"No. I'm not even going to humor you on this," Evan said as they parked in front of the bar. "Not only was Season Six not the best season, but it shouldn't have happened at all. Season Five had the perfect ending." He opened the door and climbed out as Kurt sputtered.

Dinner had been excellent, and Evan was riding high on good wine and better company. In fact, watching the stretch of Kurt’s dress shirt across his shoulders all night had him considering dessert.

"Yeah, but—“

"No." Propping his hip against the hood of the sexy little sports car, he shook his head. "Just no."

Kurt leaned on the roof of the car, his arms crossed. "Well, there was—“

"Still no."

"Fine," Kurt laughed, his lips pursed. "I'll just keep my opinions to myself."

"You do that," Evan said easily, running his eyes over the bar. It wasn't on fire, so the new guy he'd hired was already doing better than the last one. Pyotr was going to be insufferable.

In the neon from the bar's sign, Kurt looked younger, his skin washed in shades of green and blue that erased the lines around his eyes. Evan had to take a deep breath to dispel the ache that sank into his chest. That was going to be a problem.

"I'll take care of it," he muttered under his breath, his brother's voice mocking him from the dark corners of his mind.

Kurt hummed, "What?" He was still draped over the roof of the car like a big cat.

"Do you want to come up?" Evan asked, almost biting his tongue in an effort to take the words back.

A slow, predatory smile stretched Kurt's cheeks, his teeth sharp and shining blue. "I still have to get you back from earlier, don't I?"

Heat prickled across Evan's skin, and he raised an eyebrow. "That's not much of a threat," he said.

Kurt just smiled wider. "Is that a challenge?"

Evan thought about that. "Might be," he said after a moment, something dark and impulsive swelling in his gut. It was the same feeling he'd gotten before he'd climbed onto the Rec Center roof as a kid.

Of course, that incident had ended up putting him in a cast for five months. On the other hand, Jeremy Thomas had kissed it better behind the bleachers, so it hadn't been all bad. A small smile twisted his lips, remembering his papa's face, half worried, half exasperated, as they'd waited in the emergency room.

The crunch of gravel shook him from his thoughts. Kurt was much closer, stalking around the car with his eyes on Evan.

"Oh, no. No," Evan said, holding up his hands and backing away. "You are not..."

"Not what?" Kurt asked, barely louder than the gravel.

"Whatever it is you're thinking. You're not. This is my business, and you're not embarrassing me here." Evan did a quick backward shuffle to stay out of reach. "No."

Kurt lunged, but Evan was small and quick. Ducking out of the way, he left Kurt to stumble into the side of a battered old truck.

"No," he repeated firmly, but he couldn't hide his laughter.

Eyes narrowed, Kurt spun on his heel and stalked toward Evan again, ignoring his protests. "You know," he said conversationally, "my ears still sting."

Eying the distance to the bar's front door, Evan smirked. "Your mother's nails are very impressive."

"She gets them sharpened every week," he said. "Every. Week."

"She has six children. I don't blame her." Evan feinted a lunge to the right, and when Kurt fell for it, he ran for the door.

"Cheat!"

Laughing like a loon, Evan dashed through the heavy front door. The bar was packed, the kind of night that left him exhausted, and he felt momentarily bad for his replacement.

The kid looked like he was having the time of his life, though, caught in the middle of tossing a few bottles of vodka around. Even the regulars were watching the show.

Everything came to a screeching halt as Evan scrambled through the tables. "Hi, Bob. How's your daughter? Don't mind me," he said as he went past, laughing so hard he wasn't sure anyone could understand him.

His pulse was pounding in his ears, every hair standing on end with a prickle of electricity. He made it halfway across the room when the door slammed open behind him. "Shit."

A couple people were half on their feet, but Pyotr waved them back to their seats. He was stationed by the bar today, in the thick of the crowd.

