Chapter Six
Xavier
Rather than try to pry the reason for the little black storm cloud that hovered above Everett, Xavier threw himself into being the best, and most entertaining guest star Everett had ever had. It helped that so far; he had been Everett’s only guest star.
Xavier washed up. He glanced at Everett as he pulled things out of the fridge and stacked them on the counter. Everett worked as if Xavier wasn’t even there. He arranged everything on the counter, then rearranged it. Everett looked good enough to eat. He wore a tight T-shirt of some band Xavier had never heard of, and a pair of jeans. Xavier’s gaze raked down to Everett’s bare wrists.
“You’re not wearing your cuffs.” The statement came out before Xavier could stop it.
Everett shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t wear them when I shoot.”
Unless Xavier imagined things, something was up with Everett. Instead of reaching out and putting a hand on Everett’s shoulder, Xavier looped his thumbs through his belt loops. Xavier wanted to learn about Everett. He wanted to know the reason Everett seemed down and detached. Xavier had watched enough of Everett’s cooking vlogs to know he adored what he did, but today, Everett’s lips formed a thin line and his movements were stiff. Xavier had to bite his tongue to keep him from asking what was wrong. He knew Everett wouldn’t answer and letting on that he knew something was up might make Everett shut down even more.
Instead, Xavier cocked his hip to the side. “So, where’s my itty-bitty apron?”
An adorable slash of pink kissed Everett’s cheekbones. “You don’t have to…you know…wear what I do. I’d never make a guest adhere to my…ah…costume.”
Awkward Everett was adorable. He bit his lower lip and his gaze darted between Xavier and the food.
“And miss out on the full Crock Cock experience? Never.” Xavier wore a feral smile. “Besides, do you think your fans would be happy with you if you had some hot guy on your show and didn’t demand he strip down?”
Everett’s face turned a remarkable shade of crimson. He reached over and opened a drawer and pulled out an apron. Unlike the kind that only covered from the waist down, this one would hang around Xavier’s neck and protect his chest.
“Awwww. Where’s the itty bitty ones?” Xavier pouted.
With a cocked eyebrow, Everett looked at him. Then he reached into the drawer, rooted around, and pulled out a smaller apron that would only cover Xavier from the waist down to mid thigh. “Be my guest, but a word of warning; bacon grease and bare chests don’t mix.”
Xavier handed the smaller apron back to Everett. “You speak from experience I presume?”
The corner of Everett’s mouth quirked up. “Something like that.”
Noticing Everett lost a little of the tension in his shoulders, Xavier decided distracting him even more would be a great idea. Without warning, Xavier stripped his shirt off and tossed it into Everett’s living room.
Everett looked over at Xavier. “What are you doing?”
Xavier grinned and popped the button on his jeans and shoved them down over his hips. He left his boxer briefs on, for now, because Everett’s blush turned tomato-red. “Getting ready to shoot.”
Everett looked away when he waggled his eyebrows. Xavier watched Everett's Adam’s apple bob as he shoved his pants down to his ankles. He stepped out of them, then tossed them in the living room. Xavier hung the apron around his neck, then tied it at the waist. He’d cut Everett a break and leave his underwear on, for now.
“How many brain cells do you think it’s taking Andrew to stop thinking about the fact that his brother and his best friend are spending the day together, naked?”
With a laugh, Everett fished the pans they’d need out of the cupboard. “I bet he had nightmares about this.”
“We’re lucky the gay thing only freaks him out when he’s getting hit on.”
An eye roll prefaced Everett's reply. “It happened once, you know. He makes it sound as if he’s constantly mauled. Mostly, he gets eye-fucked. One guy hit on him and he backed off when Drew said he was straight. If I didn’t know him better, I’d swear your brother was a closet case.”
Xavier often thought his brother could be bisexual, but he kept that assessment to himself. If Andrew would come out, he’d do it on his own time. Besides, he had better things to do than ponder Andrew’s sexuality, like watching Everett as he tinkered with the camera and the laptop.
“Did you ever eye-fuck my brother?” It wouldn’t be the first time a gay kid had a crush on his straight best friend.
Everett shook his head. “Nope.”
“Not ever?” Xavier said, surprised. He thought for sure Everett would thirst after Andrew, at least at one point or another. Most people did.
“He’s not my type.”
Xavier tilted his head. “Giant muscle bears don’t do it for you?” Ice formed in Xavier’s stomach when Everett winced. Everett confessed to being assaulted last night and Xavier wondered if it had been some big giant dude who did it. It would explain last night’s panic attack and Everett’s wince at the mention of giant muscle bears.
