New Neighbor Read online

  A guys’ night.

  No expectations.

  He’s new in town… might want to meet some new people here.

  It wouldn’t be a date. Neutral ground…

  “Hey, you think it would be cool if I brought my new neighbor? He’s new in town. Seems like a good enough guy.”

  Jesse looked thoughtful a moment. “Sure… if he’s not a prick.”

  “Seems pretty chill,” Benji said. As if two seconds outside in the hall had really given him insight into who his neighbor was. But he’d sensed something about Mac… and wanted to get to know the man.

  “I’ll make reservations for six.”

  Benji lifted the weights a couple more times before tilting his head. “On another note… what’s up with Hay?” Hayden and Jesse were the best of friends. Adam and Clay were like brothers. That’s what left Benji being that fifth wheel.

  Jesse noticeably stiffened at the question. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know… he’s always been… for lack of a better term, a lady’s man, but it seems like he’s been in overdrive here lately.”

  “Hay’s just being Hay,” Jesse said. “Women throw themselves at him. He can’t say no. It’s always been that way.”

  All four of his friends were good-looking guys. Unlike Benji, they never had a problem picking up members of the opposite sex. Benji had benefitted from that fact a few times. Hot girls always had a pack. And sometimes, there were girls there more in his league.

  The simple act of hitting on them helped him keep his secret, too—even if they turned him down. Benji had known for a long, long time that he was bisexual. He’d always felt attraction to both sexes, in equal measure. But coming from a small redneck town, he’d hidden the desire he felt toward men, fearful for his life.

  Once he’d started college, he’d considered experimenting a little.

  Soon falling into a very heterosexual group of friends at the onset of freshman year had made it a little harder to explore that side of him. Although, he had been able to sneak in a couple of research sessions on the DL.

  Not full on sex… just a bit of kissing… fondling… and a blowjob or three.

  But he’d never had intercourse with another man. He’d been with a few girls during college and it had been nice, but none of them had felt explosive and gotten his heart beating madly.

  Not like Mac had in a matter of seconds.

  With his lack of game, he might as well be a virgin in the woods.

  “I just hope he’s being careful,” Benji said, his mind back on his conversation with Jesse. Hayden was anything but virginal. “But then, I suppose he is careful. It still amazes me no women have come out of the woodwork, claiming he’s a baby daddy.”

  “Maybe he’s shooting blanks,” Jesse said with a grin.

  Benji finished his set and slid off the machine. He wiped it down with a towel and began walking over to another piece of equipment. As he walked, he looked over one shoulder at Jesse. “Are you going to work out or just run your mouth?”

  Jesse growled. “You’re starting to sound like these gym rats.”

  “Thanks,” Benji said with a wide smile.

  He moved on to the leg extension machine. Jesse followed, sliding onto the leg curl beside him. They were silent except for the occasional grunt of groan as they worked. After his first set, he paused, his mind a whirl.

  Mac came back to his mind…

  And the desire he’d felt low in his gut.

  He turned to look at Jesse… the need to unburden himself rising. In recent years, it had grown to fever pitch, but he’d always backed off, unwilling to break his silence.

  None of his friends knew who he really was…

  None of them knew he had needs that weren’t being met.

  But he feared they would turn their backs on him if they knew the truth.

  They’d known each other since their freshman year. Eight years. They’d gotten in and out of many scrapes together. He sensed he could tell them… that they would eventually accept him for who he truly was.

  Yet that little niggle of doubt he had scared the hell out of him. He was the odd man out.

  Easy to walk away from…

  Jesse caught his stare and smiled. “You good, man?”

  Benji’s throat closed up on him, the fear seizing him in its grip. I’m bisexual. I like women… and men. And I just met a man that made my insides melt. A man I want to get to know better…

  Instead of saying all of that out loud, he nodded and went back to do another set.

  All while screaming inside.

  “I’m good,” he lied before turning away.

