Free Only by Helenkay Dimon Page A

answer me.” Elijah did a quick look around before lowering his voice even further.
    â€œMaybe you forget but I’m not a fan of being ordered around.”
    A rule that didn’t apply to the bedroom where Wade had ceded control to Eli but he didn’t point that out. “I thought you had a rule against screwing club members.”
    â€œI’m trying to figure out what makes you think you get a say in who I talk to.” With the towel draped over one shoulder, Wade balanced his palms on the edge of the bar and leaned in. “You gave up that right when you made it clear sleeping with me was nothing more than a way to pass the time and not something that meant anything to you.”
    â€œI never said that.” Elijah had no idea what he’d said back then. In his fury, words had spilled out of him until even Becca went silent. That was when he noticed Wade in the doorway and knew he’d blown it.
    â€œI was standing right there. You said I was easy, a diversion, and one you could walk away from.” Wade shoved away from the bar and stood up again. “So I gave you your wish.”
    What Eli wanted was the stubborn man standing in front of him. Before Wade sex amounted to a release or a job requirement. Eli had been with men and women and it all blurred together into one forgettable pile.
    No matter how hard Wade had pushed, Eli refused to tag his sexuality with any sort of label because that never mattered to him. And he’d spent years running away from that and the judgment and all the other crap heaped on him by his father. If Eli had known back then a few simple words meant so much to Wade, Eli would have said them. Would have said anything.
    â€œYou missed the part where I was in the middle of a fight with Becca when you walked in,” Elijah pointed out.
    â€œYou’re forgetting the part where I’ve moved on. We’re done.”
    The blow landed right in Eli’s gut. He felt the devastating thud of the killing blow and forced his body to stay upright. “You think kicking me out of your bed changed anything between us?”
    â€œEverything.” Wade’s word came out rough, grating. “Every damn thing.”
    â€œDon’t fuck him.” The words shot out of Eli louder than he wanted, enough to have a few heads turn in their direction.
    Wade’s eyes bulged. “Who the hell—”
    â€œDo not fuck Shawn.” Eli hesitated between each word, forcing them out through clenched teeth. The anger raging inside him boiled and sprayed until it washed through him and drowned out everything else.
    â€œYou no longer get to have a say in who I see and who I sleep with.”
    The fury in Wade’s voice matched Eli’s. They traded whispered rage, neither one giving any ground.
    Eli wanted to reach across the bar and shake Wade. Shake him, then draw him in for a kiss that would knock the shitty words right off his tongue. “You’re angry with me, fine. Then talk to me. Yell at me so we can get past it.”
    Whatever Wade was going to say died when he opened and closed his mouth, once then twice. Each time he moved back until he stood away from the bar with his back tight up against the shelves of bottles behind him. “We said all we needed to say to each other.”
    â€œYou got pissed and went on a rampage.”
    â€œSaid the guy with the anger management problem.”
    â€œI’m working on that.” Watching Bast work every day helped with that. The man stayed steady while the world crumbled around him. Eli liked the style.
    â€œNow you do that? When it’s too late to help us?” Wade grabbed the counter behind him and held on until his knuckles turned white. “You’re lucky I’m working and can’t take you apart.”
    Eli held his arms out, taunting and ready to go. “If that’s what it takes for us to move past this, do it. I won’t even fight