Havoc (Tattoos and Ties 1)

Key gave a single nod and turned his face toward the sun, his eyes closed again. If Alec read the signs right, a barrier dropped between them. Even though they were only a few inches apart, Alec felt the miles of space Key created. He wasn’t sure what had just happened, what was said that Key didn’t like. It also wasn’t the first time he’d experienced Key emotionally separating himself.

Instead of letting it go unnoticed, Alec decided to tackle head-on whatever happened. Key was here for the night. It would be the second night in a row that he’d spend in Alec’s bed, and he planned to come back after work the following day. Whether Key liked it or not, the two of them were moving this relationship into commitment territory. That meant Alec needed to know Key’s triggers, because he sure as hell wanted Key right here with him at every possible opportunity.

“Let me put some suntan lotion on you,” Alec said, holding on to the side of the recliner while guiding them both to the edge where the suntan lotion sat.

“I don’t need any sunscreen. I’m outside all the time,” Key mumbled, a frown forming on his lips, but he still didn’t move a muscle to stop the progress of the raft.

“With your penchant for clothing, I’m guessing that certain parts don’t see much sun.”

That made Key laugh, the perceived distance Alec felt fading as he turned his head toward Alec. “You don’t like my farmer tan?”

“I like everything about you, but if you get sunburned, then it’ll spoil my ulterior motive. I’d planned on getting you drunk and taking advantage of you.” Alec placed both hands on the side of the pool and hoisted himself out, going for his towel and the sunscreen. “This music okay?”

“Sure. I don’t know any of the songs,” Key replied, a hand coming up to shade his eyes from the bright afternoon sun.

“It’s popular music of the 90s. I pulled a swimming party playlist off Spotify. What do you want me to change it to?” Alec asked, running the towel over his body.

“You seriously don’t like clothes, do you?”

Alec looked down the length of his nude body and laughed at the astonishment in Key’s tone. He’d lived overseas in boarding schools his whole life. Americans were the most sensitive to nudity. Alec certainly wasn’t at all.

“You just now figuring that out?” he said, wrapping the towel around his waist. No matter how much Key saw him naked, he still pointed it out. “Stay focused. What music would you like?”

“I don’t care. That’s fine. Whatever.”

“I found a 1940s playlist we could try,” he teased.

“No, this music just got a whole lot better,” Key said as he rolled from the recliner and lifted himself out of the pool to settle on the edge. He gathered his long wet hair and did the twirl thing to secure the bundle at the crown of his head. His guy had that move down, and more remarkably, Alec suspected that was the same hair tie Key had had since they’d met. If it wasn’t on his head, it always remained at his wrist. Alec had thought he was being helpful when he’d bought extra hair ties, leaving them with Key’s other toiletries. His guy hadn’t used a single one of those. Those same patterns played throughout all of Key’s life. He was never wasteful with anything, not ever.

Alec slid in behind Key. “How’s the club? You rarely talk about any of them anymore,” he asked, broaching a subject he rarely discussed, while squirting lotion directly on Key’s flushed skin.

“Hey! That shit’s cold.”

“Man up.” Alec laughed, swiping the lotion across Key’s sun-heated shoulders. “Seriously, I really don’t hear anything anymore now that they moved me. No one’s even gossiping about you guys,” Alec stated, hoping to spur Key into talking. Hell, he didn’t even care what they talked about, he just liked Key’s voice.

“We’re really keepin’ everything low-key right now,” Key answered, dropping chin to chest, giving Alec the signal that he liked the massage.

“Good. If I were your attorney, I’d advise you guys to keep it like that until at least the federal probe’s finished,” Alec said, turning the rubdown into a deep tissue massage. Alec adjusted his position as he worked the tight muscles at Key’s neck.

Key nodded and kept his head bent, giving Alec full access to his neck. “We had a meetin’ with our attorney. She’s challengin’ everything, says it’s a bunch of bullshit.”

“It seems like a bunch of bullshit—to use your word.” Alec grinned. Moving his massage to Key’s arms and middle back, he let his fingers sink into the firm muscles. The appreciative purr that came from his guy spurred him on. “If anything touches you directly, I could take a look, quietly of course. I’ve always felt the way you guys were targeted seemed a bit overkill. I haven’t seen much. It’s not my area of expertise, and I did truly stay out of this like I said in the first days we met, but the accusations seem speculative at best. I’ve not seen hard evidence of any misdeed.”