Ethan stared at the sophisticated blond sitting at the bar four feet to his left. His gaze moved to the dark-haired man lounging against the mahogany counter at the blond’s side, a relaxed expression on his handsome face while they conversed in low voices.

It was rare to see Joe talk so easily to a stranger. Although Ethan knew the brooding club owner to be a wonderfully devoted and affectionate lover, it still irked Ethan that he had yet to uncover all of Joe’s secrets.

Ethan finished mixing a couple of drinks, handed them over to the club patrons with a seasoned smile, and sidled up to the pair.

Joe looked at him with a quizzical smile when he stopped opposite them.

“Hey, Ethan.” He glanced at the blond man next to him. “I don’t think you’ve met Rhys before.”

Ethan looked into a pair of curious baby-blue eyes while Joe made the introductions. He pressed his hands flat on the worktop behind the bar and leaned in closer to the two men.

“So, hey, I’m curious about something,” Ethan said in a low voice, his gaze switching from the baby blues to Joe’s hazel stare. “Did you guys used to be fuck buddies or something?”

Joe choked on his Scotch.

Rhys Damon blinked while the club owner went into a coughing fit. “Wow, so uncouth,” he muttered. “What’s it to you, kid?”

Ethan narrowed his eyes. He indicated Joe with a tilt of his head. “Well, that’s my property right there, so I want to know if anybody’s made any previous claims on him. And I kinda get this vibe when I look at the two of you.”

Joe cleared his throat and gazed hotly at Ethan.

“Oh, so I’m your property now, am I?”

Ethan leaned in further and brought his face up to Joe’s. “Why, yes. From your beautiful head all the way to your delicious toes.” Ethan’s gaze dropped to Joe’s groin. “And I’m not even gonna mention that gorgeous co—”

Joe grabbed the back of Ethan’s head with one hand and took his mouth in a searing kiss.

Ethan’s pulse sped up at the electrifying feeling that wound through him and filled the space between them. It never ceased to amaze him how hot he could get for this man with a single touch, even though they had made love countless times before and knew every inch of each other’s bodies.

“You minx,” Joe whispered against his lips while a couple of customers clapped and cheered close by.

All the regular patrons at Saron knew of their relationship. Although some were chagrined at the fact that both Joe and Ethan were now officially off the market, most had been delighted at the unexpected development.

“Fuck me,” Rhys said. “Are you two an item?”

Ethan dropped back on his heels, his ears warming at the promise he read deep in Joe’s darkening eyes.

“We are,” Joe replied gruffly, his heated gaze still on Ethan.

Ethan smiled slowly at his lover. “All shacked up and everything.”

Though Joe still had the apartment above Saron, Ethan had sold his place in Bunkyo and they’d bought a new condo together in an exclusive area of Chiyoda, where they’d had their first date.

Ethan looked between Joe and Rhys again.

“So, you still haven’t answered the fuck-buddy question.”

Joe hesitated.

Rhys stirred his drink and directed a taunting grin at Ethan.

“A gentleman never tells.”

Ethan frowned at the blond. “Somehow, that smile pisses me off big time.”

Movement to the left distracted Ethan. He turned and saw a dark-haired figure heading for the bar, oblivious to the interested stares he drew from the men around him. Ethan stilled at the expression in the ice-blue eyes he knew so well.

Rhys turned and frowned at the newcomer.

“Gabe?”

Gabe looked blindly at the blond. He blinked, recognition dawning on his face as his sightless gaze focused for a moment.

“Rhys? What—what are you doing here?”

Rhys shrugged and indicated Joe. “I know this guy.”

Gabe glanced dazedly between Joe and Rhys.

“What’s wrong, Gabe?” Ethan asked sharply.

Gabe looked at him then. The pain reflected on his beautiful face made Ethan’s stomach twist. He scowled.

What’s that asshole gone and done now?

* * *

Joe cursed and shifted Gabe’s dead weight against his left hip. He patted the unconscious man’s pockets, found the keys to Cam and Gabe’s apartment, and let himself in.

Joe had never seen Gabe this drunk before. That the normally reserved man had downed four double Scotch in rapid succession within half an hour of walking into Saron had even shocked Ethan, who’d excused himself to the other two bartenders and dragged their friend upstairs to Joe’s old place.

It was only after closing time that Joe got to the bottom of what was eating at Gabe.

“Cam’s gonna break up with him,” Ethan said bluntly when Joe entered the apartment.

Joe’s alarmed gaze switched to where Gabe slept on the couch, his head on Ethan’s shoulder, the dark shadows under his eyes telling Joe all he needed to know.

Joe frowned. “That’s impossible. Cam is crazy about Gabe.”

Ethan sighed, his expression stormy.

“That’s what Gabe seems to think though. Cam phoned him tonight and said they needed to talk.” He hesitated. “They had a fight a few days back.”

Joe sat on the coffee table opposite Ethan and took his lover’s hands in his own before studying the sleeping man beside him.

“What the hell happened between them?”

Ethan looked at him steadily, his green eyes darkening. “Gabe confessed.”

Joe’s pulse stuttered at the expression on Ethan’s face.

Although they were now in a happy, committed partnership, it had taken over a year from the day they’d first met for them to get there. They’d both had to overcome Joe’s stubbornness and his difficult past before they finally consummated their relationship. It hadn’t helped that Ethan had been violently attacked by a stalker during that time.

Though Joe had imagined confessing his love to Ethan would be the hardest thing he would ever undertake in his life, it had been shockingly easy to do in the end. In fact, it had been as straightforward as breathing.

Joe wasn’t sure Cam would find the process as painless. His best friend had even darker demons to fight than he ever had and was ten times as stubborn. It was plain to Joe that Cam and Gabe were meant for each other. Gabe clearly knew this, too.

Joe squeezed Ethan’s fingers. “I’ll take him home,” he said gruffly. He rose, hooked one arm under Gabe’s shoulders, and lifted him off the couch.

“I’ll call a cab,” Ethan murmured.

The car arrived a few minutes later. Joe settled Gabe on the backseat and turned to Ethan where the latter stood in the private entrance leading to his old apartment.

“You going back home?”

Ethan hesitated. He shook his head, a faint smile on his lips.

“No, I’ll wait here for you.” He looked over his shoulder at the stairs leading up to the top floor. “It’s been a while since we slept in this place.”

Joe nodded and kissed him before climbing into the back of the cab.

The drive to Cam and Gabe’s place in Ebisu took twenty minutes. By the time he got Gabe to their apartment, Joe’s arm had started to ache from supporting the nearly unconscious man.

He sighed presently, hoisted Gabe over his shoulder, and flicked on a couple of lights as he headed down the corridor to the master bedroom. Gabe stirred when Joe lowered him to the bed. His lashes fluttered as Joe took off his shoes and socks.

Joe hesitated.

Might as well get him out of the jacket at least.

He leaned over Gabe and was peeling the suit off his shoulders when the latter blinked.

Gabe looked up at Joe fuzzily. His eyes darkened in the next moment.

“Cam,” he breathed in a voice full of need.

He grabbed Joe’s shirt, yanked him down, and kissed him.

Joe froze at the feel of Gabe’s lips against his.

Gabe’s grip loosened on Joe’s shirt. He let go and fell back on the bed, out cold again.

Joe slowly straightened.

There was a noise at the door.

He turned his head and met Cam’s shocked stare. Fury filled the gunmetal eyes he knew so well.

For Christ’s sake.