Page 5 of Fire and Smoke (Nothing Special #9)

“You think you can get away from me that easily, you asshole!” Law yelled as he followed Wes’s Chevy.

This conversation was far from over. Matter of fact, it was long overdue.

While they’d been in litigation, Law’s legal counsel had advised him to stay away from Wes, that they needed to make the accident appear what it was…an accident and not gross negligence on their part.

But now that everything was over, Law was going to get this off his chest, and he was going to get Wes back.

Though the man was running now, he knew Wes was gearing up to give him the fight of his life.

They’d been at the start of something magical, a new phase of their complicated relationship, before it’d all been ripped away. Well… burned away.

He needed Wes to understand they could still come back from this, rebranded and renewed, no longer a liability. No more fights and squabbles that cost valuable production time.

They’d save the battles for the bedroom, where they’d settle their disputes like gentlemen.

He followed Wes, wondering just how long he’d give chase.

After twenty minutes, they ended up in front of Wes’s childhood home.

Law barely got past the hood of his truck before Wes was in his face.

“What the hell are you following me for?”

“You can’t just say some shit like that and walk away.”

“You still have to get the last word.” Wes shook his head.

Law stepped closer until their chests were almost touching. “That’s right. I haven’t changed. At least not when it comes to you.”

They stared at each other for a long moment before he saw that spark of heat ignite Wes’s bright eyes.

His knees almost buckled in relief. He’d prayed Wes hadn’t completely abandoned what they’d spent their lives building. Years of admiration, anchored by decades of antagonism that grew into fights they cherished even now.

Everyone else in his life could, or already had, fucked off.

“Let’s take this inside unless you want to give your mom’s neighbors a show,” Law growled.

If he hadn’t been standing as close as he was, he would’ve missed the sharp exhale Wes released against his cheek.

“Now.”

He stood behind Wes, his groin pressed against his ass as he fumbled to get his key inside all three locks.

Law’s cock was so hard he struggled to see straight.

He hadn’t expected to run into Wes today. He knew he’d moved back to Atlanta, and he’d had every intention of finding him…but not now.

While he understood Wes’s anger, especially over the way he’d left him, he wanted a chance to apologize and make things right.

Law rocked his hips forward.

“Fuckin’ open the door, dammit.”

Wes finally got the last lock to turn, and Law shoved Wes inside and kicked the door shut behind them.

He didn’t bother to ask if his mom was home before he slammed Wes into the wall.

Wes clutched his waist, biting into the sensitive skin on his throat. He tilted his head back and took the assault, knowing he’d earned it.

He could feel the anger and frustration rolling off Wes in waves, and the man had a right to his fury.

“You left me, asshole.” Wes gripped both of Law’s cheeks and pressed their foreheads together. “You fuckin’ left.”

Law’s breath was fast, his heartbeat even faster. He squeezed Wes’s wrists until he was sure he was leaving marks.

“I didn’t leave because I wanted to. I left because the company was getting sued, dumbass. I had to do—”

Wes growled and slammed his mouth over his and shut him up. It was a tactic he always loved taking advantage of.

When they broke apart, Law was panting, his lips wet and aching from the rough treatment.

“I trusted you,” Wes whispered. “I’ve always trusted you. It’s been me and you forever…and you…”

The brokenness in Wes’s voice made Law’s chest split open.

“Trust what I did was for both of us.”

“I didn’t ask you to make decisions for my life!”

Law forced Wes down on the couch.

He feigned putting up a fight, but there wasn’t much resistance behind it. He gave Wes his full weight, needing him to stop and listen to reason.

“Get off me,” Wes whispered, his voice cracking.

If Wes really wanted him off, he was more than capable of doing it.

Law could only hope he hadn’t done irreparable damage to their friendship.

Law eased his palms up Wes’s chest until he got to his throat.

Wes stayed quiet, his jaw tight as his throat muscles worked beneath Law’s hand, his Adam’s apple bobbing with every thud of his pulse.

He kept his eyes locked on Wes’s lips because he couldn’t say what he needed to when Wes’s eyes reflected so much pain.

“Wes. Our entire career, our reputations were built on our competitiveness. When we were on the same projects, we battled so hard to outdo each other that we ended up creating a magic on-screen that no other artists could even imagine, let alone replicate.”

Law cupped Wes’s jaw when he tried to turn away. He didn’t squeeze or try to hurt him—they never got physical in that way—but he knew when Wes craved his strength.

“Skylar Forwonder sued the studio for the glitch in the flamethrower software. If Paramound had found out that we could’ve prevented it… if they’d known…”

“Say it,” Wes gritted between clenched teeth. “If they’d known you had my dick down your throat in the middle of shooting a scene…what? So you told everyone my design was your fault.”

“Yes.” Law frowned, getting pissed that Wes was acting as if he didn’t understand the severity. “I didn’t want Paramound to go after you. If the studio had sued us for negligence and won, we never rebound from that. And I know if you don’t have your work, Wes…you won’t truly be happy.”

“I didn’t wanna be happy,” Wes bit out. “I just wanted to be with you.”

Wes would rather they fought each other and made themselves miserable for the rest of their lives than be away from him.

“I didn’t either, please believe me. I was always coming back for you.”

Wes tilted his head almost in submission, and Law spread his fingers, lightly caressing Wes’s pulse.

He didn’t try to mute the groan of satisfaction when Wes shifted and their hard cocks nudged hungrily against each other.

Law ground his hips deeper.

“Fuck,” Wes muttered. “I should kick your ass.”

“It was better to say we were fighting when Skylar was hurt…instead of fucking. Do you think we ever would’ve been hired again?

If we’d been monitoring the set like we were supposed to, we probably could’ve disabled the machine from your laptop and prevented that girl from getting burned.

It was our fault whether we fessed up to it or not. ”

Law’s voice was thick with emotion. “I guess what I did was me forcing us to pay our penance.”

“Alone.”

“Yes. Alone. There was no greater punishment, being without you. But I would never consider staying and destroying your career, all because I selfishly didn’t want to be without you.”

He slid his hand beneath Wes’s T-shirt and stroked his nipples, loving the way he shuddered from his touch.

If Wes only knew how many nights he’d wished for this very moment.

“Where were you all this time?” Wes croaked.

Law sighed. “I went to my cabin in Orderville…before I had to sell it. I think, for the first three months I was there, I was just numb. I walked around the middle of nowhere with a fog over my eyes.”

Wes’s hardened demeanor seemed to soften, but he was still holding back.

“I’d sit there for hours staring at the lake…and thinking of you.” He stroked Wes’s stubbled cheek with the back of his knuckles. “I missed the fuck out of you, you know that?”

Wes turned and kissed the back of his hand before glancing up at him through thick brown lashes. “Show me.”

Law was beyond relief.

He’d thought Wes would give him hell for days, but now, he knew he hadn’t made Wes angry. He’d devastated him, and he needed to fix it.

The next couple of minutes were a storm of clothes flying in multiple directions, hands grappling on damp flesh, and desperate kisses that weren’t intense enough to satisfy his appetite.

It’d been almost a year, and he was ravenous.