Three Ways to Wicked (6 page)

Gibb pivoted to face him. “I’m not like you. I can’t fuck Kay for the sport of it.”

Fury washed over Ty, tightening every muscle in his body. “Nice to know your opinion of me has sunk to an all-time low.”

A hint of guilt colored Gibb’s face. “I didn’t mean it to sound that way. But I can’t be casual about sex like you. Especially not with Kayla.”

Ty shoved his arms over his chest. “That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“This is why I didn’t want to talk about it. I should have kept my damn mouth shut.”

“Little late for that.” Spine rigid, Ty stalked outside and grabbed the closest box of tackle. He thunked it roughly onto the picnic table and popped the lid. A few seconds into sorting the lures, Gibb’s shadow fell over Ty, but Ty stubbornly kept his focus glued to the tackle. If Gibb thought he’d patch things over with a lame-ass apology, he could go fuck himself.

After a lengthy silence, Gibb shuffled his feet. “I told myself I’d never get in a serious relationship again after Lorna.”

Ty lifted his head and squinted at Gibb. “Kay is about as different from your ex as a woman can get.”

“I know that. But I also know myself. Christ, it’s impossible for me to keep things simple. Light and fun. When I fall for a woman…”

A large portion of Ty’s anger evaporated as he took in Gibb’s agonized expression. “You get hurt.”

Gibb didn’t confirm the assessment. Didn’t matter. The dark specters in his eyes did all the talking for him. Ty shook his head. “Goddamn that bitch Lorna for doing such a number on you.” He flung the egg sinker in the direction of its cubby and shoved the tackle box toward the corner of the table. “If you continue locking down your heart, it means she’s won. You know that, right?”

Gibb averted his gaze and shrugged. “I can’t afford to keep making stupid mistakes.”

“Stop being a fucking chickenshit.”

A muscle ticced in Gibb’s rigid jaw. “Just because I don’t think with my dick all the damn time doesn’t make me a coward.”

The thinly veiled jab failed to draw blood. Hell, the insult was a sloppy attempt when it came to the snark Gibb was capable of dishing out in regards to Ty’s past carousing. Which meant Ty was dangerously close to getting under Gibb’s skin. “Continuously keeping all your sexual frustration bottled up inside you ain’t any better. Fuck, when’s the last time you got laid? The Simpson twins? You’re living like a goddamn eunuch, man.”

Gibb’s eyes narrowed. “Keeping tabs on my sex life? Sounds to me like you’re the one with a problem.”

“Don’t you mean
lack
of a sex life? And considering we share the same fuckin’ living quarters, it’s kinda hard for me not to notice the absence of ecstatic cries and headboard banging coming from your room.” Ty swung his arm in the direction of the rear hallway leading to their apartment.

“Maybe I’m nailing their brains out in one of the boats. Ever think of that, asshole?”

“See, the fact you phrased it that way verifies what a load of shit it is.”

Gibb scowled. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“When in your life have you ever
nailed
a woman? Made love to, fucked, maybe even the occasional screw. But never nail.”

“Christ. Where do you come up with this asinine stuff?”

“Face it, I’m right.” Ty abandoned the picnic table and stepped in front of Gibb, keeping his posture deliberately challenging. “Now and then you
have
to let your dick do the thinking. It’s the only way you’re gonna defeat your fears. For once, tune out your need to overanalyze every damn little thing and act on your feelings.”

Gibb stared at him hard, a strange blend of panic and some other indefinable but vaguely familiar emotion riding high on his flushed features. “I—”

“No.” Ty jabbed his finger in the middle Gibb’s sternum with enough force to make Gibb flinch. “No more fucking excuses. Do it.”

A rough exhalation was the only response from Gibb before he smacked Ty’s hand away and slammed his mouth over Ty’s. If he’d been looking for a way to shut Ty the hell up, he’d sure as shit found it.

Chapter Six

The warning bells rang in Gibb’s ears half a second too late. He took a staggering step backward. Shaken to his core, he scraped his palm over his mouth, disturbed to find that he could still taste the lingering essence of Ty…and it aroused him. Big time. Even the potent, seductive echo of Ty’s aftershave made Gibb’s balls ache. Not fucking good.

