Cora laughed, scratching the top of Baby’s head. “Oh, I know. Few men are quite this passionate. Some people might find it too intense, so I’m glad he found someone appreciative.”
Hammer licked his lips as he stared at the TV screen showing Cora’s watchlist on one of the many streaming platforms. But despite not wanting to acknowledge Dex’s words, he moved his own hand up Dex’s thigh, closer to his crotch.
Even if it was just his attempt at embarrassing Dex by giving him a boner in company, the memory would be Dex’s to keep. The revelation of Hammer, the cold-blooded killer, beingpassionateconfirmed what Dex had overheard at Stefani’s. And maybe in the right circumstances, Hammer could become curious enough to stray off hisstraightpath, even if just one time.
Dex slid his fingers under the sleeve of Hammer’s T-shirt, exploring his thick bicep. “What was his favorite thing back in the day, when he still did women?”
Hammer frowned at him. “When I still did women?”
“Oh, are you open?” Cora asked, switching on the movie and instantly putting it on pause. Her eyes shone as if she were ready to grab some popcorn.
The hand on Dex’s thigh squeezed him almost too hard, and Hammer’s jaw muscles twitched, but he remained cool on the surface and was quick to correct himself. “What I mean is that… I still like women. I’m not gay.”
Dex rolled his eyes and slid closer, so their thighs touched, then wrapped his arms around Hammer’s waist as if he were hugging a big, sturdy teddy bear. So maybe it was another challenge, but wow did the touch feel good—warm, steady, like a wall of bone and flesh that could withstand any storm. It could have only been more perfect if Hammer opted out of wearing the T-shirt, so Dex could bury his face in the big pecs and smell the faint aroma of cedarwood on tanned skin.
“And yet here we are.” Dex caught Hammer’s gaze and smirked despite his heart dancing wildly. “I have this one ex who wouldn’t even admit he was bi, but I let it slide because he was super-hot and raced cars. The adrenaline of riding shotgun with him made for the most intense sex after.”
Hammer stared at him with emotion passing over his features. “So… how was that?”
Dex’s pulse picked up. “Fast and rough. He had a kink for doing it outdoors. We might have still been a thing if I hadn’t crashed his car. But it’s for the better, because I wouldn’t have met you ifthatwas still going on.” A weird tension curled in his stomach. He was saying these things to tease Hammer in front of Cora, to get at leasta reactionout of this boyfriend-actually-hostage situation, but that didn’t change the physicality of their closeness. Hammer’s wide-shouldered frame felt so solid against him, and smelled like a fucking honeypot. He wished to get drunk and for a moment believe that a guy this fine might ever want to claim him for real.
“That’s right. But I bet there were many others before you met me,” Hammer said and pulled Dex close with one arm.
Dex’s brain became frazzled when he sensed the heat of Hammer’s armpit against his nape. “Things never really worked out with anyone else,” he mumbled, beginning to wonder whether Hammer wasn’t genuinely interested in his stories. He hadn’t gagged him after all, and he could have. “I guess I’m a handful, so it takes someone special to handle me. I would try to make it work with guys who seemed to live on the edge like me. There was this graffiti artist—he did the art on my car actually—but he wassucha rebel that he wasn’t happy about me not having a stable job.” Dex rolled his eyes at the bitter memory but consoled himself by stroking Hammer’s thigh. “Then there was this guy who was a DJ at a nightclub. He was really outgoing so we got along like two raccoons in a trash can filled with marshmallows. I moved in with him within a week, but then all of a sudden it wasn’t enough that I gave him great dick three times a day, because apparently I’m messy and talk too much. Well, Hammer loves it, so his loss.” He smiled up at Hammer with a lovey-dovey expression, but in his heart he wasn’t sure if Hammer eventoleratedhis presence, let alone liked that Dex’s mouth worked overtime. An unnecessary insecurity to have in his precarious position, yet here they were.
His whole being whispered,Say you like it, even if it was to just be a lie for Cora’s benefit.
Hammer’s gaze was cold as steel, but he did pull Dex closer and, in a gesture straight out of a romantic movie, pushed a strand of Dex’s hair behind his ear, triggering an unexpected jolt of sensation that went straight to Dex’s groin.
Wow.
Fuck.
He’d have given Hammer his car in exchange for a single ride on his dick and likely regretted that decision later, but hey, a man only lived once!
The stern features relaxed, and the dimples, which had been tiny so far, deepened when Hammer smiled at him. “I’m only pissed off at all the fuckers who didn’t see you as the nugget of gold you are.”
Fireworks made of caramel popcorn exploded in Dex’s brain, and he munched on this treat, pretending it was real. So maybe Dex was a sucker, but how was he to resist when Hammer acted like the best boyfriend on the planet? But the keyword was:acting. None of this was real. Hammer wasn’t Dex’s boyfriend and didn’t even want to get his dick sucked by a guy.
Still, Dex was free in his mind and wished a guy like Hammer could find something special in him, something that made him worth keeping around. To, for once, be more than a liability everyone had to deal with, and that for this one person, his flaws wouldn’t be a deal-breaker. That he wouldn’t be thrown out like a used condom after he burned a pot while cooking or forgot to refuel the car.
Cora chuckled, unaware of the sudden tension filling the air between her two guests. “Bet you already murdered them all in one of your stories. I should go back on that website of yours sometime.”
Hammer’s smile froze, and he looked at the TV, ignoring Dex again.
No. Dex could not be left hanging like this!
Cora spoke before he could have, her green eyes sparkling with the desire for drama. “Oh, this is juicy! You haven’t told him?” she asked, clapping her hands.
“If that’s what you suspect, why are you still talking about it?” Hammer growled and shot her a stare that did absolutely nothing in terms of intimidation.
She grinned. “You’ve been together two years. Seriously, I think he knows you enough by now.”
Hammer rubbed his face.
Dex had to make sure that the cuffs attaching him to the sofa didn’t take off some skin, but climbed into Hammer’s lap. It was kinda hot to be naked when Hammer remained clothed and watched him with eyes like silver coins. So maybe it startled Hammer or crossed a boundary he wouldn’t have disregarded himself, but straddling him like this felt like a reward for the long hours of solitude.
“Babe! Why didn’t you tell me you write porny stories? Am I in them? Are they hardcore?”