phoe’s little peepee again, are we?”

“Fuck you guys,” Phoenix says, flipping the bird around the boat, pulling a rumbling laugh out of me as I reach over to grab the pizza from Hudson so he can climb aboard.

Hudson pats Dylan on the back. “Hey man, welcome to the chaos. I’m Hudson.”

“Dylan.”

“Jake, untie me and push us off, will you?” Knox asks. Hudson’s getting settled and Phoenix is pulling the bumpers up so I lean over the edge of the boat and release the knots keeping us tethered to the dock.

While I’m working on the second tie, a loud smack lands square on my right ass cheek, pitching my stomach into the side of the boat. “Ow! Fuck!”

After joining the firehouse, I quickly realized that most guys have a little homosexuality in them regardless of which label they choose to define their sexual orientation. Guys in general use any excuse to whip our cocks out, be naked, slap each other’s asses, wrestle to the floor, etc…I think it’s just the testosterone in us. Well, inthem. Me? I’ve only ever wanted guys.

Hudson laughs. “You had that coming.”

“For wha…oh. Riiiiiight. Mine was an accident though.” Last time we were out on the boat, I accidentally smacked Hudson in the ass with the wakeboard while I was trying to get it in the water. I hit him so hard when I turned thatheended up in the water instead and had a decently sized bruise on his hip.

Once we’re untied and everything is stowed, Knox asks who’s taking the board out first as we make our way to our favorite cove to get set up.

“I will,” I volunteer. I don’t like to drink until after I’m done wakeboarding. Plus, if I go first, I can relax on the boat with Dylan for the rest of the afternoon.

When we come to a stop, Knox kills the engine and I move to the transom seat on the back of the boat to start strapping my feet into the boots attached to the board. After that, I reach up for the lifejacket Phoenix is handing me and I start looping my arms through it when he stops me.

“You boarding with your shirt on?”

“Oh.”

I set the lifejacket in my lap and rip my t-shirt off over my head. Handing it up to Phoenix, I catch a glimpse of Dylan’s gaze sweeping over my torso. His blue irises have been swallowed by the darkness of his dilated pupils.

Dark hair, dark eyes, muscled guys with more between their legs...

My cock stirs under his heated gaze.

Maybe I’m more Dylan’s type than either of us realized.

Chapter 10

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