~ Noah ~

"I just did a BDSM scene! Well, light BDSM. Just hands tied and a little spanking. Turns out I look good in a collar. I think I'll start wearing chokers when I go clubbing."

I shook my head and smiled even though neither gesture could be seen by my best friend who was so far away. Still, what a way to greet me as I answered the phone.

"Hello to you too, Kyle," I said, holding the mobile device with my left hand and pouring myself a box of the cheapest cereal I could find at Marv's Groceries. Well, second cheapest. The cheapest was completely inedible. Even dogs would think twice about eating it.

"'Hello' is boring." My childhood friend snorted. I could hear some vague noises in the background - voices and running water, and more loudly - a locker door being slammed shut. Kyle must've still been in the studio and had probably just finished with his post-filming shower - a necessity in the adult movies business - before he'd called to happily fill me in on his newest achievement.

"So, did you get laid yet?" Came from the other side of the line.

This time I straight out laughed and almost spilled the milk I was pouring over the cereal. "Seriously, K?"

"You told me you had a bunch of hot colleagues at your second job. I'm still waiting for the pictures, by the way." Another locker door slammed, someone called his name, but since Kyle didn't reply, I assumed it had been just a greeting and he'd nodded or waved at them.

"I can't just snap a photo of them," I said, sitting on my sofa and putting the bowl of cornflakes on the small table in front of it. Breakfast would have to wait; crunching cornflakes and phone conversations did not go well together. "Especially since I'm on a trial period. What if one of them gets annoyed and tells my boss and he's all like 'That's it. You are out.'?"

"Don't be ridiculous! Now, pics or it didn't happen." Yet another door slammed and seriously? Did no one at Hepburry Productions know how to close a door?

"I especially want to see the Viking bartender and the bear-like bouncer," Kyle went on with the background noise changing. Now I could hear cars so he was probably on his way home.

I gave him an eye roll - one more gesture he couldn't see, but he knew me so well, he must've guessed I was doing it.

"Why am I not surprised?" I asked, eyeing my cornflakes. I was hungry for it, but I was more hungry for news from Kyle. Calling and texting on the phone was nothing compared to being together almost twenty-four-seven, which was what we'd been used to since kids.

"Because you know I like my men big." It took me a second to remember I'd asked him a question. A rhetorical one, but he'd decided to answer. And wasn't done: "And I'm not talking only about what's in their pants."

"Big and snuggly. Yeah, I know."

"The bigger they are, the more there is to snuggle to." He input wisely. "Since I'm not getting details on your love life..."

"Nothing to share there."

"... Aren't you going to ask me about mine? Or work. You still haven't watched my videos, have you?"

"'Cause that wouldn't be awkward at all."

"I don't see what's the problem. We've had enough sleepovers and hasty morning showers together because we'd overslept..."

"It was usually you who overslept and then we'd had to share a bathroom, K."

"Point is, you've already seen me naked. And walked in on me fucking a few times."

"Quite a few."

"Might as well watch the videos."

"Have your ratings gone down or something?"

He gasped so dramatically, no one would buy it was real.

"How dare you! My videos have some of the best ratings on our website. The audience is hungry for my fair-skinned twink ass. You are talking to a star, you know."

I laughed at the dramatic tone he was using.

"And now you are laughing at me? That's it. We are not friends anymore. Unless you make it up to me."

"I'm not watching your videos, Kyle."

"You can always do something else for me."

"Nor am I sending you sneakily taken pictures of my hot co-workers."

"Fine. Be that way. Ruin our friendship over nothing. Break my heart. Deprive me of little eye candy to brighten up my day."

"You work in the adult entertainment industry. I'm sure you get enough eye candy. And you get to actually touch the eye candy."

"Oh, I get to do more than touch." I could just about imagine the naughty grin on his handsome face. And let's not forget the mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes. "I get to put it in my mouth, to lick, and nibble, and suck..."

"I get the idea, Kyle." Licking, sucking, and a whole bunch of other things I didn't need him to get into detail about, but, as he'd already mentioned, I'd accidentally seen him do them. Not that those walk-ins had bothered Kyle; he was proud of his body and was very open to what he did - and let other people do - with it. He'd probably walk in the streets naked, if he could get away with it. Heck, I could totally see him removing a few clothes too many and prancing around like that to get the attention of some hot cop. Would he get arrested?

