Free Brad's Bachelor Party by River Jaymes Page B

set to marry Jenny tomorrow. A promise was a promise, even ones made with mostly business in mind.
    And how could he ensure Danny’s future if he lost his job?
    The reality washed over him, overwhelming his capacity to think. “Where do we go from here?” Brad immediately hated himself for saying the words out loud.
    For ruining the moment.
    He watched Cole stand up. His friend stared down at him for several seconds, his eyes hooded, his expression unreadable, his skin damp with sweat. Brad hoped Cole was going to provide him with one of his brilliant answers.
    Instead, Cole held out his hand. “We’re going to the bedroom.”
    And for now, that was answer enough.

Chapter Eleven
    Cole leaned his hips back against the dresser in the dim light of the hotel bedroom, studying Brad. Arms and legs sprawled across the king-size mattress, face planted in the comforter, he looked dead to the world. The bedcovers were a rumpled mess. And a sliver of moonlight streamed across Brad’s naked body, hugging the hills and valleys of the well-defined muscles of his thighs and buttocks and shoulders.
    The urge to touch him again was strong.
    Cole scrubbed his hands down his face. He’d been too spent from the physical workout to do more than pull his boxers back on. Worse, the emotional roller coaster of the last four days had left him mentally exhausted.
    Brad’s chest rose in a deep breath, and he exhaled, turning his head until his cheek pressed flat against the bed. His eyes opened, meeting Cole’s, and they both froze.
    The words Brad had belted out before, cracking Cole’s resolve, plowed into Cole like a runaway train.
    I’m in love with you.
    Everything about his tumultuous relationship with Brad made his usual composure a struggle to pull off. But even he was surprised by the words that shot from his mouth.
    “You can’t get married tomorrow,” Cole said.
    Several thundering heartbeats later, Brad squeezed his eyes tight, pressing his face into the mattress.
    The response was hardly encouraging.
    Tonight, Cole had shown up to have it out with Brad, to tell him to stop flirting with this thing he’d started. To keep his hands and his eye fucking and his too-honest words to himself. Cole had known sleeping with his friend would be the worst in the long list of Brad’s bad ideas, especially the night before he was set to marry someone else. So Cole had stomped over to the room feeling all self-righteous and self-pitying, ready to sacrifice his own desires for the greater good. But in the end, he’d been too weak to say no.
    Twelve years of want had overpowered his need to do the right thing.
    “It’s too late, man,” Brad said, his voice muffled by the comforter. “Jenny’s dad already considers me his son-in-law.” He lifted his head and stared up at Cole. “There’s no going back from that. If I call it off now, things will be way too awkward at work. I’ll have to quit my job.”
    Cole barely contained the urge to shout in frustration.
    “So what?” Cole said. “You can find another one. You’re smart. You’re good at what you do.”
    “I’ve built something there, and I’ve poured too much of myself into that company to walk away now.”
    “Everyone knows you’re the driving force behind Sterling Security,” Cole said. “If you left and started your own business, a good number of the clients would follow you.”
    “Some of them, sure, but not all of them.” Lying on his stomach, Brad propped himself up on his elbows. “Sterling Security has been around a long time, has an impeccable reputation.” He rubbed his forehead with his palms and then dropped his hands back to the bed. “That can’t be bought with all the money in the world, Cole, even if I had it.”
    Cole stared at Brad, trying to adjust to what he was saying. Hating that he sounded so logical. The brash, leap-without-looking Brad suddenly resembling a responsible grownup.
    Where was all this coming from?
    “You’ve never been