  * * * *

  Bock-bock-booooock

  Later, once he was walking back to his apartment, he paused at Mac’s door. The U-Haul was gone, but he heard voices behind the door. From the sounds of it, Mac, Tevan, and Julio were celebrating Mac’s new place.

  He lifted his hand to the door, poised to knock.

  Again, he chickened out.

  He crossed back to this door and entered, closing the world out behind him.

  I’ll ask him later…

  Hopefully.

  He opened the door and rested back against it once it was closed.

  I’m such a fucking chicken.

  Benji was tired of feeling afraid. Afraid of not being loved. Afraid of not being accepted.

  Afraid of ending up alone.

  Chapter Two

  The following morning…

  Benji awoke to pounding on the door. He slid out of bed and rushed through his apartment to check the spyhole.

  Mac.

  Looking down, he saw he was just in his pj bottoms. He ran to the bedroom, pulled on a t-shirt to cover up, and raced back to the door. He took a deep breath before opening it. “Hey.”

  Mac was drenched in sweat, wearing nothing but a pair of tiny running shorts. Heat came off him in waves. The man looked too damned good for words. “Hey, is your water working?”

  Once the question penetrated Benji’s lust addled mind, he walked over to the sink and turned the knob. “Seems to be working fine.”

  Mac hung in the doorframe. “Mine’s not working. I called the landlord, but he can’t come over until this afternoon. I know this is forward—you don’t know me—but I’ve got an appointment in a little over two hours and just got back from a run. I really can’t show up looking like this. Do you mind if I use your shower real quick?”

  I’d take you like that. Any day of the week. Dripping. Wet. “Yeah, sure. N-no problem.”

  Mac smiled. “Great. Let me grab a couple of things from my place first. I’ll be right back.”

  He left the door open as he crossed to his apartment. Benji raced to his bathroom, brushed his hair and teeth before he heard Mac re-enter.

  “Knock-knock!”

  Benji walked back out to the living room, wiping his wet mouth on the back of his hand and trying to look like he hadn’t run around like a chicken with his head cut off. He pointed toward the way he’d just come. “Our apartments are pretty much the same, I think… so you know where the bathroom is.”

  “Great,” Mac said, holding a towel and a toiletries bag. He closed the front door and slipped on into the bathroom.

  Leaving the door ajar.

  Wide enough that Benji could see the man moving around the bathroom.

  Benji knew he should move…

  Knew he shouldn’t look.

  But he couldn’t help himself.

  He swallowed thickly, his skin on fire. His heartbeat thudded in his ears.

  Mac kicked off his shoes… pulled off his socks… and then slipped those tiny running shorts and his briefs down in one push. Benji’s mouth watered. His stare took in the most perfect, round ass he’d ever seen in his life. Mac turned slightly, and Benji’s eyes widened.

  The guy was gifted in all the right places.

  He licked his dry lips, feeling his body responding. The hard-on that came nearly took his
breath away. It ached with every beat of his heart.

  The water started, and his mind painted pictures of what was going on inside there. Water dripping over every curve and sliding down, trailing over hot skin.

  His erection pulsed painfully.

  Benji forced himself away from the spot he’d been frozen in, knowing he was a terrible human being for spying.

  He headed to the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee, trying to take his mind off the hard body in his bathroom. The one with water sluicing down every nook and cranny… oh, to be that water.

  Nook and crannies? Am I hungry or horny? Hmm… maybe both. After a moment, he slid an English Muffin into the toaster to accompany the egg white omelet he was prepping. He focused on breakfast instead of the man in his shower… or at least, that’s what he tried. When Mac came out not long after, Benji made sure to hide behind the small kitchen island, so the guy wouldn’t see him still sporting wood.

  “I feel so much better. Thank you,” Mac said, running a hand over his short, wet hair. He only wore the towel wrapped around his waist, hiding little.

  But then, Benji had seen almost all of it anyway. His stare fell on the chiseled hip bones jutting out just over the edge of the towel, and he drooled inwardly.

