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  Gavin moved through the office and nodded to Drake, then curled back up in the chair he’d given up. Rene sat back in his chair too, offering a smile.

  “I ordered burgers for the twins,” Drake told Gavin.

  Gavin shook his head. “They’re not coming. I told them I had this.”

  Drake looked surprised at that. “So the twins are….”

  “Busy.”

  “Whoa,” Drake said.

  “Why do I feel like I’m missing half this conversation?” Rene asked.

  “It’s a brother thing,” Gavin said with a surprisingly charming wink.

  Rene chuckled. He really did like this guy. When he wasn’t running away.

  The door opened and Timothy came in, loaded with bags and a drinks tray. Rene’s stomach growled. He was hungrier than he’d thought. Maybe the extra burgers that had been ordered wouldn’t go to waste after all.

  There was very little talking as everyone began eating. The milkshake was the best thing Rene had had in a long time, and he enjoyed the onion rings too. And the burger turned out to be just what he needed. It was neat, being out and about at this hour, having munchies. A little like being in a small pocket of another world, something set out of time with the rest of the city.

  As they finished their food, they began to discuss books and movies, even Timothy putting his two cents in now and then, proving himself to be quick and smart.

  “I keep thinking I should do a Marvel marathon, but I think at this point it would take several days, and I’m not sure I want to lock myself away alone for that long.” Rene thought it would be a great idea for a lingering date, though. Or even a getting-to-know-you session.

  “I tend to spend hours mainlining shows—Netflix, Crave, I have them all,” Gavin admitted.

  “Yeah, I do too. I don’t know that I spend enough time on any of them to justify the cost, but I like having the option when I want it.” Rene had no desire to be bored, so he made sure he wasn’t.

  “I’m retired. I get to be permanently lazy.” Gavin’s laugh made him smile.

  “That sounds very appealing. I keep thinking I should make it official and retire as well. But I’m afraid the charity boards would find out and I’d have to attend even more crazy events.” He’d have to retire from charity as well as his work. That would be the tricky one.

  “You’ll just have to learn to say no,” Gavin suggested.

  Like it was that easy.

  “Maybe I will. Now, here’s something I hope you’ll say yes to—I want to start that movie marathon. Popcorn and pizza at my place. What do you say?” Even if they only watched a single movie, that would be grand.

  “Oh….” Gavin hesitated a moment before continuing, “I’d love to say yes. I would, but I know myself. I’ll call and cancel.”

  “Why?” He was going to challenge that knee-jerk reaction. “You could always bring your ‘beasts.’”

  “I only have one at a time, you know.” Was that a tease? A little smile? Gavin was clearly trying to keep things light.

  Rene laughed for Gavin. He had to admit that now he wanted to meet these two even more. “You have a daytime and a nighttime beast?” he asked.

  Gavin nodded, like that was the most logical thing on earth.

  “Well, bring whichever one is daytime, and if we decide to run over into sunset, you can bring in the vampire.”

  “Poor Dev.” Drake cracked up. “I vant your blood!”

  “Well, if he only comes out at night….” Rene shrugged, then winked.

  Gavin laughed happily, clapping. “They’re my saviors. I don’t know what I’d do without them.”

  “It’s good to have people like that in your life. Trust is so important.” Rene leaned forward and snagged another cookie to finish off his meal. “So are you going to come watch a movie or two with me?”

  “I… I can bring Silas?”

  “Of course. I don’t want you to feel unsafe.”

  Gavin’s lips quirked in a little smile. “Thank you.”

  “Now for the serious question. I know I said popcorn, but what are your must-have movie snacks? The sky is the limit.”

  “I like chocolate and Cherry Coke.”

  “I’ll make sure I stock up on it, then. Saturday work for you?” He’d have made it sooner, but he had appointments.

  “I can do that. I need your address.” Gavin looked more than a little unsure.

  “You have a phone? I’ll give you my address and my number.”

  “I do.” Gavin unlocked it, then waited. “Go ahead.”

