“Okay, I’ve got one!” Cam said, swaying forward to put his hand on Cort’s forearm.

Cort, who sat on the stool next to his at the little bar, while the fundraiser was in full swing behind them.

Cort, who was actually Kendrick Cortland, even though nobody had used his first name since elementary school, and who’d gotten pissed off in a really cute way when Cam had tried.

Cort, who liked drinking Jameson, which showed excellent taste, and pineapple on his pizza, which was totally disgusting.

Cort, who agreed Firefly should never have been canceled, but who had never in his life seen Stranger Things, which was a travesty.

Cort, who was sexy as fuck and looked at Cam with a combination of amusement and lust which scrambled Cam’s wits faster than the whiskey they’d been drinking in copious amounts.

Cort, who was now his best friend.

“You ready? Never have I ever had sex with two people at once.”

He and Cort stared at each other, smiling, then Cort grabbed his drink and sipped.

“Ha! I knew it!” Cam laughed. “Deviant.”

Cort grinned. “Prude. It’s not even that unusual. First time was with these identical twins, Claire and Beth Knight, senior year of high school after we won our homecoming game. I was so fucked up, I hardly remember most of it, but I became a school legend.”

Cam laughed out loud. “So, what you’re really saying is there might have been only one girl, and you had double vision?”

Cort pushed his arm so hard, Cam would have fallen off his barstool if Cort hadn’t also grabbed him around his bicep and pulled him back onto the seat as though he weighed nothing whatsoever.

“No, seriously!” Cam laughed as Cort wrapped an arm around the back of his neck to hold him steady. “I knew a guy on one of the humanitarian trips I took who had double vision all the time, not just from drinking. The trick is to cover one side.” He demonstrated, clapping his palm over his right eye. “Now your brain can’t get confused by any mixed signals.”

“You know the weirdest stuff. You learned that on a humanitarian trip?” Cort’s thumb brushed the side of Cam’s neck in a casual way, which nevertheless made Cam’s pulse pick up.

Cam shrugged and lowered his hand from his eye. His face was inches away from Cort’s now, and he felt heat climb his cheeks at the proximity. When was the last time he’d been this turned on?

“Yep. They don’t always have the access to surgeries or other interventions, so they go old-school and low-tech. But it works.” He moved back slightly and took a sip of his drink, trying valiantly to cover his arousal. “Also handy when you’re playing video games after a couple of beers and need to shoot a target.”

Cort threw back his head and laughed out loud, his hands dropping to his sides. “You are… not like I thought you’d be.”

For just a second, Cam tilted his head, trying to figure out whether there was a thread of disappointment in Cort’s voice, whether he was just another person who preferred the image of Cam Seaver they saw in the newspaper, but the grin on Cort’s face said he was pretty pleased by whatever he’d discovered.

Cam laughed again. The champagne he’d guzzled earlier was fizzing and popping, inflating an invisible balloon inside him, filling all his empty places and lifting him away from the tethers of gravity. A voice in his head which sounded like Drew’s suggested he should be suspicious of the feeling, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to care.

“Fuck you. My turn,” Cort said, his evil, teasing glare making Cam’s pulse thrum wildly. “Never have I ever dated anyone on the Hundred Richest People in America list, or whatever they call it.”

Cam rolled his eyes and obligingly took a drink.

“Yeah, somehow I figured,” Cort smirked. “Bet that’s how you picked your dates in high school.”

“Not me!” Cam elbowed Cort. “Other people. Or their parents anyway. My parents grew up normal, middle-class all the way. Seaver Tech didn’t take off until after Bas was born, so they were really chill. But other people’s parents, not so much.” He winced. “One time in college, before I decided I wanted to work with non-profits, I was interning with one of my dad’s best friends. He tells me I’m doing such an amazing job, showing so much potential, all that good stuff. He wants to take me out to lunch, right? And I’m down with that because I think it’s gonna buy me a serious in with my dad, you know? Like he’s gonna be genuinely happy with me for once because I pleased this guy.”

