Page 99 of A Real Good Lie

Why couldn’t it be Callahan?

Why did everything between them need to taste like a lie in his mouth?

“Are you sure you need to go to work?” Callahan asked, taking his cock into his hand and pulling his length down in a leisurely stroke.

“Don’t you?”

“I’m the boss,” Callahan answered flippantly, “I can go in when I want.”

Like the final nail in the coffin, Jace was reminded of their differences, reminded of all the reasons their lives would never be compatible.

“I’m not,” he answered softly, snapping the lid back onto his camera and standing up.

“Five more minutes,” Callahan panted. “That’s all I need.”

“I have to shower,” Jace said.

“Can I come?” Callahan threw the sheets the rest of the way off.

“Sometimes I forget,” he muttered, holding his hand out in invitation.

“Forget what?” Callahan took his hand and stood, bringing their bodies close together and kissing the side of Jace’s throat.

“The way you get when you want something.”

“When I want you,” Callahan corrected.

Jace closed his eyes and focused on the way Callahan’s lips felt, kissing their way around the curve of his neck.

“Just me?” he dared to ask.

“Just you,” Callahan said. “Because I…”

“You can shower with me,” Jace interrupted, his heart unable to bear the weight of hearing the words another time.

“I like this, by the way,” Callahan said, following him into the bathroom.

“What?”

Jace bent over and turned on the water, wiggling his fingers beneath the spray to check the temperature.

“The way you’ve made yourself at home here.” Callahan stepped around him, under the water. “Allowing me to shower in my own home.”

“That’s not how I meant it,” he said.

“It’s exactly how you meant it.”

Jace walked into the shower, and Callahan stepped back so he could move under the water. Jace tipped his head back and wet his hair, looking down quickly when Callahan made a pained noise.

Callahan’s back was pressed against the wall, his erection still in his hand and his stare focused on Jace’s face. When their eyes connected again, Callahan’s arm moved, his hand stroking up and down his length while his gaze remained unblinking.

“Callahan.”

“Take your shower,” Callahan gritted out. “I’ll watch.”

Jace took the soap off the shelf—his soap—and squirted some onto the spare loofah Callahan had brought in a week and a half ago. He used his hand to make a lather, then started with his neck, working his way down.

By the time he reached his own cock, he was hard again, because how could he not be. Callahan’s attention was practically tactile, and Jace, painfully aware of it as it moved across his entire body. He dropped the loofah at his feet and gripped himself in a tight fist.