  He rattled off his address and his number. “It’s Rene Conette, by the way.”

  “Gavin. Just Gavin.” He got a wink.

  “No problem, just Gavin.” He took out his own phone. “Are you going to give me your number too?”

  Gavin nodded once, like he was making a decision. “It’s time to start making friends, I guess.”

  “I’m a good one to start with.” He input Gavin’s number as it was given to him, feeling the weight of the offering.

  “I hope so.”

  Drake snorted. “Silas and Dev aren’t friends?”

  “No. They’re family.”

  “Aww, you’re turning sweet in your old age, brother.” Drake grinned, looking like he was expecting to get thumped.

  “Kiss my ass, you old fuck.”

  Rene laughed. “That might be TMI.”

  The thought crossed his mind that if Gavin was his sub, there would be no cursing, but Gavin wasn’t his, and honestly, right now he seemed to need a friend.

  And if Rene was honest with himself, so did he.

  Chapter Three

  “I’M NOT going to go.” He didn’t want to. Well, he kind of wanted to, but not really. It was this huge scary thing. Not seeing Rene again—Gavin liked the man—but going out and staying for a few hours in someone else’s house? That was intimidating as fuck.

  “So don’t go.” Silas was altogether too easy for his comfort.

  Rene had been… not as scary as he’d thought once he’d gotten to know him a little. Still, this was about going outside during the day and visiting someone in their own space. Totally out of his comfort zone.

  He wanted to go, though. It could be fun. Or it could be a disaster.

  “You should bring a dozen doughnuts. I happened to pick a box up this morning.” That was Dev, who was supposed to be sleeping, dammit, not ganging up on him.

  “There you go. Dev bought doughnuts for you to take. You have to go. We should probably leave now if you’re going to be on time.” Silas looked up from his phone.

  “But—”

  “Si’s going to be there, Gav. Go. Go have a ball.” Dev sat next to him and bumped their shoulders. “You need to see more people than just the two of us.”

  “I love the two of you, though.” They were his best friends, his brothers, his angels. He wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for them.

  “Aww. We love you too, Gav.” They said it together.

  “But seriously,” added Dev. “It would be good for you to get out now and then. Have someone to talk to.”

  “I’ll be right there with you the entire time. Come on. You’re going.” Silas tugged him up and dragged him along, heading for the garage.

  “Good thing I’m dressed!” he protested.

  “Yep.” Dev’s laugh followed him out of the room.

  “You two have been conspiring against me!” He had been starting to get out again, to make slow little steps. He supposed this was the twins’ way of giving approval and encouraging him to do more.

  Silas got him to the SUV, and Dev handed him the Timmies box.

  “Thank you. You rock.” He hadn’t even thought about bringing something with him.

  Dev grinned. “I know.”

  Gavin rolled his eyes, but he wouldn’t take it back. Dev and Silas were the best.

  They drove to the address in his phone—it was a wealthy part of town, classier than where he was but less
hip. Pretty much right in the city center.

  Silas pulled up in front of the building and managed to find a parking spot right there, like it had been held for them. They sat there a moment, both quiet. Gavin stared at the big apartment complex. It was new construction with lots of windows that you couldn’t see through—obviously some trick of the glass to afford privacy while still letting in the light. If he hadn’t already known Rene was well off, this would have been the giveaway.

  Silas finally asked, “You going in?”

  “Are you coming with me?” He needed a little support. A little? Okay, a lot. They didn’t actually have a protocol for this kind of thing because this was the very first time something like this had happened. Silas had promised to be with him, but he needed a little extra assurance to get him moving.

  “That’s my job, right?”

  “Yeah.” Gavin leaned forward and kissed Silas’s cheek. “Let’s go. He’s a good guy.”

  “I’ll do my best to be unobtrusive, boss.” Silas got out and came around to open Gavin’s door for him.

  “I’m not worried.” God, he was a liar. Such a liar.

  Silas snorted but didn’t say anything.

  They went in the first set of doors, and he found Rene’s name on the intercom thing. He pressed the button next to it.