  My god.

  “Would you like a c-cup of coffee?”

  “Thanks, but I’ve got a pot brewing next door,” Mac said.

  “Without any water?”

  Mac got an odd look on his face. “I had a gallon of spring water for that. Not enough for a shower, though.”

  Benji frowned. “Oh, okay.”

  Mac stood at the opposite side of the island, staring at him. “I should finish getting ready for my appointment.”

  “Sounds important.”

  “I’ve got a meeting with my new boss,” Mac answered. “I’m a little nervous, to be honest.”

  Mac reminded him a little of his cousin, a bona fide jarhead. “I’m assuming you were military? Marines?”

  “Oorah!”

  Benji smiled. “If you had enough courage to risk your life… I’d say everything else that comes afterwards should be pretty easy.”

  Mac shrugged. “So one would think. But it’s a huge jump from the military into the real world.” He paused, his smile fading a little. “A big adjustment.”

  “What will you be doing? For work, that is.”

  “PE teacher.”

  “Really?” Benji smiled. “I teach.”

  “Yeah?” Mac asked, his own smile widening.

  Benji got lost in that smile. His insides twisted into knots and coherent thought wasn’t quite possible. “Which grade level?”

  “Elementary.”

  An acrid smell crossed his nose.

  Mac frowned, the smile fading. “Umm… Ben?”

  “Yeah?” Benji asked.

  “You burning something?”

  Burning? Yeah… I’m burning. For you. The smell hit him again and he spun, remembering the omelet on the stove. Smoke was rising from the pan. He slid it to the side, accidentally hitting his hand on the edge of the pan. Dragging his hand away, he cried out in pain.

  Suddenly, Mac was at his side, forcing him toward the sink.

  Mac turned on the water and yanked Benji’s hand into the torrent. The cold immediately soothed him.

  “You okay?” Mac asked, looking down.

  Benji looked up, dazed. He was up against a wall of muscle and could barely think straight. “Yeah. I just nicked it.”

  Mac let go and backed off… and Benji immediately missed the guy’s touch.

  “If you’re okay… I should go.”

  “Yeah. I’m good.”

  Just as Mac grabbed the knob, guys’ night popped into his rattled mind. “Oh wait.”

  Mac paused and turned to stare.

  “My friends and I are doing a guys’ night on Friday. Dinner and then we’re headed out to Jackson Street for a few drinks.”

  Mac smiled. “Jackson Street?”

  “There’s a couple of blocks of bars, clubs, and pubs… a little this and that for everyone. They even have the streets blocked off, so we can roam back and forth with no traffic.”

  “Sure. I’m game.”

  “We can share a Lyft over?”

  Mac nodded. “Yeah. What time?”

  “Dinner’s likely around eight… so ready to leave about seven-thirty?”

  “I’ll be ready. Just knock when you are,” Mac said before grinning and heading out.

  Benji stared down at his hand, turning off the water.

  Unable to stop smiling.

  A date.

  That’s not a date.

  * * * *

  Friday night…

  “How’s the hand?”

  Benji turned to look at Mac’s face from the backseat of the Lyft. He lifted his hand a moment. “All healed up, thanks.”

  “Good.”

  “How was the appointment with your new boss?”

  “It was nerve-wracking,” Mac admitted. “The superintendent’s office hired me… so I had no idea how I’d fit in the school or with the principal.”

  “It was good?”

  “I think so. The principal was military herself. Army, but I can forgive her that. Next comes the kiddos. Hopefully I survive them.”

  Benji grinned. “Sounds like you need a night out to celebrate before facing the enemy.”

  Mac chuckled. “The enemy? That’s not intimidating. Not at all.”

  “Most of the kids are pretty easy, especially at that age. Although you always get a little asshole here and there.”

  Mac laughed out loud. “I’m sure.”

