A couple days later, Blake needed a moment to remember where he was when he woke up. He blinked, then his thoughts began to come into focus. He rolled over, grinning when he spotted Linc passed out on his back beside him, still sleeping soundly.

Caroline had been invited to a sleepover at Aunt Paula and Uncle Henry’s. Blake had agreed, then immediately sent Linc a text to see if he was busy. It was a random Tuesday night, but he’d take any chance he could get to spend a little more time with the man. After the success of their impromptu meeting at the park and the dinner out that followed, Caroline had warmed up to Linc. She’d not been amused when she’d woken up Monday morning and discovered she’d fallen asleep without saying goodbye the night before.

Blake reached out to trace his fingers down Linc’s bare chest. Every moment seemed to bring them closer together. When they’d first gone out to the club, the night Blake had overheard those guys talking about Linc and his playboy ways, he’d gotten over his fear and been willing to take a risk with Linc. He’d not wanted anything serious and those words had given him the freedom to fool around. That was before he’d gotten to know Linc, though. Part of him wondered if the men from the club had a clue. The man they had described was so much different from the one lying beside him.

Blake scooted closer, then pressed his lips to Linc’s chest. He licked his way down, pushing the rumpled sheet away to reveal the rest of Linc’s body. They hadn’t bothered redressing after sex the night before, although they had taken a shower. Linc really didn’t like wet spots in the bed.

He trailed kisses further down until Linc finally began to stir. He reached for Blake’s head and he tangled his fingers in his hair.

“Mornin’,” Linc purred.

“Thought you were going to sleep through this,” Blake whispered. He bent further and licked a stripe up Linc’s cock. It immediately began to thicken and he gently sucked the tip into his mouth.

“Fuck,” Linc groaned. His fingers tightened in Blake’s hair. “Someone woke up horny.”

Blake’s reply was simply to suck Linc deeper into this mouth.

He took his time exploring, listening to Linc’s reactions to each touch. He let one hand explore, teasing down between Linc’s legs to roll his balls gently in between his fingers. Then he drifted further back, pleased when Linc groaned again and spread his legs further to allow better access.

“That mouth of yours, Blake. Want to wake up like this every day. Fuck, yeah. Just like that. Take me deeper.”

Blake opened his throat and swallowed Linc down to the base. He held for a moment, then slid his way back up. He dipped his tongue into Linc’s slit, teasing and swirling around the sensitive head of his cock.

Linc wasn’t having any of it. He gave Blake’s hair a tug, then reached for his arm. “Get up here,” he growled.

Blake let go of Linc’s cock, then pretended to pout as he allowed Linc to tug him up. “What?”

He pretended innocence, but Linc simply growled again and flipped him onto his back. When Blake tried to reach for his straining cock, Linc snagged his hand and pressed it back into the mattress. He held him there for a moment before diving down and snagging Blake’s lips with his own. Blake opened for him, letting Linc’s tongue dive deep. Their lips tangled even as Linc tucked one of his muscled thighs between Blake’s legs and forced them to spread wider to allow him in.

When Linc pulled away, Blake was out of breath. He tried to give his hand a tug to free it, but Linc smirked and held him tighter. “It’s my turn,” he said.

Blake’s entire body trembled, a quiver of lust driving through him as Linc drifted down his body and settled between his legs. His shoulders forced Blake’s legs wider, then he held Blake open even further as he bent down and sucked one of Blake’s balls into his mouth. He teased it for a moment, then switched to the other. Blake’s breathing quickened, his body coming to life under Linc’s touch.

Linc reached a hand up and rubbed two fingers against Blake’s lips. “Get ‘em wet,” he murmured, before turning back to his task.

Needing no further urging, Blake sucked them into his mouth, laving them with his tongue and getting them as wet with his own saliva as he could. After a minute, Linc pulled them away and immediately began to tease Blake’s entrance with the slick digits.

