Rapture Coil: A friends-to-lovers gay romance Read online

  “Yeah, ‘cause I mean it’s impossible that she could just think we’re good and want to represent us,” Liam said, and his voice was usually so laid back, but right then, it practically dripped venom.

  Adam couldn’t really blame him for that. He took a deep breath, knowing that nothing good could come of continuing this conversation. Through the years, the two men had worked out ways of getting around the differences that they had, and one of them was to not get into some things at all.

  “Okay. Well … Good job.” Adam hoped he sounded sincere. Part of him even was. Part of him wanted only good things for Liam.

  A less nice part of him knew that he would have some jealousy issues to deal with if Liam started to succeed where Adam had given up. God, what sort of person had he become, anyway?

  Liam gave him a bit of a look, but he seemed to more or less accept that. He nodded a little, then went to drape himself over the couch in a way that reminded Adam of how it had felt to be in high school. Rebellious, excited about life, only Liam had added confident to that list, too.

  Adam didn’t understand it, but Liam seemed to be genuinely at peace with himself, something that he could only dream of.

  “You asked for distractions? Pizza. Beer.” Liam gestured to the items, and then gave him a wicked grin. “Come let me kick your ass at Doom.”

  Adam grinned. He’d been excited about the remake of the old classic game, but he hadn’t had a chance to play much.

  “You’re on,” he said, then grabbed a controller. In between levels, he paused to shove slices of pizza into his mouth, washing it down with beer.

  More beer than he initially realized, actually. He only became aware when he started to feel just a little bit lightheaded. His alcohol tolerance really wasn’t that great anymore, it seemed.

  It was pleasant to feel that slight buzz, though, and even more pleasant when Liam put his head on Adam’s shoulder, his long hair tickling Adam’s neck.

  “So, talk to me,” Liam murmured, and he lazily reached over to toy with Adam’s tie, which he still wore. “What’s going on with you?”

  Adam sighed softly, closing his eyes and putting the controller aside. He’d barely been focusing on the game. That was the thing with working so much. When he did have time when he wasn’t working, it was hard to enjoy it because he was just so tired.

  “Work. And then more work, man,” Adam said softly. It was nice to relax, to just be himself, as he could always count on feeling when he was with Liam. “Overtime. Stupid rules that upper management wants changed that make no sense, but that I have to implement anyway.”

  These were not things that he could complain about at work, but Liam was safe. Not only was Liam his best friend, but he had nothing to do with all of those people at work.

  “Well, it’s time for you to relax, so let’s take this thing off.” Liam slid the tie loose, and then tugged it over Adam’s head. It felt like a noose being released, even after all of these years. He still wasn’t used to wearing a tie at all.

  Adam watched as Liam wrapped the tie around his wrist like a bracelet. He wore it like it was some sort of trophy, and Adam smiled.

  “There. That’s better.” Liam sounded pleased with himself, and Adam laughed softly.

  “Yeah, it really is.” He grinned at his best friend, then raised a hand to tease open the first few buttons of his own shirt. It felt like he could breathe again.

  “Come on. I know you can shoot better than you were,” Liam challenged, and Adam grinned.

  Challenge definitely accepted.

  Chapter Two

  Liam

  Wearing that tie felt like he’d captured the flag or something. He’d vanquished, at least temporarily, the specter of Adam’s work, the evil overlords of banking.

  It felt damn good.

  In the end, Liam wasn’t even sure which of them won the video game they were playing. That wasn’t what mattered. What mattered was getting to feel the tension leave Adam’s body. What mattered was getting to be close to his best friend, and to feel like he had him back again.

  “We both really suck at this game,” Adam said finally, tossing the controller down. Liam had shifted so that his head was resting in his best friend’s lap. That was the relationship that they’d always had, and even though it was sort of torture for Liam, he could never turn the closeness down.

  The truth was, as he got to be more of a big deal, at least at a local level, it was easier for him to find someone to warm his bed, too. Despite his bad boy rockstar image, he only gave in to that occasionally.