Yes.

Would he score a hook-up with the cop?

Probably.

Okay. Maybe that scenario was unlikely... Depending on whether alcohol was involved and how hot the cop was.

"Still: more eye candy never hurts."

Had I spaced out on him again?

"Which means..." He trailed off and I assumed I was supposed to pipe up with 'You want those pictures'. But instead he sighed - an irritation-filled sound - and said: "Look, I'll have to call you later, okay?"

And then he hung up on me. I stared at the phone until the screen went dark.

That had been sudden.

Had he run into a colleague?

I unlocked the screen and typed 'Trouble?'. No text came in the next ten or so seconds - not that I was expecting one, given something or someone had obviously come up - and I dug into the now too-soggy-for-my taste cornflakes as I waited, trying to convince myself that the slight sense of worry was me being overprotective over the best friend I hadn't seen in months.

~ Dex ~

My almost run-in with death had led to one positive outcome: I had not texted Julian back and after a few messages of him trying to get in touch, he'd written 'fine then' which I assumed meant he wouldn't be stopping by when he was next in town.

That had been the only positive. Everything else sucked.

Yadira - the nurse who had been there when I was almost run over - had been nice and patient, but a trip to the hospital was a trip to the hospital no matter the company. Calling my brother and telling him what had happened also hadn't been a pleasant experience. The Doctor treating me like a mentally challenged person - even less so. Ash coming to the hospital in record time, seeing the way the Doctor treated me, and going on a full 'Why the fuck are you talking to my brother like that' rant - complete with shouts and glaring - had been almost as bad as me realizing the Doctor had been treating me that way because I was in a state of shock and therefore my annoyance and Ash's rage were unjustified. Yadira having to step in and tell my brother off had almost topped the cake.

But most of all, the thing that made me feel like I indeed deserved to be treated like a mentally challenged person, was that I had never said thank you to the guy who'd saved my life. Not even a muttered thanks. And I didn't know him so I would probably never get the chance to show him my gratitude.

With that depressing thought in mind and a considerable amount of self-deprecation, I walked to my brother's club - his pride, joy and obsession - passing by the very same spot the guy had saved me and looking around as if at any moment now he'd jump from behind one of the trees planted at the edge of the sidewalk. My embarrassment and irritation with myself growing, I sped up, willing myself to look straight ahead of me and stop searching for the angelic face with the green eyes.

Mac and Gracie were on shift and I greeted them with a quick nod before heading inside the club. Ash was supposed to wait for me at our table in the VIP area, but surprise, surprise! He wasn't there. I could bet my ass that he was in his office, going through documents or shouting on the phone, completely oblivious about the time. Sometimes I wondered why he even bothered owning and managing a club - because God knows Ash would never trust anyone to take the reins on his baby - when it brought him nothing but stress, migraines and a throat sore from screaming; at other times, I could not imagine him anywhere but behind his desk, glaring at people who compared him to a demon until they got to know him and realized he had a lot of bark, but rarely any bite, unless you messed with someone he cared for.

"Hey, sort of Boss," Jess greeted, her short blond bob bouncing as she made her way to me.

I rolled my eyes and smiled at the perky beauty before me.

"You know I have nothing to do with what's going on around here, right?" I drew a vague circle with my index finger. "All this is Ash's domain."

"But you are his brother and I wanted to tease you so..." She hugged her tray, and gave me a grin.

"Any particular reason?"

"You seemed a bit..." She shrugged. "I don't know. Tense?"

I looked away from her and at the dance floor, the swinging and grinding crowd definitely more sparse than it would be on a Friday or Saturday night.

"So, what are you drinking?" Jess asked and I turned back to her.

"Don't know yet. Maybe your brother can surprise me with his magic?"

"Yeah, Erik is pretty good with that," she said without hiding her pride. "So is the new guy. Stop by the bar to see him; he's working tonight and he's really cute. For a guy."

"I'm not looking for anyone, remember?" My voice came out a bit colder than it should have, but I couldn't help it. Julian had left me with a broken heart and inability to trust. I'd tried dating after he'd moved away, but no matter how great the guy, at the end of the night I thought he wasn't worth the pain he'd no doubt bring me and I went home alone. Not to mention that it wasn't fair to guys to let them think they stood a chance with me when I was so messed up that even if by some miracle I met the perfect man for me, I'd only ruin whatever blossomed between us.