“Oh, God,” Blake moaned through that first stretch, the initial sting of penetration lessened by their round of sex the night before. He was still sensitive, but only to the point where it heightened the feeling in his nerve endings. He felt every brush of Linc’s fingers as they breached his hole and pushed inside.

Linc continued to tease his balls as he stretched Blake out, readying him for his cock once again. He stroked deeper, brushing against the bundle of nerves deep inside Blake’s body and Blake couldn’t stop his body from arching in response. Linc pulled away and raised up onto his knees.

“Get the lube,” he ordered as his strong hands began massaging Blake’s thighs.

Blake twisted over and reached for the nightstand, where they’d put the slick the night before. He fumbled with the tube, his hands shaking, but managed to grab it and pass it over to Linc.

Linc’s gaze locked on his, staring deep into his eyes even as his hands were busy pouring the lube onto his fingers and reaching once again into Blake’s body. Once he had him slicked up, Blake reached again, this time for a condom, before handing it over. Linc rolled it on, adding more lube to it, before he leaned forward and began to push his way inside.

Blake arched up, lifting his hips to a better angle, and he reached for the headboard. Holding tight as Linc finally seated his cock all the way in Blake’s ass, he let the rush of sensation of being stretched full flow over him.

As he had before, Linc read his body and waited until the first high settled before he began to move. He stayed upright, holding Blake open as he swiveled his hips forward and back. He kept changing his pace, slow, then fast, slow again. It drove Blake mad and he clenched his hole on Linc’s next inward thrust to hold him in place.

Linc laughed, leaned forward and placing his hands on either side of Blake’s head. “You’re such a bossy bottom.”

“Yeah, and?”

“And nothing. I like it.” He thrust again, pushing the breath out of Blake at the suddenness of the move. “I like watching you. Your face tells me everything I need to know. When it’s good. When it’s better.”

He thrust again, and again, and Blake reached for his arms, clenching his hands tightly around Linc’s forearms, desperate to be connected to him in another place. Linc understood that need too and leaned forward to kiss Blake deeply even as he continued moving.

Blake had never had sex like this before, with a partner that seemed to know his body so well, and who responded to him as deeply as Linc did. Each movement connected them further, and when Linc finally broke the kiss to being thrusting harder, Blake threw back his head and allowed his release to build. He only had to lift his hips the tiniest bit to get Linc where he needed him. Each thrust pegged his gland, sending bursts of heat and sensation throughout his body.

It built— faster and harder— as Linc’s thrusts continued to build in tempo.

When he’d almost reached his peak, Linc balanced his weight on one hand and reached for Blake’s cock. It only took a few hard and fast strokes before he was coming all over his stomach. When his body tightened around Linc’s cock, it was enough to set him off as well.

They trembled in each other’s arms as Linc dropped onto Blake’s chest, pressing them tight together as he thrust a last few times. Both of their chests were heaving, desperately trying to refill with escaped air. When he was finally able to focus again, he reached up and wrapped his arms around Linc’s still quivering body. He stroked softly down his back, tracing the sculpted lines of muscle down to the first swell of his ass, then back up again.

Linc finally lifted his head from where he’d buried it against Blake’s neck. “Am I crushing you?”

“Only a little. But don’t move.”

“Gotta get the condom off, babe.”

Blake scowled but knew it was true. Linc reached down between them and guided his cock free. He disposed of the condom in the trash can that had mysteriously appeared beside the bed since Blake’s last visit and curled against Blake’s side.

Then Linc noticed the time and scowled. “Why’d you get me up so early?”

It was just past six, and Blake had started teasing Linc almost a half hour before. “Because I’ve got to go home and get clothes for work. I wasn’t planning on spending the night.”

Linc huffed and pressed his face into Blake’s shoulder. “I don’t have to be up yet.”

Blake laughed and kissed his head. “Then go back to sleep. I’m going to get in the shower.”

Linc squeezed him. “No. Stay.”

“I’ve gotta get ready for work.”

