“So what did you want to talk to me about?” Adam asked the next day, as soon as we sat down at a table with our lunch.

I had a sandwich, he’d gone for pasta salad. “It wasn’t that serious, really. It’s fixed now.” I’d gone back and forth with myself whether I should tell him or not. Wynn had helped me move out of Al’s flat, and it was all over with him now, so… why tell Adam when I was done?

What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. If I told him the truth about Al now, he’d end up angry on my behalf. That would sure be nice, but it wouldn’t serve any purpose.

I was done with Al. Hopefully he’d let me be from now on, though I couldn’t quite hold out hope he’d let me end it on my terms just yet. I hadn’t heard from him, anyway, so that was good.

“It seemed pretty serious to me.” And of course Adam wasn’t going to simply let it go. “And you said you’d tell me all about it, remember? Don’t go backing out now.”

I had said that. “I just needed to ask your help. And if I could stay with you and Nick for a while. But it’s okay now, really, no need for it.”

“Stay with Nik and me?” He blinked, then grimaced. “I don’t think that would’ve been possible anyway. We’re not… I mean, like, we’re not in a good place right now.”

They weren’t? “What happened?” Adam had sounded happy on the phone yesterday. I’d assumed he’d had a great time with Nick—likely shagging—as I knew they didn’t get to spend much time together anymore with their schedules.

“Ahh…” He fidgeted a little on his chair. “Well, you know, I kinda—no, not kinda, I did… cheat on him.”

My eyes widened in surprise. “You cheated on Nick? Why?” They’d always been so tight. They’d got together during college and had stayed together, all open and committed to each other.

He dragged a hand through his hair. “Because I wanted to? Basically, I’ve figured out I’m not made out to be what he wants.”

“What do you mean?” Adam had always been happy with Nick… hadn’t he?

“Happy ever afters are fucking boring, is what.” He leant back in his chair, staring briefly up at the ceiling. “I’m young. I’ve barely started my twenties. I want to live my life a little, not settle down. I want to fuck whoever I want; I want to have fun. And Nick… he’s not into that. He wants stability and monogamy and all that shit and I just… I thought I wanted it, you know? A relationship like the one my brother has, but I don’t.” He sighed heavily.

Now this was a new side to Adam. I knew he liked to party, but that he’d give up his relationship for it… that I hadn’t realised.

“I’ve been hanging out with Cooper a lot,” he said then. “First time I cheated on Nick was with him.”

Cooper? Bloody hell. But of course it had to be.

“And after that it just kinda continued, you know? With Cooper, other guys, girls—”

“Girls?” I exclaimed, shocked.

He grimaced. “Why does everyone presume I’m gay just because I’ve been with Nick since I was sixteen? I’m not, you know.”

“You’ve never said…”

“Yeah, well.” He continued dragging a hand through his blond hair, messing up the styled spikes. “It’s never come up, has it? And it’s never really mattered because of Nick. But there you have it. I go either way when it comes to sex. As for relationships… I think I prefer guys there, but you never know.”

I couldn’t believe all this had been going on with Adam and I hadn’t noticed.

“So you couldn’t have stayed with me, because Nick and I aren’t good. I’m using the guest room for now until we can figure out what to do with the flat and all. It’s ours, so either we sell it or one of us buys the other out or… yeah, we’ve got to figure something out. Anyway, we’re not together anymore and not really on speaking terms either at the moment.”

Oh wow. Good thing I had come clean to Wynn then. And Wynn… not once had he blamed me for essentially lying to him. And I’d kind of cheated too, hadn’t I? But Al wasn’t nice like Nick, he didn’t love me the way Nick loved Adam.

“So do you still need a place to stay?” he asked, steering the conversation away from himself and back to me. “Cooper’s got a guest room, in case you need it. I don’t think he’ll mind. He likes you.”

Likes me? “Umm, no, it’s okay.”

Adam grinned wickedly, bracing his forearms on the table and leaning forward a little. “No need to blush like that, Kaz. Sure, I don’t think Cooper would’ve said no to a shag if you offered, but he generally thinks you’re a good person. He worries about you almost as much as I do at work.”

