“Fuck, man. I wish I knew what to say. All I can tell you is she wouldn’t want Jessie to be with you, if she didn’t think that was the best decision.”

It took Wes a few minutes to reply. Finally he lowered his hands from his face, lowering a mask into place, looking more like the man he’d seen eying him from across the bar the first night they met. “Sure you don’t wanna fuck?”

Noah laughed. “I wish like hell we could.” But he wasn’t sure Wes needed that. Didn’t want to risk doing the wrong thing, because something about the other man told him they’d end up friends. If Wes needed him with all this shit he was dealing with, he didn’t want sex to hang between them. And Noah definitely knew it wasn’t what he needed. Not with Cooper still so fresh, so…prominent in his mind.

“Then I guess I’m going to get shit-faced drunk to try and forget my problems. Tell me about your problems. I need to feel sorry for someone other than myself.”

Noah blew out a heavy breath, figuring he owed the man. “I want my straight, best friend. Want him so fucking bad, I can hardly stand it.”

“And?” Wes drank some more beer.

“And he can’t do it. He tried, but he can’t. Things are…different with us. They always have been. I didn’t trust many people as a child. I probably only trusted him, and now…? Now, I fell right back into that, only I want to fuck him on top of it.”

Wes laughed.

“But I still don’t trust very well, and when it comes to a lover, I expect things that even if Cooper was gay, he might not be able to give.” Noah swallowed, unable to believe he’d said all of that to Wes. He didn’t do shit like this. “It’s not like I’m on the hunt to settle down or anything, but I expect loyalty, commitment and he likes quantity. So yeah, we were fucked from the start.”

“Doesn’t stop your dick from getting hard for him though, does it?” Wes asked.

Noah picked up his mug of beer, “No shit. I’ll drink to that.” They clanked their beers together and both took long, deep swallows.

Wes’s eyes peered over his glass, and toward the door. When he lowered the drink, he grinned. “We’ve got company.”

Noah didn’t have to turn around to know who it was.

Fuck.

***

White, hot anger fried Cooper’s insides. What the hell was Noah doing here with the guy he tried to fuck in his living room?

Forget that he’d come here hoping to find pussy; to screw Noah out of his own head. Noah was here with the man he’d had his mouth on. The one who’d had his mouth on Noah. Cooper’s hands shook.

“You plannin’ on standing in the doorway all night, man?” Braden asked.

“Oh look. Noah’s over there. I thought you said he was busy tonight?” Jules peeked over his shoulder.

Cooper opened and closed his mouth before he replied, hoping his voice didn’t come out tight. “He is. I just didn’t realize it was here.”

“Should we join him?” Jules sounded hopeful.

No. He likes cock, sweetheart. You don’t stand a chance, and I turned him down. I should keep far a-fucking-way. “Yep.”

Cooper, Braden, Heather, Jules, and Danny, all headed toward Noah and whoever-the-fuck he was.

Cooper stopped right next to Noah. “Didn’t know you were going out tonight.” Shut up. Shut the fuck up. It was like someone injected cement into his body, Cooper was so tense.

“You either.” Noah looked to Heather first, who had her hand on Coop’s arm. “Heather.” His eyes lingered there before he turned to the rest of the group. “Hi, Jules. Danny.”

Braden reached a hand out, “Hey, man. I’m Braden. I work with Cooper. Nice to meet you.”

Noah shook his hand before turned to his friend. “This is Wes. Wes, meet Jules, Heather, Danny, Braden and Cooper.”

Was it just him, or did Wes stare hard? Curious?

Wes smiled. “Nice to meet ya. Any friend of Noah’s and all.” And then the bastard winked at him.

Motherfucker. Coop’s hands balled into fists. He wanted nothing more than to knock the man out.

“Wes.” Noah said, warning in his voice.

Wes winked at Noah this time before drinking some of his beer. “Pull up a table. Have a seat.”

It just happened there was an empty table beside them. Cooper grabbed one side and Braden the other. Once they had it in place, Cooper sat in a chair right beside Noah, who was next to the wall. Heather sat beside him, Jules next to her, with Braden and Danny on the other side with Wes.