Page 21 of Xtasy

“I’m coming with,” Megan whispered in his ear. “No way you’re leaving me alone. You’re really starting to creep me out.”

Together, they made their way to Atlas’ bedroom. He pushed the door open and, as with the rest of the house, all his windows were open. The worst of it, though, was the fact that his bed contained what appeared to be a rather raunchy display of sex toys, fetish tools, and an assortment of whips and paddles. They inched in further and Megan motioned for him to look at his pillow. Displayed beautifully in the center of the pillow was a Cartier diamond dog collar and matching leash. It had to have cost a fortune and made Atlas sick to his stomach. As with the other gifts, a notecard lay next to the collar.

“Oh, shit,” Megan whispered. “I only took a peek. I didn’t know it was a full-blown shit show displayed on your bed. Is this Ambrose again?”

“Yeah,” Atlas muttered in disgust. “It for sureisn’tHawk. Dammit!” No longer afraid, he walked over to the bed and picked up the card.

Atlas crumpled the note and tossed it in the corner. “I honestly hate that man. He’s doing everything in his power to take away my happiness with Hawk!” Atlas growled. “When we’re together, he acts like he’s Hawk’s best friend and he supports us being together. Then he,” he flung his hand around, “pulls shit like this”! He looked at Megan. “What am I going to do, Meg? If Hawk has to choose between the two of us, I’m certain he’ll choose the man that’s been his best friend since childhood. Trust me, Meg, I don’t fit in their world. It’s all glamour and money. I’m a bore.”

“Shut your mouth!’ Megan demanded. She grabbed him by the arm and tugged him out of his room. “You aren’t sleeping in here tonight. My room. We are building a bed fort and figuring this shit out.”

Good Lord, could the night get any worse? Atlas hated bed forts. They were hot, Megan’s perfume overwhelmed the small space, and unbeknownst to her, she snored. Loudly. He knew she meant well, though…and he needed her support to get through this…whateverthiswas.

“You get my bed ready, and I’ll gather us some food,” Megan ordered. Then smacked his ass to get him moving.

Reluctantly, Atlas went to Megan’s room and started digging through her closet for the thinnest sheets he could find. She had a king-sized canopy bed, minus the canopy part, so he used ribbons to tie the sheets to the top of the bed knobs, building them their completely enclosed bed fort. Ugh. Megan was going to bring them a load of sweets to eat as they bitched and moaned about their lives. Sweets made Megan poot…which didn’t suit a bed fort enclosure one bit—not one bit.

Atlas checked his watch. Hawk would be calling him in about an hour. What was he supposed to say? As brave as he’d been while in Hawk’s arms it always quickly evaporated as soon as they were apart. His fear of ruining a friendship or, even worse, having Hawk pick Ambrose over him was overwhelming to the point that it made him consider walking away first just to protect his own heart. That way, he’d never really know. A little part of him could whisper that Hawk would have chosen him without a moment’s hesitation.

Megan burst inside the room, skinny arms overloaded with cookies, chips, chocolate, and ice cream. Yep, Atlas was in for a very long night.

“We’ll definitely have to start with the ice cream. Climb into the fort,” Megan ordered playfully. “I found some stuff out about Ambrose that I need to share with you. After that, you can decide how you want to handle the asshole.”

Atlas climbed in, immediately more interested since Megan had managed to do some of her promised research on Ambrose while on her business trip. Maybe, just maybe, she’d found out something that would make him better understand the situation. He grabbed his Rocky Road ice cream and climbed into the fort. He had to admit, being inside the fort did help knock the chill from where all the windows had been left open by who had to be none other than freaky Ambrose.How in the hottest part of hell was the man managing to get inside his apartment?

As excited as Atlas was to hear what Megan had found out, he suddenly realized what a shitty friend he was, he’d never asked herwhyshe’d come home a week earlier than planned. “Hey, before we get started on Ambrose, why in the world are you home early? I thought this trip was one of those VIP things.”

