Havoc (Tattoos and Ties 1)

He rifled through his sweat pants until he found a pair of elastic-waist capris then changed his mind and reached for his athletic shorts. He didn’t see Key as a capris-wearing guy.

“I admittedly haven’t washed too many clothes in my life,” he said, tossing the shorts to Key who had waited at the sink counter for him, lounging back against the granite. Alec opted for the capris and stepped into those. “But I’ve seen it done a million times on the Big Bang Theory.” When Alec said it out loud, the logic seemed faulty, but he wouldn’t be dissuaded.

Key trailed behind him. They had to sidestep the disruption they’d made in the living room as Alec weaved through the house, back to the kitchen entrance, picking up Key’s hastily discarded clothing along the way. He felt happier and more at ease than he had in a long time, and strangely enough, it wasn’t because of the sex he’d just had. With Key’s jeans in hand, Alec pulled the contents of the pockets free. He handed a trailing Key two pocket knives, one bigger than the other, a wallet, cell phone, loose coins, and some sort of tool, probably for a tire. Maybe. Who knew.

At the washing machine, Alec opened the front-load door, tossed the clothes inside, and shut the latch with a confident little click. That was when things turned dicey. His moment of superiority vanished. Alec stared at what could only be described as a NASA-level control panel. His housekeeper always did the laundry. He had no idea what to do but reached out a finger to touch the board. Every light on the thing illuminated, making it even more confusing.

“This is fancy,” Key said from behind him.

“Yes, it is. Hang on. Let me get my bearings.” Alec turned to leave the laundry room in search of his cell phone. Surely, he could find step-by-step directions on YouTube. No matter the complexity of the machine, people washed their clothing every single day. It couldn’t be that hard.

“Where you goin’?” Key asked, taking a step to the side to block Alec’s exit.

“To find the directions.”

Key crinkled his handsome face at that statement. Then he threw out an arm to block Alec’s continued retreat while he looked at the control panel. “Do you have laundry soap?”

“I believe it’s self-dispensing,” Alec said, cocking his head to stare at the device.

“Should we check that? Where does the detergent go?”

Oh great, Key was one of those common-sense guys. Every time Alec looked at the machine, he grew dumber by the second. Hell, with all these hard-hitting questions, this quiet, unassuming Key should be taking Alec’s job as prosecutor.

As if his hands held all the answers, he used them to outline the rectangle of the machine. “Somewhere inside this box.”

“Fancy.”

“You said that before,” Alec pointed out.

“Mine has a knob that pulls out or pushes in.”

“That’s the way they are on the Big Bang Theory too.” In the absence of the knob, Key stuck with that principle of how a washing machine worked and tentatively pushed an icon. Nothing happened.

Key was brave though and pushed two more options then lifted both hands in a voila gesture when water started to fill the machine. Key looked smugly back at Alec who had to look as impressed as he felt.

“Not a skill set I’ve acquired,” Alec said, lifting a hand for a congratulatory high five.

“I wash all my clothes and most of my old man’s,” Key said, leaving him hanging as they continued to stand there watching the washing machine fill with water. Those words flopped like a cold, wet heavy blanket dumping over Alec’s head and couldn’t have been more effective at dampening his good mood.

Alec narrowed his eyes. “That’s biker speak for boyfriend, right?” He tried hard to keep the accusation out of his voice. How had the possibility of a boyfriend, or even a husband, never occurred to him before right this second? Oh man, Alec positioned himself to glare directly at Key. A significant other in the biker’s life changed everything.

A puzzled look fleetingly crossed Key’s face before he busted out a laugh, then he laughed out loud again after scanning Alec’s accusatory face. Alec had no idea where the humor was coming from, but Key’s amusement transformed his handsome face into an extraordinary thing of beauty. Key’s whole look just did it for Alec, which only intensified his scowl. Cheating wasn’t a laughing matter, and anger bubbled up at the thought of Key finding infidelity so amusing.

In a swift move, Key tilted his head toward Alec as if he would kiss him, but Alec jerked his head back, out of reach. The biker laughed again and pulled Alec flush against his chest, murmuring against his lips. “No boyfriend or husband, but I see your confusion.”