“This is—I shouldn’t be embarrassed about this.” Matt closed his food container. “I work down at Tease, the sex shop. I’m not a stripper, but thanks for thinking so. I’m not a sex worker. I don’t have sex with the people who frequent the store. I sell dongs and vibrators and videos.”

The answer stopped Adam in his tracks. He’d expected to hear pretty much any other answer from Matt besides a sex-shop worker. “What made you want to work there?” he blurted. “Nick never mentioned you doing...that.”

“I like sex.” Matt blushed from his hairline to the collar of his shirt. “Okay, that’s the easy answer. The truth is I couldn’t make a living surfing, and I don’t want to get other people into shape. I’ve got a degree in art, but like surfing, there wasn’t any money in my paintings. Marie and her brother, Daryl, asked me to work at the store. The money isn’t bad, and the clientele is interesting.”

“I’m impressed. So I go to you for the next butt plug I want?” Adam laughed. “I’ll definitely have to go down there once the smoke dissipates.” He twiddled with the computer then switched to his favorite laptop. He pulled up the local news. The smoke seemed to be getting worse. He knew the fires were burning out of control, but dust and stuff were flying through the air. He scanned the webpage and groaned.

“What’s wrong?” Matt eased up beside him. “Is that the map of the fires?”

“Unfortunately.” He rubbed his forehead. Shit. “That’s a lot of country on fire. No wonder they put up the health warning. ‘If at all possible, stay inside.’”

“That would be great if my apartment weren’t filling with that smoke.” Matt folded his arms. “Thanks for letting me come over.”

“You don’t have to go anywhere—by all means, check on your apartment, but please hang out as long as possible.” Adam thanked God he had the computer to touch, or he’d have reached for Matt. The warmth from Matt’s body radiated to him. Up close he noticed the amber flecks in Matt’s green eyes. Since when did Matt have scruff on his cheeks, and was his hair as soft as it looked? Damn, he had it bad for Matt.

“I’ve only been here a little while. If the smoke alarm went off next door, we’d hear it.” Matt chuckled and wandered over to the couch. “I can hear the guy with the guitar next door like he was in my apartment.”

“I’ve never heard you.”

“Maybe he’s got the amp turned to full blast.” Matt opened his bag. “I’ve got work to do for the store. I’m not ignoring you, but I’ve got to—you know what? Never mind. I’ll do it later.”

“What?” He wanted to flop on the couch beside Matt but hesitated. “Go ahead. I’ve got a couple of bad viruses to clean and a hard drive to switch over.”

“You’re sure? I don’t want to be rude. I’ll need my headphones.” Matt tugged the item from his bag. “See? The clunky kind.”

“You’re old school. I like it.” Like...no, he loved finding someone who wasn’t following the crowd.

“I do, too. They cancel out the outside noise and help me concentrate. Plus no one else has any like them.” Matt opened his laptop. “I have a question. If you and Nick never fucked, then why not?”

Because I had the hots for you. Still do.Adam reined himself in. He needed to answer Matt, but the truth wasn’t quite ready to come out. “He wasn’t interested in me. He liked blonds, like I said, and older guys.”

“Older?”

“Like thirty-year-olds. He’d started seeing a professor during our last year. After Garig I never argued with him because D’Angelo was good to him.” He typed codes on the computer then turned back to Matt. “They split after a couple of years. That’s when he started seeing Morgan. I know, I know. So many names. Nick likes his men, but once he settles that’s it. Morgan was his it.”

“Huh. That’s cool.” Matt twiddled with his computer. “You’ve got work to do? I don’t want to intrude more than I am already.”

“You’re fine. We can work for a couple of hours or until the landlord gets up here. Maybe the smoke will dissipate by then, too, and we can get food somewhere.” He didn’t want the smoke to go away. Without the smoke the fire burning between him and Matt might never have gotten going.

“Sounds good.” Matt nodded to the window. “I wish I had a window in my apartment but not right now. That smoke is bad. It’s practically night outside.”

“Yeah, I don’t like it, but we’re in here, so we’re good.”

“All right. You’ve won me over. If you need me or hear my phone, just kick me.” Matt placed the earphones on his head then plugged into his computer. He sat back on the couch and stared at the screen.

Normally, a guy engrossed in his computer didn’t bother Adam. This time he kind of wanted Matt’s attention. He should’ve taken the quick conversations farther and pushed to spend more time with Matt, but the same old concern kept popping up. Nick wouldn’t care if Adam and Matt hooked up, but Matt might not be so open. He’d taken a lot of heat on himself for the incident with Garig, and Adam didn’t want to cause trouble. Still he couldn’t deny the attraction.

Adam carried the laptop over to the table and hooked it up to the power cord. He’d worry about trying to get into Matt’s pants later. He focused on his job. The virus wasn’t tricky to disarm—with the right codes, but he’d have to dump the memory and save the files via another computer.

An hour later, he glanced over at Matt’s phone and swiped the screen. No missed calls. So much for the landlord getting in touch right away. He scooted away from the table and stretched. “Hey Matt? Are you hungry? Thirsty?”

Matt didn’t answer. Adam rolled his eyes more for himself than Matt. He should’ve known Matt wouldn’t hear him. The headphones. He left the table then grabbed two bottles of water from the refrigerator. As he strode past the bar, he noticed their phones. The face of his device remained dark, but the little screen on the top of Matt’s flip phone blinked. He’d have to get Matt’s attention.

“Hey, Matt?” Adam left his bottle of water on the counter then scooped up the phone. “Matt?” He glanced over at Matt. No wonder Matt wasn’t answering—his eyes were closed. Caught up in the music on his laptop? Sleeping? He crept over to Matt. Should he peek at the screen? Probably not, but he wondered what Matt was working on. He leaned forward enough to look at the laptop.

At first, he wasn’t sure what he was seeing. Lots of pink and tan in blurs. He looked closer and bit back a gasp. Three bodies...three penises. Holy shit! They were fucking. He wanted to turn away but couldn’t. He couldn’t hear the moans and groans, but in his mind he filled in the sexy blanks. Wow. Matt had come over to watch porn? Something wasn’t right—but he didn’t want to stop watching.

Part of him wanted to be shocked, but he knew better. He liked to watch porn, and Matt had admitted he worked at a sex shop. Maybe he had a good reason for watching. Authenticity? For suggestion purposes? He noticed the notebook beside Matt. Was Matt taking notes? He’d have to ask later. Most people didn’t take notes on porn, but maybe Matt had a good reason. Maybe they could watch the skin flick together later on.