Cam laughed softly as Cort’s forehead creased in thought.

“So anyway, I get to the restaurant, and he’s got his whole family there - wife, son, and his beautiful snowflake of a daughter, Arcadia.”

“Arcadia?” Cort repeated. “For real? Only a millionaire could name their kid that.”

“Oh, shut up. People all up and down the socioeconomic spectrum name their kids unfortunate things, Kendrick. We haven’t cornered the market on this shit.”

Cort rolled his eyes, making Cam laugh.

“So, Mr. Shaw, my dad’s friend, sits me on one side of the table between Cady and Cain, his son, and the whole time, he’s telling me how amazing Cady is - she’s in this fucking sorority, and she’s won this debate thingy. He was, like, ready to negotiate a bride price right then and there. Like, how many goats will you give me for my daughter?” Cam snorted. “And you wanna know what was really funny? I had dated Cain for a while in high school! I guess his dad just never knew. I mean, I certainly never told.”

Cort snorted. “You shoulda told him to offer you a groom price instead.”

But Cam shook his head and winced. “Oh, believe me, not from this guy. Nope. No. I kinda feel bad for Cain, because he’s, you know, gotta be seeing Narnia from that deep in the closet. But he was also kind of a pretentious prick back then, and totally emo for the longest time, so I was not gonna involve myself in that hot mess.”

Cam shook off thoughts of Cain Shaw and gave Cort a winning smile. “Okay, forget that shit. Moving on. Never have I ever had sex in a public place.”

Cam sized Cort up, watching him reach for his glass, waiting to see if he would drink, but he didn’t lift his hand off the bar. They both burst out laughing.

“You’re lying! I’ve only known you for a couple of hours and I can already tell you’ve got to be lying,” Cam said, shaking his head sadly at the glint in Cort’s eyes.

“No!” he said, nodding his head.

“Oh my God!” Cam said, pointing at him. “You just did the thing where you nodded and said no! Total indicator you’re lying!”

“What?” Cort’s expression was startled and maybe a little embarrassed. “I did not!”

“Did too,” Cam teased. God, he liked this guy way too much already. He cast around for a safer topic to return to. “So, uh, public sex?”

“I haven’t, really! I mean, unless… Wait, how are we defining sex?” Cort demanded. His green eyes danced and his mouth twisted up in a lopsided smile, which made Cam’s cock twitch. “And for that matter, how are we defining public?”

Cam raised a brow. “Public, like if someone could catch you. Sex, as in anything beyond petting.”

“Petting,” Cort echoed, giggling. “Who the fuck says petting?”

“Me, clearly,” Cam defended himself. “And I mean, isn’t that what you do with girls? You, like, pet them?”

Cort dissolved into laughter and slumped on the bar, clutching his stomach. “Oh, holy shit. Oh, God.”

Cam felt his face flame. “Dude, like I’d have the first clue what to do with a girl…woman… whatever.”

Cort laughed softly. “Not even the first clue, huh?”

“Well, I took AP Biology, but ah, no. No practical knowledge,” Cam confirmed. He put his hand over his mouth. “I cannot believe I just said that.”

Not that Cam had a problem outing himself - he’d never really been in the closet, not from the first time his nanny had shown him an ancient episode of The Brady Bunch and he’d realized Peter did it for him way more than Marsha. Still, he wondered about the man in front of him, and the alcohol made him bolder than he otherwise would have been.

He licked his lips. “You do, though, right?” he asked Cort, who was still chuckling. Cam felt his face flush red. “I mean, beyond Cindy and Becky?”

Cort frowned, apparently trying to follow this inarticulate question, then he smiled again, and Cam forgot to be uncomfortable because the way Cort’s mouth hitched up at one corner made Cam’s stomach swoop.

“Beth. Claire and Beth. You have the cutest freckles,” Cort said softly, then he blinked as if he hadn’t meant to say that. He cleared his throat. “But yeah. I mean, yeah, I like women.”

