THE HARD RAP of knuckles on my door had me looking up from the essay I was working onâand at the time. Jesus, it was about to turn seven already? That meant Iâd been at this for a good two hours, and I still only had half of it done.
I groaned and flopped back into my couch, sucking down the last of the freshly squeezed juice that had been delivered from the health bar in the lobby of the Waldorf. Usually I opted for my staple kale and watermelon mix, but with the threat of a workout looming overhead, Iâd opted for their Energizer juice instead. The mix of carrot, celery, beet, spinach, and cucumber wasnât for everyone. But it was the way they trimmed a handful of the wheatgrass to blend into the juice that usually sent my friends into fits of nausea.
Hey, theyâd drink it too if a couple of hours in front of a camera could earn them a cool mil or two.
When the knocking sounded up again, I cursed the fact that I had some moral opposition to paying someone to write my essay for me. I could too, easily, running in the circle I did. If I wanted someone to write a paper for me, I could. If I wanted a grade changed for me, done. Hell, if I needed someone to help me bury a body, I could more than likely find someone to do that tooâbut again, I was pretty sure my brain would oppose.
âYo, Van, get your ass out here!â West called through my door as I slid my empty juice cup onto the coffee table and got to my feet. âI let you skip gym time Sunday, but if you think Iâm letting you punk out today, youâve got another thing coming.â
I pulled open the door to see Westâs mile-wide grin and shook my head. âLetâs not forget who punked out yesterday.â
âI didnât punk out.â West straightened as I grabbed my bottle of water and key card off the table. âI just chose a different of workout, and a better-looking partner.â
âAnd how is JT?â I asked as we headed into the elevators to make our way down to the Towersâ fitness centerâone of the perks of living in one of the most prestigious buildings in Manhattan.
West chuckled. âSorer than I am today, thatâs for sure.â
He could joke all he wanted, but we both knew that this new relationship meant the world to him. It wouldâve been laughableâactually, it was to several of our friendsâbut to me it was just fun to see him finally fall for someone. Especially when that someone was as sweet and good as JT.
âUh huh, and what about the physical demands you made of his body? You know, like his well-being?â
Westâs eyes softened a fraction. There it was. The affection. The real feelings. The ones he kept for himself. The ones he protected from anyone who might shit on themâa.k.a. the rest of our friends.
âHeâs good. I think I mightâve finally convinced him to get up on the stage at the next poetry slam night.â
âOh yeah?â
âYeah. Heâs got a couple of pieces heâs been working on, and Iâve been making him practice. But itâs different performing for just me. In a room full of strangers, he kind of freezes. Gets stage fright, you know?â
Actually, I didnât know much about stage fright at all. Apparently I had no issues when it came to performing in front of othersâjust ask Sin.
Kelly.
It had been days since Iâd allowed myself to think about delicious male specimen, and as my cock began to throb, I had my reason why.
The man made me crazy. Certifiably mad. Whenever I thought about him, my body took over and had a mind of its own. I had no willpower to say no, no common sense to my thought process, and it appeared I made rash decisions in his presence.
Something I became aware of Saturday night while soaking in my tub, when I realized that Iâd agreed to do sex video with the man. What the hell was the matter with me?
Oh, thatâs right. I loved Kellyâs monster cock. Even more, I loved it inside me.
âVan?â
âHuh?â I glanced out the elevator door to see West waiting for me.
âYou have to get out of the elevator to use the exercise equipment. Althoughââhe eyed the hard-on punching against my shortsââIâm sure they wouldnât mind if you went and used equipment in the locker room as long as you donât make a mess.â
I shot him the finger as I shoved off the wall.
âThey wouldnât want you to fall and break anything important.â
âFuck off.â I brushed past him and heard his laughter follow me as I made my way across the marble lobby and through the double doors of the fitness center. Truth be told, I felt like taking a detour and going through to the wellness center for a massage. Maybe after.
We made our way into the multistory, fully decked-out gym and scanned the space, and when I spotted our two favorite treadmills available and ready for an hour of torture, I groaned.
âSure you donât want to just head into the sauna?â
West clapped me on the back and shoved me in the direction of the empty machines. âAfter.â
I knew I needed to get back on schedule. After taking a couple of days to rest my weary body, it was time to get back to my routine. But the first time was always the hardest.
And there went my brain again.
âFuckinâ hell, whatâs up with you today?â West climbed onto his preferred treadmill and glanced back at where I stood motionless, caught up in the delirium caused by a certain sex god. âIf I didnât know better, Iâd think you were smokinâ some of that new shit Travis has been going on about.â
That was the last thing Iâd ever use to get high. Kellyâs built body, however, was a whole other story. âWell, you do know better. I donât suck on anything thatââ
âIsnât a big, thick cock?â
I nearly tripped over my feet as I stepped up onto the machine, and West quickly reached out to lend a hand.
âSeriously, what the hell is up with you?â
I swatted his hand away and steadied myself, putting my water bottle in the holder and seriously contemplating whether I had the brain capacity to run on this thing when it started to move.
At the rate I was going, West was right: I just might fall and break my dickâor worse yet, my face.
âNothingâs wrong. Iâm just a clumsy shit today.â
âSays the man who can walk a runway in nine-inchers.â
Oh my God.
