Free Read Novels Online Home

A Fighting Chance (Bridge to Abingdon Book 2) by Tatum West (3)

Chapter Two

Dillon

Oh my god. That was incredible

As soon as I can breathe properly again, I ease myself out of Jack’s tight-muscled grip and roll off onto my back.

“Fuck,” I huff, bleary eyes gazing up at the ceiling. Shit, I need a glass of water.

That was awesome.

Jack is fit and muscular, with a quick smile, perfect hair and a confident, quiet presence that drew me in the moment I met him. I hadn’t guess he would want to be topped like this, that he would crave my cock the way he did just now. He took it, cried for more, wanted as much as I could give. Hell, I could give him more right now if we really had the time.

It’s addictive, being inside of him, watching his flashing hazel eyes as he moans in ecstasy and begs for more of my cock.

Instinctively, I lift my hand, laying it on his lower back. I take my time mapping him out beneath my fingers, slowly sliding up his broad, muscled shoulders. The turn of firm flesh under my fingers… it feels good. Muscle and bone, sinew and sweat. He’s a certain kind of solid that’s hard to find and more than tempting to possess. His body is perfect—strong but flexible, just like his personality.

“Come here,” I whisper, urging Jack under my arm.

Jack turns toward me, his hand dropping to my abdomen while his head settles in the crook of my shoulder. Such a sweet thing, him curled against me like this. I could get used to it.

We’ve only been seeing each other for a few weeks, but it’s been great. This is the first time we’ve “gone all the way,” as Gil used to say, and it was about ten thousand times better than I expected. And I had high expectations.

Hmmm,” Jack hums into my chest. “Hold me just like this.”

His words draw me back to distant memories. The last person who said that to me was Gil. I think he probably meant it at the time, but a few months later he signed on for a different job. He got himself transferred out of the unit we’d both served in for two years and announced to me he was headed to Twenty-nine Palms to go to military police school. And he’d flatly informed me he was taking four weeks of leave in San Francisco beforehand to see what kind of trouble he could get into.

Gil knew I was coming home to Abingdon to see Kimmie and meet my nephew. He told me to give everyone at home his best and tell them he’d see them when somebody died.

Maybe Gil had been scared of my connection to Abingdon, my draw back home. That seems ironic now, with him and his chef all cozied up together. I’m happy for Gil, my friend. I’m sometimes not as happy with Gil, the man I fell in love with so many years ago.

Jack draws me back to the moment, his fingers twirling in my belly hair, curling the short tufts around his fingers. I just came a load, but even this small attention makes my cock stir.

“Keep doing that, and I’ll be ready to go again,” I tease, brushing the top of his head with my bruised lips.

Jack pulls away, so he can see me. His face is almost serene, pupils wide, not a crease on his handsome, chiseled face. He’s so easy to look at, it almost hurts.

“Nobody’s ever done that before,” he says, his voice soft, but grave. “I mean, ever made me feel like that. Everything’s so easy with you, like we’re cut from the same stone.”

Whew. Alright. A little early for that, but

“I swear,” he continues. “I think the universe just opened up and showed me something

“Easy,” I interrupt, backing off. I sense what’s coming next and I don’t want to hear it. Things are going too well to spoil it with expectations that’ll never be met and promises that’ll eventually be broken.

The only person I ever loved that way, walked away from me without one backward glance. Every other relationship I’ve been in ended badly, usually with me breaking it off, and way too often, with a lot of hard feelings afterward. I don’t want to get on the path to a break up when things are just starting to get good.

“We’ve got plenty of time for all that. Let’s just keep it chill,” I say, swiping my hand over Jack’s shoulders. “We’re in no hurry to get to the sappy stuff that just winds up disappointing someone.”

Jack blinks, a flash of realization crossing his face and disappears just as fast. He nods, his pupils narrowing. I realize I’ve said too much.

“You’re right,” he says. “Of course.”

He sits up and sighs, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.

I’m afraid of what’s next. Jack strolls naked out of the room, leaving me to my fears.

I shut him down. I hurt him. Fuck. I always do this… and Jack, Jack I like

“Jack,” I call, listening as he walks across the beat-up hardwood floor. “Jack, listen

I don’t know what I expect, but I’m floored when he returns to me with a tall glass of iced water, wearing a sweet smile.

“What time is your shift tomorrow?” Jack asks as I guzzle the water, quenching a parching thirst. I drain half the glass, swallowing hard before replying.

“Five-thirty.”

