“I hate to ask this,” Landon hesitated.

  “Ask whatever. You know none of Twirled Crazies have secrets.”

  “True. You were upset about the breakup, but not, I don’t know, you weren’t—”

  “Devastated?”

  “Yeah, that. I mean, you were with the asshole for over a year.”

  Zerk pushed a heavy sigh passed his compressed lips. “At first I was flattered someone who looked like Ron—”

  “What did Ron look like?”

  “You know—pretty.”

  “You’re gorgeous. He was lucky to have you.”

  “This is fucking bullshit; I knew it wasn’t going to work.”

  “Then why stay with him so long,” Landon asked. He squeezed Zerk one more time and stepped backward until he sat on the edge of his bed. Herc jumped up and curled behind him.

  He watched Zerk shove his hands into his pockets and leaned against the wall beside the door. The muscles in Zerk’s arms and chest flexed, Landon’s gaze chased each shift beneath the tattooed skin and the thin cotton of his shirt. He leaned forward and placed his forearms on his knees. Zerk didn’t realize what his bulky frame did to Landon. Having Zerk in his house was going to be harder than he first thought and he thought it was damn near torture already.

  “I was fucking stubborn.”

  “You stubborn, no,” He said and grinned.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m done with him. Should I move back to Twirled House?”

  “No, you’re fine here. The guys are great, but you need some time to yourself. You know how they are.”

  “They already gave me shit at work. Why didn’t anyone ever tell me how much they fucking didn’t like Ron?”

  “You’re a grown ass man, Zerk, and just so you know, we weren’t that subtle about showing we didn’t like him. Come on, he didn’t like the guys, or the runs. The one Sunday night he hung with us you’d have thought he was being tortured. I think he actually put a handkerchief down on one of Scary’s barstools before he sat on it.”

  Landon almost felt bad for laughing when Zerk huffed and banged the back of his head against the wall.

  “Don’t think about it just answer; do you want to get back with him?”

  “No,” Zerk practically hollered his answer.

  “Good answer. You were settling when you started dating Ron.”

  “Settling, an investment banker who looked like a blond Adonis.”

  “Definitely settling.”

  Zerk pushed away from the wall, removed his hands from his pockets and approached his bed. He held his breath as the big man sat down next to him. Zerk’s weight caused him to lean towards him. The big man flopped backward, crossed his muscular arms under his head and Landon fell back to rest his head on Zerk’s bicep.

  “If you wanted in my bed, all you had to do was ask.”

  Zerk snorted and tweaked his hair. “Funny man.”

  “I try. You ready to have the house to yourself?”

  “Going out of town?”

  “My boss said I’d be gone maybe two weeks. I don’t want to go, but it’s the downside of my job. Some guy embezzled from his own company and they want to know where the money is before the guy skips out on his court date.”

  “It’ll be weird being here by myself. Maybe I should just go back—”

  “No, you’re fine, but I’m sure Trouble would bring his baby to help you move.”

  Trouble was psycho over his 1957 Chevy Pickup. He’d probably cut one of their hands off for leaving a fingerprint.

  “Yea, I can see me scratching the bed and my body turns up six months from now.”

  He patted Zerk’s chest and tightened his abs to sit up. “Okay, I gotta pack, I have to catch a 7 a.m. flight. This is the only thing about my job I hate.”

  “If that’s the only thing then it ain’t so bad. We’re meeting up at Twirled House for dinner, want to join?”

  “No, you go ahead. I have to pack and crash early.” He leaned over and kissed Zerk’s hairy cheek. “Have fun. Tell them hi for me.”

  “Will do.” Zerk got up and headed for the door. “Landon?”

  “Yea,” He asked as he pulled his suitcase from under his bed. He glanced over his shoulder and caught Zerk rubbing the back of his neck.

  “Thanks for this. You don’t know how much I appreciate it.”

  “What are friends for, big guy?” Landon asked with a smile. “Oh, and no Brawler visits while I’m gone. No one will be around to bail your asses out.”

