“Hey, Kreed,” Cody said, his voice slightly slurred. Kreed smiled as he realized Cody must have been drinking for a while now. He was usually very reserved and kept what he considered a respectable distance from his partner. Mitch was the one to always push Cody’s space boundaries, but not tonight. He’d sidled up next to Mitch, wrapping an arm around his waist, and worked his big body under Mitch’s arm. His partner didn’t seem to have much of a problem with Cody being right there next to him. Mitch liked it so much that he lifted Cody’s chin and gave him a kiss. Kreed stood near Aaron, both of them smiling while the kiss continued and turned into a full blown make-out session right at the front door.
“Do they do that all the time?” Aaron asked when Kreed just chuckled. He knew Mitch wasn’t drinking tonight, not really anyway. He was on high alert, convinced—at least in theory—that they were now the perfect target for the hate crimes. But clearly, since backup had arrived, a drunk Cody was worth exploring, and he wouldn’t be surprised if Mitch disappeared for the next hour or so. Lucky guy.
“Probably. It is Knox after all.” Kreed turned Aaron by the shoulders away from the potential porn show going on with his partner. There were probably fifteen to twenty people in the living room. If Kreed remembered correctly, the party was an annual event for the coaches and staff at Jace’s gym. A quick scan of the guests showed there was a pretty even mix of gay and straight, couples and non-couples. “Want a drink?”
“Is that okay?” Aaron asked, making the same general visual sweep around the room that he’d just made.
“Sure. I can get you home if you wanna drink.” Kreed stopped speaking right before he added his next thought. Aaron was back to maybe being semi-friendly again, and he didn’t need to freak him by saying how much he liked drunk guys.
“Hey!” Colt called out after spotting them from across the room. He left the conversation he was having with a group of people and headed their way. When he was beside them, he said, “Mitch said he thought that was you two at the door.”
“Yeah, Cody side-tracked him,” Kreed said, hooking a thumb toward the stairs and glancing in that direction. The couple had just made it to the top and was disappearing down the hall.
“I know I was that sickeningly in love, but hell, they can’t keep their hands off each other,” Colt said. Kreed knew firsthand the shit Mitch put Colt through when he’d fallen for Jace. This had to be heaven for Colt, finally able to give some shit back.
“You couldn’t get all handsy with me because both your arms were in casts, as well as your legs,” Jace said, coming up behind Colt.
“I made up for lost time,” Colt shot back defensively, drawing Jace close.
“Invite our company in and take their jackets. What can I get you to drink?” Jace asked, reaching for Aaron’s coat then handing it to Colt.
“I’ll have a beer,” Kreed said, shrugging out of his coat and handing it over to Colt.
“Any special kind? We have just about everything,” Colt added.
“Heineken?” Kreed asked and Jace gave a firm nod.
“And you, Aaron? We have a full bar.” Jace pointed to the kitchen where food filled the center island. Kreed looked down to see Aaron’s face light up like a Christmas tree.
“He hasn’t eaten,” Kreed said.
“I’ll come with you,” Aaron offered to Jace.
“Well, come on. We have more than can be eaten.”
Kreed watched as Aaron trailed away.
“Come on in. Let me introduce you to everyone,” Colt said.
Colt held true to his word. He took Kreed around to what had to be every single person at the party. At some point, a cold beer was placed in his hands and an unknown amount of time later Mitch came back downstairs. Cody made an appearance about fifteen minutes after that. Still a little drunk, he was grinning from ear to ear, and had that freshly showered scent going on.
Kreed watched as his always-smooth partner kept it light and friendly with the people at the party, while still tracking Cody’s every move, making sure he had everything he needed. Colt and Mitch had that in common—flawless attention toward their partner. Luckily they pulled it off without being smothering. Watching Mitch Knox as a man in love intrigued him.
“You with him?”
Kreed looked down to see a kid standing beside him. Okay, maybe not a kid, but the guy looked young and short. Maybe five-six…or five-seven on a good day. The best he remembered from his whirlwind round of introductions earlier, this guy was a coach in Jace’s gym, but Kreed had no idea of his name.
“Who?” Kreed asked.
“If you have to ask, probably not then. Is he single?”
Kreed followed the guy’s sight-line as he looked into the kitchen where Aaron had pretty much hovered since their arrival.
“No,” Kreed answered automatically, probably a little more forcefully than he should have. He’d been holding that same bottle of beer since he’d arrived, and the irritation of the question had him discarding the bottle on the shelving unit behind him as he tucked his fingers inside his jeans pocket to keep from wrapping them around this guy’s throat.
“Is he straight?” The guy’s eyes were fixed on Aaron and oblivious to Kreed’s reaction. Either that or he didn’t care. Surely this coach had to know Kreed could squash him like the bug he was turning out to be.
“Why?” Kreed answered in a low, menacing voice. Finally, the guy took his eyes off Aaron and looked up at Kreed. He was older than Kreed had initially thought. He had crow’s feet around his ugly, little beady eyes. So he was clearly a pervert going after younger men. Kreed didn’t let the hypocrisy of that statement penetrate his façade, but the jealousy sure did. He didn’t give a shit that they were both probably about the same age.