"Traitor," Evan told him as he climbed up and over an empty chair to get to the hallway that led to the bathrooms and the stairs to his apartment. That was about the time he realized he should have taken the outside stairs. The ones he never used, because it was easier to go through the bar. "Shit."

"Having a good night?" Pyotr called as Evan fumbled with his keys. The door to the stairs was kept locked while the bar was open. How had he forgotten that part? He was going to let Pyotr put in that biometric electromagnetic keypad, or whatever the hell it was he kept going on about.

"Good so far," Kurt said behind him, too close. "About to get better."

Pyotr grunted, and Evan spared a hand to flip him off as he yanked the door open. Racing up the stairs, he left it swinging behind him. Pyotr could close it.

The benefit to having his keys out already was that he could get the deadbolt on his front door open quickly. He could tell when Kurt hit the bottom of the stairs, the creaky step giving out an angry squeal. Triumphantly, he stuck the key into the doorknob lock and yanked on it.

It stuck.

Slumping against the door, Evan laughed helplessly as strong arms wrapped around his waist and dragged him back against a hard body.

"Got you," Kurt said into his hair.

"The door stuck. Otherwise, I would have won." He jiggled his keys, trying to get the lock to release them.

"I still got you." Warm lips brushed the side of Evan's throat, and he tilted his head. The bite that followed made him whimper. "Does it do that often?"

"I've been meaning to replace it," he said, his voice unsteady.

Kurt reached around and covered his fingers where they wrapped around the doorknob. The heat was a glaring contrast to the cold of the metal, calluses rubbing in odd spots. "I know a guy, if you want to have someone come in and look at it."

He twisted the handle once, twice, and the door popped open. He dropped Evan's keys into his free hand, but made no move to let him go.

Warmth crept up Evan's cheeks. "A professional guy, or just a guy?"

"A professional. Licensed and everything," Kurt said, his breath washing over Evan's ears.

Evan turned in his arms, getting a firm hold on his suit coat. "Remind me about it later," he said, dragging the bigger man into the apartment. "Much later."

Kurt laughed. "Yes, sir."

As distracted as he wanted to be, Evan made sure to close the front door firmly. Princess had gotten all the way to the front door last week, and he didn't need another six-hour search for his cat this month.

"Strip," he ordered, pulling off his tie.

"You don't seem to understand the idea of me getting back at you," Kurt said, but he was obediently pulling off his jacket.

"This suit is dry clean only. I'm not getting it dirty because you couldn't wait two minutes." Laying the pieces of his suit on the back of a chair, Evan took a moment to be thankful that Princess didn't shed.

"I'd buy you a new one," Kurt said, the hiss of his belt coming undone loud in the quiet room. The industrial-strength insulation that Evan had installed in the floor made it easy to forget that there was a bar full of people fifteen feet away.

Evan rolled his eyes. "I don't need you to. My point was that I like this one."

Dragging his pants and boxers off in one move, he stood naked. He would have been more embarrassed about how much the little they'd done had affected him, but Kurt was just as hard as he peeled off his clingy underwear.

He took a moment to look, just because he could. Most of the time, if he took someone home, it was a quick thing. He hadn't slept with someone more than once in years, and it was novel to look at Kurt and remember the texture of that pale patch over his hip. His lips tingled with the desire to trace the tender softness, and hear the way Kurt’s breath stuttered.

He was a good-looking man, Evan had to admit. Now that he wasn't hiding from his family, he'd be snapped up in no time, some quiet, old money omega landing the jackpot.

That ache in his chest was back, but he shook it off. He knew better than to get attached. Six marriages in twenty years had taught him that. Settling down wasn't in his blood.

"Enjoying the show?" Kurt asked, striking an exaggerated pose.

Evan smirked. "Might be." He took a step toward the bedroom, only to squawk as Kurt scooped him up and tossed him over one shoulder. "Hey!"

"There's no one to see, so you can't claim I'm hurting your reputation," Kurt said as he strode across the room. Evan had a great view of the muscles bunching in his ass, and he took shameless advantage.