  Brawlers was Scary’s bar he ran with his best friend, Tank. It was rough and fights were par for the course on the weekends—too much testosterone and alcohol. Scary and Tank ran the place with an iron fist, but to be honest, they sometimes were the ones right there in the middle. The Twirled and Brawler Crews were loyal to the end and always jumped into the fray.

  “We’ll behave. Our responsible members are going to be out of town, no Gib, Peaches or you to trudge down to the station at 3 a.m. to post the bail.”

  “Exactly. Now get out here. I’ll see you in a few weeks.”

  Zerk exited his room chuckling and Landon wanted to call him back. He’d waited too damn long for this moment and now work was getting in the way. The sooner Landon got there and figured out what was going on, the sooner he could get back home to work on getting Zerk to see him as a man and not just a friend. He just hoped like fuck he wasn’t setting himself up for disappointment.

  5 Cabin Fever Has Set in

  Zerk stared at the wall Lucky painted to look like some tie-dyed, psychedelic acid trip and absently scratched Herc’s head. The quiet at home quickly became unbearable without Landon there. Dammit, it wasn’t home. It was Landon’s house and he was a temporary resident until he got his shit together. It was only three days, but it felt like longer. He’d sent texts asking stupid shit just to have some contact.

  His phone chimed with a text notification. When he removed his hand from Herc’s head the dog huffed and ambled off to find another sycophant to worship him. Landon completely spoiled Zerk’s damn dog. He leaned to the side and dug his phone out, and then checked the display.

  Landon: Miss me yet? ;)

  He read the text and snorted, then replied.

  Zerk: Nope.

  Landon: Liar. How’s our son?

  Zerk: Spoiled.

  Landon: Not spoiled. Loved.

  Zerk: Yeah. Yeah. Catch the bad guy yet?

  Landon: Nope.

  Two damn weeks was going to feel like a lifetime. He’d told himself plenty of times to not get attached to Landon and what the fuck did he do; he got himself attached.

  “Sexting with the boyfriend,” Lucky plopped down beside him.

  “No, I’m not sexting and Landon isn’t my boyfriend.” The kicker was it made him depressed, because whatever the hell his head said, his heart and dick wanted something else.

  “Whatever you say, Zerk, but you’ve been sniffing around that ass for years. Your hairy, saggy balls just ain’t big enough for you to take it.”

  “I’m not interested—”

  “Bullshit. Landon might be oblivious, but we aren’t.”

  “The man is just too damn gorgeous.”

  “He’s a bit too skinny for my tastes. I like 'em fluffy. Something to hold onto.”

  “Like Priest,” Zerk asked hoping to move the conversation away from him and shit he didn’t want to talk about.

  “Naw, man, not that I’d mind. But you know he ain’t interested in any of us.”

  It was true, Priest was too skittish for the likes of Lucky. The short year Priest belonged to the Twirled Crew Zerk hadn’t noticed the man paying attention to anybody.

  “True.”

  “When you moving back in?”

  “Someday, but I’m liking living with Landon.”

  “I’m sure you do.”

  Lucky’s meaning was damn clear and he swore him and Lucky would go a few rounds one day soon.

  “Not that way. Living with Ron was like being in a showroom. Everything was so damn breakable. It wasn’t comfortable and it didn’t feel like home.”

  “That’s because he wasn’t right. I’m sure he was a good fuck. He just had that look about him.”

  “Not really. Ron just wasn’t into sex.”

  “Some guys just don’t like anal. It happens.”

  “That’s not really a problem. Although I love it, it’s not the be-all of a gay man’s existence. He didn’t like anything, hell maybe he just didn’t like me. Ron could’ve just liked the shock factor of introducing me to his friends.”

  “Like a fucking prized pet.”

  “Exactly.”

  He received another message and when he opened it, it was a picture of Chinese Takeout containers with a tower of energy drinks and a caption: Come cook for me.

  “You cook for him like a good little husband?”

  “Shut up. He cooks too. We keep the same hours. He apparently doesn’t sleep much at night. I don’t know how he exists on so little sleep.”

