Savior: A Tattered Club Story (Tattered Social Club Series Book 1) (11 page)

Niko’s mattress shifted from behind. What was he supposed to say? Hey, dude, thanks for fingering my ass. It felt great. Realizing he was naked, he tugged the blanket over his chest.

The bed shifted again. “The rain’s stopped.”

“Yeah,” Niko blinked in the darkness.

“Are you falling asleep?”

“No… I don’t know.” Damn, his brain was jumbled, pebbles rolling around inside his head, one thought stumbling against the next. The sound of the gunshot ricocheted in his ears. The way his mother screamed, not only from the blood oozing out of his father’s leg, but from the pain of her broken arm that his father had snapped minutes earlier. Those were sounds that ghosted a man, relentlessly.

“I’m nervous about tomorrow.”

“Why? It’s all good.” Niko tried to sound even, like when he was in grade school and his buddy sat just right on the other end of the teeter totter.

“Yeah.” Ethan’s voice faded.

The warmth of the blanket soothed him when Ethan pulled it over his shoulder. Fighting the urge to roll over, he closed his eyes and willed the image of his mother walking out onto the juvenile correctional facility parking lot to open the door on their shitty old Ford Taurus. The memory shouldn’t still hurt, but it did.

He lay motionless, waiting. For what he wasn’t sure until he heard a light snore drifting from behind his back. Breathing out a quiet sigh, he closed his eyes and welcomed the blackness.

*****

The smell of maple syrup motivated Ethan to open his eyes. With arms stretched, he dug the back of his head into the pillow. The door was open, but Niko was gone. Feeling silly but not caring, he rolled over and buried his nose in the space where Niko’s head had laid.

Fruity, woodsy, the scent made his dick twitch. Morning wood had nothing on the real reason why his cock was so eager. The tough guy in the kitchen intensified his senses. There had only been two other guys who let him play on his own terms. Having a pretty face lent others to form opinions before speaking.

“Are you going to stay in here all day smelling my bed?”

Ethan laughed, the sound muffled by the mattress. “No.” He lifted his head. “You made me breakfast?”

When he rolled over, Niko leaned in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. “No. I made
me
breakfast, but you can have some. Do you have class this morning?”

Out of habit, Ethan leaned over and patted the bedside table looking for his phone. “What time is it?”

“Time for you to get your ass out of bed o’clock. I’ll drop you off at school if you have class. I have a client at ten so move it.”

When Niko turned around, Ethan propped the side of his head in his palm. The shorts he’d thrown on the floor last night now hung low on Niko’s hips. The two strips of muscle hugging the sides of his straight spine slid down into a tapered V at the rim of the elastic. Ethan slid his hand under the blanket. It didn’t take long, a couple of strokes, and cum oozed onto his thumb and finger. He’d never come so fast in his life.

With Niko’s denial it could be impossible to suggest they be more than friends. The tattooed sex god had made the fact perfectly clear. He wasn’t gay. That’s what Ethan’s steady fuck in high school told him every time they met after swim practice. After a while, the pain of having the person he’d cared for want to hide was either going to drown him or make him leave. First, he drowned in bottles of Captain Morgan and Xanax then thought making his lover jealous by fucking one of the guys on the football team and the president of the art club would be enough shock to open their relationship to the world.

It didn’t.

When his father and mother invited him out to dinner, playing happy family wasn’t on the menu. The deal had been struck, and he had no say in the matter. They would cover college tuition and nothing else. Ethan had already been accepted to two schools and knew the cost to attend so when his parents lit the fuse on the bomb, he coughed and sputtered on the piece of chicken he’d put in his mouth.

Thinking he’d figure out a way to pay for everything else, he packed a few things, taken his graduation money, and settled in on the couch of a friend who’d gotten an apartment on campus. Everything seemed okay until the friend decided to move the girlfriend in and threw Ethan out on his ass.

Ethan shook his head. This was a new day, a chance to start a life on his own terms. Independence meant his parents didn’t have the power of rejection, Charles didn’t have the access to smack him around, and Niko wasn’t going to have the right to make him feel ashamed for being gay.