  “Hello?” Rene’s voice sounded different coming through the intercom, tinny maybe, not quite real.

  Gavin almost turned tail and fled, but before he could, Silas took a half step forward, his warmth so reassuring against Gavin’s back.

  When a moment of silence had passed, Silas rolled his eyes and spoke. “Gavin for Rene.”

  Oh God, Gavin was such a dork. Like honestly.

  “Come on up. It’s floor twenty-nine.” The buzzer sounded, and Silas grabbed the door and held it open.

  “Sorry,” Gavin muttered. He entered and walked toward the elevators. He’d frozen for a moment; that was all.

  “You’ve got this,” Silas told him.

  The elevator doors opened silently, and that’s when Gavin finally looked around. Everything looked modern and classy. Lots of clean lines, with white and black dominating the color scheme. The accents were all in gold.

  Silas pressed the button for the twenty-ninth floor, one below the top number of thirty. The doors closed as quietly as they’d opened, and up they went, the number in the display above the buttons climbing quickly.

  They got out on twenty-nine. There were two doors on the side of the hall with the elevator and one straight across from the elevator. It boasted a little plaque with Penthouse 1 on it. Gavin walked over to it and looked at it for a long moment before he knocked, Silas to his right and slightly behind him. God, his hands were shaking. He opened and closed them.

  “Easy, Gav. Breathe.” He loved how Silas could talk without moving his mouth.

  The door opened almost as soon as he knocked, and Rene was there, giving him a warm smile. “Hey! You didn’t cancel.”

  “I didn’t. I thought about it, but I didn’t. I brought Timmies.”

  “Awesome. I love a good doughnut.” Rene stepped aside. “Come on in. I’ve got us set up downstairs. That’s kind of my movie space.”

  “Excellent. Uh, this is Silas. Silas, Rene.”

  Rene shook hands with Silas. “Nice to meet you.” Then Rene led the way to a staircase to the right of the door. Gavin didn’t get much of a chance to check out the rest of the place, but the downstairs was pretty impressive. It looked like there were floor to ceiling windows, but they were black, so maybe they just appeared to be windows. The room was set up as an entertainment center, the screen huge. There were two sets of movie-style chairs, each having two seats with a wide arm in the middle that had cup holders and a little table for snacks. A pool table had pride of place in the back, and off to the side was a small kitchen. The place smelled like popcorn.

  “It’s so lovely!” Oh, this was cool. He loved it.

  “Who needs to go to the movies when you have a theater downstairs?” Rene went to the little kitchen and grabbed three plastic popcorn containers shaped like movie popcorn bags. “You guys want something to drink with your popcorn?”

  “Sure. Thank you.” Okay, this was surprisingly charming.

  Rene put three tall glasses on the counter. “I’ve got Coke, ginger ale, apple juice, beer, and water.”

  “Coke for me, please,” Gavin murmured.

  “Oh! I bought you Cherry Coke.”

  “I’d love one, thank you.”

  Rene had remembered. That was so dear. He knew it was only a little thing, but that made it all the bigger somehow, that Rene had remembered such a small thing.

  Rene added ice and poured it for him, then put in a straw and handed it over. “Full-on theater experience. How about you, Silas?”

  “I have a water here, sir, but thank you.”

  “If you change your mind, you can help yourself.” Rene grabbed his own drink and popcorn and gestured toward the seats. “You want to start with Iron Man or Thor?”

  “Thor has two beautiful men….” He loved the visuals too.

  Rene bobbed his head in agreement. “Yeah, that’s why I prefer it myself.”

  Look at that, they had found common ground there. “Then let’s start there,” Gavin suggested.

  “We can admire the hotness together.” Rene was looking right at him as he said it.

  “We can.” God knew he wasn’t a virgin. Hell, he was… about as far from a virgin as they came, and he was very good friends with his left hand these days. Still, something about Rene’s gaze made him want to blush.

  Rene stared at him for a moment longer, then turned to the TV and switched it on, working the remote until the movie was cued up. “Does anyone need anything before we start?”

