Page 58 of His Surrender

“It’s okay.” Remi gave me a warm smile. “Drink your beer, Mr. Foley.”

“Back to the formalities again, are we?” I tilted the bottle back as I took a drink.

“It’s kind of our thing now.” Remi exhaled more smoke, his eyes locked onto mine. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

Our thing.Why did those two words excite me?

“I suppose.” I placed my cigar between my lips and lit it. His eyes watched me in the same way mine had watched him. A deep hunger shone in the blue depths. A hunger I knew all too well.

“What do you want to do after this?” he asked in a raspier tone.

“You, hopefully.”

“That can be arranged.”

Oh, hot damn.

We stayed for the rest of the band’s show, and once they were done playing, Remi spoke to the members while I stood beside him, trying to control my wandering hand as it caressed his back.

“Glad to have you back,” Remi said to Mike before hugging him.

“Thanks for fillin’ in for me when I was gone,” Mike responded, patting Remi’s shoulder. “You’re a good kid. Always have been.”

It amused me how he called Remi a kid, but to the other men in the band, that’s exactly what Remi was to them. From what Remi had told me, those men had practically raised him when his mom passed.

“It was great meeting you, Mike,” I said, going to shake the man’s hand.

He gently brushed my hand aside and pulled me in for a hug instead. “Any friend of Remi is a friend of mine.”

Remi caught my eye over the top of Mike’s bald head and smiled. The smile was different than others I’d seen. It was warmer.

After helping Johnny and the guys load up their instruments, Remi and I told them good night once again and walked outside. The weather was warm for end of February, and as we left the bar and headed for the parking lot, I breathed in the fresh air, finding the warmth reassuring. It meant spring was right around the corner.

Spring symbolized growth and new beginnings. And as I glanced at Remi walking beside me, his eyes meeting mine and a small smile curving his lips, I wondered if he’d bemynew beginning. Wondered if he’d be the warmth to melt the ice around my heart.

Chapter 14

Remi

Jay’s house wasn’t what I’d expected. I had pictured a total bachelor pad with little to no decorations, maybe a playroom with a leather couch, whips and sex toys hanging on the wall, and an extravagant bed in the center of it all.

The reality? Very different than that.

“Wow,” I said, after stepping through the front door and looking around.

Hardwood floors in the living room, and there was a brown couch and love seat holding white and orange pillows. A multicolored rug was beneath the antique coffee table. The walls held a variety of landscape paintings and a few black-and-white photographs.

“I’m a lover of beautiful things,” Jay said, casting his gaze around the room almost nervously. “I know it’s a lot.”

He’d told me he rarely brought men home. This was a part of his world he let very few people ever see. Was that why he was nervous?

“I like it.”

“Thank you.” Our eyes met, briefly, before he averted them again. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“No, thanks.” I remained standing in the entryway. So did he. I started laughing. “Could we be any more awkward?”

His face broke into a smile. “Probably not. What the hell is wrong with us? We’ve seen each other’s asses. Having you in my house shouldn’t be this weird.”