He tossed the blanket and stood. After peering into the hall and hearing Niko’s telling Casper to sit, he ran to the bathroom. Tossing his underwear in the sink, he smirked when he touched the wet elastic band. Those wouldn’t be any good to wear today. Just because he wasn’t going to let Niko make him feel guilty for liking men didn’t mean he couldn’t imagine those big hands stroking every inch of his body. God, he wanted to grab Niko’s firm ass again. If he’d only understand how amazing it could be to fuck another guy.

Ethan wiped the image out of his mind and grabbed the toothpaste off the vanity. He finger-brushed his teeth while waiting for the shower to heat up. Every square on his day planner was marked with obligations. Morning classes led to study sessions and group project meetings. Taking a full load and working part-time had sounded like a good idea until he realized the classes he scheduled were harder than hell.

He twisted the knobs on the shower and stepped out. Grabbing the towel from the peg on the back of the door, he scratched it over his wet hair. Relief hit him when he realized he had a ride to school. No negotiations, no walking to the train, and no excuses for being late. Thanks to his new friend.

The towel tucked snug against his waist, he walked out into the living room. Smoky, savory aromas spun through his nose, making his stomach growl.

He rubbed his abdomen, trying to calm the emptiness. “Fix—” Niko coughed, lifting his back off the couch. The red shade in his cheeks brightened when he coughed again. “A plate,” he said after catching his breath. “I take it you left a change of clothes in the car?” He didn’t wait for Ethan to respond. “That towel is...I assume you lost your underwear, too?”

Ethan grinned, turning to grab the plate of eggs on the counter. “Yep, left them by the sink with your shorts. They’re wet again.”

Niko coughed again. This time he tilted his lips in a goofy smile. The guy was fighting so damn hard. All of the “gay for pay” ones did.

When he sat down on the couch, he propped his feet next to Niko’s on the coffee table. The towel slid up his thighs, but he didn’t care. If his new friend was so straight, then no harm done. “I have classes all day. I really appreciate the ride. I won’t expect it more than once. After I get set up in the apartment, I’m going to get a second job and start saving for a used car.”

Niko had no response. Was he upset because Ethan sounded ungrateful for the offer? “Don’t worry about that for a while,” he whispered. Ethan shoveled a piece of bacon in his mouth. His eyes fixed on Niko’s hand as he pressed the warm palm against Ethan’s naked thigh. “I’ll make sure you get where you need to go.” A gentle squeeze but no invitation for anything any further.

“You don’t have to do that. I got this on my own. I don’t want to owe any favors.” He should’ve swiped Niko’s hand away, but the warmth felt like a moment of acceptance. Not necessarily sexual but not necessarily plutonic either.

“Just shut up and take the offer. You need help getting on your feet. This isn’t a sugar daddy situation. Fuck.” Niko took his hand away. “I don’t own half of the city so your independence is safe.”

They finished getting ready in silence until Ethan was dressed and sitting on the couch petting a panting Casper. “Ready? What time do I need to pick you up?”

Ethan followed Niko to the door, Casper in tow. “Around six at the library.”

Niko nodded and told Casper to stay. “Step out or he’ll try to escape.” When Ethan tried to pull the door shut it took several tugs before the track gave way. Niko laughed with a sarcastic smirk on his face. “Having a little trouble, skinny jeans?”

“No,” Ethan said harsher than he meant to. He let Niko close the door and turn the lock.

“Here.” Niko held out a twenty-dollar bill. “You need to eat today.” Ethan instantly thought this was something a boyfriend would do until Niko followed with, “Wipe that look off your face. I’m not a fucking pussy. Just take the money.”

Ethan had no idea how much the rent was going to be so he reluctantly slipped the bill into his front pocket. “I’ll pay you back when I get my check from the coffee shop.”

Niko turned without protest and headed down the first flight of stairs. Ethan looked down the small corridor at the vintage wrought iron elevator. “I want to ride that thing sometime.”

Niko stopped on the lower landing. “Be my guest, but you’re going alone.”

Ethan paused then swore he heard the damn thing creak. The steps looked pretty good. He hustled to catch up with Niko finally meeting him at the back door.

“It’d be kind of nice if you had a neighbor. You know? In that other apartment? Might not seem so lonely here.”

“It’s been vacant since I’ve been here. The owner had some guy up there last week looking at the place. Wouldn’t talk to the dude anyway, even if he lived across the hall. He would stay out of my way and I’d stay out of his. People can do whatever in the fuck they want.”