“I shouldn’t have done that.” He’d been using that particular phrase way too often lately. Unable to look Ty in the eye, he spun on his heel and strode inside the shop on legs that suddenly seemed like they’d been injected with jelly. He managed to make it as far as the chart table before the telltale scuff of Ty’s dock shoes announced his approach. Steeling himself for the looming confrontation, he turned to face Ty.

“What in the living fuck was that?”

“Nothing. Drop it.”

Storm clouds darkened Ty’s face. “Not gonna happen. You can’t plant a kiss like that on me and blow it off as
nothing
.”

Queasy panic vised Gibb’s chest. He’d really screwed the pooch this time. First Kayla and now Ty. What the hell was wrong with him? Was he bound and determined to destroy every friendship he had?

“I wasn’t thinking straight.” He winced at the unintentional pun.

A wide grin dispersed Ty’s previous peevishness, and he advanced on Gibb. “You damn well know I’m dying to make a smartass crack right now. But I’m not gonna. Know why?”

He had a bad feeling Ty would fill him in regardless if Gibb wanted him to or not.

“You stopped thinking and you kissed me. Flat-out went for it. Balls to the wall. No hesitation. No giving yourself too much time to second-guess the moment. That is one miraculous breakthrough. And a good thing, way I see it.”

Gibb didn’t bother hiding his skepticism as he squinted at Ty. “Me kissing you is a good thing?”

“Maybe it is.” Ty sidled closer, his presence infiltrating every square inch of Gibb’s breathing space. Heat, sweat and the citrusy aftershave that’d tormented Gibb earlier radiated from Ty, poking at Gibb’s defenses.

The heavy-lidded sultriness of Ty’s gaze reached deep inside Gibb, to that scary place where uncomfortable desires ruled. Heart knocking, he attempted to scoot away from temptation, but his traitorous feet remained rooted in place. Ty inched closer, until the hard ridge of his erection nudged Gibb’s hip. “Maybe it’s a
really
good thing.”

Perspiration trickled down Gibb’s spine. Blood rushed in his ears. He was excruciatingly aware of every breath Ty released because they seemed perfectly synchronized with his own ragged inhalations, until Gibb was certain his lungs were saturated with pure, undiluted Ty.

Without warning, Ty’s middle and index fingers tucked between the buckle and waistband of Gibb’s jeans. Gibb jolted in reaction. Unfortunately, his dick piped in with its own response—namely, a hot surge against his fly. His blood sluiced a wild zip line through his veins, chugging a familiar refrain.
Danger, danger, danger.

The last time Ty had taken his teasing too far, his mouth ended up hugged around Gibb’s cock. The taunting memory refused to budge from Gibb’s mind, and he suspected Ty was all too aware of the fact.

“The Day-Glo ninja is out of the closet, and no way I’m gonna let you shove it back in there.” Ty’s fingers dipped lower, perilously close to brushing the head of Gibb’s cock. “Ain’t gonna let you pretend that kiss meant nothing. Just like I’m not gonna let you pretend that night never happened. Because it did. There’s no mistaking it, because I’ve been rehashing every second of it for the past seven years. Wondering if my memory’s faulty, or if the feel of you coming down my throat, all hot, slippery and pulsing, is as fucking incredible as I’ve made it out to be in my head.”

Gibb lost the ability to swallow properly. Or to think. No doubt that’d make Ty fucking ecstatic. “We were drunk.”

“I’m stone-cold sober right now. How ’bout you?”

Before Gibb could formulate even a half-assed response, Ty’s hand slid the extra few inches necessary to wrap around Gibb’s cock. Ty pumped him in a fluid glide that officially murdered the remaining brain cells Gibb claimed ownership of. That became apparent the second he breached the scant millimeter separating his mouth from Ty’s. His desperate moan working its way loose, he crushed Ty’s lips in a hungry, devouring kiss, his fingers cramping as they clamped the back of Ty’s neck and their tongues tangled together in a slick collision.

Holy hell.
In the dimmest recesses of his mind, he acknowledged that he should be freaked the fuck out over kissing a man, whether it was Ty or not. Yeah, weird didn’t begin to describe it. And loving it as much as he did? Only complicated the situation further.