“Not fair. It’s too early,” Linc whined.

“How about I make breakfast?”

“But I don’t wanna get up.”

“So sleep. I’ll shower and go home.”

Linc grunted. “Yeah, it wouldn’t be good for your cousin to find out you’d spent the night.” He yawned and closed his eyes.

Blake slipped from the bed with a frown. He didn’t even bother showering. He just tugged his clothes on and left.

Part of him knew that Linc’s words shouldn’t have such a big impact, but they did. They’d taken him right back to his promise to not keep secrets from him family. He’d let his separation from Michael become a dirty secret. He didn’t want the same thing to happen to his relationship with Linc. By the time he’d gone home, showered and cleaned up, and arrived at work, his mood had completely soured.

He spent half his morning arguing an overcharge on an invoice from one of their vendors, and when he wasn’t fixing that problem, he was fighting with the company who produced their prefabricated roof trusses because they’d sent an order to one of their new builds with the wrong specs. The entire project had to be put on hold until the problem was corrected. So much for just handling signing the checks.

Uncle Henry arrived right before lunch and dropped a stack of paperwork on Blake’s desk. He took one look at Blake and frowned. “Looks like somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

“I’m fine,” Blake grumbled. “Just having one of those days. What’s going on?”

“I need to rearrange a couple teams. We’ve got Abe and his crew over on the Behr build. The new architects came through and we’re doubling up to try to make up some of the time we’ve lost. We still don’t have word back on the Maynard job, so we’re okay there. I’m putting Jose on the new development project to see if we can make some headway over there, and we’ll have Linc work on some remodeling bids that came in early this week.”

Blake jotted down the notes so he could get the files updated. “Got it. Anything else?”

“No, but why don’t you head on over and talk to Linc in person? Maybe he can put a smile on your face for you.”

Blake tensed and sat his pen carefully down on his desk. “Uncle Henry, that’s really not okay. I know you’re kidding around, but I can’t treat Linc any differently while we’re working and neither should you.”

Uncle Henry’s eyes widened and he nodded. “Yeah. Of course. I would never do that. I’m sorry, Blake.”

“It’s okay. I know you’re only teasing, but Linc is pretty sensitive to it. He’s worked really hard for you and he doesn’t want anyone to think otherwise. I understand now why he was so worried about what us dating would look like.”

“I’ll be more conscious of my words. I didn’t mean to make either of you uncomfortable.”

“Thanks, Uncle Henry. Like I said, one of those days, but I’d rather you knew about it than let Linc get more upset over something we could nip in the bud, right?”

“Gotcha. And I’ll go talk to Linc myself. He’s not going to be happy I’m putting him on the remodels so it’s probably better it comes from me anyway. Why don’t you take a little extra time at lunch, see if you can get your day turned around. I happen to know Kale dropped off some really good soup at the bookstore earlier. Not saying my son’s food works wonders on a man’s spirit, but…” Uncle Henry patted his slightly rounded stomach and grinned. “It sure does taste good.”

At the mention of food, Blake’s stomach growled, drawing a laugh from his uncle.

“I think I’ll take you up on that offer. Micah owes me a good book rec anyway, and I’m clearly in need of some nourishment.”

“I’ll let Lucy know you’re gone for a bit. And Blake?”

“Yeah?”

“I hope we didn’t mess things up for you.”

“You didn’t.”

He grabbed his keys and drove over to Common Grounds. The late summer heat had finally broken, and Blake breathed in the perfect October weather. No one could be in a bad mood when it was seventy degrees and sunny. It would be nice to have Caroline out for Halloween and it not be cold and raining. She might finally get to wear a princess costume.

Luckily, the shop wasn’t busy this early in the day. Micah was sitting in one of the leather chairs with his laptop open. He glanced up and smiled when Blake opened the door. “Wasn’t expecting to see you!”

“Hey. Rough day. Needed a break, and Uncle Henry told me Kale had delivered some delicious soup.”

