The Other Man (The Other Man Series Book 1) (20 page)

“Something I can help you with?” I raised an eyebrow, daring them to say something

“Yeah, who’s the dude?” Harry asked, flicking his chin behind him.

Trust him to be the one who opened his mouth. I felt awkward. What could I say? My boyfriend? No. My partner? Definitely not. My soulmate? Oh yeah, I could just picture their reaction to that one. Instead, I stepped from between his legs and stumbled over his foot. I heard his grunt of laughter and flipped him off. The guys shared a chuckle and I rolled my eyes. Could it actually get any worse? I shouldn’t tempt fate.

I tried to ignore the way Zach slyly moved his jacket in front of his erection. I did
not
need to be thinking about his cock in front of those guys.

Before I could answer, Matt spoke up, “Hey! You’re that guy from the gym. He’s the one who punched you, Dave.”

For fuck sake! It got worse.

“Yeah. I figured that out for myself, thanks,” Dave deadpanned.

Zach awkwardly scratched at the hair on the back of his head, “Err, yeah. Sorry about that. High pressure situation and all…”

He threw his hand out in my direction and I watched as it seemed to click in every one of their minds at once. Mouths dropped open, eyes bulged and one of them made a noise that sounded like ‘whoa!’

“So you...and
he
...are like…?” I could see the wheels turning in Harry’s mind. “You and he are like...he’s your…for fuck sake, someone help me out here!”

I barked out a laugh, “He’s my...my...he’s my…”

I was no better at spelling it out than Harry was. I widened my eyes at Zach in a ‘help me’ gesture and he sunk his teeth into his bottom lip. My eyes fell into a scowl. A little help would have been nice. Instead, he just looked back at Harry and said, “Yep.”

God help me, I was going to kill them all.

Weirdly, the awkward situation at the fire station had made me feel better.

It wasn’t life-altering news to the guys, it was just
news
. They hung around for ten minutes or so, shooting the shit with me and Zach, asking about the gym and nothing in particular. Then they left to start their shift, and that was that.

It felt...good. Felt nice.

It was a form of comfort, I suppose, to know that they had my back no matter what. And that maybe, just maybe, people wouldn’t care. Or
most
people wouldn’t care.

Lounging in Zach’s bed, I flipped my phone over and over in my hands, planning out the next conversation I needed to have, listening to sounds of the shower running. I wasn’t worried, my mum was a good woman and she wouldn’t judge me. It was just the thought of actually saying it. Before I could think it over too much, I pushed the call button and put the phone to my ear. She answered on the second ring.

“Blake!” She cried. I rolled my eyes.

I was a shit son. I hadn’t spoken to her in four or five months and she greeted me like I was still her angel. Yet another thing to feel guilty about.

“Hey mum.”

“It’s been so long! I was beginning to think you’d forgotten all about your old mum. You should talk to your mother more often,” she chided, but it was light-hearted and she was just giving me shit.

“I know, mum. I’m sorry, I’ve just had some shit going on lately. I’ll call more often...and you’re not
that
old.”

“Blake, language!” She scolded, then she laughed knowing everything I knew, I’d learnt from her. “Cheeky little shit, I’m not old at all, I just wanted you to confirm it. Should have known I wouldn’t get it from you. So what did I do to deserve the honour of a phone call today?”

“I’m divorcing Carlie and I’m in a new relationship and I want you to meet him,” I blurted.

The silence from the end of the line stretched on.

“Mum?”

“Sorry, sorry. That’s, um, that’s...are you happy?”

I smiled even though she couldn’t see me, “Yeah mum, I’ve never been this happy.”

Zach walked in as I spoke and I saw his eyes light. He sat close to me on the bed, still wrapped in just a towel. I surreptitiously watched the beads of water sliding down his chest.

“...it’s shame but that’s life I suppose.”

“Sorry, what did you say? The, um, the phone line isn’t great,” I lied. Zach grinned.

“I said,” she began again. “If you’re happy then that’s all that matters to me. It’s a shame about Carlie, she was nice but that’s life I suppose. Wait...did you say you want me to meet
him
?”

I looked to the ceiling, give me strength.