Cam nodded and looked down at his whiskey. Well, of course. Hadn’t Cam seen Cort’s fascination with Misty Sturmacher earlier in the evening, when he’d first walked into the ballroom? It was alright. It was fine. They were just two new friends having a drink at a party, and it was absolutely not disappointment making it hard for him to breathe.

Cort put his hand over Cam’s where it rested against the bar, and leaned toward him slightly. “I am also attracted to men.”

Cam’s head shot up and he sucked in a breath, but Cort’s eyes were focused behind Cam’s head. “Speaking of which, the man you were talking to earlier is watching us right now.”

Cam shifted in his seat, but Cort’s hand trapped his. “Don’t turn to look,” he said softly, his breath hot on Cam’s ear. “Unless you want him to come over here. He’s staring at you like he wants to know what color your boxer briefs are.”

A bolt of acute lust shot straight to Cam’s groin - a one-two punch of Cort’s warm hand on his, and the words he spoke. He loved the way Cort touched him, and had seemed to find excuses to touch him all night. “How do you know I wear boxer briefs?” Cam whispered.

Cam wondered if he imagined the hitch in Cort’s breathing.

But before Cort could speak - and Cam was dying to know what he would have said at that juncture - a hand fell on Cam’s shoulder.

“Cammy.”

Drew’s voice held long-suffering disapproval, like Cam was a dog who simply refused to heel. Cort’s eyes met Cam’s, and he raised an eyebrow which spoke volumes. It reminded him of the wordless communication his parents had sometimes shared. Who is this guy? Why is he claiming you? What are we going to do about it? But he didn’t pull back from Cam’s space. He looked ready to fight.

Cam very nearly laughed, and shifted himself closer to Cort.

“My name is Cam. Or Camden. Now go away, Drew,” he said without turning around.

Drew sucked in a pissed off breath. “We need to talk.”

“Again? We talked earlier, and I heard enough. If and when I want to talk to you again, I’ll call you.”

Cort smelled delicious - like a weird combination of pine and oranges. Trees and citrus had never made Cam hard before, but somehow right now, they were everything. He leaned into Cort and inhaled deeply, and watched in fascination as Cort bit his lip and shifted in his seat.

Oh, fuck yes. This was happening.

“Cam!” Drew pulled at Cam’s shoulder and tried to spin him around on his stool, but at the same moment, Cort splayed his hand on Cam’s waist beneath his open jacket, keeping him locked in place. Cort’s entire body tensed, and his head went back just slightly so he could meet Cam’s eyes again. Am I beating this asshole up? How do you want me to play this? The questions were as clear as if they’d been spoken out loud.

Though he’d never aspired to be the prize in a tug of war, Cam loved the feeling of Cort’s broad palm against his flank, the heat of him seeping through Cam’s thin shirt. Though Cam knew Drew was nothing more than an annoyance, he liked that Cort seemed ready to step up if Cam wanted him to. But what he fucking loved was that the guy hadn’t moved his ass from his seat without checking whether Cam did want him to. Almost like he expected Cam could handle himself. Almost like he trusted Cam’s judgment.

Imagine that.

Cam smiled wide, euphoric in a way that had fuck-all to do with his whiskey.

Cort looked confused - and no wonder, because Drew’s hand was still on Cam’s shoulder, pulling like a freaking tractor beam - but his lips tipped up too, like he couldn’t help it.

Cam shook his head and, still smiling, turned to face Drew. “What. Do. You. Want?”

Drew’s nostrils flared and he darted a glance at Cort before looking back at Cam. He looked tired and pissed because Cam wasn’t falling in line with his plans. The fragile peace they’d achieved an hour ago was definitely over. “I want to discuss that stunt you pulled with Lydia.”

Cam calmly sipped his Jameson. His eyes were on Drew, but he was one hundred percent aware of the warm body at his back, supporting him. “There is nothing to discuss. You completely overstepped by accepting Lydia’s invitation when you knew I wouldn’t fly to St. Brigitte. I corrected your error.”

