Aftermath (10 page)

So…Cam sat on the floor right now, leaning back against the bed, and had his little puppy goofing around on his lap with a new chew toy while Cam watched a movie on the flat screen.

The past few days had been exhausting for Cam, so this was all he wanted this Friday. Peace and quiet. Okay, that was a fucking lie; there was something else he wanted, but that would only lead to trouble. He needed to distance himself from Austin before…
before what?
Before Cam craved him more? He doubted he could want Austin more than he already did.

It wasn’t purely physical, although the man had become the biggest star in his morning showers, but it was the companionship that he wanted the most. Even if they bickered like old women sometimes.

Sighing, he glanced at his phone on the low coffee table in front of him, and he debated…one text wouldn’t hurt—just to check in, to see how he was doing…but the dude could be asleep. A family man like him probably went to bed around nine. He snorted to himself and looked down at Bourbon who was chewing the shit out of that toy.

"Christ!" He nearly jumped out of his own skin when the phone rang. Bourbon barked, which was cute, not threatening, and Cam picked up his phone and made a face when he recognized the number. "Dammit."

He had erased Brian from his contact list, but he still remembered parts of the number. Mainly 'cause he'd been screwing the guy on and off for a year before he was kidnapped, but also 'cause Brian had texted him a few times in the past couple days.

Cam hadn't replied, but now he had to. "Yeah?" he muttered and reached for his beer.

"Cam!"
That was Brian, all right.
"Is there any way you could pick me up? Phil won't give me my keys."
Now there was a pout in his voice, which just annoyed Cam. He'd never really liked guys who acted like women, but it hadn't bothered him when Brian's mouth was full of his cock.
"I really wouldn’t have called you if there was anyone else."

"Fuck," Cam groaned in defeat. "It's midnight. You don’t think I got better shit to do?"

"I can make it up to you!"

Cam rolled his eyes and moved Bourbon off his lap. "I'm sure you can. Why won't Phil give you your keys?" He had met up with Brian where he worked a few times, so he knew the bouncer a little. Enough to know that Phil usually didn’t give a flying fuck about who was too drunk to drive.

"There may have been a fight,"
Brian said pitifully.
"I'm fine! But Phil says I shouldn’t drive."

Cam sighed and got off the floor. "I'll be there in ten, idiot."

*

Cam pulled up outside the bar in his Dodge and grabbed the beanie from the dashboard. He looked like a fucking bum in baggy cargo pants, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and the surfer-dude hair that he hid under the beanie, but he was only here to play designated driver. Lighting up a smoke, he left the car and fired off a text to Brian that said he was here now.

"Cam?"

He spun around, only to see Austin ten feet away, leaning back against the building with his phone in hand. They frowned at each other, both surprised, and then Cam noticed the cut on Austin's eyebrow and approached.

"What the fuck happened?" He didn’t stop until he was right in front of Austin. "And why are you here?"
Of all places
, he wanted to add.

Reaching up, he adjusted Austin's glasses then touched the bruise forming on his jaw. The man had obviously been in a fight, but he still looked good. Damn good. Sexy, even.

Fuuuck
.

"Angelo thinks I'm gay," Austin answered dumbly. It caused Cam's eyebrows to shoot up. "I wanted to go out—he said I should go to LA instead. But he mentioned this place, so…"

"And that gave you bruises," Cam said sarcastically. He took a step back and inhaled from his smoke. Being close to this man was easy, but it wasn’t right. It made Cam want more. He felt so fucking drawn to him.

"No, just…" Austin muttered something under his breath. "Some asshole wanted trouble. I let him know what I thought about it." He took a seemingly unconscious step toward Cam.

"Does he look worse?" Cam's mouth quirked up. Not for one second did he doubt Austin's strength. Yeah, he came off as a straitlaced family man, but Cam knew better.

"Damn right," Austin chuckled and touched his bottom lip. "He left a while ago."

Cam followed the movement before he looked away and cleared his throat. "So, you ended up at a gay bar by mistake, huh?" He took another pull and flicked away some ash.

Austin's eyes were intense, and there was something hidden in that gaze. Almost as if Cam was supposed to read between the lines. Then that intensity morphed into an obvious nervousness, and Austin took yet another step closer. "No." They looked down on the few inches that separated them as Austin reached for the hem of Cam's shirt. He just fidgeted with it loosely, brushing his thumb over the soft fabric. "I looked it up before I came here."