"Princess will avenge me," he said, swatting the hard muscles in front of his nose.

"Who?" Kurt jumped and swatted Evan in return, almost getting a heel to the face for it.

"My cat," Evan said. He'd be more offended if he wasn't skin-to-skin with acres of hot alpha.

"... Right."

Evan hit the mattress of his bed and bounced, laughing a little as the bed creaked alarmingly. “Careful; this is an old bed."

"I'll replace it," Kurt said, crawling over him until they were face to face, their bodies close enough to warm the air between them.

"You like offering to replace things," Evan said, arching his back to get some of that skin-to-skin contact back, "for a guy who works as a bouncer."

Kurt shifted effortlessly, keeping them separated. "For a guy who owns half a city block, you sure do have a lot of things that need replacing." His muscles stood out in the light from the bedside lamp, twisting and curling like gnarled bark on an old oak.

Evan shrugged, a full-body movement that stroked the sheets against his skin from shoulder to hip. "I reinvest most of my money. The bar needs updating more than my apartment, and the pizza parlor had a leaky roof last quarter." He squirmed again, just enjoying the feeling. "Are you going to get on with it?"

"What makes you think I'm not?" Kurt asked, his breath blowing hot over Evan's lips. It was surprisingly intimate, and sexier than it should have been.

"You're all the way over there," Evan said, pushing his lip out.

Kurt smiled, his coffee-colored eyes sparkling. "Getting back at you, remember?"

Evan crossed his arms, brushing Kurt's chest just enough to make his hair stand on end. "This is what you've got?"

"This is step one," Kurt said, unconcerned by Evan's skeptical eyebrow raise. "I've got ten steps, but we'll see how far you make it."

"Are you serious?" Shifting on the bed, Evan ignored the ache in his cock and shook his head. "I'm going to fall asleep."

Kurt dropped his head until his hair tickled across Evan's cheek. "I'm sure you will," he said, and Evan didn't have to see his eyes to know what he was staring at. He could feel the bead of slippery liquid sliding down the head of his cock, a cool line of pure torture.

He gave a mocking snore, closing his eyes. It was a mistake. With his eyes closed, Evan could feel every brush of air as Kurt loomed over him. The heat beating down on him from that big body made him feel like he was being pressed into the bed, his skin rising up in goosebumps to get closer to that warmth.

Kurt chuckled, shaking his head so that a thousand strands of hair danced over Evan's face, sensitizing his cheek, his temple, his eyelids, even his lips.

Unable to hold back a gasp, Evan arched upward, trying to find those tempting lips. Kurt evaded him, drawing away until Evan fell back against the bed. "Bastard."

"Giving in already?" Kurt asked. His voice was steady, and Evan would have thought he was unaffected if he hadn't seen the hard, red thrust of his cock.

"Never," Evan said, the word lost in a moan as a single finger stroked down his stomach. He hadn't felt Kurt shift. Prying his eyes open, he stared at the vision over him.

Kurt looked like a god of sex, holding himself over Evan with one arm. Sweat beaded on his skin, making it glow, highlighting every curve and ridge. His hair was sticking in dark whorls at his temples and down his chest, like an arrow pointing to his erection.

Evan licked his lips, staring at the bulbous head, and it bobbed invitingly. Two could play at that game, he realized, as Kurt's eyes locked onto that flash of tongue. The electric tingle of power filled his head with all kinds of naughty ideas.

"I don't think step one is working," he said, stretching under Kurt's hand.

His mouth hanging open, it took Kurt a moment to answer. "I'm on step three now," he said, "and I think it's working just fine." He traced the bones of Evan's hips with that same gentle finger. No matter how Evan twisted, he couldn't even get a brush against his cock.

"I don't think it is," he said, the words coming out louder than he intended as he sucked in a deep breath. He reached up and threaded his fingers into the alpha's hair, smirking as Kurt's pupils blew wide until there was only the faintest ring of brown. "I really don't."

