The Hot Toddy Read online

“You need glasses.” Tuck snorted. “First, I’m not that hot, and, secondly, Todd and I are just friends. He’s not interested in me. Never has been.” As he said the words, a hollow space formed in his chest.

  Tilting his head sideways, Alex narrowed his gaze. “First, you’re completely hot, and, secondly, the guy is totally into you. A blind man could see it.”

  “Bullshit,” Tuck said.

  Todd had a definite type. He liked guys who worshipped the ground he walked on, he liked to be in control, and he liked to be the lead dog in a pack of horny puppies.

  “Okay.” Alex threw up his hands. “I just want to make sure I don’t have to fight anyone for your attention.”

  “Nope.” On the inside, Tuck flinched. “No fighting over me.”

  At the end of the evening, Alex drove Tuck home. He turned to Tuck in the car. “I’d like to walk you to your door, if you’ll let me.”

  Tuck shrugged. “Sure.” At the door, Tuck got out his keys and faced Alex. “I had a really good time tonight.”

  Those dark brown eyes bore down on him, sober and serious. “Me too.” Alex took Tuck’s hands in his and pulled them up to his lips, kissing the tips of Tuck’s fingers. “I really like you, Tuck.”

  “I like you too,” Tuck replied, suddenly anxious.

  Alex, who was taller by six inches, leaned down and angled his mouth over Tuck’s with gentle, but insistent pressure.

  Anxiety began to tighten Tuck’s lungs, and his pulse raced as the first bit of panic began to set in. Alex was a nice guy, a great guy, but he wasn’t Todd. Rattled, Tuck pushed him away.

  “What’s wrong?” Alex asked, confusion evident in his tone.

  Tuck’s hands shook so badly, he couldn’t get the key into the door. “Fuck!” he shouted, as the door flung open.

  Todd stood in the frame in a pair of shorts and naked from the waist up. Not helping. “What’s happened?” he asked.

  Tuck pushed past him and ran for his room. He stripped his shirt off and, with a frustrated shout, threw it across the room. He’d tried to pass himself off as prime dating material, but he’d sold Alex on a defective bill of goods.

  Chapter 6

  Todd Confesses

  Todd slammed the door in Alex’s face. He didn’t know what the guy had done to get Tucker so worked up, but he’d threatened to beat the fuck out him if he ever came near Tuck again.

  Damn it! He hadn’t seen Tuck so messed up in years, and he wasn’t about to wait to find out why. Headstrong, he barged in on Tuck.

  The both froze, stunned into a second of silence. Tuck’s smooth muscles were hard and defined along his wide chest covered with a dusting of light blond hair. To top it off, his abs were amazing. He had a freaking eight-pack.

  “Do you have any idea how perfect you are?”

  “Out!” Tuck shouted. He ran at Todd and shoved him.

  Todd’s back hit the door. It slammed shut behind him, trapping him between it and Tuck. Raw emotion burned in Tuck’s eyes.

  “Calm down, man.” Todd forced himself to stay composed. “It’s okay.”

  Tuck punched the wall next to Todd’s head. “Just get out!” His voice caught at the end in a sob. “Please.”

  The begging broke Todd’s heart, but he couldn’t make himself go. He wrapped his arms around Tuck. Let his friend try to get rid of him now.

  As Tuck pushed and struggled against him, Todd tried to ignore how incredible his friend’s bare skin felt against his own. Todd cursed his body for reacting, his dick for getting hard, and his brain for worrying about the consequences. This close, and in the thinnest of his gym shorts, his hard-on poked out, pressing against Tuck’s groin.

  Tuck arrested his squirming and held very still. “Fuck, Todd. Let me go.”

  “Not until you talk to me.” When a large bulge in Tuck’s pants pushed back, Todd’s arms went limp, giving Tuck the opportunity to escape.

  Goddamn. Tuck’s shoulders were wide and corded, and his torso, long and lean sculpted by intense muscles. The sight of him astounded Todd.

  As he watched Tuck sit down on the edge of his bed, arms flexing as Tuck brushed his fingers through his hair, Todd confessed the one thing he knew to be true.

  “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever known.”

  Tuck shook his head and stared at his fingers, tracing small circles on his jeans. “Cut the shit.”

  Cautiously, Todd approached the bed. “Look at me.”

