Xposed

Hell, the fuck, no! No other man was going to Indi’s house. That was the very shit that had finally forced Clay’s eyes wide-fucking open—the day when he found out Indi had hired a male escort for sex. Clay might not have understood his feelings, but he damn well knew he was not sending another man in to be with Indigo.

Thus, the lie of the century. The betrayal with no bounds. The deceit beyond deception. The lowest Clay had ever stooped in his life.

And the highest he’d ever flown.

The most sexually satisfied he’d ever been—especially after their last time when he’d really lost control and fucked Indi the way he’d wanted to after their first night together. That night, the rage-filled lust had terrified him. What if he’d hurt Indi? Before he’d even left, bruises had started to blemish Indi’s perfect skin. Bruises Clay had put on Indi.

“I’m not shaving anything,” Clay muttered in defeat. “Tonight’s the night. No more lies. If he doesn’t want us, he doesn’t want us. We’ve got to let him go.” There was no way in hell Clay was letting Indi go but the rest of the team didn’t need to know just how much groveling and begging he intended to do to try and convince Indi to let them back into his life.

Jalen, from his spot on the couch, laughed out loud. “Are you serious? You think Indi is ready for us to just walk away? For fuck’s sake, Clay, he just turned himself into a drug mule for the fucker across the street. Do we honestly think now’s the time to trust him to be making top-notch decisions?”

No lies—Indi’s drug run scared the shit out of Clay. What in the hell had Indi been thinking? When Clay thought of all the shit that could have gone wrong…well, his mind went to a really dark place. “What time is he expecting me?”

“Two hours,” Lydia quipped. The team loved tormenting Clay about his fall from “straight-grace”. Turns out, they’d all known how Clay had felt about indigo even before he’d been able to realize it himself. Arrogant fuckers. “At least shower. You’ve pretty much let yourself go to shit since Indi dumped you. And don’t fuck up the accent. You have absolutely no idea how much the rest of us love to laugh at you for that one.”

Moments like this was one of those times Clay really had to remember how much he loved his friends. They could be heartless and brutal. Their teasing painful. “I dumped him, remember?”

Lydia swiveled back around to face her computer screen. “Sure, you did. Whatever helps you sleep at night, lover boy.”

“Asshole,” Clay grumbled, knowing Lydia was right.

Clay walked down the hall toward his room and the shower. Truth was a wicked bitch, and he was about to pay the price for his lies.

*****

Clay stood on Indi’s porch and took one deep breath. Then two. Then another. When he realized it wasn’t helping, he knocked on the door. The security box right in front of his face mocked him—no doubt Indi had changed the code as soon as he’d left after their last encounter. As Travis, he’d been welcome. As Clay…never again, he was certain. The scariest part was he wasn’t sure he could live in a world without Indi in it…with him.

The door jerked open. “Since when do you knock?” Indi snapped. “I’m blind, for fuck’s sake. Just punch in your code already.”

Well, not what Clay had been expecting but more like the old Indi he’d recruited. There was a skip in Indi’s step as he made his way toward his living room. It definitely reminded him of the old Indi…and did some really nice things to his man’s ass. Like a homing beacon, Clay’s eyes followed those beautiful globes until Indi turned around, placed his hands on his hips, and barked, “Close the damn door, Travis! Are you honestly going to make me fucking beg you to come back to me? You might not know much about me, but you know how I hate to ask anybody for anything, especially forgiveness.”

Clay did know how pissed Indi would get when the team had tried to do anything to help him after the accident. They hadn’t even let him try to learn to do things on his own; they’d just barreled through and waited on him hand and foot. Clay suspected that was one of the major reasons why Indi had attempted to ghost them. Well, they’d learned their lesson. Indi won. They’d lost. It was time for the battle to end.

After closing the door and punching in the security code to ensure Indi’s safety, Clay crossed the room, making sure to stop a couple of feet away from Indi. Hell, he wasn’t sure he could keep his hands to himself. His fingers ached to touch his lover again. His heart clenched when he was forced to face how badly he’d fucked up with all the lies. “I’d never make you beg, mate. You know that.”