He twisted his fingers, tugging the hair until Kurt trembled. "Cheat," Kurt said, his voice breaking. Evan counted it a win when he leaned in for a kiss, their lips barely brushing as they shared air.

Teasing Kurt's lips with his tongue, Evan swallowed a groan at the rich chocolate taste of his mouth. As much as the alpha tried to keep control of the kiss, Evan dragged it deeper, chasing that flavor into his mouth until they were battling sloppily, their tongues sliding together.

Kurt was still holding himself up, and Evan's skin was screaming for contact. He hooked a heel behind Kurt's thigh, dragging them together as he shoved at Kurt's bracing arm. The alpha collapsed onto him, pushing him into the mattress.

The shock of contact along every inch of their bodies was too much, and Evan broke the kiss to moan, his head thrown back on the pillow.

"Fuck," Kurt growled in his ear, rocking against him unsteadily. The difference in heights meant that Kurt's cock bumped against the underside of Evan's balls, so close to where Evan wanted him. "Impatient."

"Just helping you check off your list," Evan gasped, rolling his hips and groaning at the rub of his cock against the rough hair on Kurt's belly.

"You skipped a few steps," Kurt said dryly, reaching for the lube on the bedside table that Evan hadn't gotten around to putting away.

"Like you're complaining," Evan said, gasping at the cold as a slick finger stroked across his hole. It sent little sparks of pleasure up his spine, but it wasn't quite enough. He couldn't help the way he pushed against it, reveling in Kurt's groan as that finger slipped inside without any resistance.

Kurt didn't reply, biting at Evan's lips. That finger was sliding deeper, thicker, maybe two now, and Evan encouraged him with a moan and a twist of his hips. They were both slick with sweat now, their skin sliding together with just the right amount of friction.

It was almost enough, and Evan twisted against the clinging sheets, trying to get those fingers to the perfect spot. When they brushed it, he hissed, lightning rocketing through him. His muscles trembled, twitching uncontrollably with every pulse of delicious pleasure.

"Jesus," Kurt breathed.

Evan ignored him, working back on those fingers until he wanted to scream. "Now," he growled, his voice cracking.

"Yeah." There was the crackle of packaging, and Evan sat up just enough to watch that thick cock, the purple color deepened by a blue-tinted condom. They were coconut flavored, just in case blowjobs were on the menu.

Evan made a mental note to give Kurt a blowjob later. That cock looked delicious. Then the head bumped against him, and all he could think about was that overwhelming feeling of being filled.

Kurt thrust slowly, carefully, but Evan didn't want it. His muscles shook with the need to get closer, to imprint every incredible moment on his skin. Meeting every thrust, he pushed Kurt faster, the pleasure growing with each millimeter closer together they got.

When he hit that spot, that perfect angle, Evan shouted. He clutched at Kurt as the world started to dissolve, his fingers digging into solid muscle.

Tension coiled in his gut, and he tossed his head restlessly on the pillows. Over him, Kurt was growling under his breath with every thrust, the tendons in his neck standing out in sharp relief as he wound them both tighter.

He stared down at where they were joined, but he seemed to sense that Evan was looking, raising his eyes to meet Evan's. There was a sizzling heat in that gaze, the barely-there ring of brown sparkling with fire around the blown pupils.

Evan couldn't tear his eyes away, something warm and adoring and permanent welling up in his chest until he was gritting his teeth to hold it in. Every thrust jostled him, threatening to knock it free.

Forcing one hand off Kurt's shoulder, he reached down and curled it around his cock. The first touch went through him like a shot, and whatever he'd wanted to say was gone. Two strokes, three, and he was coming, Kurt's eyes still locked hungrily on his.

Pleasure like fireworks exploded over his body, starting at his skin and working inward. When it reached that knot of perfect tension in his gut, it set off another round, and his eyes rolled back in his head.

