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He followed Joel to the bar.

“Hey, Sadie. Can you take a break for a few minutes?”

Sadie bit her lip at Joel’s request. This was it. Oakley knew what came next. Joel was going to get them alone and he was going to break it off. End it.

Just like that, all the alcohol he’d consumed evaporated as his heart lurched.

Sadie waved to a waitress, asking her to take over behind the bar. Then she lifted the hinged counter and followed them outside. The back alley behind Cruisers was deserted and only dimly lit. It was a cool October evening, the sky cloudy and the alley wet from the brief shower that had passed through earlier and killed the brutal heat of the morning. It was a dreary night. Perfect atmosphere for the hell that was about to descend.

“Listen—” Oakley started, hoping he could put off the inevitable.

“No. You listen. Or better yet, shut up.”

Before Oakley could reply, Joel shoved him against the back wall of the building and stepped closer.

Then Joel kissed him. Hard.

Joel held back nothing as he forced Oakley’s lips apart, his tongue stroking the inside of his mouth. Joel’s hands were in his hair, gripping it tightly, using that hold to turn Oakley’s head, so he could deepen the kiss.

Oakley’s libido shot into orbit when Joel shoved a leg between his, pressing his knee firmly against Oakley’s balls.

Oakley wasn’t given the opportunity to do more than merely accept what was being given. Joel had taken over and there was no denying he wanted this, wanted Oakley.

After several head-spinning minutes, Joel moved away, his lips only an inch or so from Oakley’s. Then he turned to look at Sadie.

“Come here,” Joel commanded.

Sadie moved toward them, but Oakley could see the reticence, the confusion. She’d expected the same thing Oakley had. Had anticipated Joel ending it all.

Joel tugged her into their embrace, the three of them closing their ranks, connected. Joel kissed Sadie as deeply as he’d just kissed Oakley. As their lips danced, Oakley placed soft kisses on her cheek and then Joel’s. When Sadie turned to Oakley, it was Joel’s lips that skirted along her face and then to Oakley’s neck.

“How long until closing time?” Oakley murmured when they broke apart for air.

Sadie grinned. “The second I get in there it’s going to be last call. I can have that place cleared in forty minutes.”

Joel groaned. “Make it thirty.”

They started kissing again, none of them willing to leave the cocoon they’d created for themselves. Sadie ran her hands along their chests as Joel stroked her breasts above her shirt. Meanwhile, Oakley gripped Joel’s ass cheek and squeezed.

“Too much more of this,” Joel said through gritted teeth, “and I’m going to fuck you both out here. Right now.”

“You say that like it’s a threat,” Sadie said with a light laugh.

“God.” Joel pushed away. “Hurry up and close this fucking bar, Sadie.”

She giggled as the three of them walked back inside. Joel and Oakley hovered near the back door, neither of them in a position to show themselves in public. Woody was hard enough to drive nails in concrete.

They leaned against opposite walls, hoping distance would help cool them off. It wasn’t working for Oakley. He’d probably have to hide back here until everyone left and Sadie locked the doors.

He looked at Joel, but for once in his talkative life, words failed him. Or perhaps it was more like he was afraid he’d pop the balloon he’d just received. He didn’t want to open his mouth and say something that would cause Joel to change his mind.

“It’s okay, Oak. I’m not running from this anymore.”

Leave it to his best friend to take one look at him and know what he was thinking. “You’re all in?”

Joel nodded, but Oakley sensed the hesitation.

“I’m not going lie and say I’m not a little bit nervous about what comes next.”