Why was everything coming out of Westâs mouth today bringing to mind Kellyâsâ
âSpeaking of nine inches⦠You never did say how things went Friday night with you and that Sin guy.â
Up until now I thought Iâd gotten away with it, but Westâs suggestive grin told me otherwiseâI was screwed. But there was no way in hell I was telling him about what Iâd ended up doing with Kelly. Heâd run his mouth to JT and, worse yet, East, and then Iâd never hear the end of it.
So instead, I opted for the truth. At least the truth as far as Friday night went.
âNothing happened, thatâs why. We danced, it was hot, but heâs going to have more than enough dicks soon. I wasnât about to have him worry about mine.â
âReally?â West turned back to his treadmill and hit several buttons, and we started a slow jog to warm up.
âReally. And why are you so concerned? I thought you were too happy with your new âworkout partnerâ to worry about what my dickâs doing.â
âHey now, letâs be clear. Iâm not thinking about your dick. Not when Golden Boyâs is mine for the taking. I donât need you starting shit.â
Good, crisis averted. If there was one thing West enjoyed talking more about than cock, it was JTâand maybe JTâs cock.
âIâm not starting shit.â
âSure sounds like it,â he grumbled, and upped his pace. âLast thing I need is him worrying about anything, not when weâre finally in a good place.â
âAw, thatâs sweet.â I glanced at him. âI didnât actually think you knew what a good place was.â
âI didnât, until I met him,â West said, shocking the shit out of me.
âWow.â I shook my head and punched the speed button until my jog was a steady run. âI never thought Iâd see the day you were so damn smitten over someone.â
âMe either, but here I am, and Iâm trying my best not to fuck it up. I swear JT is just waiting for me to break his heart.â
âNo way. Anyone can see that boy is just as smitten with you as you are with him.â I chuckled. âSmitten kittens.â
âYeah, yeah, well, Iâd like to keep it that way.â
âYou will. Just keep doing what youâre doing and donât do anything East suggests.â
West snorted. âNo shit.â Then he pushed down on the speed button and took off at his full workout pace, thankfully ending our discussion and giving me the reprieve I wanted.
I put my earbuds in and cranked up my music, and as the burn in my legs eased and I hit full stride, I zoned out and stared down at the swimmers in the pool a level below, happy to have dodged the Kelly bullet.
It wasnât that I was ashamed of what Iâd done with him on Saturday. Or that I regretted it. I just wanted to keep it to myself, that was all. It was a memory I wanted to be able to play on repeat one day when my body wouldnât go haywire at the thought, and if my friends ever found out about it, theyâd totally ruin it for me. Or even worse, theyâd look the damn video up and add commentary.
That was the last thing I wanted. Especially since Iâd come to my senses in the last couple of days and decided that was going to be the one and only time I saw Kelly.
So if telling a little white lie to West was what it took to keep my secret, then I wasnât going to feel bad about it.
I did my best to push all thoughts of Kelly and what weâd done together out of my mind as I finished off my run, and fifty-five minutes later, as I glared the countdown to death, I picked up my water and took a swig before pounding out the last five minutes.
When our machines came to a stop and we grabbed up our towels, West reached over and tapped me on the arm. I hit stop on my music and pulled the buds from my ears.
âHey, about before?â
âI wasnât trying to be a pushy asshole about that Sin guy. I just know itâs been a while for you, and you seemed really into him.â
Probably because I had been. Still was.
I really needed to move the hell on. Kelly was about to start having sex with hundreds of different guys, and the last thing I needed was to start obsessing over him.
âAll I was getting at was that if I were , Iâd track him down and have him worry about your dick first. That guy is gonna be hugeâI mean, he already is, if you know what I meanâbut he clearly was into you, so why not take advantage?â
I mean, it wasnât a idea. âI donât think so.â
âWhy not?â West slung his towel around his neck. âWe all know your preference, Van. If wantsâand can takeâwhat that guyâs packingâ¦â
I smothered my laugh with a cough and wiped my face with the towel. Partly to get rid of the sweat and partly to hide the fact that just thinking about what Kelly was packing sent my body into overdrive.
The guy made me feel insatiable.
West grinned in a way that told me he knew where my mind had just gone. But little did he know it had already been there, several times over.
âThatâs right.â He nodded. âGet on that big thing before all the other bottoms do.â
âJesus, West.â I looked around the gym, and the bastard started to laugh.
âWhat? Donât tell me you arenât thinking about it.â
âWell, I am now.â
âExactly.â As we stepped off the treadmills, West slung an arm around my shoulders. âWe only live once, and what better way to die than being split in half âsinning.ââ
âNice euphemism there.â
âI thought so.â We pushed out of the main gym area and walked to where the steam and sauna rooms were. âSo, you gonna go sin?â
Was I?
Iâd enjoyed it the first time around, and I liked Kelly as a person, so why shouldnât I go back? It was just for fun, and if my face was still hidden, there was no reason not toâ¦right?
âYouâre thinking about itâ¦â
Yes, yes I was. But again, there was no way in hell I was going to tell West about it.
If I was going to go and sin again, it was going to be between me and Kellyâand, well, the production crew of Xes Entertainment.
But West didnât need to know that, and I could keep a secret.