  Tuck chewed his lower lips and kept his gaze on his hands.

  “Tuck.” Todd moved closer. “Look at me, goddamn it.”

  Slowly, Tuck’s eyes rolled up, and his lower lip jutted in a pout. It was a pout Todd had seen many times before. Damn, it was fucking sexy. “Fine. I’m looking. What?”

  “I want you to really see my face when I tell you this. I want you to know that I am not fudging, fibbing, or coloring the truth in any way, shape, or form. You know me better than anyone. You know I’m a terrible liar. At least when it comes to you.”

  Tuck gave Todd a quick nod, and then looked down at his hands again.

  “You’re beautiful. Sometimes I think you can’t possibly be real, that you must be a goddamn angel or something. And that’s not just about the way you look.”

  When Tuck’s gaze met his own, Todd stifled a sharp intake of breath. Crossing the short distance between them, he put his hand on Tuck’s shoulder.

  Tuck crossed his arms over his chest as if to protect himself from Todd’s unwavering gaze. “Right.”

  “Fuck,” Todd said with a stuttering breath. “Please don’t pull away from me.” The haunted far-off stare in Tucker’s light blue eyes worked like a grinder in his gut.

  “What do you want from me, Todd?” Tucker suddenly looked tired and older than his twenty-two years. “I can’t take your games tonight.”

  The words hit Todd hard. “Is that what you think? I’m playing a game with you?”

  “I’ve known you a long time.” Tucker shook his head. “Don’t act like you have feelings.”

  The room chilled by degrees—or maybe it was Tuck’s icy words. It left Todd with a cold spike in the pit of his stomach. Did he deserve what Tuck said? Maybe.

  “You’re too good for the likes of me, Tucker Thompson. Too good for most anybody. But it hasn’t stopped me from wanting you, every bit of you, every goddamn day.” He started toward the door without looking back.

  “Todd!” Tuck’s voice was crisp and sharp. It froze Todd in place. Fear tightened inside him like a coil. He’d blown it. He’d fucking blew up the best thing in his life.

  Tuck’s hand shook as he held it out, palm up in invitation. “Come back.”

  Hope wormed its way in. Damn it. “Man, it’s okay. I’m an ass. We know that about me.” He couldn’t make his smile reach his eyes.

  “Todd.” Tuck kept his hand out.

  God, he looks like an angel. Todd knew every curve, line, and plane in Tuck’s chiseled face. “We can talk in the morning.”

  “I’m okay.” Tuck’s voice sounded calmer, less uncertain now. “Come sit by me.”

  Todd did as Tuck asked, but he kept a few inches between them. Anything between them would be Tuck’s decision.

  “I’ve been trying to get on with my life, Todd. You consume me. I’ve no room for anyone else. I can’t keep watching you live, while I stand on the sidelines. Alex was the first step to getting my own life, but I couldn’t. The kiss was nice…”

  Todd pushed down the immediate jealousy. Alex kissed him, and, looking at those luscious lips, Todd wanted nothing more than to do the same. “He’s a lucky bastard.”

  Tuck put his hand on Todd’s leg. “He isn’t you.”

  Todd’s heart stopped beating for a second. What had just happened? A single moment of possibility—a moment Todd had no intention of letting go. He dropped to his knees in front of Tuck.

  “I’ve wanted you for as long as I can remember. But when we were sixteen, you made it clear you didn’t want the
same from me. No one else has ever mattered. No one before and no one since.”

  Chapter 7

  Tuck Makes a Deal

  Tuck couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but as he stared at his best friend, he wanted to believe.

  God! Todd’s eyes were a rich navy blue with an even darker ring of midnight blue around the edges. He gazed at Tuck with such…longing. Why now? Tuck didn’t understand. Todd had never been interested in him. He’d brought up a time when they were sixteen. Had Todd really tried to confess his feelings?

  Todd’s blond curls fell down into his eyes, and he puffed them back with his breath. He was fucking adorable, so sexy. Tuck’s cock strained against the seam of his jeans. He fought back a groan. Could Todd really want him? No. Maybe.

  Could he deal with Todd’s need to be in control? He wasn’t sure. He wouldn’t be another toy to be used and discarded. Looking at Todd’s eyes, shadowed by loose curls, he almost didn’t care. Almost.

  Tuck pushed the offending locks of hair to the side. “You’ve made me feel better. Mission accomplished.”

