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Chapter One
One after one, Braden Roth watched as people trickled out of Wes’s sister’s home.
He hadn’t seen Wes in a while, which didn’t really surprise him. Wes avoided him as much as he could ever since the one and only night they spent together. The night Wes snuck out on him while Braden slept.
Still, he continued to linger, hoping for a minute alone with Wes.
Which was a fucked-up hope in itself. Why did it bother him so much that Wes wanted nothing to do with him?
“You sticking around?” Cooper, his buddy from the firehouse, stepped up beside him, his arm in a sling from a fire he’d gotten injured in.
“Yeah, I figure so. He might need some help or something.”
Coop shook his head. “He has his other sister here for that. Do you really think it’s a good idea to hit on the man the day he buried his sister?”
Braden clenched his jaw, fighting not to grind his teeth the way he used to as a kid. “No shit, man. I just...” Think he needs a friend... He looks lonely...
“Can you blame me for asking? You have to admit, you’ve been relentless in trying to get him into bed again.”
“That was before I knew the whole story. I’m not a total asshole, Coop.” Even though he really was one. The truth was, Braden had never had a man or a woman sneak out on him after sex. Even if he hadn’t sensed something different about Wes, that fact alone made him curious. Maybe that made him sound like a prick, but it was true. The harder it had been to find Wes, the more he’d wanted him, and that made him an asshole.
When he had found him, Wes made it obvious he wasn’t interested in a repeat of their night together. It started as a game, hitting on him despite the rejection, just to see Wes fluster. Then Coop dropped the bomb about his dying sister—that Wes had only moved to Blackcreek, Colorado to take care of Chelle and her daughter—and Braden won the ‘Asshole of the Year Award’ for the way he’d pushed him. Maybe that’s what kept him coming around when Wes made it obvious he didn’t want him. Braden had two sisters and a brother; it would kill him to lose one of them.
“I know,” Cooper said. “But he’s Noah’s friend, and—”
“Look at you, protecting your boyfriend’s friend. If you don’t remember, I ended up taking Wes home that night because you went postal thinking he wanted your man.”
If he said that to anyone else it probably would have earned him a punch to the jaw, but Cooper knew him. Knew that Braden liked to stir up shit and give people a hard time.
Cooper winked. “It was my plan all along. Was just looking out for ya, man. Helping you get laid, since you obviously can’t do it on your own.”
“Well played, you bastard.” Braden chuckled. When Cooper’s boyfriend, Noah, joined them, Braden added, “I’m serious, though, I only want to tell him I’m sorry for his loss, and to be his friend. I’m sure he could use one of those right now.”
Noah gave him a small nod before leaning over to kiss the top of Cooper’s dark blond hair. “Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“Yeah. Sure.”
“Go home and heal your ass up so you can get back to work,” Braden teased, making both Cooper and Noah laugh.
“He’s milking it. You should see him at home.” Noah hooked a finger through Coop’s belt loop.
“That’s because I’m not stupid. It gets me my way.”
Braden had a feeling it didn’t take an injury for Noah to do anything for the guy.
“And soon, you’ll owe me.” Noah’s voice went deep, sexy, making Braden see how Cooper, who’d always considered himself straight, had fallen for him.
“See ya later.” Noah nodded at him again before leading Cooper away. Braden looked around the small living room to see he was alone. The brown furniture was older but still in good shape. There was a fireplace on the far wall, with a mantel, full of pictures. Braden walked over, his eyes roaming images of Chelle laughing, and Jessie, her little girl, playing. She had a headful of blond curls, much lighter than Wes’s dark hair, and his hair was straight.
There were pictures of Wes’s other sister, Lydia, who he met for the first time today, with her husband and kids. At the end sat a picture of Wes, leaning against a tree. It was the only image of someone alone.
Braden rubbed a hand across his jaw, studying the picture. Wes’s tall, muscular body. The way his head tilted down, showing a jaw that looked like it could cut stone. The jeans hugging his long legs. He really was sexy as hell, and there was no question that he’d been a good fuck, but those things didn’t explain why he stood in the man’s sister’s living room right now.