“Yeah mum,” I admitted. “His name is Zach, he’s twenty-seven…”

Zach cleared his throat and mouthed ‘twenty-eight’. I cringed, realising I’d missed his birthday when I left him. I mouthed sorry to him and his face creased as if he genuinely didn’t care.

“I mean twenty-eight,” I corrected, speaking into the phone. “You’ll like him mum, I promise. He’s a great guy and I just want you to give him a chance, ok?”

“Of course! You know me, Blake! If he makes my boy happy, then he makes me happy too. Are you coming to see me today? I’ll put stew in the slow cooker now. I’ll make dumplings too! You used to love my dumplings! Oh, I’m so excited to meet my boy’s new
man
!”

“Mum…” I tried.

“Oh, Blake! Quick question before I have to go start the dinner. Now that you’re enjoying life a little
differently
now,” I cringed, knowing my mother and the fact that she was talking about my sex life. I did
not
need my mother talking about that. “Does that mean you’ll finally agree to come and see that Queen Tribute band with me? They still play at the working men’s club every second Saturday of the month.”

“Not on your life, mum. It’s never going to happen. Maybe you can ask Zach? He might like that sort of thing!” Zach’s brow furrowed in confusion and I hid my grin.

“Oh! What a wonderful idea! We can bond over dancing to
‘We Will Rock You’
and drinking cocktails!”

The image in my mind was a car crash waiting to happen. Poor Zach.

“Right, dinner at five. Later!”

The phone bleeped when she hung up.

I had just three hours to prepare myself for dinner with my mother. That wasn’t anywhere near enough time. I looked to Zach.

“Change of plans, we can’t spend all day in bed. I can suck you if you’re quick, but we we’re having dinner at my mums at five and it’ll take at least an hour to get there, more with traffic. I need time to tell you exactly what you’re in for and to warn you that within five minutes of being there, she’s going to ask you to go with her to see the Queen Tribute band that plays every second Saturday of the month at the working men’s club that she frequents.”

Zach eyes went wide.

“That’s um, a lot to take in. We’ll start with the blow-job. I can be quick. Sit up, put your feet on the floor,” I did as he told me to and he dropped the towel, his cock already swelling. “Hold on to my thighs,” I held on to his thighs. “Open your mouth. I want to fuck your face.”

His pushed his dick past my parted lips and held my head still as he fucked my face. He hit the back of my throat over and over. I gagged and he pulled back, “Relax your throat and let it happen. I want you to take me deep.”

I relaxed my throat, breathing through my nose and he pushed deep. I swallowed, taking his shaft even deeper. I felt him harden even more and stretch my limits.

“Grab your cock, Blake. Squeeze it hard, wank yourself, I want to see you come.”

I grabbed my engorged cock, squeezed the base and squeezed, then I raised and lowered my fist, dragging my foreskin up and down. I was ready to come just from seeing the effect I was having on Zach. It wouldn’t take long.

I reached up, fondling Zach’s balls in my other hand and furiously jacking my cock with the other. We were both reaching for it.

I hit first, groaning around his swollen member and causing vibration to shoot through him. His fingers dug into my scalp and he clawed at my hair as I drained myself dry with my own fist. Decorated with my cum, I moved both palms to the root of his cock and closed my hands around him, jerking him deeper into my throat and my eyes rolled back into my head when he rammed his hips forward and emptied himself into my mouth.

Taking a few minutes to recover, I shifted my thighs and stood from the bed. I plunged my tongue into Zach’s mouth, kissing him with ferocious need and desire.

“Goddamn
wish
I had time to fuck you,” I growled. “But we don’t have that, so you need to go and put some clothes on before I have to phone my mother and explain why we’re late.”

His lips curled at the corners and I know he was as tempted as me, to cancel dinner with my mother altogether. He did, however, realise that probably wouldn’t go down well and he moved to the wardrobe to get dressed.

It took another hour before we could leave and an hour and a half to reach her house, meaning when we pulled up on the driveway, my mum was looking out the window waiting for us. Her face lit up when she saw my car and she disappeared from the window, only to appear right beside me the second I stepped away from the vehicle.