  “That’s not why I said what I said.”

  “Let it go.” Tuck couldn’t take Todd feeling sorry for him. “I’m fine really.”

  Staring at Todd’s gorgeous face, masculine, a little rough on the cheeks, he wondered what the scruff would feel like against his skin. Impulsively, he leaned down and rubbed his cheek against Todd’s. The delicious sensation, mixed with Todd’s scent—Irish Spring, directed another surge of heat to his groin. A low noise escaped his lips.

  Todd reciprocated, his lips grazing Tuck’s cheekbone.

  Tuck trembled. “Fuck, Todd. I’m scared.” Why had he said that? He sounded like a baby.

  “Scared of what?”

  “Of this. Of you. Of me. I’ve never…” He let his words trail off.

  Todd pulled his head back and stared at Tuck. “Are you a virgin?”

  “God, no!” Tuck lied, but he nodded. “Yes. Unless you count jerking off.”

  Todd laughed, throaty and low. It made Tuck flush with warmth. “I don’t,” he said. “I can’t believe you’re a virgin.”

  Tuck had only ever wanted to be with one person, and he’d chosen not to have sex just for the sake of having sex. “I know. I’m lame.”

  “No.” Todd’s voice lowered even more. “Shit. Whoever gets to have you is going to be one lucky bastard.”

  “Is that what you want, Todd? To have me?” He didn’t know how far he wanted to take the conversation. Could the answer be his own surrender? “Do you want me to let you fuck me?”

  Todd laced his fingers into Tuck’s hair and pulled him close. He placed his lips to Tuck’s with a gentle press packed with promise. “No, Tucker,” he said softly. “I want you to let me love you.”

  The tenderness in Todd’s words took Tuck’s breath away. His skin tightened and tingled while Todd kissed him again, deeper—slow and sensual.

  “Will you let me love you?”

  The gentle plea melted Tuck’s resistance. Todd Fucking Nelson wanted to love him. He could only think of one response—the one playing over and over in his head. “Yes,” he said aloud. “Yes.”

  Chapter 8

  Yes!

  Todd nudged his nose and mouth into the crevice between Tuck’s jaw and neck. He inhaled the scent of his friend’s cologne. His captured Tuck’s lips in a probing kiss. He swiped his tongue—pushing, twirling, as their lips melded together. It was as if every ounce of love he had was trying to find its way into Tuck. No matter how many men he’d been with, none of them could compare to the man in his arms.

  He wasn’t sure why or how it happened, but Tucker Fucking Thompson had said, “Yes.”

  He rubbed his palms up Tuck’s thighs and felt Tuck stiffen. He reached out and traced the curve of his friend’s jaw. “We don’t have to do more than this. Just kissing if that’s what you want. As long as I know you want me as much as I want you, I can wait.”

  Tuck curled his fingers nervously. “It’s not that.” His lips twitched. “If we do this, I won’t share you. No more pulling. No more fucking around.” Tuck wore his patience in the softness around his eyes as he waited for a response.

  Todd was scared of messing things up between them, but he didn’t hesitate. “No more fucking around.”

  “Then I don’t want to wait.” Tuck smoothed back Todd’s curls from his face. “Will you let me love you?”

  An overwhelming swell of emotion rose in Todd. His eyes leaked as the wave crashed over any barriers he might have built, tearing them down brick by brick until he felt as raw as an exposed nerve. “Yes,” he said with a shaking breath.

  “Yes,” Tuck repeated. “Yes.” He pulled Todd into a crushing kiss full of joy and exultation and, most of all, relief. When he drew back from the kiss, he skimmed his fingers along Todd’s collarbones until they met in the divot at the bottom of his neck. He fixed Todd with an intense stare, his light blue eyes lined with determination, his lips wet and red.

  Tuck’s fingers trembled as he teased Todd’s nipples between his thumb and index fingers until they were taut little nubs. His mouth formed a satisfied smile.

  His mouth is so fucking sexy.

  Tuck flattened his palms against the hard planes of Todd’s chest, spreading his fingers wide.

  Todd’s breath shallowed and his pulse quickened, eager for more. It was such a strange sensation, letting Tuck take the lead. Todd liked to be in charge, but, watching the pure pleasure in Tuck’s eyes as he explored Todd’s body with his fingers, Todd decided he liked this more.

