TAKE ME HOME (18 page)

92

Sloan Parker

Evan leaned against the wall beside the door to their room.

“You’ll get your break, Ev, and you’ll prove to everyone how talented you are.” He’d never lose Kyle from his life. No matter what they did or didn’t do when it came to sex. He knew that now.

His phone rang again. He’d forgotten he had it or why he’d stepped out into the hall in the first place. He checked the display. Dennis again. The fifth time. And that was with his signal going in and out. He’d let all the calls go to his voice mail the day before.

It felt colder on the train. Probably would grow even colder if they didn’t get moving soon.

He shivered as he looked at the display again and the one name he’d have given anything to see on his phone five months earlier. Now? He didn’t want to answer it. He couldn’t avoid life outside the train forever, though. “Hi, Dennis.”

“Evan. It’s good to hear your voice. I saw on the news a train was stuck in the mountains.”

“That’s us.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. So far it’s the same.” The same? Nothing was the same. “We’re just stopped.”

“When can they get you going again?”

“I don’t know. Why did you call?”

“I want to come see you.”

“Now?” He stared at the blue curtain covering the door to the room he and Kyle shared.

“In Ohio. I thought maybe… I want to see you for Christmas.” Dennis paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was that low sexy tone that drove Evan crazy. “I want you back.” Of all the times Dennis could’ve said those words, he chose now. Seriously?

“Can I come so we can talk?” Dennis asked. “Face-to-face.” When Evan didn’t say anything right away, he added, “Can you think about it? I can call you later.” He didn’t bother to tell Dennis it might be hard to get through later, what with more storms moving in and his phone’s signal already shitty in their remote location. He needed to tell him the truth. But what was that? What were he and Kyle doing?

“Evan…”

He forced the words out before Dennis could say more. “I have to tell you something.”

“Not over the phone. I want to see you.” Maybe he knew Evan was going to say he’d made a mistake e-mailing him in the first place. “You think about it, and I’ll call you later. I still love you, Evan. I always will.”

That left him speechless. The words he wanted to hear more than anything. Only they hadn’t come from the one he’d waited ten years to hear them from. He managed to say, “Okay, Take Me Home

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call me later,” then hung up the phone. If Dennis still loved him, maybe it was right to tell him about Kyle in person, to apologize for getting back in touch after he’d fallen for Kyle again. He owed Dennis that. As soon as he called again, he would arrange to meet with him after the holidays.

He didn’t feel like heading back into their room to finish his lunch. He should at least go in and get a sweatshirt, but he couldn’t do that either.

He moved through the train to the observation car, took a seat on an empty bench, and watched the snow fly through the air with the wind, moving in no discernible patterns, as if each snowflake was alive and on its own journey toward a destination it was in no hurry to locate, blowing in the breeze until finally finding its way.

He shivered, leaned back, and wrapped his arms around himself. He wished he could walk off into the wilderness and be alone for a while. Just live and be and not think so much. Not feel so much. Not have so much hope.

He sank farther into the seat and closed his eyes. Who was he kidding? He wanted to hold on to that hope for as long as he could.

Kyle hung up his phone and lay back on the bed. He might not have enough clout to make this work, but the call had sounded promising. No way was he saying anything to Evan yet. He’d wait until Sue Ann called him back with their response first. He raised his arms above his head and pictured the night before with Evan on top of him.

He wanted more. So much more.

Could he do this? Could he be who Evan deserved?

His gut told him no. He just wasn’t sure he wanted to listen to it anymore.

He needed a distraction. He picked up his grandpa’s journal and sat in the chair.

I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was they’d been robbing banks. With their lingering anger toward the government and their hatred for institutions of capitalism, their interest in the banks was more about a statement of power than the money itself. Yet we hadn’t wanted to see who they really were. We had wanted a safe place to hide.

All I could think of in that moment was Charles. Would he turn on the rest, lead the police to the campsite? Would he mention Joe and me?

When the group of men settled down and all were quiet around the fire, George spoke. “We run. Now. Everyone goes their separate ways. But first…” He turned to Joe and me. “You two take the money and hide it until we can guarantee the police aren’t after us.”

