The only thing interesting about him was that he and the guy he was sitting next to seemed a lot alike. He usually pulled off mature and authoritative at parties. He wasn’t used to feeling young and clueless. It was bizarre.
“Right? I mean, we had a ton in common, honestly, and he’s a good guy. He’d just reached the end of what he could handle.” Troy smiled, the expression happy, maybe a bit bewildered. “Thank goodness I walk home from work instead of taking my truck.”
He wasn’t sure what that expression meant. “Were you guys a thing?” That would be a good thing to know, right? If he wasn’t the only younger man Troy was into.
“Me and who? Benji? Christ on a purple sparkly pogo stick, no. No, I was just thinking how I wouldn’t have noticed him, if I’d driven.”
He laughed. “Purple what? Is that the Texas version of you’ve got to be kidding me?”
“Yessir. It most definitely is.”
“I’m impressed. I don’t think I could pull that off.” He bumped shoulders with Troy, teasing. “What’s the matter with Benjamin? He’s adorable. Too young for you?”
“Absolutely,” Troy teased back. “How did you guess?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it was all those telegraphing comments you made about how you’re old enough to be my father.” He turned to glance at Troy and rested a hand on one thigh, calling on that grounded feeling he’d put such effort into on the bus ride. “I don’t want a father. I want a boy.”
Troy’s lips parted, and he took a breath to answer, when a roar split the room.
“TROY!” Kris, red-faced and near-tears was right there, shaking in his wheelchair. “Take me home. I have to go. Now. Fucking take me home. Now.”
“What?” Troy stood, wide-eyed, as Carter and David both came sprinting from the kitchen.
“You fucking take me home or to the bus station, somewhere.”
“But Matt—”
“Fuck him. I want out.”
Saul stared at Kris. The soldier just radiated panic. He knew two things; first, that as much as he wanted to help right now, this was way out of his league, and second, he still had to do something. “I’ll get him.”
He took off for the stairs at a run, found the one room with a closed door upstairs and knocked on it, then went right in. “Matt?”
Matt looked up sharply from where he was sitting on the end of the bed with Doc. “What is it?”
“Kris needs you. He’s panicking.” He got out of the way as Matt ran past him, then followed quickly.
“…dammit, Troy! Just fucking do what I asked. No one here is going to know you’re gone. Just get your keys and take me home.”
Kris was working himself into a tizzy, and Saul was pleased to see both David and Carter putting themselves between Troy and the wheelchair, even as Geoff and another man he hadn’t met were leading Troy out a set of French doors.
“You want to yell at someone, yell at us, boy.” David got the words out just in time for Matt to show.
“No.” Matt’s voice boomed over everyone and the Dom stepped in, standing over Kris. The words that followed were stern but quieter. “No more yelling.”
He watched Matt go to one knee next to Kris’s chair. There was already a handful of men standing close, and there was nothing Saul could do here, so he squeezed behind them and went after Troy.
The doors led out into a stunning deck with a hot tub and a glorious outdoor kitchen. Geoff was talking hard to Troy, and he heard Troy say, “I’m okay. I’m okay. I just don’t want to go back in right now, huh? I’ll just… God, that was shitty timing.”
Saul walked over slowly, clearing his throat so they knew he could hear them. “Hey.”
“Hello there.” The man he hadn’t been introduced to smiled at him. “You must be Saul? Do you prefer Master Saul? I’m Travis, Master David’s boy. Sorry about that. Kris is dealing with some hard-core shit.”
“Hey, no worries. Kris is on a hard road. It’s nice to meet you, Travis, and just Saul is fine for now. I’m no one’s Master at the moment.” He smiled at Troy sympathetically. “That was kind of intense, huh? Are you okay?”
“Yes, sir. I’m fine. Poor Kris is just super angry.” Troy seemed less than fine, to be honest. He seemed scattered and flustered.
“Hey, Travis. Let’s go see what we can do inside.” Geoff gave Troy a hard look before they left. “Talk, honey. Master Saul came out here for you.”
Troy met his eyes, lean cheeks blushing damn near purple. “Would you like to have a seat, Sir?”
“Troy if—” He started to offer the boy an out, but despite the amazing blush, Troy didn’t seem to need that. He wasn’t sure yet what the boy did need, but he intended to find out. “I would, thank you.”
“Me too. That was unexpected as hell. I don’t know if Kris was ready for a get-together.”
“No. No, it doesn’t seem like it, but I guess you don’t know until you try, right? Maybe Matt thought something normal, and people who care about him would help. Maybe Kris did too. He only just got home, huh?”
“Yes, Sir. Master Matt loves him. They’ll work it out with time.” Troy stared out from the deck. “It’s gorgeous out there.”
“It really is.” Saul glanced out as well, admiring the mountains and the sky, but he was drawn to the view beside him over and over. “Kris really wasn’t in control of that timing.”
Troy blushed again. Oh, that was a ginger trait he was going to love. “It just was so damn… I was so focused on you I didn’t even notice he was there.”
“I understand. So was I. Focused on you I mean, like now.” And Kris was used to Troy being the single one, just as the boy said, the one no one would miss. He wanted to change that.
“I don’t know what to do. I’ve never actually…I mean, no one’s ever asked.”
So this was something Troy and Arnie had fallen into. He supposed the whole relationship had to have been that way. “That’s okay. I’m asking if you’re interested in partnering with me as my sub for this party. This is certainly a safe space to see how it feels, right? So it’s just a yes or no question to begin with.”
“Right.” Troy chuckled, rubbed his scalp with his hand in a motion that Saul would bet was an old self-comforting habit. “That’s fair enough. I’m sorry — Kris got my brain all off-kilter. I’m more than happy to partner with you here for the party.”
He smiled. “Thank you.” So the boy must have thought he was asking for more, which meant Troy was interested. He liked that. Like their first date…he knew you got a second if you left them wanting more. He’d get another chance with Troy for something deeper if this went well.
“I need your safe word or words. And any restrictions or hard limits you think are important for me to know tonight.”
“I use yellow and red. I’m not sure that with the tension in the air we’ll need any limits, to be honest.”
“I don’t think so either, Troy, but it’s my responsibility to ask anyway. I know your words now, that should be enough… can you tell me—” He hesitated and looked at Troy. “I ask a lot of questions. It’s okay not to have… not to know the answers. I just want the truth, you know? And if I overstep just say yellow and I’ll go another direction or… just drop it. Okay?”