"Oh." Cam swallowed and briefly closed his eyes. He was close enough now to smell Austin, and he fought a shiver. "So, uh…" He wet his lips, his eyes flicking up to Austin's face. So close. "Why—"

He wanted to finish his fucking question about why Austin had gone to a gay bar, but Brian chose that moment to interrupt.

"My savior!" Brian dramatically clung to Cam's arm, as he reluctantly stepped away from Austin. "I'm ready to go home—oh, Austin!" He grinned, then frowned, then frowned deeper. "Do you two know each other?"

"Yeah," Cam replied, uncomfortable and irritated. He moved away from Brian. "He and I were…I mean, Austin was also one of the guys who was kidnapped."

"Oh!" Brian gasped. "That’s why you looked so familiar." He nodded sadly and touched Austin's exposed forearm. "I read about you in the papers."

"Right." Austin was uncomfortable, too. "Well, uh, I should call a cab—"

"Fuck that." Cam had a chance to see Austin; he would make the most of it. He just had to get rid of Brian first. "I'll drive you." He jerked his chin toward his car. "We'll drop off Brian first, then I can take you home."

"But…" Brian looked a bit put out. "Maybe we should take Austin home first, and then—"

Cam didn’t catch Austin's scowl that he directed at the ground.

"You live five minutes away from here." Cam grew impatient and started walking to his car. "Come on." As he threw away his cigarette, he noticed that Austin wasn’t putting a lot of pressure on his left leg, and that worried him. "You okay?" He cupped Austin's elbow to support him, remembering how Psycho had injured him in the first place. If someone had made it worse inside that bar, Cam wanted to hunt that motherfucker down and rearrange his face.

"It's nothing." Austin grimaced, swallowed his pride, and allowed Cam to help him.

*

The ride to Brian's apartment building was pretty quiet. He didn’t look happy about sitting in the back while Austin sat in the front next to Cam, but what-the-fuck-ever. Cam had been honest from the beginning; it was just sex. Now it was over. End of story. But Cam wasn’t stupid. He could see that Austin had gotten in the way of Brian's plans. As if Cam wouldn’t say no if they'd been alone. Fucking ridiculous.

"Thanks for picking me up," Brian sighed softly as they arrived at his place. "Maybe we can meet up sometime, Cam?"

Cam just gave him a look in the rearview mirror. He didn’t wanna be a dick, but he had more important shit going on in his life.

"Fine. Be that way." Brian offered a bitchface in return, then got out of the car. "It was nice meeting you, Austin."

"You too." Austin nodded curtly. And once Cam pulled away from the sidewalk again, he shifted in his seat. "So, you're the guy who got away."

Cam side-eyed him. "What?"

"Brian came up to me in that bar—said he was trying to get over the guy he loved or something. And coupled with his description, I'm guessing it's you."

Oh,
this
Cam wanted to hear. "What description would that be? By the way, tell me where to drive." He didn’t know exactly where Austin lived.

"Are you tired?" Austin asked. "Jade and Riley are in Delano over the weekend, and I really don’t feel like going home."

"My place it is." Cam made a sharp turn. "Now, that description?"

Austin had an odd look, as if something wasn’t quite right. "I think he used the words broody, bad-boyish—" Cam grunted, to which Austin laughed quietly "—and apparently there's a leather jacket to go with your attitude."

Cam rolled his eyes, and it got quiet for a beat or two.

Then Austin asked hesitantly, "Is he an ex?"

"I wouldn’t go that far." He shook his head. "We met up occasionally at his place. It was casual."

Austin hummed, now appearing guarded. "Yeah, he mentioned that. But to him it wasn’t."

There wasn’t a whole lot Cam could say in response to that, so he said nothing. For a while. Then he wanted to retract something he'd said days ago. "That’s why I have my rule. I don’t bring people home to fuck. If I did, I'd have memories to haunt me forever." He shuddered at the truth of that.

Cam could feel Austin's eyes on him for a while, though he pretended not to notice. Instead he pressed on the gas a little and sighed in contentment when he drove on to his street.

Bourbon greeted them in the hallway, and Cam groaned at the sight of more piss on the floor.

