Six Degrees of Lust (37 page)

twelve-year-old boy.

That was just pathetic.

“I’m not giving you a cell phone so that he can call you if

you don’t tell me why you can’t call him.” He saw Nick getting

ready to protest, but didn’t give him time to do it. “Here’s the

thing. Sasha is fifteen years old. He’s still a kid and frankly, I don’t

understand what can be so important or delicate that you can’t

trust me with—”

“It’s not that,” Nicky snapped.

“Then tell me what’s going on. I like your friend, don’t get

me wrong, but I like you better. If you don’t give me something

to work with here I’m going to have to cut the time you spend

with him.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Watch me.”

“You can’t do that,” the boy yelled again. “If you don’t give

me a cell phone I’m not going to camp.”

“Oh, you’re going. That shit’s already paid for and you are.”

“You can’t make me!”

Nicky’s voice got louder, and it surprised the bejesus out

of Sam. He’d never heard his nephew raise his voice. For the

first time ever Nicky sounded flat out confrontational, and for a

moment he was happy to see that spark. He remembered being

a rather loud kid himself, never afraid to say what he wanted. In

Sam’s opinion, too quiet at twelve was just not normal.

But he wasn’t a kid anymore. This was about responsible

parenting, the one thing Sam didn’t have the first clue about, and

damn if he didn’t freak the fuck out right there in his kitchen.

What was he supposed to say now? What was he supposed to

do? He had no idea.

First he needed to get Nicky to calm down. That should help,

six DegRees of Lust
263

right?

“You’re willing to give up hockey camp? I thought you

couldn’t wait to go.”

“That was before.”

“Before what?”

“Sasha doesn’t have a phone, so I won’t be able to call him

while I’m away,” Nicky explained through his teeth.

Sam took a sip of ice tea and put another piece of chicken in

his mouth. “What’s wrong with his house phone?”

“I just told you he doesn’t have one.”

“That’s too bad.”

“If you won’t give me a phone to take to camp, can you at

least give one to him?”

“Same thing applies, champ. Only way I’m taking a trip to the

cell phone store is if you give me one good reason why I should.”

He pondered Sam’s words for a few seconds before asking.

“One good reason and you’ll give me the cell phone?”

“If the reason is good enough I will. Do we have a deal?”

“Deal.”

Nicky looked up at the ceiling, drummed his fingers on the

table, and took a deep breath, and the moment he looked at Sam

with his too serious blue eyes Sam knew the kid was about to

throw him a fast one.

“You always tell me the honorable thing to do is to keep my

word, and I told Sasha I wouldn’t repeat the things he tells me. I

gave him my word. But I got to know he’s safe and I won’t if I

don’t have a cell phone so that he can call me at any time, because

he can’t always call.”

Sam put his fork down and leaned towards his nephew.

“There’s something else I need to know.”

“What is it?”

“Do you think Sasha is in any type of danger?” He put his

264 Taylor V. Donovan

hand up to stop Nicky’s protest. “I’m not asking you to break your

word to him. I’m asking for your opinion, and that’s something

you can give me without betraying his trust.”

He wouldn’t look at Sam, but finally gave in. “Yeah, he’s in

danger.”

“Are you in danger for hanging out with him?”

“I don’t think so.”

“I’ll take care of the phone.”

Nick lunged out of his chair and gave him the tightest hug

he’d received in his life. “Thank you, Uncle Sam!”

“You’re welcome.” He squeezed the boy’s shoulder before

sending him back to his chair. “Let’s eat before the food gets

cold, okay?”

After that things went back to normal for the most part, and

Sam made a mental note to talk to Logan about it first thing in

the morning. He’d call him as soon as Nicky went to bed, but he

already had other plans.

Mondays were the one day Mac was off from work and

able to talk at a decent time. Barring a national emergency, Sam

insisted he got his ass on Skype. He liked to watch him play and

beat off on his twenty-three inch, HD computer monitor, but he

didn’t like it enough to do it on Mac’s schedule all the time.

No way could Sam go to bed at midnight and wake up at

three in the morning just so that they could do their thing. The

few times he had he’d only been able to catch two more hours

of sleep before he had to get up and go to work. Sam needed

his sleep as much as he needed to get off, so he’d made it clear

to Mac that, unless they managed to hook up on a Friday night,

Mondays were mandatory.

He’d take care of this Sasha situation tomorrow.

§ § § §

August 3, 2009

Houston, Texas

six DegRees of Lust
265

Mac started the dishwasher, wiped down his kitchen counter,

and headed for the shower about fifteen minutes before his

scheduled video chat session with Sam. After seven hours straight

of nothing but non-stop pre-school prattle and ramble, he was

ready to relax and have some time for himself.

Instead of going golfing with Braxton and Remy, which was

how he’d planned to spend part of his first real day off in weeks,

he’d ended up canceling so that he could babysit Austin and

Emma Rose, the most adorable four-year-old twins in the world;

and Mac was positive the most talkative.

After the fiasco at his parents’ house on the Fourth of July

he wasn’t on speaking terms with the entire family, but thank

goodness that hadn’t stopped Amy from calling him two Mondays

ago when Austin fell ill and had to be taken to the hospital. Mac

would have killed her had she kept something like that from him.

They hadn’t talked much after that, but this morning she’d

called to let him know her regular babysitter was unavailable and

she had errands to run and could he please watch the twins for a

couple of hours while she took care of a few things. He knew the

sting of her betrayal would never go away, but he wasn’t about to

back out on his word.

Besides, he loved those rug rats more than anything.