Then Everett stripped his shirt off and Xavier’s mind went blank. Fuck. Everett looked gorgeous fully dressed but looked absolutely delicious half-naked. Xavier’s cock twitched. Everett draped the apron around his neck, then tied it around his waist. Even though Xavier’s vantage point was poor and Everett covered, Xavier’s cock thickened when Everett stepped out of his pants, then his underwear.
Shit. Everett was naked except for an apron, and now Xavier was half hard from watching him undress. Soon, he’d have to stand near Everett and help him and talk to him, and oh, shit, he hoped his cock would behave or he’d be cooking a Full English with a huge embarrassing erection.
Xavier noticed the change in Everett’s demeanor the moment he stripped out of his clothes. The tension left his body. He seemed to be more at ease. Xavier watched in awe, and lust, as Everett shut his eyes and stretched his neck, rolling it one way first, then the other. When Everett’s eyes opened again, his smile was even brighter. He winked at Xavier and his gaze darted down to Xavier’s mid-section, then back up.
“You can leave those on if you want, but unless you plan to strip on camera, I’d take them off now.”
Xavier scurried out of the way to ditch his boxers. He stood off to the side while Everett filmed an intro. God. He was magnetic. Radiant. Xavier absorbed every word that fell from Everett’s lips. He watched every move Everett made. Then Everett introduced him. Xavier took a quick breath and entered the shot.
His face burned with embarrassment but that didn’t stop his cock from getting interested in the naked man standing next to him. In fact, his traitorous cock seemed to like the low-key embarrassment that thrummed through his blood stream. Xavier tucked that tidbit of interesting information away for later and threw himself into his segment with Everett.
Everett clearly wasn’t used to sharing a kitchen, and he crashed into Xavier several times when they first started cooking, but once his nerves calmed down, it was smooth sailing.
Kind of. If you could count frying bacon, keeping up witty banter with Everett, and trying to control your dick simultaneously, smooth. Xavier thought it might be strange to be almost naked with Everett but cooking and staying on point for the video took all of Xavier’s mental capacity. The only time things got awkward had been when Xavier sautéed the mushrooms and Everett reached around him to flip the sausages over. When Everett’s bare skin brushed against Xavier’s, their gazes locked for a second before Everett spun away and yammered away at the camera, sounding slightly too peppy.
That one bit of gentle contact lit Xavier up. His body screamed for more. He wanted Everett like he hadn’t wanted anyone ever before. Xavier flirted, he dated, he’d even played with a couple subs, but he’d never wanted anyone the way he wanted Everett. When Everett was near, Xavier’s skin sang. When he spoke, Xavier heard nothing else. He wanted Everett on his knees or tied to a cross. He wanted Everett in his arms and in his bed.
Cooking with Everett had been fun, more fun than he’d expected, and Xavier had an idea of how he could keep it going. “Have you ever thought about starting a live stream cooking segment? You wouldn’t have to get rid of the vlog, but this would add another layer of fan interaction.”
After Everett swallowed his mouthful of egg, he pushed his mostly empty plate away. “I did. But it would be too hard to keep up the interaction once the cooking started. Vlogging is fine. I get to edit the crap out of it and make it presentable. The interaction is all one sided and I don’t have to worry about keeping up with the comment section.”
“What if you had an assistant to help bridge the gap for you? Someone hot, and good in the kitchen who was super personable and could help you keep up with what people were saying.”
Everett looked at Xavier. They’d ditched the aprons and had slid back into their clothes, which made Xavier thankful. His briefs would do a better job at containing his erection.
His brow furrowed. “You’d do that for me?”
“Sure, I would.” Xavier shot Everett a bright smile and bit a chunk of the fried bread. Boy, did the Brits get it right when dealing with breakfast. Bread fried in bacon fat, yes please. “Today was fun, E. You and I were a great pair, and we made killer food. We can do a test run next week if you want.”
Everett barely hesitated. “Yeah. Okay. Yeah.” Then he shrugged. “Might be fun.” Everett’s phone pinged, and he rolled his eyes when he glanced at the screen. Xavier watched as he rose from his spot. “I swear, for a guy who will abuse the five-second rule, he sure acts like a germa-phobe.”
Xavier laughed and debated taking another sausage to bug Andrew, but he decided against it. Andrew had been doing his best to share his best friend, Xavier didn’t want to press his luck by making him share his food, too.
The afternoon passed easily enough. The friction Xavier experienced when he’d been alone with Andrew disappeared, as if Andrew accepted the fact that Everett could have more than one friend. That didn’t mean Xavier was stupid enough to bring up the live stream cooking idea he’d had. He was positive Andrew wasn’t ready to hear about that yet.
All afternoon Xavier studied Everett. He’d been strange all day. Quieter, more subdued. Something bothered him, but with Andrew there, Xavier didn’t want to bring it up. Andrew had acted like an overprotective caveman about Everett’s panic attack and if he didn’t notice his best friend had been acting weird, Xavier wasn’t about to point it out. He wasn’t about to subject Everett to that and with both of them there, he might feel as if he were being ganged up on.
