Havoc (Tattoos and Ties 1)

“Key, please sit down. We were relaxing, enjoying one another. Please sit back down. Nothing’s changed. This is never going to be a relationship where we can go out to dinner together, but it’s worth—”

Keyes cut him right off. “This is not a relationship.”

“Then there’s no problem, is there?” Alec stated, oh so sensibly.

“I won’t ever give up any intel about my brothers,” he shot back angrily, which had not even been a concern until he’d spoken those words aloud. He took a step backward, staring at Alec as if he were a crazy man.

“Have I asked anything at all?” Alec rose to his feet.

Okay, yeah, that was valid. If Alec were trying to infiltrate the group, he wouldn’t have said anything about the judgeship, CPS, or his father. He wanted to call the cunt of a DA a cunt. His questions were only about Keyes and weren’t overly personal. Alec hadn’t pushed him at all. He had seemed truly interested in getting to know him, and Keyes had wanted to know about Alec which was truly weird in itself. Alec had answered Keyes’s questions with honesty.

Right?

Maybe?

“Come back and sit down. We were having a good time.”

“What we’re doin’ makes no sense,” he said, ignoring Alec’s request. He couldn’t think straight. All this bullshit emotion was making him fucking ridiculous.

“I came into this with my eyes wide open. I see the struggles. Where we’re both concerned, no one in our lives can know, but I’m having a nice time and I haven’t enjoyed myself in far too long. Not at all since moving to Dallas. Sit down. Please,” Alec tried again.

They were unified in that. Keyes had expected to come here and fuck this man, then hightail it out of there. He suspected Alec had thought the same. But they got along well. He had never experienced a bond like the one he had tonight. His orgasm had blown his fucking mind. Their chemistry soared completely off the charts. Then a shower, a good dinner, really easygoing conversation until everything had gone south…

Alec had made him comfortable—he was never comfortable around people. He had spoken freely, shared and communicated with non-essential words flowing from his mouth. He’d chatted with Alec.

Except Alec was planning on being a judge. And his father…shit. He knew exactly which douchebag politician his father was. How could Alec be related to that loser? “I hate your old man. He’s the one against gay rights, right?”

“Sadly, most in his party are against gay marriage,” Alec answered solemnly.

Keyes paid about as much attention to the inner workings of the government as he did to teenage girls talking about makeup, but it wasn’t rocket science to ask, “If he believes like he does, then how could you be a judge under something he would support?”

“All I can say is that I hope I grow a pair of balls before it’s too late.” Alec shook his head and took a deep breath. “I wasn’t accepted by my family. I was an embarrassment to them until it became compassionate to be accepting of the LGBTQ movement. At the time, I was in a state of flux. I was changing my course in life. I was tired of the endless partying that stemmed from rebellion. I got so excited to be accepted by my immediate family, no longer an outsider looking in on all the great moments I was missing. I didn’t fully understand I was being used until I was knee deep in this mess.” Alec moved around the coffee table toward him. He didn’t crowd Keyes, still respectful of the space he needed, but came closer as he spoke.

He appreciated that move, and his anger ebbed. Maybe as much as a minute passed before he answered honestly, “We’re more alike than you think.”

“I wondered how your club treated you,” Alec responded somberly, crossing his arms over his chest. The expression on Alec’s face softened to that of concern and understanding, something that Keyes had never expected to see from this smooth, accomplished man.

“They’re all right…for the most part,” he found himself saying. “It’s my old man who always makes sure nobody forgets I’m gay. He keeps it right there, all the fuckin’ time.”

“Then we have more in common than before,” Alec added. Extending a hand, he gestured to the sofa, his gaze beseeching. “Sit down, Key. Please. We agree to keep this on the very down low. Both of us have a lot to lose by doing what we’re doing, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be done.”

“No one can ever know this happened,” Keyes said, needing the affirmation as he began to give in.

“Agreed. And just so we’re clear—full disclosure—I’m certain I want more of this to happen.” Alec’s gaze sparkled mischievously, and that sexy smirk—the one that stoked Keyes’s dick to an epic hard-on—appeared on his lips. Everything faded as Keyes got lost in it all.