  Benji turned, staring at Mac’s profile. He could listen to that laugh every day for the rest of his life. He swallowed back some of the desire racing through his veins and turned away as Mac’s head spun in his direction.

  “And what do you teach?”

  “Ninth and tenth grade mathematics.

  Mac cringed. “Oooff… a math teacher?”

  “I am,” Benji said with a grin. “Even worse… it’s Algebra. I do have a trig class this year coming up.”

  “Do your students love or hate you?”

  Benji shrugged. “A little of both. Math isn’t a favorite subject of many, so I have to work hard to win their hearts and minds.”

  “I know math isn’t my favorite. College Algebra after being out of the classroom for nearly a decade wasn’t fun.”

  “How many years?”

  “I graduated twelve years ago and enlisted a few days before graduation. Did two tours… did some of my classes while serving,” Mac answered. “Took me two years once I was stateside again. And of course, I’ll need to work on my Masters along the way, too. After I get settled into what the hell I’m doing first.”

  “I know we don’t teach the same thing, but if there’s ever anything I can help with… I’m there to lend a hand. I don’t have a ton of experience, but whatever I can do.”

  Mac turned and grinned. “I’ll most definitely abuse that offer, especially now that I know you’re on my team.”

  Abuse me all you want.

  “So tell me about these guys I’m about to meet.”

  “Jesse is the ringleader, so to speak. He likes being in charge… but we pretty much let him. He was the one who planned tonight. The reason he planned it is our friends Clay and Adam are mad at one another and Jesse thinks wrangling them into a room together is smart.”

  “You don’t?”

  Benji shook his head. “I figure it’s better to let them cool off. They’ll get past things, in time.”

  “Good advice. Jesse didn’t want to listen?”

  “Jesse likes meddling. He sees it as helping.” Benji said. “And lastly, we have Hayden… and to be honest, he’s the one who likely shouldn’t be there.”

  “Because?”

  Benji shrugged. “He’s been going at it pretty hard as of late. Too much alcohol and too many women. I’m a little worried about him.” />
  “Ah,” Mac said. “Been there.”

  The drink or the women? Benji turned to stare at Mac’s profile. “Tonight going to be okay for you?”

  “Yeah,” Mac said. “We’ve all had moments where we got a little too wild in our past. I left mine behind in my twenties.”

  “You act like that was sooo far away,” Benji chided.

  “I’m a ripe old man of thirty-four now.” He turned his head and met Benji’s stare. “Ready to lay low and relax.”

  “Hell, I guess I’m old, too. Because that sounds great.”

  Mac smiled, holding Benji’s stare.

  Heat flooded his body… that look held a little too long. Could he really be confusing the signals? It didn’t feel like it.

  It grew a little harder to breathe…

  Mac looked away, brushing those big hands down his thighs. Benji couldn’t help but stare at them, imagining those hands running down his body. He tingled all over, thinking of being flesh to flesh with Mac.

  The Lyft pulled into the parking lot. Before Benji could pay, Mac had money out and paid for their trip.

  “I invited you,” Benji argued.

  “Gotta be faster,” Mac said before sliding out.

  Benji scrambled out and headed around the car’s rear as it pulled away. He eyed Mac in the late summer evening light. The sun was setting, casting long shadows over them. Other people were filing out of cars and heading for the entrance along with them, a buzz of excitement in the air.

  Or was that coming from him?

  Mac opened the door and backed up, holding it open for Benji. He paused a second, confused as to why the guy hadn’t just gone through. He passed Mac, inhaling on the sly so he could draw in more of Mac’s cologne.

  He wasn’t sure what it was, but it was spicy… warm… and made his stomach clench with need. Passing in such close proximity made the fine hairs lift on the back of his neck.

  Get ahold of yourself. You’ve got to make it through dinner without making a fool of yourself.

  He entered the lobby of the restaurant. Huge stained-glass panels were hung all over, dividing up the restaurant into sections. A huge koi pond filled the area, and they had to step over a short bridge to get over it.