  “I love the feel of your hands on me.”

  “You’re so beautiful,” Tuck said. “I want to see all of you. Take off your shorts.”

  The command was mild but direct. Warmth fled Todd’s limbs, centering on his groin, as he stood and shimmied out of his pants. His cock, rigid and heavy with ache, jutted from his body. His stomach glistened where a bead of precum had brushed his skin. He watched as Tuck licked his lower lip.

  “Fuck. I’ve seen you naked plenty of times, but never like this, and never this close.” Tuck licked his lips again.

  Todd could see Tuck’s arousal, hard and thick, straining through his jeans. He hadn’t had the same sneak peeks as Tuck, and thinking about what his friend had waiting for him made his cock jerk in response. Damn. His hands shook, and inside and out, he was a quivering mess. Tuck was the virgin, the inexperienced one of the two of them, but as Todd stared down into those gorgeous baby blues, he felt as nervous as a schoolgirl on prom night.

  Todd’s breath hitched, and his knees buckled when Tuck reached out, encircled Todd’s cock with his fingers, and licked the tip.

  Tuck’s eyelashes fluttered as he gazed up with a confidence Todd hadn’t seen in him before. “You like that?”

  Todd sucked in a breath. His brain felt light, airy, and euphoric. When he spoke, his voice was husky and weighty with need. “Fuck, yes.”

  Chapter 9

  Never Like This

  When Todd had said he’d give up his string of men for Tuck, it flipped a switch in Tuck’s head. Todd made him feel valued, wanted, and worthy. He always knew when Todd was lying, and when Todd promised to only be with him, Tuck believed it. In that moment, his nerves went away. All he wanted to do now was everything.

  He rubbed his palms along Todd’s hips to the man’s ass—a gloriously rounded and firm ass. And, damn, the trimmed, blond triangle of hair leading down to a straining erection had Tuck’s mouthwatering. The precum had tasted slightly salty, a very light taste, not the heavy savory flavor described in some of the porn he’d read online. He’d tasted his own fluids after a quick hand job or two, and he was pleased at how similar Todd’s was to his own.

  The skin around the slitted tip was incredibly smooth, almost silky against Tuck’s tongue. He wanted to remember every second of this experience—a precious memory—hopefully, the first of many. He leaned forward and pressed his nose in the crease where Todd’
s closely shaved balls met his thigh and inhaled. The musk of Todd’s masculine scent sent a jolt of pleasure to Tuck’s groin. He groaned as his own arousal threatened to burst the tight confines of his jeans.

  He dug his fingers into Todd’s fleshy ass as he inhaled again. He smiled when the skin beneath his hands raised in a mass of gooseflesh under his touch. Sliding his fingertips along the crack of Todd’s ass, he inhaled again before licking the base of Todd’s shaft.

  “Oh God.” Todd’s hands twined through Tuck’s hair. “What you do to me.”

  Tuck shifted forward, his jeans rasping against his imprisoned cock. Damn, he wanted to feel Todd’s ass grinding against him. He drew Todd forward until his friend straddled his thighs and sat down on his lap. A groan escaped his lips as Todd squirmed against him. The thrill of knowing his jeans were the only thing between his cock and Todd’s ass drove him wild.

  He latched on to Todd’s nipple with his lips and teeth, rocking his hips as he licked and sucked until the nub stood tightly erect.

  Chapter 10

  Everything

  “I want you inside me.” Todd couldn’t believe it when the words spilled from his mouth. He rarely let anyone fuck him, and the few times he did, he didn’t like them having power over him.

  “What? But…”

  Todd took Tuck’s mouth in a silencing kiss. His friend knew his sex habits. Tuck had heard all of Todd’s stories.

  “No buts,” Todd murmured against Tuck’s mouth. “Unless it’s my butt.” His voice faded to a soft whisper. “There isn’t much I can offer you that I haven’t already given away. But I can give you this.”

  “Your ass?” Tuck made it a question.

  “Silly boy,” Todd said, a simple smile playing on his lips. “I trust you, Tucker. Only you. I’ve never given anyone control over my body, over me, but I can give it to you. I can give you a piece of me that no one else will ever own. I can give you my love and trust and pray it’s enough.”

  Tuck’s eyes watered as his gaze connected with Todd’s. “It’s everything.”