Jack nods. “You need to get some sleep, and I need to check in with my sister. She’s giving me shit for spending all my time elsewhere. We’ll catch up later.”

My heart sinks. “You’re leaving?” I ask. “Stay. Sleep with me.”

Jack shakes his head, his sweet face almost angelic. “Not tonight,” he says. “Besides, if I stay, you’ll wake up wanting a second round, and then you’ll be late for work, and I don’t want to be responsible for the fire department being short-handed here at the peak of fire season.”

Being the one that imposed emotional distance, I shouldn’t feel the pang that echoes in my chest as he imposes it physically—but I do. I see what he’s doing, giving me a pass without the passive-aggressive bullshit that usually comes with this territory. He reminds me of Gil in certain ways—no games, no guilt, just decency. Except Gil never said, ‘no one ever’—and he never got sappy.

After Jack leaves I’m left with myself and all the stupid excuses I’ve stacked up like a brick wall around my heart to protect me from ever allowing myself to love anyone who could hurt me like Gil hurt me when he left.

Fucking Gil. My best friend since we were little kids. We gravitated to one another like magnets, long before were knew we were gay or even what gay was. We dove into it and tried everything, and we got out of this town, so we could try even more out in the big old world. We always did everything together, until we didn’t anymore. Until Gil went his way and left me to find my own. He grew up and grew out of me. He found himself, came out in the Marine Corps—which is a fucking brave as shit thing to do—then became a cop.

Now he’s back in Abingdon after I spent months convincing him it would be a great move for him and for the town. I didn’t tell him I was hoping it would be a great move for me too. I hoped to ease into that news, but as soon as he landed in Abingdon, I knew there was no future for us. I’m firmly, permanently, in the friend-zone. Gil found Kendall Vincent about fifteen minutes after coming back. They went out once and have been inseparable ever since. They’re getting married.

Married.

I’m happy for Gil and Kendall. But damn, it’s hard seeing them together. Something about how easy they are with one another just hurts my heart, especially when I think of how it might have been me—if I’d just been a little more of whatever it is Gil really wanted.

I need to get past all this. I need to just accept it.

I groan. I’m such an ass. Jack’s been nothing but perfect since the second we met, and he’s right, we’re easy together too. We just click, and I make him laugh. He makes me feel wanted and appreciated and about six million other things I never felt. I don’t know why I can’t let myself just appreciate us without thinking of how bad it will hurt if I go there and it all blows up.

Gil always said, ‘Just take a risk, Dillon. Just once. See what it feels like. You might like it.’

So far, I’ve never taken a risk, and I just chased off the first man I’ve met in a long time who’s willing to take a risk on me.

The door closes after Jack leaves, and I’m left wondering if he’ll ever show up here again.

Search

Search

Friend:

Popular Free Online Books

Read books online free novels

Hot Authors

Sam Crescent, Zoe Chant, Mia Madison, Flora Ferrari, Lexy Timms, Alexa Riley, Claire Adams, Sophie Stern, Elizabeth Lennox, Leslie North, Amy Brent, Frankie Love, Madison Faye, Jenika Snow, C.M. Steele, Kathi S. Barton, Michelle Love, Jordan Silver, Mia Ford, Delilah Devlin, Dale Mayer, Bella Forrest, Amelia Jade, Zoey Parker, Piper Davenport,

Random Novels

When the Vow Breaks by Michelle Libby

Keep Me by Leah Holt

Tarq by Cass Alexander

Nate by Mercer, Dorothy May

by Rye Hart

Possessive Hunter (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 96) by Flora Ferrari

The Wells Brothers: Blue by Angela Verdenius

The Teacher and the Beast: An Alpha Billionaire Romance by Carter Blake

The Moments We Share by Barbara C. Doyle

Final Stretch (Glen Springs Book 1) by Alison Hendricks

Beauty & The Jaguar: Book Three - Bridenapping Jaguars by E A Price

Whiskey Burning (Iron Fury MC Book 1) by Bella Jewel

Love's Courage: Book Three in the Brentwood Saga by Elizabeth Meyette

Hate, Date, or Mate? (Supernatural Dating Agency Book 3) by Andie M. Long

Rader's Bride: Bonus: Alien Dream (Interstellar Matchmaking Book 2) by T.J. Quinn, Clarisa Lake

Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall

Tagged For A New Start (Tagged Soldiers Book 3) by Sam Destiny

The Child Next Door: An unputdownable psychological thriller with a brilliant twist by Shalini Boland

Kitty Cat: Age of Night Book One by May Sage

Sin With Me (With Me Series Book 2) by Lacey Silks