Page 10 of Euphoria

“Well, not exactly,” Colter said. “How about if we live under the same roof and work together, but we don’t ignore our feelings for each other?” Hugh could feel his heart beating and he thought for sure that Colter could feel it too. He was standing so close, and from the determined look on his handsome face, he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“That will never work,” Hugh insisted. He had a relationship like that with Luke and that turned out to be a mistake. He had gone through the worst breakup he had in his life. There was no way that he’d want him to go through all that again.

“And why not”? Colter asked.

“Because it didn’t work when Luke and I tried that,” he almost shouted.

“I’m not Luke,” Colter insisted, “I’d never hurt you, Hugh.” Colter leaned in and gently brushed his lips over Hugh’s and this time, he didn’t fight him. Hugh let him in and when Colter’s tongue swiped into his mouth, finding Hugh’s, he didn’t hide hismoan. Kissing Colter was all he could think about since they met, and it was better than he could have imagined.

Colter broke the kiss, leaving them both breathless. “Just say the words, Hugh,” he demanded. Hugh could see all the pent-up desire staring back at him in Colter’s eyes. He felt the same way and denying it now was pointless.

Hugh sighed, “I have feelings for you, Colter,” he almost whispered.

Colter’s smile nearly took his breath away. “See now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” he asked.

He took Hugh’s hand and started to lead him out of the kitchen. “Where are you taking me?” he asked.

He stopped in the hallway, still holding Hugh’s hand. “To my room,” Colter said. “I’m done pretending that I don’t want you, Hugh. If you don’t want this, tell me now, and we won’t go any further.” He wanted Colter more than he wanted his next breath. There was no way that he’d tell him no now.

“I want this,” Hugh admitted. Colter wasted no time pulling him into his bedroom and pushing him back against the bed. He didn’t seem like he was going to give Hugh time to change his mind—not that he would.

“Are you hung up on your ex?” Colter asked.

“If that’s your idea of dirty talk or foreplay, Colter, it sucks,” Hugh grumbled. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about Luke before having sex with Colter.

“I’m being serious. I need to know that you don’t have feelings for your ex before we go any further,” he said.

“Where is this coming from?” Hugh asked.

“You talk about him a lot,” Colter said. He sounded like he was accusing Hugh of wrongdoing, and that hurt his damn feelings. “I just want to make sure that we are both on the same page before we jump into bed together.” Hugh could understand where Colter was coming from, but having to talk about his exwas going to feel like a bucket of cold water being poured onto his libido.

“That’s how I process my feelings,” Hugh insisted, “I talk about things or in this case, people who hurt me. Then, I can move on. But I can promise you that I am not hung up on my ex. If I never see Luke again, it will be too soon.”

“So, you have no feelings for him?” Colter pushed.

“No, I don’t. It’s been months since we broke up, and if you can’t tell, I’m kind of into you, Colter,” Hugh said. He sat down on the edge of the bed, and Colter did the same. If he was going to spill his guts, he needed to be sitting down for it. “Luke and I worked together. He was my boss, and that’s why I hesitated when it came to us getting together. It didn’t work out, and I don’t want to lose you or my job. I actually like this little town, and I could really use a fresh start.”

“Why did the two of you break up? Was it mutual?” Colter asked. This was the part of the story that was always the hardest for Hugh.

“I’m assuming that it was mutual since I found him in bed with another man. I walked out of there and never looked back. Luke, on the other hand, ended up with the guy that he cheated on me with, and as far as I know, they are living happily ever after.”

“I’m sorry that happened,” Colter said, “but I won’t say that I’m sorry that you came to town and walked into my bar.” Colter ran his hand over Hugh’s jaw, cupping it as he leaned in to kiss him. “I’m so glad that you’re here, Hugh.”

He was pretty happy to be in Colter’s bed too, but he had a feeling that Colter meant more than that. “I’m glad you’re here too,” Hugh breathed. He pulled Colter against his body and kissed him like a starving man. Hugh liked the way that the two of them seemed to fit together.

“Before this goes too far, you need to know that I like control,” Colter said. Hugh wasn’t sure what he meant by control, and for a minute he panicked. Luke used to like to be in control of Hugh’s every move. Luke had him check in every few hours to let him know where he was and what he was doing. Hell, he had even accused Hugh of cheating on him—which was laughable now. After they broke up, Hugh realized that Luke probably had him checking in every so often so that he didn’t just show up back at home and catch Luke and his boyfriend, Jace, together. For all he cared, Jace could have Luke because he was done with that life. But now, Colter was asking for control and Hugh worried that he wouldn’t be able to give him that.

“What kind of control?” Hugh asked.

“From the look on your face, you don’t like the idea of having to give up any control,” Colter whispered.

“It’s not that,” Hugh assured. “Luke had me check in with him every few hours and liked to control every aspect of my life—including what I wore and ate. I don’t think that I can ever do something like that again.”

“And you should never be asked to do anything like that, babe,” Colter said. “I meant that I like control in the bedroom, during sex. You can wear whatever you like—preferably nothing, and eat whatever you want. I have a suggestion for that too, but we’ll get to it in a minute. I’d never want to control your every move, and if you aren’t good with the control in the bedroom thing, we can come up with another solution. I’ll have to learn to live with it, but not having you in my bed isn’t an option, Hugh.”

“No, as long as you’re good with only having control during sex, I’m good. I kind of like the idea of you being in charge while we’re here. It takes the pressure off having to figure out what you want.”

“Yeah, I’ll tell you exactly what I want, babe,” he agreed.

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