Xavier thought better of saying anything. For now.
***
Wednesday had rolled around by the time Andrew realized something was up with Everett.
“How bad was the panic attack?”
Xavier’s head snapped up. He sat on his bed with his back against the headboard and his laptop on his legs. He’d been about to hop over to his favorite submissive blog, when Andrew appeared. His eyebrows pinched together, and he shoved his hands deep into his pockets.
“It wasn’t bad. And he felt a lot better when his friend Rory showed up. Why?”
“He’s been quiet lately.”
A snort left Xavier. He’d noticed it too, but he wasn’t about to let Andrew go into hyper-protective mode. “Come on, it’s Everett. He’s always quiet.”
Andrew scowled. “Okay, wiseass. He’s been quieter than usual.”
Xavier bit his lip. He hated that Andrew was so protective of Everett and could read his moods so well even if it seemed to take him days to clue into the fact that something was up with Everett. Xavier could mope around for a month and Andrew wouldn’t suspect for a single second that something was bothering him.
“I’m sure he’ll snap out of it.” Xavier shrugged a shoulder and feigned disinterest. He glanced back down at his laptop and waited for Andrew to get the hint.
Andrew lingered for a minute before closing the door to Xavier’s bedroom, a temporary situation. Living with Andrew was beginning to drive them both nuts. Xavier could tell Andrew preferred living alone and Xavier’s presence was becoming a nuisance. The longer Xavier stayed, he and Andrew seemed to talk or hang out less.
With a shrug, Xavier went to the blog he’d bookmarked months ago when he first found it. He’d thirsted after the sleek and sexy, and faceless submissive ever since he first laid eyes on him. ConcealedandCuffed was exactly his type. Slender without being scrawny, and God, the things he did. He never said much, but the videos when he did speak, or beg, or moan, were all earmarked and put away in Xavier’s favorites folder. It had taken Xavier months to work up the courage to send a request. He didn’t want to send in any old request. He wanted to be different. He wanted to give his sub something memorable, something he hadn’t done before.
His was the top post on the blog. Xavier plugged his ear buds in and jacked the volume up. It took no time for Xavier’s dick to thicken. The way the sub moaned when he fastened the nipple clamps. The way he shivered under his own touch as he caressed his skin. He was delicious. Xavier grinned, the sexy soundtrack in the back was a nice touch. He’d wondered how his sub would manage getting off with only a single stroke. His sub pulled out all the stops. Sexy moans blended with his own. He had to be watching a porn as he stroked his body with feathers and tugged on the nipple clamps. Xavier didn’t touch himself until his sub reached down and touched his inner thighs.
Xavier moved the laptop out of the way and thrust his hand into his boxers. He grabbed his dick and stared as his sub stroked upward, in one long slow movement. Then, his sub yanked his hand away, and he watched as his sub shuddered and moaned and came all over the floor. Xavier gave his cock another tug, his stomach fluttered, his balls tightened and warm sticky cum coated his fingers. He pulled his sticky hand out of his boxers and glanced at the screen.
Thank you, Master. His sub said as he got to his feet, though his face had been blurred, Xavier saw the sub’s platinum hair was damp with sweat. Light glinted off the silver d-ring attached to the cuffs he wore.
Xavier’s heart stopped.
Platinum hair and cuffs. It wasn’t an uncommon style combination. He was sure he could walk into any kink club and find at least one submissive who matched that description. Xavier sat bolt upright and rewound the video. He paid special attention to the room behind the submissive. There was no doubt it was a dungeon of some sort. Xavier paid attention to every breath the submissive took. Every sound that escaped his lips, Xavier examined.
There was no way it could be Everett. Xavier’s heart wouldn’t stop pounding. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and willed himself to calm down. Then, one by one Xavier went back through all the videos he had bookmarked.
Xavier dropped his head into his hands and hid his face. He raked his fingers through his hair and tugged a little. The pain reminded him this wasn’t a dream, or a hallucination. The sub he’d thirsted after for months had been Everett.
He went back to the homepage of ConcealedandCuffed. A headline below the most recent post caught his eye and his heart seemed to stop beating. Then it dropped into his stomach and turned to stone.
Thanks For The Memories
Xavier read the heartfelt goodbye message. He looked at the date it got posted. Sunday. The day Xavier had gone over to shoot the video with Everett. That might’ve been why Everett acted so strange. He’d shot the video, then shut his blog down. It had nothing to do with the event at the club. The realization wasn’t any comfort. Either way, Everett struggled alone.
Xavier took a breath and sent ConcealedandCuffed a message.