Page 10 of Troubled Skies (Blue Skies #3)

“Especially this one,” Adrian said as he lifted the glass cloche and selected a chocolate croissant, then poured coffee into a mug and added cream. Once he’d taken a few bites of the pastry and was halfway through a second cup, he was ready to confront the texts his asshole ex had left him.

The thread was full of “I miss you.” “I care about you.” “Please tell me ur all right.” “OMG, I can’t believe you might have died.

” “Baby, I made a mistake. Please forgive me.” “I didn’t realize how much I luv you.

” It made Adrian’s stomach churn and his body tight with anger even as he snorted at the faux concern.

“Faux” because it was all manipulation. Eric had been a master of it, leading Adrian to believe he was in a real relationship with hope for a future together, so nothing the man said was genuine.

As far as Adrian was concerned, he could go fuck himself, which he thought he’d made clear in his final text.

Just to be sure, Adrian scrolled back to the beginning of the current slew of messages and then looked at what preceded them.

I hope your dick gets eaten by rabid raccoons. Fuck off and leave me alone. Better yet, FOAD.

Yup. That should have been abundantly clear, but it seemed like the fucking asshole thought there was still a chance he could get back in Adrian’s good graces.

Maybe that would have been possible before the plane crash, but now…

no, even before the plane crash there was no fucking way Adrian would have been willing to be lied to and manipulated by sweet words and promises of a future that was never going to happen.

Not then and definitely not now. Not ever again.

Those were Ricky’s mistakes. Adrian had a clean slate.

A warm hand touched Adrian’s shoulder. “You are all right, poussin?”

Adrian looked up at Ren. What looked like genuine concern warmed Ren’s dark eyes and creased his forehead, and despite Adrian’s firm conviction of not falling for everyone who offered him a kind word, he found himself wanting to believe Ren was sincere, that his offer of help didn’t come with strings or expectations, that this time he could put his trust in someone without getting hurt.

He handed over his phone and rested his head in his hands as Ren began scrolling. “My ex is an asshole.”

Ren’s eyes widened as he read, and then he chuckled.

“You have a temper as fiery as your hair, mon petit diable. Remind me never to do anything to anger you. But what is it that prompted him to contact you after you were…” Ren scrolled back “…more than eloquent in your desire for him to leave you alone?”

“I was in a plane crash last month.” Adrian let his gaze drift away from Ren’s face because he didn’t want to see his caring expression morph into one of horror or worse, pity. “We were returning to LAX after multiple-engine failure.” He shrugged. “I guess he just found out I was on that flight.”

“I am so sorry you had to experience that, Adrian. And this.” Ren handed his phone back. “It does not give this connard the right to harass you.”

“He doesn’t really understand boundaries,” Adrian said, then added, “He’s married.

With three children. Not that he mentioned it for the entire year we were together, of course.

” The fact that he’d just told Ren about the two most traumatic events in his life caught up to Adrian, and he gave Ren a small smile.

“That’s not really your problem. I’ll just tell him to fuck off again. ”

“You could,” Ren said. “But a picture is worth a thousand word, non?”

“You think I should send him a selfie of me in the first-class lounge?” Adrian couldn’t keep the confusion out of his voice.

“Non. I am saying you send him a picture that tells him you have moved on and are living your best life. That is the greatest revenge, tu ne crois pas?” Ren held out his hand and brought Adrian to his feet.

He took hold of Adrian’s phone and opened the camera, switched it to selfie mode, then put his free arm around Adrian’s waist and pulled him close.

“I am going to kiss you, poussin, if that is all right with you.”

Adrian was too stunned to do anything but nod before Ren’s lips were touching his.

They were every bit as soft as Adrian had imagined they would be, and he whimpered as his brain sent up a tiny flare of distress, a whispered warning that he should stop before he made a Ricky mistake and actually kissed Ren.

That thought was overwhelmed by how much Adrian liked the way Ren pulled him in, his entire body pressing against Adrian’s, surrounding him as if he could protect Adrian from all the monsters and evil exes in the world.

Too soon, Ren let him go. Adrian took a deep breath as Ren sorted through the photos he’d taken, deleting most of them until he nodded at the screen.

“Send him this one,” Ren said. “And tell him you are seeing someone, so he can…what did you say?”

“Fuck off and die?”

“Yes, that.”

Adrian took hold of his phone and sent his ex the photo that showed he was getting kissed by someone with curly brown hair.

This is my boyfriend , he typed. We are on our way to Ibiza. Your concern is no longer necessary nor wanted. FOAD, and don’t ever contact me again.

As soon as he sent the message, he blocked the number and put his phone down on the table.

“That was amazing,” he laughed, but when he looked at Ren, the embers ignited by their pretend kiss flared to life.

Adrian had no idea who moved first. All he knew was that Ren’s arms were around him, their bodies pressed close, and whatever thoughts Adrian had had about keeping Ren at bay fled in the face of his overwhelming need to taste this man.

He flicked his tongue against Ren’s lips. A question. An invitation. And Ren accepted. A hand rose to tangle in Adrian’s hair, cradling his head as Ren pressed against him with more force, creating the perfect angle as he softly teased the seam of Adrian’s lips with the tip of his tongue.

Adrian groaned, opened to let Ren explore, and groaned again as the rich taste of dark chocolate and spice exploded in his mouth.

He was surrounded by a heavenly scent of leather and vanilla, overwhelmed by a burst of desire that sent his head spinning and blood rushing south.

They were both panting as the kiss ended in a series of soft tugs on his inside lip.

“That was even better than the one on the plane, mon poussin,” Ren said.

It took a moment for Adrian’s kiss-drunk brain to fully absorb what Ren had said.

“What do you mean ‘on the plane’?” he asked even though the nausea in his stomach made it horribly clear where the raw spot on his lower lip had come from.

Ren gave him a one-shoulder shrug. “On the plane. Our first kiss. It was rude of the attendant to interrupt us, non?” Ren reached for Adrian again, tried to draw him closer. “But now there is no one here to tell us we cannot do this.”

As Ren lowered his head and moved closer for another kiss, Adrian put his hand on Ren’s chest and pushed him back, then ducked around him seeking the less enclosed space of the room.

Adrian rubbed at his mouth. They’d kissed.

On the plane. Oh, fuck. Adrian’s face burned with embarrassment and shame.

“I didn’t kiss you,” he said, then realized how stupid that sounded when Ren frowned.

“I was asleep. The pills I take…sometimes I sleepwalk, and then I don’t remember…

” Adrian was mortified and wished the floor would open up so he could escape.

“I am so sorry,” he whispered, staring at Ren without seeing him, panic rising in his body and eclipsing all thought except one: get out.

Adrian grabbed his phone from the table, his bags and jacket from the chair, and fled unheeding of Ren calling his name. All he could understand was that he had royally fucked up once again, and he needed to be as far away from this man as he could get before he made another stupid mistake.