Love Wins Anthology

Chapter 8

Chapter 8Josh drove through the maze of roads in the condo complex three times before he located the section he thought Reggie’s unit was in. He checked the time—almost three A.M. Good. He had every intention of disturbing the bastard’s sleep. After another ten minutes of searching mailboxes by flashlight, he found his target’s name: R. Pendleton.

Ringing the doorbell, he heard a muted, musical tinkling from inside the condo. He frowned. That wouldn’t do. He needed to convey his summons with clarity. So he pounded on the door with the end of the heavy metal flashlight. Much better. Just one of the harsh, hard clangs should have been enough to jerk the man out of bed. But Josh kept up the vigorous knocking, letting it bleed out the tension and fear the night had left churning in him.

Finally, the door was flung open. Reggie stood tense, as if ready to repel intruders, despite being dressed in an absurdly regal red and gold silk bathrobe. At the sight of Josh, Reggie’s expression shifted from anger to shock.

Why would the man be surprised to see Josh? Who else would be coming to Adam’s rescue?

In an instant, Reggie’s habitual air of superiority reasserted itself as he drawled, “Isn’t it a trifle late for a social visit?”

“Where is Adam?” Josh demanded with a clear threat in his voice. Following Reggie’s pointed gaze, Josh realized he was clutching the flashlight like a weapon and lowered it. The last thing he needed was to escalate this mess into a fistfight.

“Have you misplaced him?” Reggie purred.

“Don’t play games. What did you do to him?”

Dropping his mocking tone, Reggie snorted. “What did I do to him? How about what he did to me? The little s**t nearly broke my nose!”

Josh’s jaw dropped. There was no denying Reggie’s nose was swollen. But Adam was at heart a pacifist. “You want me to believe Adam hit you? Not a chance. Where have you got him?” Josh pushed his way into the condo and started searching, all the while calling Adam’s name.

When he entered the master bedroom, he froze, his eyes widening. Holy s**t! A wall-to-wall bed. It was straight out of a s*x fantasy magazine. Purple satin sheets, at least a dozen pillows, bondage gear of all kinds hanging within easy reach. And—really?—a purple leather whip nestled in a place of honor above the headboard on two ornate silver hooks.

Josh was desperate to locate Adam. But at that moment, he was deeply grateful he hadn’t found his lover curled up in that scene from a cheap porn film.

He tore his gaze away from the bed and searched the room, ignoring his qualms about what other of Reggie’s intimate items he might find under the bed or hidden in the closet. He checked the bathroom—damn, that shower was decadent!—as well as the second bedroom and the den.

When Josh got back to the living room, Reggie was standing at the bar, pouring himself a drink. “Told you he wasn’t here.” He turned to face Josh and held up his glass. “Care for one?”

“No, damn it! Tell me where Adam is.”

Reggie sighed and settled himself on an oxblood-red leather couch. “He’s in jail.” While that bombshell sank into Josh’s brain, Reggie took a long, slow sip of what looked like high-quality Scotch. With a pleasant smile, the man finally added, “But just for tonight. You can go pay the fine and pick him up tomorrow morning after eight.”

Josh was flabbergasted. Jail? He was working hard not to grab Reggie and shake the story out of him. Through clenched teeth, he said, “Tell me. Now!”

Reggie shrugged. “Well, it was all your fault.”

The need to rend and tear was rising fast. He glared at Reggie, willing him to continue before Josh resorted to violence.

“If you treated him better, he wouldn’t have come looking for me. And he did, you know. Coming to Corrigan’s bar was a cry for me to rescue him.”

“Maybe he just wanted a drink.”

“He could have gotten a drink at home. Maybe he just wanted a commitment.”

Did everyone in the world think they could offer an opinion on Josh and Adam’s relationship? “That’s none of your business.”

“Adam made it my business. Poor thing.”

Josh took a deep, calming breath and said, “Reggie, if you don’t tell me how Adam ended up in jail, I swear I’ll hurt you.”

Reggie drained his glass and held up his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine. He had way too much to drink, got offended at my kind offer of shelter for the night, and hit me in the nose. A patrol officer saw it and arrested him. The cop didn’t have a choice—he couldn’t risk letting Adam drive home in his condition, especially without a driver’s license.”

Josh’s knees weakened, and he collapsed into the armchair across from Reggie. As wildly unbelievable as the whole story was, Josh latched on to the last thing Reggie said. “He didn’t have his license on him?”

Reggie actually looked guilty for a moment. Then his face smoothed back into his normal nonchalant expression. He got up and walked to the bar, refilled his drink, then turned toward Josh and tossed him a wallet. “I seem to have found it. I suppose you could return it to him for me.”

“You found it?” Josh growled. “Where? In his pocket?”

Ignoring the question and its implication, Reggie returned to his place on the couch and smiled innocently.

A thought occurred to Josh. Reggie was willingly relinquishing a means to manipulate Adam. “Why are you giving this to me? Why not use it yourself to play the hero who gets him out of jail?”

Reggie set his drink on the table and seemed to be searching for the right words. At last he said, “I’ll always have a soft spot for Adam. But after tonight, I can see how much he’s grown. He’s more confident in himself, stronger.” Gingerly touching his nose, the man muttered, “Much stronger.”

Josh chuckled. And felt a rush of pride that Adam had so handily defended himself even while, if the ex-lover could be believed, he’d been dead drunk.

Continuing, Reggie said, “I’m not sure Adam and I suit each other anymore. Although, now that I think about it, it was intriguing—I might even say oddly exhilarating—not to get my way.” With one finger, he traced the generous curve of his lower lip. “Maybe I won’t abandon the idea of seeing Adam again after all.”

Josh bristled. “But you don’t want to marry him anymore?”

Chuckling, Reggie said, “He wants to marry you, although I can’t understand why he’d waste himself like that. God knows, Adam deserves so much more. But I’m sure, eventually, he’ll tire of waiting for you to get your head out of your ass. By then, maybe he’ll be ready to come back to me.”

Reggie stood and stretched. Gesturing toward the couch, he said, “You’re welcome to stay here until morning when you go get Adam. The police station is just a few miles up the road.” His eyes darkened. “Or you could join me in the bedroom.” Reggie’s nostrils flared as he gave Josh an intimate head-to-toe appraisal.

Josh’s skin prickled like he’d just been licked. Too shocked to form words, he managed to shake his head.

“Too bad. I would have enjoyed pinning down what Adam finds so irresistible.” Reggie strolled back to his bedroom, tossing a sing-song “Sleep well” over his shoulder, and shut the door.