Megan blushed. “I slept with my boss. I don’t want to discuss it right now. Let’s focus on you. When I’m ready to bring you into my own shitshow, I’ll let you.”

“You’ve wanted to sleep with him forever! Why the draggy face?” Atlas asked.

“Because I don’t know what it means. I could have just been a hit it and quit it, and I’m not sure how I’ll respond to that. Anyway, no talking about me until I have the crazy in my head settled down. We’re focusing on you.”

Atlas knew Megan enough to know there would be no changing her mind. She wouldn’t talk until she was damn good and ready. He also knew he would kick her boss’s ass if the man hurt his Meg. She’d been crushing on him since her first day working at his firm. If he bedded her for the hell of it, that was an abuse of power—a major sin the man would pay for.

“Okay, tell me what you heard about Ambrose? When you first suggested it, I thought it was a great idea because all he’d done at that point was send a bunch of roses. While you were gone things escalated to expensive gifts and breaking and entering.”

Megan frowned. “It doesn’t make sense, A. What kind of gifts are we talking?”

“A Rolex watch and that leash and collar in the bedroom? Yeah, that wasCartierdiamonds. He’s a freak, Meg. He broke into this apartment to leave that shit—the shitandhis creepy notes. What kind of person does that? Oh, and when I’m with Hawk and he shows up, it’s like nothing’s happening on the side. He’s friendly, doesn’t look at me weird, or try to touch me in any way. He definitely deserves an academy award for his acting skills.”

Meg frowned. “And you know it’s him?”

“Yep. Leaves a creepy note for me each time.” Atlas confirmed. “So, what did you hear?”

Taking a deep breath, Megan began, “I heard Ambrose is a sadist. He never uses the same submissive more than once. Everyone refers to him as polite but aloof. The only person he truly opens up to is Hawk…his only friend, if rumors are to be believed. He wouldneversend a gift to someone.Ever.” Megan shoveled a huge spoonful of her ice cream. “Something’s off, A. Either he’s really head over heels in lust with you,” she paused before adding, “or he’s head over heels in jealousy over Hawk. Is there a chance he thinks Hawk belongs to him?”

Atlas thought back to all the times they’d been together, all the conversations he’d had with both Ambrose and Hawk. Never once did either of them act like anything existed between the two of them other than a best friend, brotherly bond sort of thing. Hawk had explicitly mentioned that the two of them wouldn’t be compatible in the bedroom.Would he have lied? Was the attraction one-sided?

Atlas’ cell phone buzzed.Holy shit! How had it gotten to be midnight already? What should he do? He wanted to talk to Hawk, to tell him what was going on behind the scenes, but he wasn’t ready. Hell, the bottom line was that he wasn’t ready to face Hawk’s decision if he was forced to choose between him and Ambrose. That was the bottom line. His fucking fear. It was moments like this that Atlas wished he’d stayed safely tucked away in his old, boring life. It might have been a monotonous and predictable existence, but his heart had been safe. Now? He felt like someone was about to carve his heart out and serve it up for a midnight snack.

“Aren’t you going to answer that? It’s Hawk.” Meg said. “I can see your caller ID.”

It rang again. “What am I supposed to say, Meg? His best friend is stalking me? Hawk would never believe something like that about Ambrose. I think I should wait until I can show him proof—the notes, maybe.”

“That’s an excellent idea, but you need to answer him now. I assume the two of you agreed on this call or does he booty call you at all hours of the night on a regular basis?” Meg asked sarcastically. “If he does, I’m going to kick his ass myself.”

The cell rang again. “I can’t deal with it right now. I don’t know what to say or how to handle the situation. Whatever I end up saying, I’m afraid it’s going to break Hawk’s heart because his best friend is going behind his back…then he’ll turn on me.” Atlas declined the call and then shut his cell off. “I’ll deal with it tomorrow.” Atlas felt his own heart shatter as his cell powered off. How had he gotten into this situation? Would he be able to recover from it?

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