  He didn’t want just some random guy. He wanted Adam. He was just grateful that Adam, as straight as he was, had never put the pieces together. That would change everything, considering that the only reason that Adam let Liam hang all over him was because he thought it was platonic.

  The way that Adam casually ran his fingers into Liam’s hair, toying with the strands, it drove him just a little bit insane. He loved having his hair played with, and Adam, slightly tipsy and relaxed as he was, touched him better than anyone else ever had.

  Liam was too relaxed, though. He groaned softly, then whispered, “You’re gonna turn me on, man,” something that he wouldn’t have said in a million years if he’d been watching himself.

  All of these years of hiding how he felt for Adam, and it came out like that.

  Adam, predictably, blinked and looked confused.

  “Huh?” he asked, and Liam sighed. Damn it. He knew better than that, and yet, he’d done it anyway.

  “Sorry,” Liam said sincerely. “I guess it’s been awhile or whatever. Don’t stop. I won’t make it weird.”

  Adam’s fingers had paused in Liam’s hair, and Liam held his breath. Surely now his best friend would pull away from him, and he knew that he would deserve it if Adam did.

  “You kinda already did,” Adam said, but to Liam’s delight, his fingers started to move through his hair again. Adam seemed willing to forget the lapse, and Liam vowed never to do it again.

  “Okay. Time to put on a horror flick,” Liam announced, sitting up. Time to turn the attention away from the awkwardness of what he’d accidentally let slip. He even got up to grab them each another beer and some slices of pizza. It was a little cold, but still good.

  Just as Liam had known would happen, Adam brightened up instantly. He reached over to snag the remote and went onto the Netflix channel, flicking through their selection happily.

  Adam was a little bit sick and twisted, Liam sometimes thought. He sure took delight in watching people die horribly in those movies. Liam had a theory that it was Adam’s way of dealing with the crap he took at work without going completely insane.

  “Here. This one.” Adam sounded satisfied, and that was enough to make Liam nervous. He looked at the screen, and even the title and the teaser image was enough to make him realize that this was going to be tough.

  Still, at least Adam wasn’t thinking about what Liam had said, so that was something.

  “If a girl or a black dude dies, I’m gonna scream,” Liam warned, but he settled down beside Adam on the couch and handed him his beer.

  Adam took it, grinning. There was very little in life that he liked more than a bloody slasher flick, and he was in a great mood, which was why Liam had suggested it in the first place.

  “Those things are likely to happen,” Adam admitted, and then he hit play, and it wasn’t long until Liam was curled up into a little ball by Adam’s side, horrified but fascinated by the gruesome movie.

  “You’re a sick man,” Liam breathed, and Adam grinned at him, completely unaffected by the movie, as far as Liam could tell.

  “You’re just a wuss,” he teased, but he softened the words by wrapping his arm around Liam’s body and holding him close.

  Liam knew it was true. He’d never been good with this sort of movie, it was one of the few things that he and Adam didn’t have in common. The fact that he’d suggested it was only because he’d wanted to distract
Adam.

  “Yeah,” he agreed, and buried his head in Adam’s shoulder. He knew it was ridiculous, but then again, there was also the very real chance that he was doing this partially so that he could get close to Adam.

  Not that he wasn’t legitimately scared, because he was.

  By the end, Liam was pressed right up against Adam, and as always he had to wryly admit to himself that he was more screwed than ever. No matter how hard he tried, and he really did try, he couldn’t stop himself from wanting his best friend.

  No matter how much it hurt to know that he could never really have Adam, that was never able to stop him from doing stupid things like touching him. He knew Adam didn’t see him that way. He suspected he never would.

  So what was he doing pressed so close he was almost in his best friend’s lap?

  “It’s okay. I’ll take care of you,” Adam murmured, and his tone was slightly teasing but his eyes said it was anything but a joke. Adam was surprisingly compassionate, which was one of the reasons that Liam just didn’t understand why Adam had gone into such a soul sucking profession as banking.