Joe stood and said, “No. We’re not getting involved in this. We’re leaving.” He gripped me by the arm, and we headed toward our car. George’s next words stopped me cold.

“If we get caught with this money, we’ll tell them you helped us. And we’ll be sure to tell everyone who the two of you really are to each other.” 94

Sloan Parker

I don’t know why I was surprised. Of course they knew. We hadn’t been all that careful around them.

Joe may have wanted that, may have wanted this moment to force it to the surface, so we could find someplace to settle down, rent an apartment, and live together for as long as I’d have him. I couldn’t do any of those things. I couldn’t even let this thief tell the police about us. Even if we were cleared of any involvement in the robbery, the truth about us would be in the papers. My family would find out.

With one look Joe knew what I was thinking. Without taking his gaze off me, he spoke to George. “Okay. What do you want us to do?”

Kyle laid the journal on his lap. With each word he’d read, each moment he’d spent with Evan, he was getting closer to so many truths he wasn’t sure how to live with.

Or how he had lived without them.

The bar was dark, smoky. Men were everywhere, dancing, touching, gyrating, but Evan couldn’t hear the beat of the music or the noise of the crowd around him. He moved through the bar, weaving around one man, then the next. The heat of their bodies and the air around them should have warmed Evan, but still he shivered. Snowflakes rained down from the darkness overhead, and his skin grew colder with each splatter of icy snow to flesh.

A tall, shirtless man came in close. A cowboy twice the size of Evan. His mouth moved as he spoke, but there was no sound.

The man grabbed Evan’s ass and yanked him forward. He ground his body against Evan’s.

His touch was cold, and that brought out another shiver.

It was all wrong. He didn’t want this man’s hands on him. He tried to get free of the cowboy’s grip.

Then Evan was being yanked backward, and the tall cowboy disappeared into the crowd, a vanishing special effect usually reserved for TV and movies, not reality, not even his dreams. All Evan felt were the hands on his hips, the warm body pressing in close behind him.

He spun around.

Kyle.

The crowd around them was gone. They were alone. In Castillo’s. The restaurant was dark and quiet.

“You can’t give up,” Kyle said. “You are creative and talented, and fuck them if they don’t want you. You are going to make it. You can do this.” He leaned in close. “We can do this. I want you, Ev. Want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone.” Then his lips were on Evan’s.

Color and light and sound rushed back to Evan. He closed his eyes and gave in to the kiss, pressing his weight against Kyle. Warmth engulfed him. The sway of their bodies felt like a dance they’d done before but also like nothing they’d shared—like a promise.

Then Kyle pulled away.

Evan seized him by the waist. “No. You are not going anywhere.” Take Me Home

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Kyle smirked. “No, I’m not.” He backed Evan to a wall and whispered in his ear. “Been dying to get you inside my ass.” Without delay Kyle spun them around until his back was against the wall. Then he faced it and tugged Evan against his ass.

Evan heard the zip as Kyle opened his jeans. He reached for his own…

“Sir, wake up.” A train employee was tapping Evan’s shoulder. He sat taller on the bench and blinked away the haze of sleep. “I’m sorry to wake you,” the train guy said. “But we are going to have to close the observation car. We need to conserve power.”

Evan nodded, and the train guy stepped away. Which was good. He couldn’t stand right then, and if he did there’d have been no hiding what sort of dream he’d been having. All he could think about was what Kyle had said. About sex. The network. And his writing.

Kyle was right. Evan wasn’t going to walk away from his career. He was going to have to start over. Pitch to other networks. Write something new.

Even if the network bad-mouthed him to everyone in Hollywood, he’d find a way. He’d do what Kyle said and produce his own work. No matter how small he had to start out. He had lost too much, had given in to so many things over the past ten years. He was not giving up on this.

He was also not giving up on something else.

Surged into action by will and desire and hope, he stood and strode through several cars, the other passengers and train personnel a blur as he made his way. He was determined like he hadn’t felt in months. Years.

Hell, like never before in his life.

96

Sloan Parker

Evan slid open the door to their room. Kyle was sitting in the chair by the window, his grandpa’s journal on his lap. He closed the book and asked, “Where have you been?” Evan shut the door behind him and approached. He yanked Kyle from his seat and tugged his shirt up to his armpits, revealing the gorgeous expanse of firm chest. He had to have a taste.

