“Where’d you find it?”
“A prospect found it in the parking lot right after you left. I figured it was yours.”
“Thanks. I’ve been shit lately at keepin’ up with my crap,” Keyes answered, lifting a hand.
“You’ve been off this week,” Ace added, and he couldn’t deny it.
He walked down the hall to his room then used the key to open the door. Most of these rooms were vacant, only here for some privacy, or situations like Keyes’s. No one lived there permanently but Ace. Keyes used his boot to shut the door behind him as he dropped his duffel on the floor. He had his cut shrugged off one shoulder when he noticed the waiting text message. His heart sank. He knew that number by heart. He’d read Alec’s note, over and over, memorizing even the efficient script Alec used to write. No wasted markings—clean, cultured, and efficient just like the man.
Keyes tossed the cut aside while opening the message. The way his heart pounded so loudly, he wasn’t sure the guys in the next room hadn’t heard. Damn, this was such bullshit. He had control of nothing. He stepped back, his legs hitting the mattress, and he sat as the words appeared on his screen. Alec’s sexy voice read each word in his head.
“Come by this weekend. I’ll be home.”
What did that mean? His eyes narrowed as he read the two sentences again and again. Alec wanted a booty call—absolutely. Keyes closed his eyes and fell back on the small mattress. Why couldn’t Keyes just be okay with a hookup? He’d always preferred it that way. Why did it feel like something ugly and degrading all of a sudden? It was sex. Who would be dumb enough to turn down sex? Let alone sex with Alec. Keyes closed his eyes and willed his heart to calm down. Alec and he had really great sex, and if Keyes were being honest with himself, he’d just go ahead and admit the time he shared with the man had meant something to him. Fuck!
He was up off the bed, tossing the phone on the small dresser as he stalked back to the bar. What was wrong with him that he couldn’t just go with the flow? He’d spent his entire life going with the fucking flow, rolling with the punches, never getting too deep about anything.
Alec was all sorts of deep, and he wanted to submerge himself in everything Alec.
Keyes gave in to the seething frustration that wouldn’t fucking give him a break all damn week by balling his fist and punching the hard bar. Pain shot up his arm and blood welled then ran down his knuckles.
“Whatever the fuck’s goin’ on with you needs to end. You’re being a puss,” Ace hollered and shoved a bucket of beer in his direction. He pushed his aching fist between the bottles and into the ice.
Keyes carried the bucket back to his room then sprawled out across the bed. An hour later, Key had finished all six longnecks and managed to pull Alec up on Google. He found pictures with his family, with his dickhead father, one with that Blaine guy.
He sneered at the image—he would have never left Alec alone on the side of the road. He closed his eyes. Pain shooting through him. He wanted Alec so bad it hurt.
Two weeks later
The melancholy that had plagued Alec for the past week continued to linger. All throughout the Tinder chat session he had initiated and the subsequent face-to-face date he had insisted upon, he hadn’t been able to shake the hollowness inside. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea, but he’d been desperate to get out from under all the unhappiness that had weighed heavily on him. Alec had never felt so…out of place, so alone. He had to get past it. This date should’ve helped.
It hadn’t. The guy, Bill, had fit every one of his requirements for a good time. Young, single, nice-looking, and enjoyed the same things Alec did. Bill was well traveled and well educated. A neurologist. An activist. He’d started his career with Doctors Without Borders. Now at thirty-seven, he’d returned stateside, wanting to find the right person to settle down with. All things Alec wanted too. Moreover, Bill had smoldering good looks with dark, devilish, piercing eyes. Alec had always liked a gaze that pinned you in your place. This guy had it, but something else was missing.
Alec rubbed his forehead which transitioned to a full down-his-face hand scrub as he waited for his gate to open. It was ten forty-five at night. The way he’d abruptly ended the date might negate the likelihood of ever seeing Bill again. He had claimed digestive issues. Alec cringed. How could he have ever said those words aloud to a physician of all people? Such a dumb move.