  “I know you will,” Liam said, and his tone was flippant. Of course it was. He meant it, though. He did know that Adam would, even after all that had come between them, all of the changes. Just like he would take care of Adam.

  Time seemed to freeze when Adam looked at him and Liam looked back. Their eyes linked and the connection between them went on and on until Liam could barely breathe. In that moment, nothing else mattered.

  Maybe it was the alcohol? Only they had both drunk much more in the past and it hadn’t done this. Besides, Liam was fairly sober, and he didn’t see the haze of drunkenness in his best friend’s green eyes.

  Whatever it was, it was intense. Liam saw every fleck of color in Adam’s eyes, the thick, dark fringe of his eyelashes, the way his lips slightly parted. He also saw the way that Adam, for some wonderful, terrifying reason, seemed to have no power to look away, either.

  “Um. The movie’s over,” Adam finally said, his voice quieter than usual. Liam groaned softly, closing his eyes for a moment. He was such an idiot, and he even knew that he was an idiot for even thinking the idiotic thing.

  He also knew that he was going to have to do this or else he would hate himself forever.

  While he thought it over, or tried to, Adam spoke again.

  “So what do you want to do now?” he asked, and there was an odd look in his eyes. Was Liam just deluding himself? Just seeing what he wanted to see? It almost seemed like maybe, just maybe, if Liam did what he wanted to do, Adam would like it.

  If this ruined everything, Liam knew that he could never forgive himself. And why tonight, of all nights? When he’d fought off the urge a million times before, why would he give in now?

  Maybe it was because, for the first time, Adam seemed to want it. He was leaning toward Liam, and his eyes were wide and darker than usual, his lips parted with his breath, which seemed rapid and excited.

  The more Liam looked at Adam, the more he felt like Adam wanted this. And that was why he eventually was absolutely unable to resist what he wanted, what he felt they both wanted, for even a second longer.

  “I know what I want to do,” Liam breathed, and he shifted forward a little bit. His hand slid over to rest on Adam’s knee, and he gave his best friend plenty of time to pull away. Adam didn’t.

  “Then do it,” Adam said, and that was really permission. Liam wasn’t being subtle about what he wanted, and the fact that Adam had given him that permission meant that nothing else really mattered.

  He and Adam had been through a lot together, and they’d always pulled through before. This time would be the same, Liam was sure of it. So he looked at Adam, letting his hand rest on his leg, feeling the warmth of him through his pants.

  Not the first time he had touched Adam, but the first that he’d touched him with the intention of doing more.

  Adam was straight, he reminded himself. He was getting himself into a whole world of trouble. Again, it just didn’t matter. They’d make it through it, because that was what they did.

  Without any further hesitation, Liam leaned in. His lips touched Adam’s, and at first, he kept the kiss light. This was Adam’s chance to pull away, maybe the last one that Liam could make himself give his best friend.

  Adam didn’t move away. Instead, his fingers slid into Liam’s long hair and Adam pulled Liam close. Adam’s lips, closed tightly at first, suddenly parted as he gasped softly, and Liam took the chance to slip his tongue into that hot, wet mouth.

  God, he was kissing his best friend, and it was everything that he’d ever thought it would be. No. It was far, far better than anything he ever could have imagined, and for that moment, Liam just let himself get lost in it.

  The kiss went on and on, with neither of them seeming to want to break it. It felt so good, Liam wanted it to never end, and that was a pretty big part of it.

  More than that, though, Liam was worried about one thing, even through the surge of emotion and hormones that went through him at what was, without a doubt, the best kiss of his life.

  What would happen when that kiss ended? Would the first kiss that he had with his best friend also be the last? Liam found that he didn’t want to know, and he wrapped his arms around Adam and tried to make that kiss last forever.