"Not cool, little guy." He bent down to scratch Bourbon behind his ears. "I took you for an hour-long walk after dinner." Plus, there was a doggy door now that led to the patio, and the pool had been covered. Straightening, he told Austin, "You know where the bathroom is if you wanna shower." He gestured at the stains of alcohol on his button-down and—
shit
. "Is that blood?" He closed the distance and touched Austin's ribcage.

"Not my own," he replied quickly. "But I'll take that shower. I smell like the damn bar."

Cam nodded, frowning, and stepped back. He hated seeing his friend injured. "There're towels in there, new toothbrushes under the sink, and I'll find you something to wear." Austin thanked him and headed toward the hallway where Cam's bedroom, workout room, and bathroom were. He still wasn’t putting pressure on his left leg. "Do you need any help, man?"

"No, it's okay. Thanks." Austin disappeared down the hall.

While he showered, Cam cleaned up the mess Bourbon had left him, then went to the kitchen and stood by the window and smoked a cigarette. He had promised himself no more smoking in the living room—for Bourbon's sake—and only by the kitchen window when it was dark out. Eventually, when he got over his embarrassing fear of darkness, he'd go out on the patio even at night.

After using the half-bath in the hallway to freshen up, he ended up in his bedroom where he grabbed a pair of sweats that were a size too large for Cam. He also picked out boxers, which felt odd, and a T-shirt. He didn’t know what Austin slept in, but he'd slept in sweats the last time he was here. He'd also gone commando—something Cam should probably forget.

Lastly, he changed into a pair of black basketball shorts to sleep in, and then he knocked on the bathroom door in the hall, told Austin his change of clothes was right outside, and returned to the living room.

By the time Austin appeared, Cam was idly playing with his cell phone and there was a bad movie playing in the background.

"Mind if I dim the lights?" Austin stopped in the doorway, one hand on the switch.

Cam waved a hand in
go ahead
then looked away, wondering about Austin's aversion to clothes. He was only wearing the sweatpants, not the shirt, and not the fucking boxers. It was way too easy to tell.

With the lights dimmed low, Austin joined Cam on the bed, but instead of sitting down next to him, Austin scooted farther in and lay down on the pillow.

"Tired?" Cam twisted his upper body and looked behind him. Austin really did look exhausted, and he wondered if the last days had been as taxing for him as they had for Cam.

"Like you wouldn’t believe." Austin reached up on the partition wall above him and placed his glasses there. Cam noticed that the bandages around Austin's wrists had been removed. There was scarring, but it wasn’t too bad. "I'll be glad when this week is over."

"Did something happen?" Cam shut off the TV and pulled the soft blanket over them, lying on his side next to Austin.

This time there were two pillows, and he didn’t know if that was a good thing or bad. Ending up close happened so naturally, so the lines blurred easily. There was no thought about offering the couch in his bedroom to Austin, 'cause they slept together. It was how it had been for several nights in captivity.

"Mostly today," Austin sighed as they shifted closer to one another. In the end, as had become common for the two men, they were close enough so their foreheads touched. "I'm pretty sure I see divorce on the horizon."

"What the fuck?" Cam's eyes widened. "I didn’t even know you had problems." He was genuinely shocked, and as the news settled, he pushed away any thoughts of what this could mean—
for him
.

"Neither did I," Austin chuckled mirthlessly. "Well…" He hesitated. "That was a lie. We've had problems, but I didn’t know they were this big. I don’t know." He heaved a sigh and looked down between them. "In the past few years, we've just been going through the motions. Then all this shit happened, and now she's…it's like she's looking for a way out." He faced Cam again. "She said she can't deal with the aftermath of what I've been through, but I think it's more than that."

Cam frowned, at a loss. He didn’t know enough about Austin's marriage to say a single thing. It was something they didn’t talk about, not even in captivity. Cam had never asked in that cell, 'cause he'd sensed it had been a topic that made Austin feel worse. And when Austin offered to share stories, they were mainly about Riley, his parents, stuff from his childhood…one time he even told Cam who Riley was named after.

As the silence stretched on, the subject died, and Austin looked content where he was. That comforted Cam a little, and he hoped the dude was all right. Perhaps he should ask him about it, but he honestly didn’t want to. He wasn’t very good with words, and he had no desire to listen to Austin go on about the woman he presumably loved.