“Yeah, maybe,” Nick said, even though there wasn’t any part of him that believed that was true.

His heart seized up when Bryce’s hand raised and touched his face again.

“It feels weird...good, but weird to have rough hair against my hand. Do you want to touch me, too, Nick?” he asked.

Yes, yes, I fucking do.

But he couldn’t. How in the hell did he process all of this? They were both straight men. Nick had been married and in love with his wife for years. “I can’t. Not yet. I need a couple of days to sort through this...to figure out what the hell is going on. Can you do that? Give me a couple of days?”

Bryce’s hand dropped away and Nick immediately wanted it back. “Yeah, yeah, I can do that. Whatever you need. That’s probably smart. I tend to leap before thinking. We both need to figure out what the fuck is going on here. Just don’t hit me again.”

Bryce winked at him and Nick smiled. “I’m sorry.”

“I know. I’m gonna...” Bryce took a step back and another before pointing behind him. “Go next door. Maybe get drunk or something. We’ll...yeah, we’ll talk later.”

Nick didn’t turn away, didn’t take his eyes off Bryce’s back and the way his muscles moved, the masculinity of his body as the man walked out of his house, closing the door behind him.

His first instinct was to call him back.

***

Bryce hadn’t been lying when he said he was going to get drunk. He did. Thank God he was off the next day, because he spent the whole night in his house, slamming beers.

And watching straight porn.

It didn’t change a damn thing.

Yeah he got hard, jacked off and came like nobody’s business as he watched men fuck women on the computer all night...but he suddenly wondered if it was just the women who were getting him off, or maybe the men, too. It wasn’t something he ever thought about before this whole business with Nick—and he didn’t know if this was just a Nick thing or if he was an equal opportunity lover and just hadn’t realized it before.

He came all over his hand more than once that night, and if he was being honest, it wasn’t just the porn doing it for him, either. He thought about the kiss, as innocent as it had been. But he’d definitely liked the feel of Nick’s lips under his. Nick’s solid body against his, and the roughness of him. Another dose of honestly? The fact that Nick was strong enough and big enough to have hit Bryce the way he did got him hard as well. Not that he was into pain...but yeah, that strength in the other man made his dick ache, which probably said Bryce was a little more fucked up than most, but hey, he’d always been a kinky bastard who enjoyed sex. That was fine by him.

He’d drank and came so much that his body was worn out, and he’d slept half of the next day.

It was one o’clock in the afternoon when he woke up. He knew without looking that Nick would be gone, but Bryce went out and checked the driveway, anyway. Sure enough, Nick’s car was gone. Bryce had a feeling Nick would find quite a few excuses to stay away from home as much as possible until he figured out whatever was going on inside his head.

Bryce got that. He did...but he also knew what he wanted. That kiss hadn’t been enough for him. All it did was make his desire pump through his veins with even more force. He’d always been the kind of guy to go after what he wanted, and he didn’t think that would change now.

But he also knew he had to chill the fuck out, because if he pushed, Nick would freak.

He took a quick shower, and then headed to Jamie’s work.

“Hey, Bryce. How’s it going?” Jamie’s receptionist smiled at him.

“Good. Is he in his office or in a room?” He nodded toward the door. Jamie was a veterinarian and owned his own small practice.

“Office. He just finished lunch.”

Bryce knew that if Jamie were too busy to see him, Lydia would have said something, so he went straight to the door and opened it. Jamie looked up from behind his desk. “Jesus, what happened to your lip?”

It was slightly swollen and bruised. “Oh, this?” Bryce pointed to his mouth. “I kissed Nick last night and he hit me. Thanks a lot, asshole.”

Jamie let out a loud laugh. “First of all, why am I an asshole? I didn’t make you kiss him, and I didn’t hit you. Second, did you warn the guy before you did it? I have to say, I’d hit a man if he kissed me, too.”

Bryce fell into the chair across from his brother, slightly surprised that neither of them were freaking out more about this. It wasn’t every day he told his brother he’d kissed a dude.