Havoc (Tattoos and Ties 1)

Keyes watched Alec leave the room, trying hard to ignore the implications of all the paid labor Alec had. He didn’t fit here but hadn’t been able to stay away. He was so fucked.

=?=

“It’s pouring outside,” Alec said with his head stuck in the refrigerator, the only light coming from a newly purchased, super techy portable LED flashlight now strategically placed in the center of the stovetop to help give the whole room a decent glow. He pulled out various lunch meats, cheeses, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles. Alec topped the stack with a jar of mayo, then grabbed the mustard, before shutting the door with his elbow.

“You shouldn’t open the refrigerator door when the electricity’s off,” Key advised. His snug-fitting jeans rode low, and with the top button undone, that swath of skin reminded Alec of the lack of underwear beneath that lucky piece of denim. Key bypassed him, going to the kitchen sink to wash his hands. Alec tracked his movement, watching as Keyes glanced at him from over his shoulder. “I can help.”

“You’re sexy.” Alec grinned and gave Key a wink. Key only laughed and shook his head before leaning closer to the faucet to splash the cold water on his face. Alec dumped everything he’d gathered on the counter and went for the linen drawer to grab a kitchen towel for Key. Alec watched Keyes closely. Now that they had agreed to continue whatever this was, he looked forward to learning all the little nuances of this man.

As he stared at the handsome man at his sink, it clicked—something was different from their first night. He looked closer. How had he missed the trimmed beard? Alec reached for Key’s hair, letting a long strand glide through his fingers. They weren’t as long as they’d once been, maybe by a couple of inches.

“When did you get a haircut?”

Key smiled, wiping at his beard with the towel.

“You’re fishin’,” Key answered, and Alec had no idea what that meant. The moment ended with Key giving him a quick peck on what had to be Alec’s confused face before he tossed the towel aside and sifted through the lunch meat options on the counter.

“How am I fishing? What am I fishing for?” Alec followed Key, mentally shuffling through what fishing for could mean to Key.

“You really don’t know?” Key asked, glancing over at him.

“Know what?” Alec asked, crossing his arms over his chest, leaning back against the kitchen counter next to Key.

“When I finally decided I was really comin’ this afternoon, I left the shop early and got trimmed. They even did my eyebrows. Hurt like a motherfucker,” Key said, furrowing his brow in Alec’s direction so he could survey the work. “Got bread?”

Alec took a good look at Key’s face. Took in the subtle differences and placed a hand on his cheek, feeling the softness of his recently trimmed beard. “I like this. It defines your face better. You’re handsome.”

“Look at you, buttering me up,” Key teased with a twinkle in his eye as he lifted his forefingers in front of Alec’s face, miming a square. “I think we’re missin’ something to make this sandwich.”

Bread. “Oh yeah. In the pantry.” Alec pointed toward the pantry before he turned that way, going for the bread, grinning at this new side to Key, playing with him like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“She said I needed a defined line where the beard started, so she shaved me. Seems like a lot of unnecessary work to me,” Key said over his shoulder as he started moving around the kitchen, opening drawer after drawer.

“So, how was I fishing?” Alec asked, laying two different kinds of bread on the counter as Key found what he was looking for and pulled a knife out of the silverware drawer.

“I did it for you,” he answered casually, reaching for the mustard.

“You went to get a shave for me?”

Key again cut his gaze away from the preparation of the sandwich back toward Alec, a mischievous smile parting his lips. “You’re fishin’ again.” One nicely plucked brow arching.

Maybe as much as a minute passed before Alec leaned back against the counter again, and said, “I’m still not following.”

“I’ll say it, but you can’t call me needy or whatever I’ll be,” Key said, waving the mustard-covered butter knife in Alec’s direction. “You’re so good lookin’ I wanted to get myself as together as I could. I wanted to look better for you. I know it’s not much, but you said you liked the long hair and beard. Otherwise, I probably would have cut it all off,” Key explained.

The explanation, along with the well-placed compliments, eased any lingering doubts as to why Key had finally shown up tonight. Alec had been told his whole life that he was easy on the eyes. That never mattered more until this man thought it. Now, he understood the fishing comment.