He tried to turn away, but Drew stopped him and rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry I made plans for us without consulting you, Cammy,” he drawled, making it sound like their argument had been a lover’s spat. “But get over it and talk about it like a grown-up! It’s not about you and me, it’s about what’s best for Seaver Tech, and you’re the president.”

Cam jerked his shoulder out of Drew’s grip and glared. “Don’t fucking tell me how to do my job or how to be a Seaver. I’m not a child, and I have a perfectly valid reason for not wanting to go.”

Behind him, Cort tensed, likely bracing himself for a fight, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Cort’s knuckles whiten on his glass.

Drew frowned, and then as he looked at Cam, the light seemed to dawn. He closed his eyes tightly for half a second in realization. “What, still?”

“Yes, still,” Cam said, hating Drew for always making him feel so fucking weak.

“But what about, you know, your doctor? Doesn’t she help?” He gave Cort a cautious glance, like he didn’t want to give too much away.

Cam snorted. Because now Drew cared about embarrassing him? Yeah, right. “You mean my therapist. And what about her? She says not to allow anyone to push me past my comfort level, or to take risks unless I can completely trust myself and the people around me.”

Drew ground his teeth together then glanced away. His eyes landed on Cort again. “And who are you?” he demanded.

Cam could still sense Cort’s tension from behind him. Cort’s chest was pressed against his back, and he could feel Cort’s indrawn breath down to his toes.

Cort didn’t say a word, allowing Cam to decide if and how to answer. But Cam had nothing to hide. “This is my friend Cort.”

“Cort,” he drawled. “And how do you know Cam, Cort?”

Cam felt Cort shrug, then his hands fitted to the sides of Cam’s torso. “We have lots of interests in common.”

“Like what?” Drew demanded.

Like we both like Jameson and we both like to fuck men. It was on the tip of Cam’s tongue, but he refrained from commenting. He deserved a medal.

“Like none of your business, and Cam asked you to please move along,” Cort said.

Drew hesitated, glaring back and forth between them, but Cam had endured enough.

“Move along, Drew. For God’s sake, for my sake, for the sake of our friendship… hell, for the sake of karma and peace on earth and whatever the fuck you want, please, just go.”

Drew ground his teeth together. “We will be discussing this tomorrow.”

Cam rolled his eyes and made a mental note to shut his ringer off. Tomorrow was Saturday, anyway. They watched as Drew stalked off towards the exit, and then Cam turned to face Cort.

Cort’s gaze was still on Drew, and Cam was once again reminded of a predator. But unlike the way he looked at Cam, Cort’s eyes now were cold and calculating. A predator on the hunt with no trace of playfulness in his gaze. Cort glanced down at Cam and smiled. “Do you know CPR?”

“Pardon?”

“CPR. Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Could you save my life if I suddenly dropped dead?”

Cam shook his head. “Uh. Sort of? I was a lifeguard back in college. Is that, uh, likely to happen?”

Cort grinned and looked over towards the elevators again. “Only if looks can kill.”

Cam groaned at the joke, but the happy bubble which seemed to surround him, surround them, was safely back in place.

“Wanna tell me who that jerk was?” Cort asked easily, relaxing deeper into his stool as the elevator dinged. “The introduction only went one-way.”

Cam got the idea that if he said no, if he said he didn’t want to talk about it at all, maybe Cort wouldn’t press him for answers. But he also didn’t want to start anything with Cort tonight - oh, please God, let them be starting something tonight! - without explaining exactly who Drew was and was not.

“Sorry. That was Drew McMann. Ex-boyfriend. And current head of the legal department at Seaver Tech. He’s also my older brother’s best friend, and was mine too, for a while. His dad is my godfather. My mom was his sister’s godmother.”

Cort winced. “Ouch.”

