Tied to Trouble(31)

Was that something he wanted to live with?

But Ace had said no nudity, so really, how different was this from that time he danced on the bar in Cancún in his briefs with Marley? He hadn’t even gotten paid for it then. Maybe he did if he counted the free drinks and the hand job in the cab with the bartender.

Jesus, he was one step away from a stripper anyway.

By the time his shift was over, he wasn’t any closer to figuring out if he could bring himself to work at the Pit. He did know, though, that he definitely wanted to go back to school.

He just had to figure out a way to do that without losing himself along the way.





Chapter Nine


Owen gripped the cell phone tighter and ground his teeth as he concentrated on the road in front of him. “So why do I have to do this?”

Austin’s voice was a whisper. “I’m in the shed in the backyard of my house right now under the pretense of getting a lightbulb when we don’t even keep the damn lightbulbs here. This is video game night with Marley and I can’t miss it.”

“I’ll call him—”

“He told Marley earlier that he was staying in tonight, but he’s not answering my calls. Now please just go over to Chad’s and find out if he secured a photographer.”

The last thing Owen wanted to do was be alone with Chad. It’d been a long day at the office, and he wasn’t up for the verbal war he waged every time he and Chad were together. “This has to be done tonight?”

“Yes, I think he works tomorrow and I need this done—” There was a scratching sound, like he was covering the receiver, then a muffled voice. “I gotta go. Please, Owen!”

Then the line went dead.

This was fucking ridiculous. This proposal was the bane of his existence, and if he didn’t love Marley, he would have just bagged the whole thing. But he understood why something of this scale was very hard for Austin to plan himself without Marley finding out.

It was Wednesday, so if his schedule remained the same each week, it made sense Chad was home from work.

Owen gripped the steering wheel and signaled to get off the highway in the direction of Chad’s apartment. He tried to ignore the fluttering in his stomach, that nervous feeling, anxiety swarming with anticipation. He wanted to see Chad again, he really did, but he wasn’t going to admit it.

After he pulled into the parking lot of Chad’s apartment complex, he parked and sat in his car for five minutes, listening to the soft sounds of the radio. Last time he was here, he’d been hard, knowing Chad was up in his apartment waiting for him, knowing he was going to get his hands on all that skin.

And now… Well, he wasn’t sure what was waiting for him up there. What if Chad was with another man? Or a woman?

Ugh, this was ridiculous. They’d made no promises to each other. They’d hooked up a couple of times and that was it. Chad clearly had no intentions of being tied down, and no way would he put up with Owen’s boring lifestyle once the honeymoon sex faded. What would they do, sit around and read books together then feed Owen’s fish?

God, the thought of that, of holding down the adventurous, spontaneous Chad, made him cringe. He didn’t want to do that to either of them, have a go at a relationship that seemed so doomed from the start.

So he turned off his car, took a deep breath, and shored up his nerves the best he could, then walked to the door of Chad’s apartment. He knocked and waited.

And waited.

Nothing.

He pressed his ear to the door and heard the sound of music coming from within the apartment. He frowned and jiggled the doorknob, which…turned.

And opened.

It wasn’t locked.

Owen hesitated, thinking maybe he should shut the door and turn around, but the music was definitely coming from inside, and Chad had to be home if it was unlocked, right?

And why the hell hadn’t he locked his door? With a flare of irritation at Chad’s lack of personal safety, he stepped inside, gazing around the apartment, which looked just about the same as it had the last time he was there.

The music played from somewhere down the hall, and another sound was coming from the same direction. After closing the front door behind him, Owen walked slowly down the hallway. “Chad?”

No response, and he realized the other sound was running water from the shower.

He reached the door of a bedroom and peeked in. The music was coming from Chad’s laptop, which sat on a small desk beside his bed. That centaur screen saver was up, and it was an odd contrast to the pounding club music coming from the speakers.

The shower shut off, and Owen’s irritation continued to rise. This was incredibly unsafe. For Chad to be in an unlocked apartment, music blaring, shower on… Anyone could have come inside, stolen his things—hurt him, for God’s sake—and he would have been defenseless.