Night Is Darkest by Jayne Rylon (books recommended by bts .TXT) 📕

“Now you have me. Why are we wasting time talking in the bathroom? Let’s go to Tyler.”

He stared at the ceiling while he counted to ten, reining in the desire to do just that.

“Because you haven’t heard the whole story yet.” Fuck! He didn’t want to say this out loud, to make it real. It’d been years since he let his mind relive that terrible night.

She waited in patient silence, stroking his cheek until the words began to tumble out.

“You know my dad wasn’t around much growing up so we’d usually use my house to…practice. One day, we’d finished messing around with a girl but we were still so green, so clumsy. Shit, I can’t even remember who it was. Afterward, Tyler and I were hanging out. In my bed. I made fun of him for coming so fast when she’d sucked him off. Tyler insisted she’d had some trick, hit some magic spot on the underside of his cock. I didn’t believe him. So he…umm. He offered to show me.”

Lacey whimpered. When he glanced down, the hard points of her nipples distorted her silky top. He had to focus and get it all out before he lost his nerve.

“I’d seen the way he looked at me sometimes, the same way he looked at pretty girls. Once he’d told me he had a wet dream about making out with the mailman. It didn’t bother me. Back in those days, everything made us horny. So when he came closer, I didn’t move. I figured, ‘it’s just sex’. It didn’t mean anything with the girls we’d slept with, it wouldn’t mean anything if he touched me.”

Mason had to stop to clear his throat as he remembered the searing bliss of that connection.

“But it did. The moment his lips surrounded my cock, it felt better than anything I’d experienced before. It was so powerful. So much more than sex. I came in his mouth in half the time he’d gotten blown by that girl but it had nothing to do with his fancy technique. I made some excuse about homework, which I’m sure he knew was a lie since I never gave a shit about school, and he left. I just needed to think. But when I watched him back out of the driveway in our truck, I saw the carport wasn’t empty. I think he must have been too upset to notice. Thank God, he kept going.”

Mason hadn’t realized the fury rising inside him caused his body to shake until Lacey gathered him close.

“This is why your dad kicked you out?” She, like everyone else, had been led to believe he’d spent the last few months of his high school career living with the Lambert’s because he argued with his father about going to college. “That jackass!”

Mason nodded. “He saw Tyler… He told me he’d been hoping he wouldn’t have to teach me this lesson. He told me it wasn’t safe to be gay, even in today’s world. He yelled that people would hurt me. They’d hurt Tyler. He took off his shirt and showed me his scars.”

“From the fire he’d been in?” Her choked gasp made it clear she was starting to get the picture, even if she didn’t want to believe.

“He said a group of men had seen him with another man when he was ‘young and reckless’. They’d smashed a bottled of alcohol on him, beat him up and left him on the ground in a pool of the vodka. Someone dropped a match as they walked away. He told me it was for my own good as he cried, as he kicked me over and over. He told me he couldn’t bear to see me killed. He told me he loved me even as I heard my bones crack.”

Mason swiped the tears from Lacey’s cheek with robotic movements, lost in the recollection.

“You never ran away?”

“No. Those two weeks I went missing, I hid out in your shed. Rob knew. He brought me food, got me cleaned up, taped my ribs. He never told a soul. Like you, I begged him not to. I knew that if Tyler found out, nothing would stop him from seeking retribution and I couldn’t stand for him to get hurt. My father said…”

The words clogged his throat. His hoarse whisper reflected the panic he’d felt all those years before. Not for himself. But for Ty.

“He said he’d kill Tyler if he ever found out we were lovers. Don’t you see, Lacey. There are crazy people in this world. I will protect you. And him. Because I love you both. Don’t make me put you at risk.”

“Your father’s been gone for two years, Mason. He can’t hurt Tyler.”

The logical plea couldn’t soothe his unease. Maybe now she’d understand why he’d refused to attend the bastard’s funeral after he’d drunk himself to death.

“I know, but there are other people like him. I can’t count the number of times we’ve been called out to hate crimes. What if…”

“What if I get hit by a bus tomorrow? What if Tyler gets stabbed by a random mugger in an alley while he’s on duty? What if…”

“Enough. Please.” He slammed his eyes shut on the terrifying images she conjured but he knew she was right. He was tired of fighting the inevitable.

“Mason, I’m sorry, but you’re looking at this through the eyes of a helpless teenage boy instead of the wiser, stronger lens of a man. I’m not blaming you after what happened. God knows, I understand what something like this can do to your psyche but I’d be willing to bet that no one has the power to hurt Tyler the way you have.”

“What are you saying?” He got still and quiet.

“It has to be all or nothing, Mason. I intend to sing my