The guy didn’t know the half of it. Hardly anybody knew anything beyond the stupid tabloid stories, because Cam sure as hell didn’t talk about it, not to the media and not even to his friends. But for the first time maybe ever, Cam kinda did want to talk about it. Maybe it was the whole strangers-on-a-bus thing, the freedom that comes from not knowing anything about a person, not even their last name. Or maybe it was the way Cort looked at him, like Cam’s name didn’t impress him at all. He wanted Cort - hell, he’d been half-hard for the guy since the moment he’d spied him across the room earlier. But he found he wanted Cort to know about him, too. He liked that Cort listened.

Cam drank the last few drops in his glass and met Cort’s eyes. “Another?”

Cort blinked for a second and hesitated. “Think it’s a good idea?”

Cam shrugged. “Define good.” Cort raised an eyebrow, but Cam propped his elbow on the bar, and set his chin in his palm, returning his skeptical look with a smile. “Seriously! I mean, if you mean good as in wise, then maybe it’s not a good idea. But if you mean good as in what would be most fun, then it definitely is a good idea. And if you mean what’s the easiest and rightest thing…”

“The rightest thing?” Cort snickered, leaning into Cam’s space.

“It’s a word, Kendrick,” Cam said primly. “The rightest thing, like what your instincts tell you is the right thing to do. And that would definitely be to have another drink. With me. Now. Don’t you think?”

Cam held his breath, watching Cort’s reaction. Then Cort nodded slowly, and that funny euphoria hit Cam again.

He gestured to the woman behind the bar, who hurried over to refill their glasses.

Cam took a slow sip of the liquid, figuring out where to begin. Sharing had never come easily to him, partly because of who his family was and partly because of his own nature. It didn’t help that he could still hear Drew’s voice shouting warnings in his head. What if he’s a tabloid reporter looking to sell your story? What if he’s a business competitor looking to steal company information? Don’t share too much, or you’ll look weak.

He looked at Cort, at the way the man’s broad shoulders were aligned perpendicular to his own, so fucking warm and solid; at the tiny white scar on the upper corner of his lip; at the scruff on his jaw; at the intensely curious look in his eyes, like Cam was a puzzle he was piecing together and he wanted to get it right. What had started as simple physical attraction to this man had morphed into something more. He felt strong and totally in charge, even though Cort was so much bigger and more assertive than him. He loved the way Cort laughed at his jokes, like his laugh was rusty and he was surprised to hear the sound coming from his own chest. It all combined to make his attraction ratchet higher and higher.

So, without formulating an agenda or carefully determining how much he wanted to say, Cam started to speak.

“You probably know my parents were killed in a plane crash a year or so ago.”

Cort nodded once. He didn’t interrupt to offer platitudes, which made Cam like him all the more, but his green eyes took on a vulnerable cast for a second which made Cam wonder whether he’d lost someone he loved, too.

Cam cleared his throat. “Drew’s sister Amy, who was also my brother’s fiancée, was killed too.” Cort’s head went back in surprise and Cam nodded. “Yeah, most people didn’t know they were engaged. It was a new thing. Happened only a couple of days before the, ah, crash. All of us - me, my parents, and Sebastian, plus Amy, Drew, and their parents, the McManns - were supposed to go and celebrate with Emmett Shaw’s family.”

“Wait, wait. The Mr. Shaw you were talking about before, the one who was best friends with your dad, is Emmett Shaw? The senator?” Cort interrupted.

Cam nodded. “Yep. Yeah, he was in business with my dad a while back. They founded Seaver Tech together, along with Jonathan McMann, Drew’s dad. Dad had bought Uncle Shaw out of the business a while before the crash - I’m guessing maybe so he could use the money to move out of state and fund his whole political thing? But they stayed really close friends.”

Cort nodded, but there was an appraising look on his face which Cam understood without explanation.

“Yeah. I know what you’re gonna say. He’s not quite as violently conservative in real life as he is on the campaign trail,” Cam said quietly, his finger tracing the rim of his glass. “

“Huh,” Cort said, tilting the liquid back and forth in his own glass. “I don’t know whether it makes it better or worse that Senator Shaw says all that shit on TV when he doesn’t really believe it.”