“He did, indeed. Chicken and corn chowder. And he left me some of his bread, too.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Micah closed his laptop and carried it behind the checkout counter before leading Blake to the coffee bar. They’d set up a slow cooker with the soup in it. Blake dished up two bowls while Micah sliced them each a hunk of bread. After grabbing a bottle of water each, they made their way back to the chairs and sank down to enjoy their food.

“Kale is so talented,” Blake said after he took his first bite.

Micah nodded. “He’s become quite the local sensation, although he’d never admit it if you asked him.”

“You think it might turn into something more? Like a TV show or something? He has so many followers on YouTube, I can’t believe it wouldn’t translate into a bigger audience for him.”

“He’s had a few talks, but I don’t think he’s interested. You’ll have to talk to him about it.”

Which was Micah-speak for I’m not going to gossip anymore. Change the subject.

“I will. Anything new for you?”

“Not a thing, and I’m not complaining about that at all. I’ve just finished the new John Green book. You should read it. I think you’ll enjoy it.”

“Order me a copy.”

“Will do,” Micah said. “Now, you ready to tell me what has you tied up in knots?”

Blake huffed and refused to reply. He took another bite of soup, but Micah continued to look at him expectantly.

He sat down his bowl and leaned back in the chair. He didn’t even know if he’d thought things through enough to explain them. “This is probably going to ramble. I’m still processing.”

“Okay. Let’s talk it through.”

Blake took a moment to gather his thoughts. “When Michael and I split up, I kept it a secret because I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. I didn’t want you guys to see me as a failure. I ended up disappointing you more by not trusting you, though. Part of my decision to come home and raise my daughter here was to keep me from hiding again. I didn’t like the way it felt and I missed you guys so much.”

“We missed you too, Blake.”

“I know you did. And coming home has been amazing. Just fitting right back in where I left off and watching Caroline with you guys. It’s everything I wanted. And then there’s Linc. He wasn’t part of the plan, you know?”

“I know.”

“Can I be totally honest?” Blake asked.

“You know you can. Always.”

“The only reason I slept with him was because I heard he was a playboy. I thought I’d get fucked and then not have to worry about anything more than that. One and done. I missed sex, but I didn’t really want to think about another relationship. But Linc, he’s not like that, really. He’s not what I thought at all. I never should have let things get this far.”

Micah looked confused and Blake couldn’t blame him. He was confused too.

“You know why they have rules against coworkers dating? To keep things like this from happening. And it’s just been little jokes so far, but Linc doesn’t think it’s funny and I don’t blame him.”

“Things like what?”

Blake wasn’t sure he could really explain it, but he knew he had to try to find the words. “It crosses too many lines. Home and work. Loyalty. All of it. I mean, just today, Uncle Henry tried to get me to go tell Linc about a job change because he knew he’d be upset. Again, he was joking, but we can’t do that. Linc has worked really hard to get where he is with Bartlett Construction and I don’t want to ruin that for him. If we keep going, it’s going to mess it all up. Hell, maybe I should be the one to go. I don’t need to work right now.”

“But Uncle Henry needs someone he can trust in the office. That was the whole point.”

Blake sighed. “I don’t know what to do. Linc asked me if we could keep things quiet for a while, just until we saw where this thing between us was going. But it’s too late for that. And I can’t go back to keeping secrets. I won’t, Micah. That’s my line in the sand. I can’t cross it. So if I end things between us, it’ll be awkward for a while, but at least neither of us was in too deep. Things can get back to normal.”

“You have to do what you think is best. I’ll support whatever decision you make, you know that.”

“I know. Sorry to ruin your day.”

“You didn’t.”

Blake pushed himself to his feet and laid his hand on Micah’s shoulder.

“Thanks for listening. You need help cleaning up?”

“I can wash a couple bowls. You get back to work. And Blake?”

“Yeah?”

“You’ll do the right thing. I know you will.”