As I said to my friends: no dating for me 'for now'. 'Probably forever' was what I actually meant.

Of course, not everyone agreed with me. They thought I should move on. And that I could do that if I found someone to mend what Julian had damaged. It irritated me, but then again I was grateful because it showed that my friends cared, but then again again: who are they to butt into my love life?

"As you wish," Jess said. "So I tell my brother to surprise you and bring you over whatever he concocts?"

"Sounds good."

"Alright." She gave me a military salute, swirled around and bounced off to get my order, patting Caleb on the back as the two of them met halfway between my table and the dance floor. My childhood friend halted and they exchanged a few words, then he approached and took his usual seat; Caleb, Ash and I always sat in the same spots around this table.

"I thought I was supposed to be the last one to arrive. Where's Ash?"

"Didn't ask Jess, but I guess in his office. Did you order?"

"Yep. Just a beer. You?"

I shrugged. "Told Jess to tell Erik to surprise me."

Caleb leaned towards me and tilted his head, his gaze intent on my face.

I sighed. "I'm fine. Really."

"You were almost run over a week ago. It's understandable..."

"I'm fine," I cut him off, raising my voice and wishing my drink was already here. "How is Misha?" The question was partially an attempt to change the topic, partially out of general concern for my friend's baby brother.

Caleb leaned back, suddenly more tense. "He had another fight with mom. More like she screamed at him and told him how worthless he is. How am I supposed to help him build up his confidence when everyone else in the family brings him down? I know it's not easy on her, but..."

He leaned his head on the back of the leather seat and I just let him be for a while, gave him tome to get a grip on what he was feeling.

Misha was Caleb's half-brother and the illegitimate child Caleb's dad had from 'the Russian whore', as Caleb's mom put it; he was also the sweetest teenage boy ever. Too bad Caleb's family didn't see it that way.

After Misha's mother had died when he'd been a kid, Luther had hopped on a plane to Russia, got his offspring and brought the boy to America, not because of any paternal feelings, but because he feared a scandal. It seemed the man thought it was better to pretend to be a caring father to an illegitimate child than for people to find out he'd left the boy to be raised in poverty. No one in the family had taken a liking to the little blond and while I could understand that on account of Caleb's mother - raising your husband's bastard son had to be tough - I could never understand why Caleb's other two siblings rejected Misha. Was it because of loyalty to their mom?

In the end, it had been only Caleb who'd opened his heart to Misha, and he was still the only Wilcox who cared about the teen. I had also grown to love the boy, and later, after Ash came into my life and my parents adopted him, so did he, and for a long while, I'd thought so did Julian...

Because, of course, Julian had been there. Smiling. Caring. Right until he betrayed me and made me question my whole life because the asshole had pretty much always been a part of it...

"What the fuck is wrong with you two?" My brother's oh-so-melodic voice - raspy, so I'd been right he'd been shouting at someone - reached me and I looked up to see him glaring at me, Caleb, and then back at me. "You look so fucking depressed, you are going to scare my clients. And why aren't you guys drinking?"

"I'll fix this." Jess appeared behind him brandishing a tray with way too many drinks for our table to be her only stop. She put a beer in front of Caleb, a glass with what I assumed was Ash's favorite vanilla-flavored vodka in front of him, and something light green in front of me. "Erik was busy, so Noah made it."

"Who?" I asked as I picked the tall glass and sniffed. The scent was fresh and faintly minty.

"The new guy," she said and headed away to deliver the rest of the drinks.

Oh, yeah. The guy who you suggested I go check out.

Which, of course, meant I'd be staying away from the bar tonight. I didn't want to be match-made with anyone. Not now. Not ever.

But even as I thought that, my mind strayed to the image of a beautiful face with pretty, large lips, brown hair and a pair of green eyes that looked at me with concern as their owner kneeled beside me on the sidewalk.

-----

Thank you for reading! Are there too many characters in this? Should I make you a chart on who is who?

A bit of trivia: When I first started writing this, it was meant to be a series with each book focusing on a new couple. The first book is obviously about Noah and Dex, and the second was supposed to be about Kyle and... Maybe you'll figure it out on your own if you keep reading ;)