Page 82 of Played

“What?” I blink at him. Jesus fucking Christ.

He walks toward me, and I register that we are once again squaring off against each other in my office. “I said do you love him?”

“Yes, I do, King. As a friend. He’s my best fucking friend. Is that why you’re doing this? Because you’re jealous of my friendship with Tyler? A guy you met once, for barely a minute?”

His nostrils flare. “I’m asking you to consider that it could be him.”

“Well, I fucking won’t consider it. You don’t get to accuse innocent people just because you’re a jealous jackass.”

His hand wraps around my throat, and he tugs me forward until my chest bumps against his. My treacherous dick stiffens in response. “Yeah, I am jealous. I can’t help but be jealous of a guy that you trust the way you trust him.”

My blood is boiling, and I want to take my anger out on King, preferably by fucking him senseless. But I can see this is coming from a place of hurt, so I take a few seconds and breathe through it. “He’s never given me any reason to doubt him, King. That’s how trust works. Have I ever given you any reason to doubt me? I love Tyler the way I love my own brothers. And full disclosure, there have been times when I’ve looked at him and wonderedif there was something more, but I never acted on it. You know why?”

“Why?” His voice is strained.

“Because he’s my friend, and I would have fucked up our friendship if I had. I’ve only ever been about shallow, meaningless hookups. And that’s all Tyler and I would have been. Because I don’t love him that way. For that kind of love, there’s only ever been you. There will only ever be you.”

He rests his forehead against mine, his breathing labored. “I’m sorry.”

I place my hand on the back of his neck. “It’s not him, King. Can you trust me on that?”

He loosens his grip on my throat and rests his fingers at the base of my neck, more like a caress than a hold. “Yeah.”

“I love you, mi rey.”

“I love you too, Mase. I’m always going to be a little bit of a possessive asshole when it comes to you though. You okay with that?”

Strangely, I am. “Yes. And I’m always going to be friends with Tyler. You good with that?”

I don’t know what I’ll do if he says no. I’m not prepared to give either of them up. And I know that as soon as the two of them get to spend some actual time together, they’ll hit it off immediately.

“Yeah, I can handle that.”

“That’s my good boy,” I tease, intending to break the tension. Instead, I create an entirely different, altogether more pleasant kind.

King growls, and the sound is impatient and feral. His mouth claims mine, and our hands work double-time exploring each other. Within seconds, I’m lost to him once more. King Blackthorn is my obsession. My darkness and my light, and all the shades in between.

Chapter

Thirty-Nine

MASON

King’s fingers trail lazily down my abs as he lies next to me in bed. “I was thinking about how much I enjoyed our date that wasn’t a date.”

Yeah, I enjoyed it too, and I wish we could do it more often. I roll onto my side to face him. “What did you used to do? You know, like back in Chicago? Did you date at all?”

“I wouldn’t call it dating, no. It was more…” He runs a hand over the thick stubble on his jaw. “To be honest, it was just sex. Often with guys who were as happy to not be seen in public together as I was.”

“So eighteen years of hookups? You’ve never been for dinner or a movie? Gone to a club?”

He arches an eyebrow. “You saw how out of place I looked in a club.”

I suppress a laugh as I recall how awkward he was in Xylophone, but only because I know him so well. He didn’t look out of place though. “Not even a bar?”

He shakes his head. “Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t as careful in Chicago as I am in New York. Being seen leaving a motel with a guy didn’t freak me out as much as it would here, but I didn’t want to do any of the dating stuff.”

I suspect that’s because of his father, but I don’t want to bring him up and ruin this perfectly enjoyable morning. So instead, I smirk at him. “And I thought I was the king of casual.”