Page 67 of Steady Stroke
Emmett’s belly wobbled, and not in the fun way. He loved it when Lincoln did things to him, but not like this. Not with so many people around. People who would know exactly what they’d sneaked off to do in private. He couldn’t deal with the knowing looks, the whispers, the gossip.
“Hey.” Lincoln touched his cheek, his smile tender and soft. “I get it. I’m sorry. Rain check?”
Lincoln got it without Emmett needing to explain, and that was everything. “Thank you.”
“Oh my God, you two are disgustingly cute,” Danielle said. “You’re worse than Dom and Coop.”
“Gee, thanks, Dani,” Trey said.
Lincoln crawled higher up Emmett’s body and planted a kiss on his mouth. “Please don’t judge me by my friends.”
“I like your friends,” Emmett said. “You shine around them. They make you happy.”
“So do you.” His cheeks pinked up in an adorably timid way. “God, that sounded cheesy, didn’t it?”
“No.” He wrapped his arms around Lincoln’s waist, enjoying their positions. He loved it when Lincoln was on top, a warm blanket of safety and acceptance. “It sounded really nice. You make me happy too.”
Danielle made a gagging sound, then protested someone dragging her out of the living room. Emmett sent a silent thanks to Dominic, Trey, or whoever else had given them a moment alone.
“I’m glad you like my friends,” Lincoln said. “They like you too. Especially Dominic.”
“Good. He’s the most important one. You love him the most.”
Lincoln started to speak, then caught the words and held tight. Emmett didn’t dare to hope what they might have been. He only accepted that he had a place in Lincoln’s life right now, they made each other happy, and those two things were enough.
“Please don’t have sex on the couch,” Roxy said as she passed them on her way to the kitchen. “I can’t afford to steam-clean it.”
Emmett met Lincoln’s amused gaze, and they both cracked up.
FIFTEEN
Lincoln descendedthe cement stairs into Off Beat in the best mood of his life. His friends were with him, his boyfriend clung to his hand, and Melody had even said she’d try to make an appearance after her date. A guy she’d met after finally giving one of those apps a try. He’d texted back demanding details, but she hadn’t responded. Things must be going well for radio silence.
Their arrival caused a bit of a stir, since it was VJ time between the end of the ten o’clock act and the start of the midnight show. Fading Daze had gotten their start here, and XYZ had played once. They had a bit of local celebrity going on, thanks to Unbound, and it didn’t hurt that everyone except Lincoln and Emmett were on tour.
It also didn’t matter, because they were treated just like active band members. Beatrice poured their first round of drinks herself, and Lincoln didn’t mind sticking to Coke. Van appeared from the back room and instantly began flirting with Benji. Benji flirted right back, intensely so, and it made him wonder if he and Joshua were on the rocks again.
The crowd began to chant “Fading Daze!” with enough growing fervor that Beatrice shrugged, then threaded her way to the stage.
“Apparently we have some folks in the audience that you guys want to hear?” she said.
Folks cheered and whistled.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint my patrons. Fading Daze? Care to entertain us?”
Bobby, Danielle, and Andy headed toward the stage with their drinks in hand. Benji was otherwise occupied, and he waved them off, so Trey joined them. The original members of Fading Daze.
Lincoln had hated them so much for a brief period of time. Mostly because the band had come backstage after XYZ’s show and tried to piss a circle on the floor, claiming Off Beat was their venue. Trey had mouthed off a bit, and Lincoln had taken the comments personally. Funny how he now thought of Trey as one of his best friends. Part of his family.
And he wasn’t even the tiniest bit jealous that they were up onstage, joking with the audience about what they should sing, pretending to be unfamiliar with the house instruments. The crowd ate it up.
Dominic watched Trey perform with his heart in his eyes.
Lincoln watched the quartet perform three of their original songs like not a day had passed since they’d last been a group. Trey didn’t miss a lyric or a note, and they had fuckingfun.It was the thing he missed most about being onstage—the thrill of being watched, of being adored, of doing something he loved with people he cared about.
“You’ll get it back,” Emmett said in his ear. “I believe in you. You will.”
He squeezed Emmett’s hand tighter, not trusting himself to speak.