"Fuck," Kurt whispered, reverent as a prayer, before the tension in him exploded into movement. Every thrust was more powerful than the last, driving Evan higher even as it pushed him up the bed.

Forcing his eyes to focus, Evan found Kurt's eyes still locked on his face, the shock of pleasure that caused making him whimper. Sweat dripped down Kurt's face and shoulders, pooling in the dips and hollows of his neck.

He threw his head back, a shout forced out between his teeth as he thrust in so deep that Evan would be feeling it for days. He could feel every pulse as Kurt came inside him, their heartbeats blurring together until it felt like his whole body was thrumming.

Evan collapsed back onto the sweat-soaked sheets, the occasional spark of pleasure causing his muscles to twitch. Kurt slowly melted down onto him, their bodies sticking. It was surprisingly comforting.

"Well," Evan said after a few moments, still trying to get his breathing under control, "you sure showed me."

Kurt snorted, shifting to one side to dispose of the condom. Evan missed the feeling of being filled immediately, but Kurt dragged him close, and that was almost as good.

They were both covered in Evan's cum, but neither of them was up to moving yet. Now that they were cooling off, Evan could feel the line of it up his chest. There was even some on his neck. He wiped at it with his sheet, impressed despite himself.

"We should clean up," he said, making no move to get up.

"In a minute," Kurt said, the words slurring together.

"I'll set an alarm." He threw one hand out toward the bedside table, but fell asleep before he could figure out where his phone was.

It was daylight by the time Evan woke up, the light from the open living room door enough to see by. Sometime during the night, he'd overheated, kicking off the sheets. It hadn't helped that Kurt's chest was pressed against him like the belly of a furnace.

Peeling himself off the bed, he squirmed out from under Kurt and stretched. It was going to be a hot day.

Kurt looked quite comfortable in his bed, one arm tucked under his head, the other hanging loose where it had been draped over Evan's waist. He was hardly sweating, which didn't seem fair when Evan felt like a dirty dishrag. Shaking his head, he wandered into the bathroom to take a lukewarm shower.

The water felt great, washing away the crust of sweat and other things, but leaving the well-used ache in his muscles. He whistled to himself as he washed his hair, and when he wandered out a few minutes later with a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, he magnanimously decided to let Kurt sleep. He even put the other man's phone on the bedside table.

Princess was nowhere to be seen when he filled her bowl and set it in the cave created where the couch met the wall. He wasn't entirely surprised; she could fake a delicate disposition when there was someone else around. She'd probably bully him for pets all evening to make up for missing her chance today. Brat.

With a few hours before the bar opened, he pulled on some sweats and headed down to do a quick inventory. Seeing as the kid he'd hired seemed to know how to mix some of the showier drinks, he was considering investing in nicer barware and a few higher-end liquors.

He hadn't even made it to the bottom of the stairs before the door at the bottom swung open and Pyotr planted himself in the doorway.

"Don't start," Evan said, glowering at the Russian before he'd even opened his mouth.

"I didn't say a word." Pyotr eyed him up and down, the scar over his lip twisting the way it did when he was trying not to smile. "How was your night?"

"Fine. How was yours?" Evan shoved him out of the way, feeling a little like an ant moving a mountain as he maneuvered them into the main bar. "Did the kid do okay?"

Pyotr shrugged. "He did well enough. There's always that guy, you know?"

Evan sighed. "Of course," he grumbled, raking a hand through his hair. "How'd he take it?"

"Like an omega who has had to deal with a few drunken assholes in his day. He kept his cool." Pyotr propped himself up against the bar. "Is he still upstairs?"

"Who? The bartender? I hope not." Evan pointedly turned his back and started counting the glasses still stacked on the bar.

"His name is Dmitri, and I know for a fact that he went home with his alpha. Kurt, on the other hand..."

"Seventy-six." Ignoring him, Evan headed for the storeroom.

"He is, isn't he? You let him stay the night," Pyotr said, following after him with an insulting amount of surprise in his voice.

