Page 15 of Go Deep

I order a Jim Beam, neat. I want to feel the liquor burn a path to my stomach, igniting me from the inside out. No ice to soothe the sting. I’m finally alive again, ready to live my life exactly the way I want it, without having to worry about hiding who I really am.

A smooth, low voice hums in my ear. “Gabe Kelly.”

I turn to find hungry eyes flicking up and down the length of my body. “Yep. And you are?” Very fuckable, but I’ll reserve that comment for a little later.

“Ty Brooks.” A slow smile lifts his deep pink lips.

“So, what do you do, Ty?” Flirting has never been an issue for me, but this is the first time in a year I don’t feel guilty or worried about flashing the fuck-me eyes at this guy.

“I’m an investment banker. Big football fan.BigGabe Kelly fan.” Those lips curl into a mischievous smirk, taunting me, begging me to bite them.

But for as hot as he is, I wish it was Vince Castro standing in front of me instead, licking his lips like a voracious lion. To be devoured by that man would be nothing short of heaven,another fantasy I need to erase from my mind since he’s completely out of my reach. I wish I could erase him from my life, but that’d be kind of impossible since he’s my financial advisor and we have a meeting set for tomorrow.

My gut knots, the realization that’s been bubbling in the back of my mind finally exploding into center stage.

For once, I want more than a quick hookup and of course, it has to be with a hetero who’s in a committed relationship.

So, for the moment, I guess I’m back to quick hookups.

“I’m flattered.”

“I think you’re a real inspiration.” Ty leans back onto the bar, a lock of hair falling over his eye. He sweeps it back into the rest of his thick, dark mane. I want to fist that hair… “Was it hard? Coming out?”

“Yeah. You never really know how people will react, you know? You just hope they’ll accept you and move on the best way you can.”

Except for narrow-minded people like Jase Maxwell, his cornhusking cronies, and jackasses like that dad on the street who lost his dog. People haven’t stopped judging me since I made my public statement at the end of last season. They’re never without ignorant comments or any degree of couth. I think they also share a single brain cell between them.

But I’m not in the mood to think about them tonight. No more downers. I drain the rest of my glass, drawing attention away from the ensuing conversation. Jim is settled in my belly, so I feel nice. Warm. Horny. Ready for another.

Ty nods at my glass. “What are you having?”

“Jim Beam. Neat.” It’s hard not to stare. His broad frame is so commanding, and this is coming from an NFL quarterback. My eyes fall to his fitted black jeans as he leans over the bar to order, taking note of the other patrons admiring the very same thing.

My cock twitches. That ass…Jesus, it’s so firm and round. I could lose myself in that ass, far away from the bullshit cluttering up my life.

As long as we go tohisplace.

I’m not chancing another run-in with my past.

And I’m officially putting an end to this obsession with Vince Castro, a guy who will never be my future.

Chapter 8

Vince

Itwirl a blue ballpoint pen around my fingers and stare out the window overlooking The Banks. I really should’ve turned this meeting with Gabe Kelly over to one of my guys, but after that last time we sat across from each other in my conference room, all of the sparks crackling between us damn near ignited into an inferno.

So hell no to that plan.

I want so fucking badly to get singed.

Once I get sucked into Gabe’s gaze, I can’t move, can barely breathe. Part of me is terrified he’ll see right through me, the other part is begging him to call me out and to confirm what I already suspect he knows is true.

So many questions floated around in his bright blue eyes the last time we met, and even though I’m afraid that this time he’ll break me down a little more, I can’t stop counting the minutes before he shows up for our meeting.

I’m risking a hell of a lot by even sitting in the same room with him, a man I’ve imagined myself dominating with myhands, my mouth, and my cock, but for the first time in my life, I don’t care.

Jeanette’s voice jolts me from the crazy train careening around the corners of my mind just before it derails. “Vince, Gabe Kelly is here. Should I send him into the conference room?”

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