“Kind of a mystery, don’t you think? Aren’t you a little curious about the man?”

“Not into mysteries. I’ll have Scarlet put you on the schedule next week to get your tat finished.”

Ethan nodded and fished through his backpack, making sure he had everything he needed.

“It was a dick thing to say.”

Ethan looked over. “What was?”

Niko pulled out of the gravel lot. “I made breakfast for both of us.”

Ethan turned, looking at the sunshine reflecting off the sidewalk. “I know you did. I have some money saved up to pay The Professor for rent. Can you drop it off with him today? I’m not sure if it’ll be enough, but I get paid again next week. I can give him more then.”

For a moment, Ethan thought Niko was going to protest, but he nodded and turned off the road onto the highway. The university was a fifteen minute commute if traffic was steady, but if someone so much as sneezed, the drive could last forty-five excruciating minutes. Niko pulled up to the sidewalk in front of the library twenty minutes later.

“Thanks for the ride,” Ethan opened the car door.

“Wait.” Niko tugged on Ethan’s backpack, pulling him back onto his ass in the seat. “I’ll see you around six.”

Suddenly, the air went thick, hard to breathe into clear lungs. Another tug on the backpack and Ethan was pressed against Niko’s chest. Lips tucked tight against his mouth as Niko tilted his head to slip his tongue inside Ethan’s mouth. God, the taste of mint and bacon shot straight to his cock.

Leaning away to take a breath, Ethan opened his eyes. “Can we do this again after you pick me up?”

Niko reclined in the seat. “No.”

Ethan tucked his head and quickly slid out of the car. Confusion, lust, and the once again searing pain of loneliness drowned his brain.
No.
Ethan closed the door and didn’t look over his shoulder as he trekked up the sidewalk. Had he become someone’s plaything again? God, he couldn’t look back. Niko would be gone, and they were both in denial.

CHAPTER SIX

The hum of the tattoo gun vibrated inside Seth’s studio. The door was open so Niko assumed the invitation to come in was implied. “You busy in about an hour?” Niko checked the time on his phone—again. It was five minutes later than the last time he’d looked at the damn thing.

“Yeah” Seth concentrated on a flaming-blue patch of a butterfly wing. “Give me till noon then I’m good.”

Niko nodded and headed out to the lobby. His next client wasn’t due until two, giving him enough time to run over to The Professor’s and pick up the couch he was donating to Ethan’s apartment. Knox walked out of the doorway behind the counter.

“You look like hell.” Scarlet reached out to touch the Band-Aid above an obviously bruised eyebrow.

“Shit,” he grumbled, slapping her hand away. “Leave it alone.”

“Every time you come in here, you have a new bandage. You got the mafia after you? You know some of them are still around here.”

Scarlet’s imagination was wider than the hem of her skirt. Today she looked like a rock-and-roll Mrs. Cleaver. If she didn’t have a skull pen in her hand, he’d think she’d be holding an oven mitt.

“I remember those days. Shit, when had he gotten so talkative?

“Well, look,” she teased. “Mr. Brooding decided to reveal a little. Are you okay? Do you need a glass of water?”

Niko scowled and walked over to the cooler to grab an energy drink. Scarlet may bust his balls, but she always stocked his favorite brand. “You got anything going on in an hour?” he asked as Knox, the bandage wonder kid, stepped up and grabbed a soda.

“Yeah, I have a noon coming in. She’s a nice piece of ass and I’m putting a Day of the Dead skull on her chest. Well, between her tits. So, basically, I’ll be drooling during the whole fucking thing.”

Niko nodded and half smiled, trying to cover the fact he had no interest in getting a hard-on while tatting some woman’s tits. “Sounds good.” He walked back to the counter. The dull chime alerting the shop a client had arrived made Niko peer up. After the girl checked in, Niko caught up with Knox as they headed down the hall. “I need some furniture. A chair, a bed, something for the apartment upstairs. You got any ideas?”

Knox took a drink of soda then wiped the back of hand with two bandages taped to his knuckles over his lips. “The Professor rented it out? Who’s moving in?”

Niko’s jaw twitched. “One of my clients.”

“Ah.” Knox stopped, looking to the side where Seth’s door was still open. “That skinny kid who was in here last week?”