Prologue
New Year’s Eve at Alluring Indulgence Resort
Keeping his distance from Beau Bennett was proving to be harder than Ethan Walker anticipated. Didn’t seem to matter how strong he was mentally or physically, when temptation was greater than all of his combined strengths, he found himself fighting a losing battle. Didn’t mean he wasn’t still trying.
As Ethan moved through the vast, airy room, watching the various couples and threesomes, he wondered how he had ended up there. And yes, he was speaking in the literal sense.
This resort, no matter how swank or how alluring his brothers made it, just wasn’t his thing. He’d rather be at Moonshiners, sitting at the bar, drinking a beer and listening to the jukebox churn out tunes that were handpicked by the crowd. Or hell, sitting on his couch, watching reruns of anything, was more appealing than getting dressed up to watch people in various states of undress in the lavish, kinky, sex resort that wasn’t even open to the public yet.
But he wasn’t at Moonshiners, and he wasn’t at home on New Year’s Eve, which meant the only upside was that there was an open bar.
Since Alluring Indulgence Resort belonged to his brothers and they had gone through the hassle of inviting him, his conscience wouldn’t let him avoid the place forever. His brothers were proud, and he wanted to come to show his support. Figuring once would be enough, Ethan opted to make tonight that night so he wouldn’t have to come back in a couple of weeks when the place was open to the masses who enjoyed being naked in public. Something Ethan definitely didn’t need to see.
Despite the fancy design, the stylish furniture and the impressive sound system, Ethan wasn’t much into it. Glancing down at his watch, he was eagerly counting down the minutes until midnight when he could escape without feeling guilty.
After retrieving another beer from the bar, Ethan made his way to a far corner where no one was currently undressed or performing some sort of godforsaken sexual act right there in the open for everyone to see. Maybe it was out of character for a Walker, based on his brothers’ reputations, but, no, he wasn’t into other people watching him. Nor did he share his lovers. Ever. Call him old fashioned, but he preferred the one on one in private.
But you liked when Beau watched.
Fuck. That was not the same thing. And Ethan wouldn’t go so far as to believe he liked it.
However, the last person Ethan wanted to think about tonight was Beau. Or how Beau had inadvertently shown up at the Walker Demolition shop just in time to watch Blake suck Ethan’s dick, just a few short weeks ago. Or how Ethan had purposely made eye contact in the hopes that Beau would back off.
No such luck.
And the kiss they had shared on Christmas was proof that Beau didn’t give up. Even worse, that kiss only reaffirmed just how little resistance Ethan had to the man.
Beau seemed even more intent on testing Ethan’s good intentions these days, and he hated him for it. No, wait. That was a lie. He didn’t hate him. He despised the man because he wanted him so fucking much it hurt. And not just in the carnal sense – although he’d grown accustomed to the ever-present physical ache that couldn’t be eased – which he knew was downright stupid.
He and Beau had nothing in common, aside from the fact they shared the same career. Ethan was in the closet, perfectly satisfied with keeping the eyes of the town out of his business and Beau had recently had a come to Jesus moment or some shit. Ethan didn’t want to be Beau’s experiment and he damn sure didn’t want something as complicated as what Beau represented.
Listen here you little piece of shit. Lay off me. Understand? You’re damn lucky I haven’t told Ethan what a fuck up you really are.
Fucking hell.
He heard Beau’s warning in his head as clear as when he’d witnessed the conversation between Beau and Blake just a few minutes ago. He wanted to interrupt, to ask Beau to clarify that statement, but he had opted to sit back and let the two of them duke it out.
As he peered across the dimly lit room, Ethan’s gaze landed smack dab on the one man he wanted to avoid tonight. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t turn away when Beau looked back at him. Beau’s gaze was like a heat-seeking missile, finding its intended target because Ethan’s blood was boiling with a desperate need to find out what Beau actually had to offer him.
Sex.
Only sex.
It wasn’t like it could be anything else because Ethan didn’t want anything more complicated than that. And as far as his life went, sex was complicated enough.
I suggest you get Ethan out of your system because the guy’s gonna kick your ass to the curb soon enough. And I’m gonna be waiting. At that point, if you want to chat about whose balls are bigger, you find me.