STORY EXCERPT

I hate gyms!

But then, Jack had pretty much hated gym class all through school. Always the smallest kid in the class, and the last picked for any game, he’d shied away from any kind of sports. He preferred to have his nose buried in a book rather than broken on the hockey field, and he couldn’t hit a baseball to save his life. At least no one ever bullied him, but no one wanted to be his friend either.

High school was more of the same. While the other guys tried out for football or screwed as many girls as they could, Jack spent his time studying or on the computer. What made it even worse was his sister had been a top-notch gymnast who’d almost made it to the Olympics. Lucy had gotten the best of the Monroe gene pool. Their parents had avoided comparing them, but sibling rivalry was inevitable. Jack couldn’t help swinging back and forth between admiring and detesting Lucy. To this day, they barely spoke and only saw each other on the holidays. His fault, not hers.

Jack pulled into the parking lot of the Liberty Gym, but he didn’t turn off the ignition.

I can still change my mind. I don’t have to go in.

He’d almost turned back twice already on the seven-mile drive from work to the gym. Still undecided, he sat behind the wheel, thinking.

What the fuck am I doing here? Maybe twenty-eight is too damn old to start acting like one of the guys.

On the other hand, Jack was sick of being some kind of bibliosexual freak. All those years spent reading about other people’s lives, and he still had no idea who Jack Monroe was.

Will the real me please stand up?

A knock on the car window interrupted his thoughts, and Jack’s head jerked up.

Alex!

His coworker peered in at him with a furrowed brow and a questioning look. Too late to change his mind now, the decision had been made for him. Jack turned the key and opened the door.

“Jack, you okay?” Alex looked a little worried as Jack got out of the car.

“Course he is. Let’s get a move on, before all the equipment is taken.” Kyle’s tone grated on Jack’s nerves. What the fuck was his hurry? The man already looked like a terminator. It gave Jack a bit of satisfaction that Kyle had to comb his thinning hair over a distractingly shiny scalp.

Jack ran a hand through his own thick, sandy mop and smirked. “Oh yeah. Wouldn’t want to miss a minute of this opportunity.” Bullshit. Kyle, being the only member, acted like they were here on his dime. In reality, Jack and Alex were using free passes that Kyle had scarfed up because the gym was doing a big promotion to get new members.

The three coworkers started walking around to the front entrance, Jack lagging behind. The gym looked like a shiny oasis in the middle of a very ugly strip mall.

“You coming?” Alex called over his shoulder.

Jack took a deep breath and picked up his pace.

Alex turned and grinned at him. “Wouldn’t want to lose you.”

If only it were true.

The thought came unbidden to Jack’s mind, and he brushed it aside. He’d been having these urges lately, and they all revolved around Alexander James. Pretty damn surprising since they hardly knew each other and even weirder because Jack hadn’t been attracted to anyone in so long, he’d started to think he was asexual. He’d never been sexually abused, and he knew he wasn’t impotent because he enjoyed masturbating, but until now, he’d never known what it meant to have chemistry with someone—man or woman. This bizarre sexual pull toward Alex must be what people referred to as having butterflies in their gut.

Too bad it’s one-sided.

Kyle stood in front of the entrance. “Let’s do it,” he said cheerfully.

The door opened, and they walked into a trendy temple of fitness where all the muscle guys were gods who looked good enough to pose alongside Ryan Reynolds in a photo shoot. Suddenly Jack’s throat felt tight and his pulse raced. He felt like he was back in middle school again, trying to measure up.

Suck it up and go for it. It’s all in your mind.

ADULT EXCERPT

Jack suddenly felt shy undressing in front of another man. It was just easier if he didn’t have to watch Alex watching him.

“What are you thinking?” The voice behind Jack was low and husky.

But before Jack could reply, hands reached around his waist and held him close, close enough that Jack could feel the warmth of a hard furry chest against his back. Jack swore he could feel the erratic thump of Alex’s heart, and the other man’s barely controlled passion scared the shit out of him. Jack hadn’t been this anxious in the bathroom at the Canopy Club. But that had been a stranger sucking him off. This was Alex!

Searching fingers released his zipper, and a warm palm slid inside the fly of his slacks. A hand fisted his cock and stroked, nudging the swollen head at every pass.

Jack groaned.

The feeling of another guy’s big, calloused hand around his cock did crazy, wonderful things to Jack’s flesh. Knowing who belonged to that hand made it even better. Alex’s thumb rubbed circles over the leaking head. Then Alex lifted his thumb to Jack’s mouth and brushed a bit of pre-cum over his lips. It was a taste of what was coming, and it made Jack anxious for more. He gripped the waistband of his jeans, and Alex helped him shimmy out of them and his briefs.

“Turn around and look at me, Jackson.”

Jack did as he was told, and Alex stepped back. Slowly and seductively, Alex’s gaze slid downward, stopping at Jack’s leaking prick before traveling back up. “Tell me you want me, Jackson.”

Jack had never been good at expressing his feelings. Words didn’t come easy. “You know I do.”

“I need to hear you say it. I need to know you want me and not some anonymous stripper. Because if it’s not like that, we can stop right now.”

Pure desperation helped Jack force the words out. “I want you, Alex,” he heard himself say. “It’s always been you. I didn’t think I could have you.”

“You make me so fucking hot,” Alex said hoarsely. He pulled Jackson into his arms. “I’m not sure I could stop if you wanted me to.”

Alex grabbed the hair at Jack’s nape and kissed him hard, pushing his tongue deep into the man’s mouth. Jack returned the kiss, his mouth wide open, his body rubbing against Alex. Alex felt so fucking good. Jack melted against his warm body, making them both shudder. It was hot as hell.

Panting, Alex suddenly pulled back. “Want to suck you.”

Oh, God. Jack wanted that, too. But even more, he wanted Alex’s cock in his mouth. He wanted to know that he could bring pleasure to Alex. What Jack lacked in experience, he’d make up for with enthusiasm.

He averted his eyes. “Alex?”

“What, baby?”

“Me, too.”

“Tell me.”

“I want to suck you, too,” Jack croaked helplessly.

“Fuck, yes.”

Alex looked like the director of a porn movie as he lay on his back and told Jack where he wanted him. Jack would have laughed if he hadn’t been so hot and so embarrassed. He climbed on the bed, and facing Alex’s feet, he straddled his head. Alex stared up at Jack’s cock and licked his lips.

“Want to make you come so hard you see stars.” Alex growled. He gripped Jack’s thighs, urging him down.

Jack crawled over him until they were both in a mouth-to-genitals position. Jack slid his hands over Alex’s thighs. The coarse hair bristled under his palms. Alex’s penis stood straight up and wagged like a metronome in front of Jack’s face. He’d never been this up close and personal with another man’s cock. Fascinated, he compared it to his own. Maybe a little longer… Jack traced a finger over the bulging veins and heard a quick intake of breath behind him.

The tip of Jack’s cock brushed against Alex’s lips, and Alex swirled his tongue around the head.

“Oh, God,” Jack moaned as he did the same to Alex and was rewarded with appreciative grunts and groans.

Then Jack’s cock was bathed in wet heat as Alex licked his shaft from top to bottom. Determined to please his lover, Jack did the same for Alex. A few swipes of his tongue, and instinctively he wanted more. His mouth closed around the purple head, and Jack let it slide over his tongue. It seemed like such an intimate act, having another man’s dick in his mouth. Jack relaxed his jaw and slid his lips up and down the shaft, swiping the head with his tongue on every pass. God, he hoped Alex was enjoying this as much as he was.