Page 14 of Boy Toy Not Included

Diesel:Got it. It was good running into you too.

He saved Sandy’s number. With that out of the way, there was no more delaying opening Kuba’s messages. He took a breath and clicked on Kuba’s name.

Kuba:I hate the way things ended tonight. Not the kiss! The part where Jayme drove you away. I’ll make sure he knows he can’t talk to you like that. He’s a little too used to getting whoever he wants. Anyhow, I wish you could’ve stayed a little longer. If you see this message before you go to bed, maybe call me.

Kuba:Or don’t. It’s okay if you don’t want to. I completely understand.

Kuba:Well, maybe understand is a little far, but I wouldn’t blame you. I put you in an awkward position.

The three dots were jumping again, showing Kuba still typing. Diesel called before Kuba freaked himself out even more. It barely rang once before Kuba answered.

“Hello?”

Diesel couldn’t help but smile at the desperation in Kuba’s voice. They were a fucking pair. “Hey. Sorry it took me so long to call you. Two guys showed up to confront me about working as your security.”

“What? Describe them.” Kuba sounded deadly. His hard tone matched the way his face set while focused on training. Diesel wasn’t oblivious to the way Kuba could really hurt someone. His hands hurt like hell from the beating Kuba had given them, and that was with protection.

“Medium height. Scrawny. Way too brave for their size.”

A scary silence followed his description. Diesel checked the phone to make sure the call hadn’t disconnected.

“You still there?”

“Yeah.”

Whoa. He sounded furious. “I can handle myself, but my neighbor had already called the cops. They showed up right after I did. The pair took off running.” Diesel didn’t want to mention he knew the cop, and he didn’t know why.

Nothing.

A hint of nervousness set in. “You good?”

“Yeah.”

The suspense had Diesel’s neck hurting from how rigid he held himself. “They said they wanted to make sure I knew you weren’t in danger or something like that.” He couldn’t even think clearly with Kuba’s fury coating his every sense.

Kuba snorted. “You’re not. Neither am I, but they are.”

“Okay.” Diesel had to take a log off the fire. “Just take a breath. Who am I dealing with?”

“Ace and Trace Winslow. They’re two of Dread’s hangers-on. They worship the guy and think that makes them bad-asses. It definitely makes them braver than the beating their bodies can take.”

In a desperate move to calm the situation, Diesel let his mouth get away from him. “Enraged sounds sexy on you.” Diesel slapped his hand over his eyes—literally.

A smooth rumble of laughter came through the phone, coating Diesel’s entire body in goosebumps. “Did you just slap yourself?”

Diesel didn’t uncover his eyes. “Accidentally, yeah.”

Another laugh had Diesel’s toes curling. “How is someone like you so innocent when it comes to being more than friends?”

He couldn’t uncover his eyes if he tried, especially since he couldn’t stop saying shit. “I was a huge, nerdy nobody growing up.”

“Mhmm.”

The moment that hum hit his ear, Diesel went hard. He dropped his hand.

“I find it hard to believe you were ever less than the most beautiful guy in the room.”

He couldn’t stop blushing. “Yeah, well, believe it. I was the ugly duckling. It’s not an easy transition from that to having everyone speak to you the way Jayme did earlier.”