Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 8

Devin said. "I think I'm going to go home."
    "What? No. You just got here, right?" Ian nodded around the room. "Tourists are filling the place up, so there's lots of action to be had." He wiggled his eyebrows for emphasis. "Let me buy you a drink."
    "No, I'm driving," Devin said. He glanced around the room. It was getting full. The lights had been dimmed, making it difficult to pick out any one face among the growing crowd. "I was just looking for Lee. You don't know where he is, do you?"
    "That bitch quit! Can you believe it?" Ian pouted and tugged Devin close again. "Finally get a hot guy in here who isn't taken and he leaves to go bake cookies. Ugh. I'm going to have to start expanding my hunting grounds if the good ones are going to bakeries and restaurants. Hey, have you seen Tyler?"
    Devin shook his head. "I think he's been busy with school."
    Ian knocked back the rest of his drink and put the plastic cup down on a nearby table. Ian stared at Devin, one eyebrow raised as he waited for him to say something.
    "Can we talk?" Devin gestured around the crowded room. "Outside. I can barely hear myself in here." They made their way to the sidewalk just in front of the club, coughing and walking through the cloud smokers blew towards the doorway until they stood half a block away, in front of a half-filled parking lot.
    "What's going on?" Ian asked. He lay a hand on Devin's forearm and squeezed lightly.
    "There's just been some drama. I don't know what to do," Devin said. He turned to Ian and studied him for a moment. A skin tight white T-shirt and black jeans flattered his small frame and emphasized the dusky color of his skin. Expertly styled blonde hair settled around Ian's face in artful spikes. Plucked brows arched over pale green eyes and a full mouth Devin had more than fond memories of.
    "Hey, when we were messing around, you were okay with what was going on, right?" Devin asked. "I didn't, like, make you think I felt something more for you?"
    "No, of course not. I knew the score. We all know if we want anything from you we have to play by your rules."
    "Do I have rules?" Devin asked.
    Ian nodded. "Of course you do. Always use protection. No sleeping over. No messing with your Mikey. No messing with your Sammy."
    "I do not have a rule about Sam."
    Ian smiled briefly. "You may not have said it in so many words, but the look you gave Tyler when he smiled at Sam that night could've burned a hole in the wall. We all took the hint. You were marking your territory there."
    Devin shook his head. "I don't even remember that. Sam never comes here. When did they meet?"
    "About a year ago," Ian said. "After the Orange Party. You remember, we went back to your place because Tyler didn't want to go home with his drag stuff on. He knew his mom might be waiting up for him."
    Devin did remember. Tyler had entered the amateur drag contest and come in second place. Ian had done his makeup and picked out his clothes. After the show, Ian had declared there wasn't nearly enough room in the bathrooms at Chuck's to clean up properly and Tyler didn't want showing up in the middle of the night in a dress to be the way he came out to his mother. When they'd arrived at Devin's house at two, Sam had been cooking himself a late dinner. He'd helped Tyler with the stuck zipper on his dress and the two of them had exchanged a look that made Devin shoo Tyler upstairs to his room to finish changing.
    "What's up with you, D? You look like someone kicked your puppy."
    He shook his head. "I didn't even think... Sam has a crush on me. Thinks he's in love with me."
    Ian grinned and slapped him on the arm. "Bout time he got you back. So when's the wedding?"
    "What are you talking about?"
    Ian's smile wavered and he moved closer. He grabbed Devin's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "Oh, don't tell me. This is news to you?" Ian rolled his eyes. "Seriously, you don't drop hints like the rest of us, so I don't know what your excuse is. The way you look at Sam sometimes, well, frankly, I wish you'd looked at me like that when we were sleeping together."
    Devin frowned. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
    "No, you didn't, hon. We had fun, and I knew that's what it was." Ian lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "I figured since Mike was never going there, Sam would be your guy when you finally get tired of cruising."
    "Speaking of which, aren't you supposed to be chasing Scott down?"
    Ian snorted. "That loving relationship lasted for about a week. Last I heard, he