Cam nodded. He wondered whether his parents would have kept ties with the Shaws if they’d lived. He very much doubted it. Emmett Shaw was a different man these days, and even though Cam still called him “Uncle,” he found it hard to talk to the man for more than a few minutes at a time.

“Anyway, he has this cabin in the mountains of Tennessee. I mean, it’s a cabin like Versailles was a summer house, you know?” He rolled his eyes and Cort snorted. “Huge contemporary monstrosity with lots of steel and glass, but it’s got a kick-ass hot tub.”

Cam liked the way Cort looked at him sideways and smiled at that, as if maybe Cort was picturing him in the hot tub. He felt himself flush and wondered for a second if he should be embarrassed, but he wasn’t.

“And then?” Cort prompted.

Cam took a deep breath and got to the part of the story that had his arousal fleeing. “We were all supposed to fly out together in the evening on my parents’ plane, but at the last minute, Emmett got tickets for some benefit show that night. Libraries for under-served communities in Tennessee.” He chuckled without humor. “Everybody knew Charlotte Seaver was all about benefits for every-damn-thing, so you know obviously she had to be there.” He swallowed.

Cort leaned into him, and Cam sucked in a breath. It was a matter of a couple of inches, but seemed to speak volumes. Control yourself, Seaver.

“It’s alright to cry, you know,” Cort said offhandedly.

Cam stared at him. “I don’t cry.”

Cort’s eyebrows shot up.

“Anyway,” Cam continued. “Emmett made arrangements for them to fly down earlier. Amy tagged along to do some shopping, and the rest of us were flying later. They crashed into the mountain. There were no survivors. Everyone already knows that part. An American Tragedy they called it on the news.” Cam cleared his throat, but it didn’t get rid of the lump there. “I should have been on that plane.”

“If you’d gone, you’d have died too.”

Cort’s words hit him like a slap and he looked up. The man’s eyes were hard, burning.

“Whatever happened that day, you couldn’t have prevented it. Maybe nobody could have prevented it. But if you were on that plane, you would have died too.”

Cam nodded. He knew it. Mostly. Maybe he’d have been the one to notice the pilot had been drinking. Maybe he would have been the only one who wasn’t too consumed with the excitement of the engagement and the party to recognize something was wrong.

“I mean it, Cam. Grief fucks us all up. Makes us think crazy things we know aren’t logical. Don’t play those games. Nobody on that plane would have wanted it for you.”

Cam cast his eyes to the ceiling and nodded. That much he knew for certain. His parents would have been glad he wasn’t there, that he and Bas had lived.

“And that’s why you took over the company?” Cort asked gently.

Cam glanced at him. “The company was supposed to be Sebastian’s baby. He’s the computer genius, you know? My dad had been grooming him to take over for years. But losing Amy on top of our parents put Bas in a really bad place.” He licked his lips and confided, “He’s holed up inside his house. He tried to hack the NTSB, for God only knows what reason, and it’s like he doesn’t care if he gets thrown in jail by the FBI. I’m scared for him.”

Cort winced and sat back in his seat, looking uncomfortable. “Damn. And you always step in to take care of him?”

Cam shrugged. “He’s my brother. Of course I do. I always will. But as far as the company goes, it was time for me to take on more responsibility, anyway.”

“From what you’ve told me, that sounds like something that would have come out of your ex’s mouth,” Cort said with a wink. He motioned the bartender to refill their glasses.

Cam snorted at how quickly Cort had figured Drew out. It probably was something Drew had said, if not in those exact words.

“But now you’re all grown up, and you’re the president of Seaver Tech. That’s gotta be stressful.” The words were a tease, but the look in Cort’s eyes and the way he laid a hand on Cam’s thigh, turning him on the stool so they were facing each other fully, made heat surge through Cam’s gut. “How do you blow off steam?”

Cam raised an eyebrow at the deliberate flirtation. Was he trying to distract Cam now that things had become too heavy?

Did Cam care?

His dick certainly didn’t.