He leaned forward and ran his tongue over one nipple, then along Kyle’s chest to the other, savoring the crisp scent of cologne, the brush of fine chest hair against his cheek, the warm flesh under his tongue.

“Oh God.” Kyle wrestled his shirt the rest of the way off. He dropped it to the floor and grabbed the back of Evan’s head. “Come here.” He dragged him up, and their mouths met in a slow, long kiss, all tongue and light touches of lips, like Kyle had no plans on stopping.

Or maybe he did. He pressed his forehead to Evan’s. Their heavy breaths mingled in the space between them. “Are you sure?”

Evan laughed. “Shut up.” He popped the top button on Kyle’s jeans and unzipped them, purposely letting the backs of his fingers brush over Kyle’s stiffening erection. This was a chance worth taking. He kissed Kyle again, mouth open wider, tongue more insistent, and Kyle barreled forward into it with as much intensity. When they pulled apart again Evan said, “We are doing this. No stopping this time.”

“No stopping.” Kyle kicked his shoes and pants off.

When Kyle was down to his underwear, Evan grasped him by the waist and drew him backward, then spun them around and pushed him onto the bed. Kyle’s eyes widened, and he bounced as he landed on his back. Evan followed him down until they were exactly like they’d been the night before, his body straddling Kyle’s, Kyle staring up at him, a pleading look in his eyes this time.

Yet, even with their promise of not stopping, Evan had to tell Kyle one truth before they went any further. He leaned in close, his T-shirt-covered chest pressed to Kyle’s bare one, and spoke with his lips against Kyle’s ear. “I want you to fuck me, but please don’t touch me if you’re going to freak after and leave. Don’t walk out that door to find someone else to fuck. I can’t watch you walk away from me to another guy again.”

“I…” Kyle clasped him tighter and bucked his body against Evan.

Evan sat up and pressed his palms to Kyle’s bare abs, restraining him to the bed. “You what?”

“Ev…I…” Kyle rolled his head to the side and tried to move again, but Evan had him sufficiently pinned in place. He wouldn’t look at Evan.

He wasn’t getting away with that. Evan cupped Kyle’s cheek and forced him to make eye contact. “You what?”

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“I don’t ever want to leave this room. This bed. You. You’re all I want.” In a rush he flipped them and rolled on top of Evan.

The weight of Kyle’s body and the touch of warm lips to his own lit up every nerve ending, and when Kyle opened his mouth and pressed his tongue into the kiss, Evan gave in and let himself feel it all.

Hard, intense, like no other kiss he’d ever had. They grabbed at each other, clutching, stroking any flesh they could reach.

Another minute of that kiss, and Evan had to move. He flipped them so he was on top again. He’d never felt so driven, determined. Like an express train with one destination. “I want you.” He slid a hand inside Kyle’s underwear. “I want you inside me.” Kyle’s abs quivered with Evan’s words, and his eyes widened as Evan finally held what he’d longed to for years.

He stroked the length of Kyle’s cock, feeling it firm more at his touch, exploring the head with his thumb, pushing at the slit. Kyle moaned. Evan wanted more of that sound. He leaned over Kyle, and using one hand, he forced Kyle’s arms above his head and held his wrists together on the bed. He gave him a soft, slow kiss and said, “I’m going to ride you until you scream.”

“Fuck!” Kyle bucked up again.

Evan pulled back until he was kneeling over Kyle, their bodies no longer touching. He tugged on the edge of Kyle’s underwear, letting the fabric snap back to skin. “Get these off.” He swung off Kyle and stood beside the bed to undress. His shoes and T-shirt off first, his pants and underwear next, and then he was naked, every inch of his skin tingling, feeling so alive, waiting for Kyle’s touch. He stroked his erect cock at the thought of getting back on the bed, of learning every detail of Kyle’s body, and of finally having Kyle’s dick in his ass.

Kyle hadn’t moved. He lay on his back, mouth parted, his gaze roaming up and down Evan’s naked body, his arms still lying overhead, the head of his cock sticking out the top of his briefs. Evan wanted a taste, wanted to feel his lips slide over that dick, wanted for it to finally be his mouth that was making Kyle explode with pleasure.