“Blake! My boy,” she held my cheek in her palm and whispered, “Gosh, you really
are
happy.”

Overcome with emotion and feeling guilty for not spending enough time with her, I pulled her into my arms and buried my face in her hair.

“Yeah ma,” I whispered. “I really am happy.”

She squeezed me around the waist for a brief moment then looked up at me, “Let’s go meet your new man!”

I grinned down at her.

Moving away, but keeping my arm around her, I held my hand out, “Mum, this is Zach. Zach, meet my mum, Mandy.”

They shook hands, “Nice to meet you, Mandy.”

Mum giggled and fluttered her hand in front of her face.

“I can see how you managed to turn this one’s head,” she hooked a thumb in my direction. “You’re so...you’re so…”

Zach cheeks turned pink and I laughed, “Ok, Mum. Leave the guy alone. You think he’s hot, we get it.”

During dinner, Mum did her usual talking too much thing and Zach seemed more than happy to let her. He didn’t roll his eyes or balk at her. He didn’t openly look at me to stop her from ranting. He didn’t make excuses to move away from her. He just let her be, well...
her
.

It just made me think about the sort of person he was and the fact that I really didn’t deserve his loyalty. But I had it and I’d keep it, forever.

I looked over at him, deep in conversation with my mum about the new boots she’d bought the day before. He didn’t care about new boots, he wasn’t that sort of guy, but he cared about them for her and in that moment, I fell in love with him a little bit more. He glanced over and saw me watching them so he winked in my direction.

Mum sighed mid-sentence and held her hand to her heart.

Shocking me to the core, she whispered, “I’m so happy for you two.”

Zach grinned, I frowned.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because this is rare and you’re the lucky ones. You’ve found the other half of your soul. That’s fate and its
magic
, Blake. Most people don’t get to feel love like that for even a brief moment in their lifetime. It might have taken countless others on his part, and a marriage on yours, but you found each other while you’re still young enough to have a lifetime of each other.
That
makes me so happy.”

Speechless, I stared at her my mouth open.

It took a few minutes, but I recovered enough to ask, “How do you know there were countless others on Zach’s part?”

She grinned, not looking a day over forty even though she was well into her fifties.

“Because, my boy, have you seen him? There’s no way someone who looks like Zach could have kept all that to himself. Sharing is caring, Blake.”

Ignoring her correct deductions of Zach’s past, I moved on, “You really believe in that stuff?”

I had to ask, because she’d been single for the whole my life. Dates here and there, sometimes she’d see someone for a few weeks and then he’d vanish and she’d go on as if nothing happened. She didn’t strike me as the kind of person to believe in soulmates.

“Of course!” She confirmed. “Blake, if you paid more attention to the world around you, you can see it and
feel
it everywhere. The world is full of love and affection, but soulmates are special. They stand out. They draw attention from others and it isn’t for any other reason than they are the
definition
of happiness. It’s in their faces, the way they carry themselves. Their aura bleeds reds and pinks, oranges and yellows. Right now, it’s filling my house in a way that I’ve never had. I wish I could bottle it. Save it for the days that I’m alone and I want to remember. I never cared what job you did, Blake. Or where you lived, or how you spent your free time. I was happy to know that you were a good man who led a clean life. But this? This is beyond my wildest dreams for you and I’m so, so ecstatic that life gave you
this
man, to hold the other half of your soul.”

I loved my mum.

She could be crazy, but she was the best woman I’d ever known and her words had floored me. I didn’t want to ask, but I had to know.

“How can you still believe though, Mum? After dad...!” I trailed off when her look turned knowing.

“Your dad was, and still is, other than you, the best man I’ve ever met. He’s charismatic and funny and he can make a woman weak in the knees with just one look. He’s just not a man who stays. It’s in his blood, Blake. I’m lucky that you got all
my
best traits and not his because I don’t think I could handle two travelling men.”

“Don’t make excuses for him, Ma. I’ve seen the man about four times in my lifetime and two of those were walking past him in the street. He looks straight through me like he doesn’t know who I am. I’ve come to terms with the fact that he doesn’t give a fuck about me but I hate that you still care about him, Mum. He doesn’t deserve to have that from you.”