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“But he’s not your student,” Jesse pointed out.

Jacob shook his head. “It’s a bad idea.”

Jesse was all too aware of how sometimes what they wanted was the worst idea. That didn’t mean that it wasn’t hard to stop wanting what they saw. Lake was a complication that Jessedidn’t need. The smart thing to do would be to avoid Lake and find someone else to spend his time with.

There was no chance in hell that was going to happen though.

Chapter Two

Lake

Shifting from foot to foot, Lake looked nervously around at the people gathered in the living room and spilling out into the backyard by the open sliding glass door.

There were only about thirty people in attendance. Lake couldn’t spot the one person that he’d hoped would be there. He sighed, his shoulders slumping. Lake shouldn’t be surprised. Jesse was a very busy man. He ran multiple business ventures including real estate, was the owner of a casino and hotel, and the Teddy Bear kink club inside the casino resort. There were probably more that Lake didn’t even know about.

Yeah, Lake had been kidding himself, hoping that Jesse would be there. Even if Jesse was friends with Remi and Dom, he probably had a million parties that he was invited to.

“Hey.” Ezra stepped to his side. “I brought you a lemonade.”

Lake accepted the glass gratefully. He’d gone inside the kitchen earlier, but the space had been filled with laughing cops that worked with Remi, and Lake had hightailed it out of there.

Not that the cops would have been mean to him.

Remi worked with a good group of guys that had always been polite to him.

Lake just wasn’t sure if any of the cops there knew his father. After leaving the army, his father had taken a position with the local police department as a consultant. Lake was thankful none of his new friends had ever had to deal with his father. Lake’sfather wouldn’t have been a fan. He just wasn’t sure about the other cops at the housewarming party.

“You doing okay?” Ezra asked.

Lake nodded. “It’s just very peoplely.”

“Ha! That’s what Dom said. I’ve come to grab you.”

“Where are we going?” Lake asked even as he willingly followed Ezra down the hall. He wasn’t surprised when they stopped at the playroom door.

Ezra knocked three times. “It’s us!”

The door opened before Brandon stuck his head out. “What’s the password?”

Ezra grinned. “Mother fluffer!”

Lake snorted and shook his head. He thought his friends had been joking about the password. They hadn’t been. Damn, he loved these guys.

“Enter, please,” Brandon said, opening the door wider and bowing.

Ezra giggled as he dragged Lake into the room.

Brandon slammed the door behind them before replacing the stuffie barrier guard. Lake wasn’t certain how that came about but he dropped down to help Brandon. Their guards were very good at their job. They deserved all the praise in the world, so Lake made sure to give each stuffie a pat on the head.

“I thought you’d never get here,” Dom complained from his reclined position in a giant beanbag chair.

Lake crawled over to his friend. “It’s okay we’re hiding from our own party?” He didn’t want Remi mad at them.

“It’s fine,” Dom responded with a wave of his hand. “Daddy said I looked tired and should sit down.”

“I don’t think he quite meant this,” Lake said, worried. He twisted his fingers together. “What if he comes looking for us?”

“Then he better know the password,” Brandon said with a cackle.