  “Not everyone needs 12 hours of sleep just to function. It might be a hibernation thing.”

  He elbowed Lucky in the ribs as he replied to Landon.

  Zerk: You’re on your own.

  Landon: But… But… I feel my arteries hardening.

  “I’m sure more than his arteries are hardening. Tell that sexy man what you want to do to him. Put both of you out of your misery and fuck already.”

  “Quit reading my fucking messages.”

  “You’re so touchy. That’s what sexual frustration does to you.”

  He ignored the sexual frustration remark. It was true but Lucky didn’t have to call his ass on it. He hadn’t had a decent fuck in forever and his gut told him sex with Landon would be anything but decent.

  Zerk: I’m sure you’ll survive.

  He received another message and checked it.

  Landon: Be nice to me!

  “Oh yea, man, be nice to him.”

  “Go the fuck away.”

  “Why you want to get nasty? Don’t you need a locked door and lube for phone sex with the boyfriend?”

  “He’s not my boyfriend.”

  “But you don’t deny the phone sex, interesting.”

  He snorted as Lucky stroked his imaginary beard and studied him like some science experiment. “You think about sex too much.”

  “You don’t think about fucking enough.”

  “I’m not getting into a sex conversation with you because I still have nightmares from the last one.”

  “Prude, I’m going to bed. Can’t sleep unless I—”

  Zerk slapped his hand over Lucky’s mouth before he could finish. “You can stop right there.”

  “I’ll lick you,” Lucky’s words muffled.

  He jerked his hand away. “And you’ll lose your dreads.”

  “Empty threats. I’ll tell Landon you jerk off to thoughts of him and I’ll come up with all kinds of details how I heard you groaning his name. Don’t fuck with me.”

  He didn’t doubt Lucky. The man knew every weak point. It was like he had a sixth sense and Lucky didn’t have any issues striking out when attacked. For a pacifist, the man was an evil fucker.

  “Hey, what about your radical honesty bullshit?”

  “I can make exceptions when someone threatens the hair.”

  “Go away, shit—” His phone started to ring and shooed Lucky away. Reluctantly the man disappeared. He stroked his thumb across the screen and pressed the phone to his ear. “I didn’t forget about you. Lucky was being an ass and I was getting ready to escape.”

  “Haven’t forgotten about me, Brian?”

  He shuddered at the smooth, polished voice of Ron.

  “I thought we’d agreed not to do this.” At one time he’d thought that voice turning all low and husky was sexy, now, not so much.

  “Agreed not to do what? We spent over a year together, can’t we be—friends?”

  “You know damn well we can’t be friends in any capacity, especially not that one.” The thought of it was distasteful. Soon after the honeymoon phase was over, Ron started acting like even the most casual affection was an imposition.

  “Why can’t we have some fun?”

  “You never had fun with me and couldn’t fucking stand it when I touched you.”

  “Have dinner with me. I realized I made—”

  “Mistake or not, it’s over. You made it clear when you left me behind in that empty house we shared.”

  “You can’t tell me you like being back at that weird house with those freaks.”

  “Actually I’m not living there. Herc and me are staying with Landon.”

  “Landon, I knew you were—”

  He was learning one of Landon’s bad habits of cutting people off mid-sentence. At the thought of the other man he started to smile. Which if he admitted was kind of inappropriate now. “Don’t even start that bullshit. I never fucked around, especially not with Landon.”

  “Oh right, because it’s normal for me to walk into a room and see another man sitting on your lap or find a bunch of grown men curled up together on the floor.”

  “You knew damn well how the guys act around each other. Being affectionate isn’t a fucking sin between friends.” He didn’t understand Ron’s problem with the Crew and right now Ron was downright bitchy about it. “I’m done with this conversation and we’re not doing whatever you got in your head.” Zerk ended the call without a goodbye. He didn’t give a fuck if it was an asshole move.

  There was no way in hell he was getting back with the man. The phone started ringing again and he almost ignored the call until he checked the display to see Landon’s name. He connected the call. “Hey.”

  “Berzerker.”

