Havoc (Tattoos and Ties 1)

“I can’t drive that,” Keyes said, throwing a hand toward the Cobra. What a seriously crazy notion to think anyone was trustworthy enough to get behind the wheel of that vehicle. Of course, he couldn’t drive that car.

Alec chuckled and didn’t argue, showing he had lost all of his senses with such a crazy thought. He dropped his hands in his robe’s pockets and started back toward the door they’d entered through.

“Do you take her to shows? She needs to be shown off.”

“I refer to the roadster as a he, and he’s been in a few movies. Rarely truly driven for long periods of time, though,” Alec said when Keyes finally turned to follow him out.

“So what’s the bad shit that happened to get you that car?” Keyes asked, going through the door Alec held open.

“One particularly painful event…” Alec trailed off and didn’t say more as he went for the security pad.

“You don’t have to talk about it,” he said, except he kind of wanted to know.

“No, I’m long over those years. My father ran for vice president about twentyish years ago. He was young, mid-forties, and was considered the fresh face in congress.” Alec stopped speaking as he pressed the four numbers into the keypad then listened for the alarm to set. Keyes pushed through the outside door, holding it open when Alec turned to leave. “My father ran on the ticket opposing Avery Adams, do you remember him?” Alec asked, letting that door shut before pulling the key and locking the deadbolts.

“The gay one, right?” Keyes asked, hating that he used the man’s sexual orientation to identify him, but he literally only knew one vice president, and that was the gay one.

“Yes, him. I was ten or so, just figuring out I was different, but my family must have guessed before then. For those couple of years, during every school break, I was sent to my grandparents’. I never went home. I was given no choice in the plan, but I’d have rather been with my grandparents than home, so at the time, there was no harm, no foul until the night my father gave his acceptance speech for the candidacy nomination. He bashed homosexuality as a crime against civilization. We were watching, me and my grandparents, and my grandfather immediately turned off the television and diverted my attention. I had always loved his cars, and that night, he taught me to drive in an old truck he had.” Alec walked slowly beside Keyes toward the house and turned to give him a grin when he added, “I’ve restored that truck, a 1965 F-series. It’s at my home in New England. My granddad must have sensed my melancholy even with being excited to learn to drive, because he also told me the Shelby was mine when the time came. I’ve loved that car since that night.”

“Your old man didn’t win, right? The Adams guy won.” The rain had stopped, and regardless of what Alec said and the smile he just gave, Keyes sensed the hurt Alec still carried. Instinct more than any well thought out plan had Keyes wrapping an arm around Alec’s waist, drawing him closer as they walked side by side around the house toward the back door.

“Correct. My father’s in his sixties and has his sights fixed on the presidency. But things have changed socially. He’s going to have to make amends for those things he said. I’m his tool to prove his newfound tolerance.”

Keyes had no idea what to say. His father hadn’t liked him either, but the gay thing was just a small portion of a much bigger hatred. His old man couldn’t stand that Keyes breathed. He had questioned Keyes’s legitimacy most of his life. Alec’s situation seemed just as cruel even though he was certain Alec had never had a rib broken by the steel toe of his old man’s boot. “I’m sorry.”

Alec bumped him in the shoulder, which sent them both off course with the way they were locked arm in arm.

“Is it enticing to say I have five other classics at my home in Massachusetts?”

“What are they?” Keyes asked, letting Alec divert them from such a painful topic.

“I can’t let all my secrets out. I gotta keep you guessing, or you’ll get bored too fast,” Alec teased. Keyes busted out a laugh as lightning sizzled nearby, the loud boom of thunder following.

“Come on!” Alec took off running toward the back door as the clouds opened wide again.

“We should get out of these wet clothes.” Alec padded through the house, tugging off the rain-soaked robe as he passed through his bedroom and headed for the master bath. Keyes followed, marveling at how fast the rain had drenched the both of them. Alec reached for a terry cloth towel, absently tossing his robe over the sink counter, and Keyes’s dick pushed against his jeans as his eyes drifted over Alec’s naked form. Alec might not like wearing clothes, but Keyes was the one who benefited from that distaste. The man had a gorgeous body. Keyes looked his fill as he managed to unzip himself the rest of the way and work the damp material over his ass. His cock sprang free, jutting straight toward Alec, homing in on exactly what it wanted as he pushed the wet jeans down his legs. Cold air might have raised the goose bumps on his flesh, but anticipation caused the shiver that raced down his spine.