  “I’m good.” He was ready.

  Rene glanced back at Silas, who waved his hand. “I’m good—just pretend I’m not here.”

  Gavin looked over, smiled at Silas, then settled into the chair.

  Rene was a solid presence next to him, but with the way the seats were set up he didn’t feel crowded or trapped. Simply that Rene was there with him.

  Rene started the movie and munched on his popcorn, seeming honestly focused on the film. Gavin took a breath and relaxed a little, turning his attention to the movie as well.

  They laughed and heckled, both of them admiring Thor and Loki, making wicked suggestions.

  “Loki is the brattiest bottom. He’d be really hard work,” Rene noted.

  “They’re the best kind sometimes,” Gavin shot back. “Anyone can be easy.”

  “Oh, I never said I thought hard was bad. I, for one, like a challenge.”

  Don’t look. Don’t. Pay attention to the screen. “What do you know about challenges?”

  Rene’s voice dropped, became intimate. “I know plenty, boy.”

  Gavin’s eyes went wide, his cock jerking in his jeans. No responding. None. Zero. He didn’t go there anymore. He hadn’t in a very long time. He wasn’t going to turn and look, even though he could feel the weight of Rene’s regard on him.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rene smile and slowly turn his attention back to the movie, and Gavin swore he heard Silas whistle under his breath.

  He refused to look at Silas either. Why couldn’t he get off with the twins? Either or both? Why couldn’t they have a connection? They didn’t, though. He already had way more chemistry with Rene without even trying than he’d ever had with the twins. It was a sad thing, but it was true. No amount of wishing otherwise was going to change the fact that he loved, and was loved by, them like brothers.

  What wasn’t a sad thing was that Rene made his balls draw up a little. Okay, maybe more than a little, but he refused to admit more than that. Simply looking at Rene made his heart race a little faster. God, he had himself all worked up here.

  Rene glanced over at him, catching him staring. He held Gavin’s gaze and smiled, and Gavin couldn’t stop staring back. Re
ne was a gorgeous man.

  “You want anything?” Rene asked softly.

  “No. No, sorry. I was woolgathering.” Watching you like you’re fascinating.

  “I have chocolate,” Rene told him. “Raisinets, Smarties, Maltesers, and Mr. Big.”

  “Wow. So many choices….” And Rene had remembered the chocolate as well as the Cherry Coke. It made him feel seen. Which worried him, but today, with Rene, it also sent a thrill through him. “What’s your favorite?” He managed to get the words out without showing his emotions in his voice. Go him.

  Rene didn’t hesitate in answering, “Smarties.”

  “I like those too. Let’s be honest—I like chocolate. All of it.” Once upon a time, he’d had chocolate on his rider for performances. Chocolate and Cherry Coke. He’d been so spoiled.

  Rene laughed softly. “Never met a chocolate you didn’t like?”

  “Never. I love how it’s all endorphins.” Like falling in love.

  “Like a good scene,” Rene suggested.

  “Yeah—” Wait. Stop. Shut up. He wasn’t admitting that out loud to anyone these days. Certainly not someone he’d just met. Someone whose house he was in. Oh God. Oh God. “Can you point me toward a restroom, please?”

  Rene indicated a door on the other side of the little kitchen area. “I’ll get out the chocolate while you’re using the facilities.” Rene paused the movie.

  “Thank you.” He scrambled to the bathroom, and as soon as he had the door closed behind him, he thumped his cock hard. Then he took a few deep breaths before washing his face with icy cold water. “You aren’t ready for this. No, you’re doing okay. Just breathe.”

  It was okay. Rene hadn’t made any overt moves. They’d just flirted a little, right?

  Right.

  He was doing great for his first time out like this in a long time. Since…. He cut that thought off and gave himself a shake. He wasn’t going there.

  He splashed his face some more and took a final deep breath, then headed back out. Rene had refilled his drink and his popcorn and set out chocolate on the table section between the chairs. He was currently chatting with Silas.