  Oh, man, that tone again. "Ron called me. How the fuck do you do that?”

  “I know you.”

  “But one fucking syllable?”

  “Yep, I have good news.”

  “Tell me, I need some good news. Ron fucked my night up.” Ron didn’t fuck anything up he just wanted to hear Landon’s voice longer. What the fuck was happening to him? This was proof he was losing his mind.

  “I can’t guarantee it but I could be home earlier than expected. It seems Mr. Asshole CEO is pissing his pants that I’ll find the company money.”

  “Maybe cut a deal?”

  Landon heavily sighed, “He’ll probably end up in a cushy resort for a few years. Off the subject of my boring as hell job, what have you and the crew been up to in my absence?”

  “Lucky threatened to lick me.”

  “Are you and Lucky getting kinky when I’m not around to watch?”

  His stomach twisted, “Oh, you are so not a funny man. I think I may’ve thrown up in my mouth a bit.”

  “You’re so wrong, I’m hilarious. Don’t be so damn dramatic.”

  He loved the sound of Landon’s laughter, but didn’t want to talk about Lucky and licking anything a minute longer.

  “Tank came in for new ink.” Tank was Scary’s best friend and business partner in the bar they ran together. Landon had a soft spot for the silent behemoth.

  “Tank is running out of skin.”

  “The man is huge he has plenty.”

  “Oh, how huge is he, are you holding out on me?”

  “Okay, you’ve been spending too much time around Lucky. You’re becoming sex-obsessed.”

  “I’ve got to be having sex to be obsessed.”

  “I think it works the opposite. You ain’t getting any then you want it all the fucking time. Weren’t you dating someone not long ago?” He asked the question, already knowing the answer.

  Landon briefly dated a guy he’d met at work. It hadn’t lasted long, but in Zerk’s opinion one date was too much. He needed to get over this thing he had for Landon. Every guy Landon dated was like him; handsome, intelligent and normal. Okay, Landon wasn’t normal, he was just great at faking it.

  “Don’t remind me. He wasn’t a bad guy, nice even, but just not for me.”

  “Maybe we need to take you to Brawlers when you get back.”

  “Oh no, thank you, but no. I adore Scary and Tank I don’t want to hook up with one of their crew. They’re weirder than the Twirled one.”

  “And that’s saying a lot.”

  The Brawler was a revolving door of twisted dysfunction. If they weren’t acting like a bad ass security team they were kids fighting amongst each other. The Brawlers had a running pool on who would win the most fights and the amount of the pot hit five digits months ago.

  “Exactly. I do know what I want to do when I get back.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Make my first appointment.”

  “Why now? You’ve been waiting three years.” There was something Landon wasn’t telling him. The suddenness of his decision intrigued him, but he wasn’t going to question it too much. He didn’t want to change Landon’s mind. Although, Trouble’s suggestion kept playing through his mind. The tattoo a claim on Zerk.

  “It’s the right time.”

  He’d waited way too long to get his hands on Landon’s virgin skin. No one else would ever ink Landon. If it was the only mark of his that Landon wore he had to deal with it.

  “I have a favor to ask.”

  “Anything,”

  “Don’t be so quick to agree. Mom and Dad are taking their yearly vacation from the ranch and they wanted to stay with me for a few days.”

  “Gladys and Roy are coming,” Landon squealed, “They can have the second guest room. Tell me I’ll be home before they come.”

  He practically saw Landon bouncing in his mind. His mother loved Landon and the feeling was entirely mutual. Last visit Landon took a whole week’s vacation just to show his parents around.

  “Yes, they aren’t showing up until the end of the month. They’re going to fly into Atlanta, stay for a few days before flying out again to Paris. Mom has been excited for this trip since they started planning it last year.”

  “I’m sure. Last time we talked she was taking French lessons.”

  “When did you talk to Mom?”

  “About a month ago, but she didn’t mention coming to visit. The email I got from her a few days ago hadn’t mentioned it either.”

  “They hadn’t finalized dates yet. Should I be frightened that you and my mother call each other and email when I had no idea?”