Why did everyone worry about me at work? Was it really that obvious that I wasn’t comfortable, that I didn’t like it, that I couldn’t do it? That I wasn’t cut out to be a bartender? “I haven’t really spoken much to Cooper.” He tended to stay behind the bar all night, not taking many breaks. Whenever he did, he was busy flirting with people—or Adam. Now I thought about it, maybe Adam had flirted back a lot too, but since he’d been with Nick I’d never given it any serious thought.

“Cooper’s a decent lad, so if you still need a place to crash, I’ll ring him up right now.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine now, really.” Adam had been honest with me. I should return that favour and be honest with him too. “I broke up with Al.”

His brows drew together in a frown. “You did? Why? When?”

“Well, yesterday, basically.” I swallowed, thinking back to the note I’d left. He must’ve been furious when he came home and found it, but he hadn’t called or texted me. Not yet, anyway.

“I’m sorry?” he offered quietly, obviously trying to read me.

“Don’t be,” I murmured. “It’s been a long time coming. I just… I had to find a place to go before I could end it, because I could never live with him after that. He wouldn’t have let me end it if I continued to live with him.” Then he would’ve probably forced me to sex too, which he’d never actually done before. Guilt-tripped me into sucking his dick, maybe, but never outright force.

“What do you mean?” The frown from before was back, deeper now. “He wouldn’t have let you?”

“It means exactly that.” I licked my upper lip, then nibbled nervously on the bottom one. “You can’t tell anyone, Adam, but… he’s not a nice person. I know he seems like it from the outside, but he’s really not. He’s never left a bruise anywhere visible, but—he likes to slap me around.” And slapping my face didn’t usually leave bruises as compared to when he used his fists. Not that that was often, but even once was enough.

“The fuck?” And like that, Adam’s calm, happy demeanour was gone. “That fucker’s hurt you?” His hands fisted.

It warmed to know he cared about me. “It’s over now, okay?” I didn’t want him to do anything on my behalf. As long as Al stayed away, I was happy to let him be.

“I swear I’ll hurt him,” Adam murmured, clenching and unclenching his fists. “You don’t hit people who doesn’t deserve it. If I so much as see him touch you, I swear I’ll hit him in the face. And I hit hard.”

A startled chuckle left me. “Wynn said something like that too.”

He froze, eyes widening a fraction. “Wynn?”

Oh! Well… Shit.

“As in… Wynn?” Adam’s anger bled away to be replaced by surprise, eagerness, and then he seemed like he couldn’t quite believe the conclusion he’d come to. “You’re shagging Wynn?” He dragged both hands over his face, laughing. “Wow. I’ve seen many people try to get him on the hook when he’s out and about in the club, but no one’s ever succeeded. Cooper said Wynn rejected him too once. How’d you manage to seduce him?”

“It wasn’t so much seduction,” I mumbled, partly embarrassed and partly pleased by the fact Wynn didn’t seem to get with everyone who threw themselves at his feet. “The day I botched my audition, when you left after work… He found me bawling my eyes out. I don’t think there was anything sexy at all about that situation.”

He turned thoughtful. “Three days ago? That’s when you first met?”

I nodded. “I went home with him. Not for… you know… but because I was a wreck and I couldn’t go back home to Al’s like that. But Wynn didn’t mind. He comforted me. He was so nice. No one’s ever been that nice to me.”

Adam’s frown was back. “Then you haven’t met many nice people, Kaz.”

“He said the same thing,” I chuckled darkly. “And I guess not. Besides my family, there’s only you and Mathilda. Al’s never really cared, and I was stupid to think he did. I should’ve realised it before I moved in with him, but… I guess I fancied him too much and was just happy that he fancied me back.”

“I never noticed anything amiss,” he said then. “I mean, I’d noticed you sneaking off together. And when you moved in together, I thought it was rather obvious. Then again, I couldn’t fathom living with someone I wasn’t sleeping with.” He grinned wryly. “So now you’re living with Wynn, huh?”