“I run,” Cam said blandly, resting his elbow on the bar. “Half marathons. I log probably thirty miles a week.”

Cort’s answering smile was genuine. “No shit?”

“Nope. And I play video games.”

The way Cort’s smile widened was more arousing than the hand currently caressing Cam’s leg. “Yeah, you mentioned that. Sometimes with one eye closed.” He laughed. “Which games?”

“Uh, League of Legends, a couple of first person shooters. And I’m developing a game with our software team based on a series of YA fantasy novels, which… Well.” Cam shrugged and braced himself for ridicule, for more of the “Grow up, Cam,” he’d always gotten from Drew.

Cort grinned in the lopsided way Cam was already starting to find familiar - way too familiar for an acquaintance that could only be measured in hours. “So, what you’re telling me is, you shoot people for fun? That’s kinda badass.”

Cam burst into laughter. Badass? He’d been called that exactly never, but he kinda liked it - and liked it even more because everything about Cort said his flirtatious teasing hid genuine interest. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this good, or done something for himself like this. Cort didn’t want to talk about Seaver, didn’t seem to care about his job or his bank account, didn’t want Cam to put on some kind of fake persona. He couldn’t believe someone like Cort could be into him in this way.

“Yep. That’s me. Totally badass and dangerous. I like to shoot stuff online for fun, and I can run far, far away very quickly.”

Cort nodded with mock-seriousness. “Duly warned.”

“What about you?” Cam asked, leaning his elbow against the bar.

“What about me?” Cort returned. His eyes turned a shade more guarded, and despite the way the alcohol and the man were making his brain buzz, Cam read that as a flashing sign saying, “Proceed with Caution.” Cort didn’t want to talk about himself, didn’t feel the desire to share the way Cam did.

So fine. Okay. Strangers at a bar don’t have expectations. Keep it casual.

Cam leaned in closer to Cort’s heat, loving the way Cort’s body responded, the sharp exhalation of breath that warmed Cam’s cheek.

“What do you do to blow off steam?” he asked. Seduction and flirtation were not his forte, but tonight he felt bold.

“Sometimes I like to just scream.”

Cam snickered. “What?” He’d expected to hear… well, something more violent maybe? Something more befitting the man’s heavy muscles and the way he’d tensed at a perceived threat. Cort’s entire demeanor blared “man of action.” But his face held the same sincerity as before, and maybe just a trace of vulnerability.

“True story. I just go someplace alone and let out all the anger, all the frustration, all the shit I’ve dealt with all day. You should try it sometime. You know, if the shooting thing doesn’t work.”

Cam shook his head, amused and charmed. He gave a pointed glance around the room. “Pretty sure it wouldn’t go over too well around here.”

Cort grinned. “True. It’s harder to find places in the city. Especially in exclusive hotels.” His grin turned cagey. “But not impossible, if you know where to look.”

Cam’s eyes widened. “You want us,” he gestured between them, his hand brushing the hard wall of Cort’s chest in a way that made his own thoughts blank momentarily. “To scream? Inside this hotel? Is the ensuing arrest all part of the fun?”

Cort laughed.

The sound was so potent and rich that if it could be distilled into liquor, Cam would happily have drowned himself in it.

When his laughter subsided, he looked at Cam with affection no less potent than the laughter. If he wanted Cam to scream right here, right now, he’d do it and damn the consequences. But instead, he stood up and held out his hand. “Come with me?”

It was not a demand or an expectation, but an offering. Cam was vividly aware he knew nothing about Cort - the Jameson hadn’t dulled his thoughts to the point where he could forget it. Everyone wanted a piece of him - his money, his influence, his name on a fucking computer program, and maybe Cort was no exception.

But for years, everything in Cam’s world had required cold logic, scrupulous planning, and straight paths. Somehow this man, this stranger, glowed like a beacon, hot and bright, and Cam, who had never done a dangerous thing in his life as far as he could recall, had finally found someone who wanted something from him that he wanted to give. He hopped off his stool and set his hand in Cort’s larger one.

“Let’s go.”