Almost five years ago, before Amy became the insufferable

righteous missus she now was, she’d gone and gotten herself

knocked up and abandoned by the biggest loser ever, and Mac

had promised to be there for the kids. He’d been the one father

figure they knew from the moment they were born, and that

wasn’t going to change, no matter how fucked up their mother’s

behavior was.

She was supposed to pick up the kids around five o’clock, but

never showed up. She didn’t call him to let him know what was

going on. He’d been patient, because he loved to have the kids

around, but when he realized it was almost seven, he couldn’t

wait anymore.

266 Taylor V. Donovan

So he’d called her.

“Oops, I lost track of the time, sugah. Just put them to bed

and I’ll be along shortly.”

Just like Amy to not give a shit whether he had any other

plans or not.

So after a day of Dora the Explorer, coloring, Candy Land,

the park and the sandbox, and feeding the ducks in the pond, a

shower and a forced nap and a messy dinner of fried chicken

and mac and cheese, all accompanied by a cacophony of “Why?

How come? But I want to… But I don’t want to! Austin pushed

me! Emma Rose is dumb! I got an ouchie! Can I have more ice

cream? We’re big kids now!” and so on, in stereo, of course, Mac

had finally managed to get them in bed and read them a story,

with barely enough time left to clean the kitchen and get himself

ready. He’d deal with Amy when she finally showed up.

He finished his shower and got dressed in something

comfortable, because sessions with Sam could get heated up

pretty quickly and Mac was already half hard just thinking about

his guy and all the things Sam liked him to do… the things he did

himself in turn…

For the most part Sam mumbled and grunted his way through

their conversations, but he was making an effort and sticking to

his end of the deal. The emails, Mac had to admit, were not bad

at all, and really made him wish he’d taken more time to consider

the ramifications of what he had agreed to do.

Mac had been so focused on getting Sam to agree to hook

up again that he’d forgotten the reason why he’d walked away in

NYC a few weeks ago; he’d forgotten the sense of intimacy that

had scared the shit out of him.

He still didn’t know whether it had been real or mere

projection on his part. Either way, its presence was so irrefutable

Mac couldn’t brush it off, and as a result he’d started something

he still wasn’t entirely sure he could do.

He knew Sam wasn’t looking for anything long term and that

was fine with him, because he’d meant it when he said he wanted

six DegRees of Lust
267

to have his life in order before he committed to a man and a

relationship. Mac wasn’t looking for long term.

And he didn’t want intimacy.

Idiot that he was, he was convinced intimacy should be

exclusive to couples. He believed certain things should only be

done and shared with the person you loved, which was why he

sometimes got so unnerved by the reality of what was happening

between them.

Doing what Sam asked from him in front of a camera left

Mac completely exposed. He wasn’t able to hide what he was

feeling or thinking while he pleasured himself by burying his face

in a pillow or Sam’s neck. The whole cybersex thing was a first,

and he hated that an act so significant to him probably meant

next to nothing to Sam.

He might be a romantic fool, but he was convinced he should

have been doing this with the man he was destined to spend the

rest of his life with.

And Samuel Shaughnessy had made it clear it would never

be him.

Not that Mac wanted him to be. The guy might be hot and

probably the best lay ever, but he was also harsh and rude and

so arrogant Mac wanted to punch his lights out. He was also

impossibly stubborn and a pain in the ass. Mac, as laid back as

he was, would go out of his ever-loving mind if he had to put

up with the guy on a daily basis. He was so standoffish Mac was

surprised Sam had made a pass at him in the first place.

But he couldn’t be all bad, could he? Not when he had the

most adorable tattoo of his baby girl’s footprints. Not when

he apologized when he was out of line and owned up to his

assholeness and…

Shit.

Better not think about that.

He’d considered telling Sam he was having second thoughts

about the video chat provision of their agreement, but decided

268 Taylor V. Donovan

to go along with it because, yeah, the sexy guy had agreed to put

on his own show for Mac. That meant they were equally exposed,

and Mac was oh-so-ever thankful for that.

Sam pinged him on Skype the moment Mac signed in. He

took a deep breath in preparation, but still couldn’t keep the

smile from splitting his face. Shit!

“Evening, darlin’.”

“Hello, dear.” Sam’s voice came crystal clear through Mac’s

laptop’s speakers, deep and dripping with sarcasm. “How was

your day?”

“You don’t want to know.”

They started their online conversations the same way every

time. Sam asking how he was in a way that was meant to discourage

an answer, and Mac reminding himself the other guy really didn’t

want to know… while secretly hoping that he’d change his mind.

“You’re damn right I don’t, but you already knew that.”

Yup. Same exchange.

Every single time.

“I’m a bit tired,” Mac said, not giving a shit about Sam’s

answer this time around. He needed to vent a little, and he was

damn well going to. “I had the twins today and let me tell you,

it’s been a long day. I love the rug rats, but they drain me out of

thought and energy sometimes.”

“I see.”

Mac wasn’t surprised Sam didn’t show much interest on that

particular subject. Even though he’d mentioned once he was

taking care of his nephew—and that only to warn Mac that

he would not hesitate to cut their time together short if the

boy needed him—he’d stopped Mac when he tried to tell him

he understood what he was doing as he was in a pretty similar

situation.

The guy really meant it when he said he didn’t want to know

about Mac’s friends or family.

six DegRees of Lust
269

“So what’s up in good ol’ Texas? I see you haven’t had rain

in quite some time.”

Mac couldn’t hold back his laugh. “Weather? We’re gonna

talk weather?”

“Drought is a very serious business, I’ll have you know. You