A slow grin grew on Andrei’s lips and he dropped both of his hands to his side. “You knock the shit out of him?”
Lucas smiled, though it seemed reluctant. “Not as often as I’d like.” He paced a few feet away before turning back. His long, broad body seemed looser, as if he’d shed some of the tension that had hummed through him when he walked in. “Honestly, how are you?”
Andrei shrugged, his eyes darting to the floor, unable to hold the other man’s gaze. “Good. Haven’t lost a fight.”
“I want the truth.”
“That is the truth.”
“Andrei.”
He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. “Don’t.”
“Drop the bullshit.”
“It’s hell!” Andrei finally shouted. “Every time I step into the ring, I’m reminded of the life that I worked so fucking hard for and can’t have. I look at these desperate men and have to push down my own revulsion. It’s one thing to fight someone who trains for this, who works their life for this, but these guys…it’s just blood lust and desperation.”
“I’m sorry.”
Andrei shook his head and looked up at Lucas. “I knew what I was getting into. I knew it was going to be like this.”
“It’ll be over soon.”
Andrei nodded, praying he was right. He was ready for this to be over so he could return to his life. Sure, it wasn’t the life that he’d trained for and dreamed about, but he accepted it.
Lucas stared at the door, frowning as if he were waiting for it to suddenly open. “I need to go. Rowe’s probably getting twitchy.”
“You should know something,” Andrei said, looking away from Lucas. “I…I went to Indianapolis with a friend recently.”
“Research?”
A half smile lifted one corner of Andrei’s mouth and he turned his head to watch Lucas. “Yeah, but not what you’re thinking. I had a friend take me to a gay bar up there. I didn’t want to do it here in Cincy. I thought it could make things…complicated.”
Confusion twisted Lucas’s face as he stared at Andrei. Seconds ticked by before he finally spoke. “You were doing research at a gay bar?”
Andrei nodded, fisting his hand nervously at his side. He wanted to push away from the wall. To pace the room. Something. Anything had to be better than standing there under Lucas’s piercing gaze. “I had to know.”
“What? If you were gay?”
Andrei nodded again.
Lucas slowly approached him, stopping when only a few inches separated them. He was so stiff, Andrei wasn’t sure Lucas was breathing. “How did you research? Let men hit on you?”
“No, I kissed them.”
Lucas’s eyes widened and he stepped into him so that his chest brushed against Andrei’s. “What?” That single word was nothing more than a low rumble of near predatory rage and possession and Andrei couldn’t deny loving the rush it sent through him.
“I told them that I was there to figure out if I was gay. A number of men were happy to kiss me to help me figure it out.” The words wavered as Andrei fought the sudden laughter building inside of him. Lucas was getting pissed and he wasn’t even trying to hide it any longer.
“Of course they were, you fucking idiot! Sexy piece of ass like you walks in. They were probably panting to get their hands on you.”
“You think I’m sexy?”
Lucas growled and Andrei could no longer hold back his laugh. It was the first time he’d truly laughed in weeks.
“How many?” Lucas asked.
“How many what?”
“How many men did you kiss, douche bag?”
Andrei grinned. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Andrei, I’m going to put my foot so far up your ass if you—”
“Four,” he said with a heavy sigh as if completely put out.
Lucas completely deflated. The number obviously wasn’t as high as he’d been feared. He stepped back and stared at Andrei again. He was debating whether to ask and Andrei knew it. “What did you figure out?” His voice was low and businesslike again. It was a tell for him and Andrei saw it now. When Lucas put his emotions under tight control, when he was desperate to bottle up and hide his feelings, he fell into this same tone of voice.
“That you’re a damned good kisser,” Andrei teased.
Lucas snorted softly, the lazy smile Andrei was addicted to sliding across his lips. “Well, I could have told you that without you whoring yourself out. Anything else?”
“That it wasn’t…uncomfortable. It was…nice.” Slipping his fingers in the waist of Lucas’s pants, he pulled the other man closer, enjoying the feel of Lucas’s hard muscles pressed against him. “I’m not saying I saw anyone that I’d let near my ass,” he said with a sly grin. “Just that I’ve apparently got more options when it comes to the dating scene.”
Lucas kissed Andrei—rough and possessive—as if Lucas were claiming him, before he pulled back, glanced at the door, then shook his head. “Fuck, Rowe.” He reached down, wrapped his fingers around Andrei’s wrists and put his hands on either side of his waist. “Touch me.”