Chapter 1

1

Noah Riggins pulled his car into the driveway of the house he shared with his lover, Charlie Banks, and for a moment just sat in the car with the engine off. Leaning his head on the steering wheel, he prepared himself for having to go inside.

It shouldn’t be this hard.

It couldn’t have been that long ago he eagerly jumped from the car and ran into the house. Shaking his head, he reached for the briefcase lying on the passenger seat and got out.

Sitting in the car all night wouldn’t change things. He’d already waited until after seven o’clock to leave work.

As soon as he entered the front door the lack of light caused heaviness in his chest. He couldn’t go back to the way Charlie had been at the start of their relationship. The living room was entirely devoid of light as was the kitchen and dining room. The hallway light was the only illumination.

“Charlie?”

“In here,” came Charlie’s voice from the direction of the bedroom.

Noah briefly closed his eyes, then flung his briefcase onto the couch. He headed down the hallway, certain he’d find Charlie just lying in bed with the lights off.

He flicked on the switch for the light over their bed and sat on the edge next to Charlie’s prone body. His lover, dressed only in a T-shirt and boxers, simply stared at the ceiling.

“Feeling sick?” he asked softly.

“No.”

“Did you eat?”

“Not hungry.”

It was a struggle to keep the sigh locked inside. “When was the last time you ate?”

Charlie shrugged.

Noah nodded. “Okay. Well, I stopped and ate something on the way home.” He rubbed Charlie’s bare leg. “Anything I can get you?”

“No.”

“Charlie—”

“Not right now, Noah. I’m tired. Can you turn out the light? I’m going to go to sleep.”

“You need some help.”

“Don’t,” Charlie whispered and turned on his side to face away from Noah.

He got up, flicked off the light, and left the bedroom. In the last couple of months their once great relationship had deteriorated to the point it was no longer recognizable to Noah. He couldn’t even remember the last time he and Charlie had made love.

Noah made his way to the spare bedroom he’d been spending far too many nights sleeping in lately. It had become hard to lie next to Charlie knowing the man had shut him out entirely.

He closed the door and took out his cell phone. Not that he thought Charlie would overhear or even care. He pressed speed dial number two.

“Hello.”

Noah instantly recognized Michael Bennett’s voice. “Hello, Michael, is Kev there?”

“Hi, Noah. Sure, hold on.”

Seconds later, Kevin came on the line. “Hey there, gorgeous.”

The sound of his best friend’s bubbly voice never failed to make him smile. A small smile this time, but a smile.

“Hi, Kev. I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”

Kevin laughed. “Oh, no, we finished our pre-dinner fuck a while ago. What’s up?”

“Just needed a friendly voice.”

His friend sighed. “Is he still the same?”

“Worse, maybe. I don’t know what to do anymore, Kev. I can’t get through to him,” Noah said softly. “It’s worse than even before when he shut me out.”

“I’d talk to him but I don’t think he’d listen to me. Want me to have Michael kick his ass?”

Noah smiled. “No. I like his ass too much.”

“Want to come over?”

“No. I’ll deal with it I guess. We’re still on for Friday, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m thinking it might just be me, though. Don’t know if Charlie will come.” Noah closed his eyes and lay down on the spare bed. “Okay, I’ll let you go back to your man.”

“All right, I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you, too, Kev.” Noah sighed as the conversation ended. It was still early and he wasn’t really that tired. A few months ago he’d have been making love to Charlie.

Sitting up, he got out of bed and sat in the easy chair they’d placed in the guest room. Getting comfortable, he grabbed the remote for the television off the side table and began to surf for something to watch. A comedy would be perfect.

* * * *

Noah kissed the line of Charlie’s jaw, loving the prickliness of the day’s growth there. But he couldn’t stop there and moved to cover Charlie’s lips with his. The man had the best lips on the planet. Big, soft and delicious.

Charlie gasped. “Noah, please.”

“Please what, angel?”

Charlie’s fingers grazed over Noah’s abs. “Fuck me.”

With a groan, he flipped his naked lover onto his stomach and reached for the strawberry scented lube, a Christmas gift from Kevin, and sloshed out enough to prepare Charlie for the invasion of his cock.