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PROLOGUE

2025

Unrequited love. It’s the oldest story in the book. Two young men form a tentative friendship due to proximity; said friendship turns into something secret, something hidden, and it smolders into a deep painful love inside one of them. One remains oblivious as kisses from the other turn soft, eyes growing fond with adoration. There’s a reason why tortured unrequited love stories are so popular. It’s because they happen, every day. Aiden Clark is living proof.

In hindsight, if Aiden was smart, he would’ve seen it coming since all the signs were clearly there. The way his heart races when Liam is within his proximity. The way his eyes track Liam on the ice instead of watching his own twin brother play. The way it feels like all the oxygen disappears when Liam leaves a room. Everything about it leaves Aiden dizzy in the most disorienting of ways, like experiencing the sudden drop on a rollercoaster.

Maybe it’s the oldest story in the book, but Aiden has never really been much of a reader.

The penthouse is quiet as they walk through the door. Aiden keeps his eyes on the wide expanse of Liam’s familiar back, themuscles tense underneath his suit jacket. Aiden stops just inside the door, his dress shoes making a loud clink against the fancy tile under his feet. The sound makes Liam turn around to look at him. That familiar smile, the one that always makes Aiden’s heart do a little flip in his chest, greets him when their gazes meet.

Liam.How can he want someone so much and regret them at the same time.

“So?” Liam asks, voice echoing in the room.

Suddenly, Aiden doesn’t want it easy. Doesn’t want it sweet. That’s the thing about Liam. He’ll give it to Aiden any way he wants it. Sweet. Rough. Slow. Fast. Next to the definition of service top in the dictionary is a picture of Liam Walsh.

His feet move of their own accord, taking him to Liam until they are pressed together chest to chest. Aiden has to look up, like always, because Liam is abnormally tall, and Aiden is just a little too short. It works though. He likes it.

Liam must read his mood because one of his large hands comes up to grip the back of Aiden’s neck. Hard. Tight. His breath leaves him in a rush as Liam’s lips claim his own. The kiss starts off searching, tender, but then Liam again somehow reads Aiden’s mood and turns the kiss dirty. Liam’s tongue dips into his mouth and Aiden can’t stop a moan. His body goes weightless against Liam’s stronger frame.

He feels like he’s floating. Maybe he kind of is because suddenly his knees hit the back of a bed and he hadn’t even realized they’d been moving. They fall onto the bed together, Liam’s body a familiar weight against his own. Liam pulls back on a groan, his fingers hurry to unbutton Aiden’s dress shirt, and once they do his hands splay over Aiden’s chest. Aiden’s breaths come quicker at the touch, and he stares up at Liam.

“I’m going to fuck you,” Liam says, voice low.

“I assumed that’s what was happening,” Aiden respondsdryly, earning him a pinch on the hip that makes him yelp. It’s kind of a blur after that. In moments they’re both naked, Aiden’s legs wrapped around Liam’s strong hips, his mouth drinking in Liam’s familiar taste. Fingers tangle in his hair to tilt his head back, the slight sting forcing a blissed-out moan from Aiden’s kiss swollen mouth.

He gets lost in it a little bit. The weakest part of him, the saddest part, imagines what his life would be like if he got tokeepLiam. Have him like this all the time. Hold his hand in public. But it’s a cruel daydream, one that he won’t allow them to ever entertain bringing to fruition.

“Hey,” Liam hovers over Aiden with kiss bruised lips, mused hair, voice delightfully wrecked. “Where were you?”

“Here,” Aiden expertly lies. Because if Aiden is anything at all, it’s a damn good liar.

Aiden tangles his fingers in Liam’s hair, yanking so he can stare into Liam’s bottomless green eyes that are slowly being eaten up by the black of his pupils due to desire. A whine escapes Liam, because he likes it too much, and his eyes slide firmly closed to blot out his need. The sight makes Aiden’s gut go molten with burning want.

“What?” Aiden demands, voice gruff the way he knows sends Liam spiraling. “Tell me.”

“Please,” Liam says mock gravely, “let me fuck you.”

“Hmmmm.” Aiden drags his lips along Liam’s jaw, feeling the tick of Liam’s muscle as his notorious control ebbs further away. “I don’t know. Maybe, you should convince me.”

Liam growls, rolling his hips so that their cocks slide together again. It takes all of Aiden’s dwindling self-control to school his expression into something uncaring. Aiden likes it when Liam is so far on edge, that the only thing he can do is fuck Aiden until it’s just them left on the earth. Nothing elseexists. When Liam shudders, burying his face in Aiden’s neck to release a quiet, hushed moan, everything goes sideways.

Aiden yanks Liam's hair again, surging up to kiss him like a man in need. The kiss is messy, a little painful, but Aiden pours everything he feels right into Liam’s mouth like he himself is water and Liam can drink him in.

Liam’s hands slip under his thighs, pushing his legs further apart, forcing Aiden to wrap them higher up around Liam’s strong waist. A growl rips from Liam’s throat as he pulls away to flip Aiden over. Being manhandled by Liam is the stuff of fantasies that Aiden didn’t even know he ever really had.

A large hand settles on the dip of the small of his back, forcing him to curve it just a little more. Aiden buries his face in the sheets as Liam quickly gets him ready. He doesn’t need much prep these days. He groans through it, forcing himself to not beg for more. Not beg for it now. Not beg for Liam to give him absolutely anything he’s willing to offer.

And then Liam is there, pushing all the way in without giving Aiden a moment to adjust. Just on the edge of pain, exactly how Aiden likes it. He arches his back, gasping for air, and tightly curls his fingers into the bedsheets beneath him.

“Aiden,” Liam growls against the curve of his back, thrusts frenzied and desperate in a way they’ve never been before. “You drive me fucking crazy.”

“Stop talking and fuck me,” Aiden orders.

Liam’s right hand grips his thigh so hard there will undoubtedly be bruises in the shape of Liam’s fingertips dotting them tomorrow. The worst part will be when the bruises fade, when the reminder of Liam on his body is gone.

Liam’s other hand tangles in his hair to yank his head back so he can mouth at Aiden’s throat, making him gasp loudly, making him whisper “please”, which only earns him a satisfied grunt in return from Liam. Liam’s fingers shove into his mouthand Aiden is kind of thankful, so he has something else besides his impending orgasm to focus on. He sucks on Liam’s fingers as his eyes cross in his head each time Liam thrusts inside him.

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