Page 10 of Deadly Promise
Teagan stopped pacing to glare. “Nice guys, sure. Until they aren’t. You act like every person who smiles at us wants to be our best friend, but I end up dealing with the fallout when your optimism blows up in our faces.”
A muscle ticked in Hayden’s jaw, visible even from across the room, and he pushed off the counter, closing the distance with two long strides. “This again? You’re projecting your paranoia onto everyone we meet. We left that shit behind, remember? New town, new start. But you keep dragging your fears behind you like a coffin you refuse to put down.”
Heat prickled along Teagan’s neck, the familiar burn of frustration mixing with memories he’d rather keep buried. He remembered the alley behind their old apartment complex, the metallic tang of blood in his mouth after two guys cornered him on his way home from the convenience store.
A run Hayden had sent him on.
Their fists had landed with dull thuds, each one accompanied by slurs that echoed louder than the pain. Broken nose, bruised ribs, and a lesson etched into his skin.
Trust was an illusion, especially when you didn’t fit the “typical” mold. Hayden had befriended the guys, their neighbors, even after Teagan had voiced that his gut was telling him they were bad news.
Not that he blamed Hayden. His best friend was right. It wasn’t living if you treated everyone as the enemy until proven otherwise. Which was why Teagan felt stuck, like he couldn’t move forward.
But ever since his attack, every new face did carry potential danger, every act of kindness a possible setup.
What if next time it was Hayden who was attacked, who woke up in the hospital with tubes sticking out of him?
Or worse, what if next time one, or both, of them didn’t survive? Teagan couldn’t live in a world Hayden wasn’t in.
Hayden glanced up at him, expression carefully masked. “I thought you didn’t blame me.”
“I don’t.” Teagan scrubbed a hand over his face. “I swear. I’m just worried. You saw Liam’s size.” Like either of them could ignore his massive form. “Someone that big could do a lot of damage.”
Even though he didn’t blame Hayden, the guy would never understand what it felt like to be brutally attacked for something he couldn’t help or change. To have his autonomy ripped away from him because someone else wanted to violently impose their beliefs on him.
But Teagan hadn’t given Liam the cold shoulder because he thought the guy would hurt them. It was guilt. He’d punished Liam for his fierce attraction toward him.
That was ass backward and made no sense, but it was still the truth. Instead of snapping at Liam, Teagan had wanted to crawl into the larger man’s lap and surrender to him.
And that guilt was eating him alive.
Just admit it to him. Tell Hayden the real reason you’re acting like a dick toward Liam. He couldn’t. Teagan had loved Hayden even before he’d been in love with him. Best friends, a lifetime of memories he refused to throw away over some stupid attraction he felt toward another guy.
The feeling would pass. Teagan just needed to stop lusting over Liam and remember who truly mattered to him.
The image of Liam’s face popped into his mind.
Wrong fucking face!
Floorboards creaked under Hayden’s weight as he stepped closer, his larger frame blocking the light from the window. “Not everyone’s like those assholes who jumped you. Liam’s not like that. Hell, he stepped in last night without being asked. He defended you, Teag.”
Fingers dug into his own biceps as Teagan kept his arms crossed, the fabric of his shirt bunching under the pressure. “And what if he is? What if letting him in means we end up running again? I can’t do that. Not again.”
Hayden’s hands settled on Teagan’s hips, firm and unyielding, gently pinning him against the wall. The surface felt cool through his thin shirt, a contrast to the heat radiating from Hayden’s body. “Then we handle it together. Like always.”
They were on two different wave lengths. Hayden thought Teagan was referring to friendship with Liam. Friendship was the farthest thing from his mind.
The argument hung there, unfinished, but Hayden’s thumbs pressed in with that firm grip that always short-circuited Teagan’s thoughts.
Lips brushed his neck first, soft and insistent, trailing down to his collarbone while hands worked at his shorts, tugging them open with efficient yanks.
Before Teagan could argue, Hayden dropped to his knees, the movement fluid and determined, his fingers already working open Teagan’s fly. Zipper teeth parted with a soft rasp, and Hayden tugged the shorts down, exposing skin to the morning air. Teagan’s cock twitched free, half-hard already from the proximity, the scent of arousal thickening between them.
Hayden’s mouth hovered close, breath hot against the shaft, but he waited, dark eyes looking up expectantly.
Wet heat enveloped him as Hayden took him in, lips stretching around the girth while his tongue flattened along the underside. Teagan’s fingers threaded into Hayden’s hair, guiding the rhythm with firm pressure, pushing deeper until he hit the back of Hayden’s throat. Saliva slicked the way, dripping down to coat his balls, and the obscene sounds of sucking filled the room, punctuated by Teagan’s ragged breaths.
Heat roared through Teagan, consuming his entire body, the feeling rocketing through him.