  Chapter Three

  Adam

  Adam wished, at least a little, that he could claim to himself that he hadn’t known that that kiss was coming. The truth was, though, that he had known, and that he’d wanted it.

  After years of considering himself straight, why had he pretty much thrown himself at Liam like that? Why had he all but begged the man to kiss him?

  Adam thought about those things in the split second after his lips left Liam’s, while he was looking into his best friend’s handsome face. Handsome. Liam was handsome. Drop dead gorgeous, really, and Adam had never let himself know it.

  That was all the thinking that he could do. He found himself moving before he could even consider what happened next, and not in the way he would have thought. Surely he should be running away from this?

  But that was the last thing on his mind. Instead, he gripped Liam tightly, fingers hot in his hair, and pushed him down onto the couch. Liam must have cooperated, because it was so easy for Adam to hold him down, slip on top of him and kiss him again.

  This kiss felt even more right than the first one, and Adam, to his own surprise, found that he was hard. Was this some sort of sex deprivation thing, where he could be aroused by nearly anything?

  Dimly, he remembered a former employee who had quit just ahead of being fired after she’d come onto him pretty aggressively, stating that she would do ‘anything’ to get the promotion that was coming up.

  That was a fantasy of many people’s, Adam knew, but it had done nothing for him. So it wasn’t just anyone or anything that could turn him on, no matter how long it had been.

  Thoughts for another time. Right at the moment, all he wanted to do was kiss Liam, and when Liam moaned and moved under him a little, when his body brushed thrillingly over the length of Adam’s, Adam couldn’t even help but start to move, too.

  It felt good. Just that tiny bit of friction, his cock against Liam’s, it was enough to have him gasping and desperate for more.

  Later, the fact that he was supposed to be straight might matter more. Right then, all that mattered was getting more. When Liam pushed his hands up Adam’s shirt, when his clever fingers brushed over Adam’s nipples, Adam closed his eyes with delight and lost himself in the pleasure, the sensation, that zipped along his nerves straight to the very pit of his stomach.

  For just a second, Adam pulled away from Liam. Only so that he could slip the other man’s t-shirt off of him and toss it aside, though. Then he was right back against him, this time able to touch the hot, silky skin of Liam’s chest and stomach.

  Now he could touch Liam’s nipples, and he did. It was absolutely fasci
nating, the way that they hardened under his touch, so different from being with a woman but really not all that different at all.

  Liam made the best noises, Adam found. When he tweaked one of those pretty brown nipples, Liam let out a moan that was the epitome of pleasure and sex, and Adam found himself completely enthralled.

  He wanted to make Liam make more of those noises, so he started to rock his hips more deliberately against the other man, gazing down into Liam’s flushed face and feeling the hardness of his body under him.

  Liam reached around, and his hands settled on Adam’s ass. Very deliberately, Liam pulled Adam down against him, and Adam groaned as his cock came into very close contact with Liam’s.

  Not close enough, though. Liam’s jeans and Adam’s work pants still came between them, and the more Adam rubbed against Liam, the more that was a problem for him.

  Liam let go of Adam’s ass, but just for a split second. Just long enough for him to tug Adam’s shirt off, and he didn’t even bother undoing all of the buttons first. Just the ones around his neck so that the shirt could be slipped off. Adam’s tie tickled his face, tied as it was around Liam’s wrist.

  Well, as far as Adam was concerned, Liam had the right idea. Maybe Adam had gone insane, and this certainly wasn’t in character for him, but now that he was doing it, he didn’t want to stop.

  Liam’s scent was hot and musky and deeply masculine, and it was all around Adam, seemingly making it impossible to think, at least about anything other than how badly he wanted him.

  There were no words spoken. Adam was afraid that if he said something or if Liam did, it would make this weird, and it didn’t feel that way then. It felt perfect and right, and he didn’t want to ruin that.

  So he just shifted up and his hands went to the button of Liam’s jeans. He looked at his best friend’s face, checking to see if this was okay, and saw instantly that it was.