Ty’s teeth scraped Gibb’s bottom lip, shooting shivers of pleasure throughout every nerve receptor in Gibb’s body and temporarily muting the doubts raging in his head. His dick throbbed and thickened in Ty’s grip, and Ty moaned in approval before sliding his fingers through the precome glossing the tip.

“Fuck yeah. Slippery like I remember.” Ty’s next words prompted a decadent shudder through Gibb. “I want to suck every fat inch of this bad boy. Feel you shoot all hot and creamy down my throat. Right fucking now.”

“
Jesus.
”

Ty licked the seam of Gibb’s lips with a raunchy glide of his tongue before fumbling with Gibb’s belt. Somewhere through the crazy haze of lust, Gibb had the sense to remember they were standing in the lobby of Master Charters. Not exactly the best place to be on the receiving end of an illicit, albeit incredible blowjob courtesy of his best friend. At least not without the door closed and locked.

Gibb’s focus cruised to the entrance—and stalled on the unexpected sight of Kayla standing there with her jaw hanging to her knees.

His stomach pitched in tandem with the blood rushing from his head.

Her eyes practically overtaking her face, Kayla took a stumbling step back. “I’m sorry. I—” A red stain spread across her cheeks when Ty quickly slipped his hand from Gibb’s pants and jerked his gaze in her direction. Her loud swallow echoed in the strained silence. “I decided to take you up on your invitation of a boat ride, and…
Aw hell.
”

Without uttering another word, she turned and fled from the damning scene like a fire had been lit beneath her feet.

Chapter Seven

What in the world was I just looking at?
Panting, Kayla tried to catch her breath during her frantic race-walk toward the marina’s parking lot and silently groaned at her own stupid question. Duh, clearly two men on the verge of getting it on. Not too difficult to put a finger on that one. But…
Gibb and Ty
? Never in a million years would she have seen that coming.

If you hadn’t blown your cover, you might have
really
seen a lot coming. In vivid, Technicolor detail.
Okay, entirely inappropriate thought. Her cheeks burning, she sped up her pace.

“Kayla!”

Her mortification escalated at the sound of Gibb’s shout behind her. Yeah, she’d known the odds of escaping without any embarrassing confrontations were slim to none, but the delusion had been fantastic to cling to the few meager minutes it’d lasted. Sucking in a deep, fortifying gulp of oxygen, she dragged to a halt and slowly pivoted. Gibb wasn’t the only one headed toward her. Ty kept an even lope right beside him.

Oh God. Facing both of them right now was more than she could handle. Especially with her brain overflowing with the wicked images of them kissing like they wanted to eat each other alive. Ty’s hand had been down Gibb’s pants. His
pants
! Didn’t take much to determine he hadn’t been looking for loose change in there.

Her memory possessed the incredibly ill timing to conjure the recollection of Gibb’s erection rubbing against her while he’d kissed the living daylights out of her yesterday. He’d been as turned on then as what she’d witnessed in action mere minutes ago.

But he sure didn’t look like he was on the verge of leaving
Ty
high and dry.
She winced at her inner voice’s depressingly astute observation.

Clutching her terrycloth beach bag like it might miraculously expand into a size big enough for her to crawl into and hide, she waited for the two men to haul up short in front of her. She was mollified to note their expressions matched the scalding embarrassment swirling inside her.

For what she swore were the longest ten seconds of her life, the three of them stood staring dumbly at everything but each other. Finally Gibb cleared his throat and looked her in the eye. “Kay, what you saw—”

She shook her head vigorously enough to prompt a pain in her temple. “No need to explain. Really. What you guys do behind closed doors is certainly none of my business.”

“Only the door wasn’t closed,” Ty said before giving a lopsided smile. “Which means we do owe you an explanation, since I’m willin’ to bet we kinda blew your mind back there.”

Welcome to the world’s biggest understatement.
“Maybe a little.”

“Why don’t we take this conversation inside the shop?” Pensiveness continued to hover over Gibb, leaving her with the certainty that he was convinced she’d refuse the request and would instead run off again.