Free Lush in Lace by A.J. Ridges Page A

to be rendered speechless. If
Scott didn’t have anyone in his life that meant… holy fuck .
In that moment, I wished I hadn’t been so eager to return the toy.
Then again, it would be crazy to keep it. I was already obsessed
with the man, not to mention the panties and hose he’d returned.
I’d kept them of course. I never had any intention of giving them
to another man, but I’d never share that information with Scott.
There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t pull them out and
caress them, remembering vividly how perfect he’d looked in
them.
    “I’d better get going,” Scott added after a
while.
    “Sure,” I replied, not knowing what else to
say.
    He nodded, looking slightly dejected. “See
you around, Squeaker.”
    “See you around, Lush,” I replied, feeling
like I was missing something important but I didn’t know what.
    ****
     

Chapter Six
     
    - Scott -
    Something changed after I’d left Rylan at the
mall that day. For the first time, I was standing on the outside of
our relationship looking in. Seeing those two young men together
made me wonder if that’s how the world viewed Rylan and I.
    Could everyone see the way I looked at him?
Did he look back at me the same way?
    Could strangers interpret the hidden emotions
masked beneath each one of our insults? BJ had figured it out. Had
Jamie?
    Could onlookers tell in an instant we were
meant to be?
    I began to think that we were just like Kevin
and Rodney—even though we were older, somehow we weren’t any wiser.
Hearing Rylan say that I’d unknowingly protected him all those
years ago meant everything to me. It made me want to be there for
him now and always, not that he needed protecting. He’d grown into
a strong, sexy, confident man. However, I hoped that in some way
he’d need me in his life, even if only as a friend. Because over
the last few weeks, I’d come to the conclusion that I needed Rylan
in my life any way I could get him.
    The night of the wedding made me realize all
that I’d been denying myself. It no longer mattered that I didn’t
feel gay. The only thing I knew for certain was I wanted Rylan and
no one else, male or female. It was wishful thinking to imagine
that I’d ever get that close to him again. But, at the very least,
we could try to be friends. It worked for Jamie and BJ after
all.
    I felt a sense of relief wash over me. I
could work with friendship. It’d be hard, but I could try to keep
my dick in my pants until I knew for certain Rylan was on the same
page.
    I never stopped thinking about sex with him
though. I’d even found myself at Wicked Wayz right after we’d left
each other that day at the mall. I’d gone into the store with the
sole intention of looking around. I’d never actually buy anything.
Just because I spent most of my time browsing in the men’s lingerie
section, it didn’t mean I was interested in the stuff. Even when I
asked the clerk about their online store, I was just making
conversation, that’s all. It made no difference to me that they had
overnight shipping or that by the next night, I could have my very
own panties and lace stockings to slip into. Nope, no difference at
all…
    That was the conversation I’d had with myself
almost two weeks ago. Since then, I’d never worn any of the items
I’d bought. But today was my last day with the house to myself
before Jamie and BJ returned from their honeymoon. I’d be damned if
I wasn’t going to take advantage of the time alone.
    Standing in the kitchen, I shook my hips
rhythmically to the popular Pitbull song that was blaring from the
radio. I was shirtless, scrubbing away at the last few dishes in
the sink. Through the window, I watched as squirrels, chipmunks,
and tiny, little brown birds flittered around skittishly, taking
advantage of the bits of bread and fresh water I’d left out for
them. BJ’s voice filtered in my head, complaining about my
“wildlife sanctuary for rodents.” He never intervened