“Yeah.” Wynn was at home. He’d said he’d do some work while I was out. “Four days in and I’m living with him… It sounds mental, I know. But… I don’t want Kian to find out what Al’s like. It wouldn’t do him any good to find out the guy he really likes doesn’t treat me well.”

“Why not?” Adam asked. “I mean, he should know what a twat Alistair is, shouldn’t he? He can’t go around liking a guy who’s been hitting his little brother. I don’t care how charming and nice he is to everyone else—as long as he’s hurt you, he’s fucking dead to me.”

My chest squeezed tight. “What if he doesn’t believe me, though?”

“Oh, come on, now don’t you be a twat.” Adam rolled his eyes. “Of course Kian will believe you. You’re his brother, for God’s sake. Why would you lie about something like that, anyway?”

“I reckon lots of people do,” I mumbled, uncomfortable now. “For attention or… something.”

“Not lots of people. A select few, perhaps. But you wouldn’t.” He stared hard at me. “You should’ve told me before. Hell, you should’ve told me everything after the first time he hit you. I would’ve taken care of him.”

Adam was all buff and muscular like Wynn. He had tattoos and piercings to match too—at least the piercings in his ears, I’d never heard Adam mention he had pierced anything else. But where Wynn was all dark and intense and mysterious, Adam was fair and optimistic and a more happy-go-lucky sort of guy.

“I’m sorry.” I bowed my head. “I know… but—I don’t know. I guess in the end he made me think I deserved it? But I’m tired of being someone’s dirty secret. He didn’t even want to look at me during—well, you know—” I couldn’t explicitly say sex, there were too many people around us who might pick up on that words. “It was always just me getting him off, never the other way around.”

Adam’s expression was sour. “I never would’ve thought he’d treat someone like that. That fucking hypocrite. What’s he so damn afraid or ashamed of anyway? Mathilda’s brother and nephew are gay, I’m in a gay relationship… Did he think people would mind? Instead he acted all straight while secretly keeping you on the side? And as if that’s not bad enough, he’s not even nice to you and he doesn’t give you what you deserve, in or out of bed.”

Adam’s a good friend. I smiled at him, but I could feel my face was flushed. “Can we forget about Al? I’m done with him… I don’t want him to cloud my life now. Wynn, he’s—well, it’s only been four days, but he’s good to me.”

A wicked gleam appeared in Adam’s eyes, the sour mood from before gone in the blink of an eye. He was easy like that, Adam; it wasn’t often he was in a bad mood, and when it was it never lasted long. “So, tell me, Kaz… How is Wynn in bed?”

I should’ve known this was coming. “I’m not telling you that.”

He laughed. “Just tell me one thing?”

I nodded, but it was a bit reluctant.

“Is he good to you? Both in and out of bed?”

I flushed a deeper shade of red, but this was a question that was easy to answer. One I could answer without dying of embarrassment, because Adam only asked it out of worry for me. “Yeah. He is.” Very much so.

“Good.” Adam sat back in his chair. “Because if he isn’t, I will personally kick his arse, and I don’t give a fuck about my job, if it comes to it.”

That startled a laugh out of me. “Don’t worry. I don’t think you have to worry about losing your job anytime soon.” Wynn might look tough—and maybe he was to others—but not to me. He made me feel special. He was special.

And fuck it all, but all I wanted was to go back home to him.

Maybe Adam saw it, because he grinned. “You in a hurry?”

“No,” I said hurriedly. Wynn was busy with work, after all. He’d said he had a lot to do, to take my time. So I shouldn’t come home an hour after I’d left and interrupt him. “Not in a hurry at all.”

He snorted. “I remember what it was like way back when I first got with Nick. I couldn’t wait to see him again if we were apart for even a minute. All I wanted to do, all day long, was to rip his clothes off and have fun.”

That wasn’t quite what I’d had in mind, but then again… I wouldn’t mind would I? Sex with Wynn was addictive—and I was already an addict.