Page 45 of A Real Good Lie

Both of them looked back across the lobby to the bar. Jace leaned over the bar top and laughed with the bartender. His face sparkled and he looked happy, a far contrast from the expression he’d worn through dinner.

“What does that mean? Rhys doesn’t know it’s fake. We’re doing fine.”

“I mean I thought you’d like him.” Sebastian rolled his eyes. “You’re fucking dense sometimes. You know that?”

“I don’t know anything about him.”

“Could have talked on the plane.”

“I was surprised!” He threw his hands up and turned on his best friend. “I didn’t know the guy you set me up with was the guy I’ve been jacking off about for the past two weeks.”

“I’m not speaking to you until you get your shit together.” Sebastian frowned and pointed toward the elevator, where Jace now stood with his fingers loosely wrapped around the neck of a bottle of champagne. “You have a good opportunity. Don’t fuck it up.”

“Sebastian,” he protested.

Sebastian pointed again.

“I hate you,” he grumbled.

Sebastian grinned and walked away, disappearing into the bar.

By the time Callahan reached the elevators, Jace was gone, so he waited for the next car and rode up to their room. He slid the key into the door and nearly tripped over Jace’s shoes, discarded just past the threshold. He picked them up, then walked further into the room and gathered up Jace’s discarded shirt and slacks, swallowing thickly as his fingers grazed over the soft cotton of Jace’s briefs.

Callahan clenched his jaw and mentally screamed, then continued into the bedroom. The door was open, and Jace had to know he’d be back eventually, so he didn’t assume his presence was unwelcome. He could have locked the door or at least closed it, and he hadn’t.

He opened up the small bedroom closet and set Jace’s shoes side by side, next to his battered sneakers, then hung up the dress shirt after unrolling the sleeves. He tucked Jace’s used underwear into the interior pocket of his suitcase, then folded the slacks and set them on top.

The bathroom went silent, and Callahan closed the closet.

“Are you in there?” he asked, not peeking.

“Who else would it be?” A cork popped and ricocheted around the room before landing on the soft carpet just over the threshold into the bedroom.

“Can we talk about dinner?”

“I wasn’t a fan of the sea bass,” Jace said.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“And the salad was lacking. Why don’t you rich people ever just use lettuce?”

“It doesn’t have any nutritional content. You’re missing the point.” He braced himself against the door frame and stared at the white marble floor.

“No,” Jace said softly. “I get your point, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I don’t want you to deal with this tomorrow.” Callahan sat down on the edge of the bed and toed off his shoes. He arranged them with his feet neatly in front of the nightstand.

“Are you asking me to go?”

“No,” he answered quickly. “Not that.”

In the bathroom, Jace made a sputtering sound after a quick choking noise, then he laughed softly. Water splashed, and then the room went silent.

Callahan needed to come up with something, and fast. He played the last two weeks back through his mind, trying to come up with a way to salvage at least the weekend. Callahan needed to face the facts, and as he sat on the edge of a bed he’d been told he wouldn’t get to sleep in, he rubbed his temples with the pads of his fingers, letting his eyes close.

He listened to the quiet lap of the water in the tub as Jace’s naked body moved, and his cock twitched to life. It was poor timing at best, but the wakeup call he needed to face the reality of his situation. He wasn’t perfect, and he wasn’t right for Jace, but Sebastianhadbeen right.

Not everything had to be serious and long term. It was fine to let go sometimes, and why couldn’t he start here? Start with Jace? It could be easy and casual. Maybe even just a fling for the weekend. They were obviously attracted to each other and there wasn’t any harm in acting on that.