"I don't kick people out as soon as the sex is over. That's bad manners," Evan said, glaring at the wall of glassware. He hadn't had a fresh delivery in almost two months, and his supply was getting sparse. "What do you think about getting that designer glassware we looked at back in January?"

"I think it's a terrible attempt at a change of subject." Pyotr reached around him to pick up one of the cups with a chip in the rim. "These aren't holding up worth a damn, so we might as well try the more expensive ones. Maybe they won't break after two uses."

He tossed the cup into the big metal recycling bin that they had for that exact purpose. The shatter of glass was loud in the small space. "I'll put the order in on Monday,” Evan said.

"Are you going to keep seeing Kurt?"

Evan opened his mouth, about to tell Pyotr to back off, when something occurred to him. "What are you doing next Thursday?"

Pyotr paused as Evan turned around, looming over him with narrowed eyes. "I work."

"Not anymore," Evan said, a maniacal grin stretching his lips. "I have to go to dinner with Kurt's family, and you're coming along for moral support."

"No," Pyotr said flatly, his face falling into forbidding lines.

"Yes," Evan retorted, poking him in the chest. "Don't even pretend you're getting out of this. I went with you when you needed moral support to tell your mother that you were bi. At least Kurt's mother isn't an ex-KGB agent."

"That was my father," Pyotr muttered, but it was a weak argument at best. No one debated that his mother was a terrifying woman, even in her old age.

"Dinner's at six. Wear your nice suit." Evan patted him on the chest and went back to counting boxes.

"I'm not going," Pyotr muttered petulantly, stomping out of the storeroom.

A few moments later, warm arms wrapped around Evan's waist. "Who pissed in Pyotr's cornflakes? He's glaring at the bar like it insulted his mother."

Evan leaned back for a moment, savoring the warmth of another body against his. The pit of his stomach swirled with aching tenderness, and he flinched, stepping away. "I'm making him come to your mother's dinner for moral support."

"Ah," Kurt said, glancing at the door. "So this is the punishment that you came up with for whatever you were fighting about the other day? Inflicting my mother on the poor man?"

Evan scribbled a quick note on the board by the door, trying to hide the way his hands shook. "I want to introduce him to your sister."

"Which one?" Kurt tilted his head and squinted at Evan's scrawl. "Does that say juice or Luis?"

Evan frowned at him. "It's a number." He encouraged the slight whisper of annoyance, pulling it around him like armor.

He could handle annoyance. It chased away the vulnerable warmth in his chest, made it easier to breathe.

Kurt groaned, scrubbing a hand over his face. "I know a great touchscreen company. I'm having them send over a guy."

"I don't need a touchscreen," Evan said, crossing his arms.

"Yes," Kurt said, his eyes crinkling at the corners, "you do. If you want to hire people, you need to have the schedule and any communications not only be visible, but legible."

He pulled Evan in and kissed him on the temple. Evan’s skin burned like Kurt’s lips were a brand. "Look, just check out what they've got. If you aren't impressed, I'll drop it."

"Okay," Evan said, his ears burning as Kurt's scent surrounded him.

"Which sister did you want to inflict on Pyotr, by the way? You never said." Kurt's voice rumbled through his chest, too comfortable.

Evan pulled out of Kurt's arms and turned away. If he was lucky, Kurt wouldn’t notice his flushed cheeks. "Lucia."

Kurt's eyebrows went up, but he didn't reject the idea immediately. "You want to introduce your bouncer to my baby sister?"

"Yes," Evan said, forcing a cheerful smile. "I think they'll get along."

Thoughtfully, Kurt turned to look out into the bar. "Maybe you're right," he said with a shrug. "Good luck getting her to talk to him."

"I don't need luck."

Kurt glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "I would never have guessed you were a closet romantic," he said.

Evan snorted, rolling his eyes. "You're crazy," he said, trying to remember where he'd put that glassware catalog. He was the farthest thing from romantic.