Page 1 of A Quick Buck

Chapter 1

Life for Noah Allan had always been easy.

He was blessed with a gorgeous face and a body made for sin plus a heaping helping of brains to top it all off. He had been popular in high school, always made straight A’s, and had lots of friends. The hardest decision he’d ever had to make was deciding which party he was going to that weekend or what college he was gonna apply to.

It should have been perfect.

But it wasn’t.

The guy he’d met the other night at the club was supposed to be the start of something wonderful. He’d been at least ten years Noah’s senior, smoking hot, hung like a horse. They had partied for two whole days, and Noah had stayed over at his place last night. He really thought he’d made a special connection, and he was so happy.

The sex had been fantastic, and their two AM conversations were even better. They both wanted a full life, lots of adventure, and endless romance. Noah was certain everything was going well for the first time in a very long time, and he was about to invite his new dream guy over for dinner…

But the guy had plans already.

With his husband.

Great.

Defeated, Noah dragged himself to his car to go home, still stinking of sweat and scented body glitter. He’d run into something and dented the driver’s side door of his brand-new Maserati, and it did nothing to help his foul mood.

When his phone rang, he was tempted to roll down his window and throw it out.

It was Landon.

No last name because Noah couldn’t be bothered to remember it. They’d gone to high school together but had never hung out since they came from different cliques. Landon was a loser, plain and simple, but he was the one constant in Noah’s life now.

Noah’s social circle had vastly shrunk since graduation. His so-called friends were vapid and flaky, and he knew the ones who had stuck around only stayed because he was rich.After a while, those faded away too. He suspected it was because they figured out they couldn’t get any money from him, so they didn’t have any reason to go on being his friend.

He’d run into Landon at a party a few months ago and made the mistake of exchanging phone numbers with him. Noah blamed the large volume of Grey Goose he’d had that night, and now he couldn’t get rid of the guy. They always ended up at the same bars, the same parties, and Landon was completely insufferable.

“What?” Noah answered.

“Hey, man!” Landon said cheerfully. “Was checking on you since you, uh, had that little fender bender last night. I know you were super upset. Are you and Brad okay?”

Brad was the married guy whose house Noah had just left.

“Fine.” Noah rolled his eyes. “Wait, you saw what happened to my car?”

“Yeah. You and Brad were leaving the club, and, uh, a parked car got in your way.”

“Shit.”

“You took out the other guy’s headlight, but don’t worry! I picked up most of the plastic and stuff. I told the cops I didn’t see anything. I don’t know if you remember any of that—”

“Did you know Brad was married?”

“What? No!” Landon gasped.

“Son of a bitch just told me. I said from the start that I don’t share shit. Not clothes, not food, not nothing. And he was all ‘hey, me too!’ All about monogamy except I guess when his husband is out of town. Fuckin’ dick.”

“I’m real sorry, Noah. I know you really liked him.”

“It’s no big deal,” Noah lied. “I’ll find somebody else.”

“Maybe, uh, maybe you should take a break from guys for a little while?”

Noah scoffed.