Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 9

Poppington Thoreaux was not a stable man for a future coração to put their hopes in, especially one like Tabansi, who was running out of time to make a decision.
    "Hello, Mr. Thoreaux," he greeted the older man with a smile before turning back around and placing his bag into the designated area. Opening the small brown, leather case gifted to him by his boss at the hospital, Tabansi pulled out his clothes and set them down on the bench beside him.
    "Tabansi, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Poppy? Or hell, you can call me PT, Pop… Daddy," the older man chuckled. Tabansi felt a shiver go down his spine at the man's words. It wasn't that Poppington was a bad guy; he wasn't, at least not that Tabansi had heard. Still, it seemed as if the bank manager was running hard from or toward something and trying to grab all of the wrong people to take with him on the way.
    "I don't think that would be a good idea, Mr. Thoreaux. But I appreciate the offer," Tabansi said, smiling gently at the other man, hoping to take the sting out of his words. "Now, if you would please excuse me?"
    With that Tabansi turned and hurried off to one of the only changing areas in the gym that had a door on it and quickly changed out of his work attire and into a pair of tight black shorts, with a white sleeveless shirt. It was a little less than what he usually wore, but if he was going to figure out exactly what was going on between him, Jordy, Taggart and Maddock, then it was best to put his best foot, or rather his best body, forward. Stepping out into the main exercise area, Tabansi first saw Poppington standing to one side of the gym glaring daggers at Jordy, Taggart and Maddock. Wondering what the bad blood was about, but not wanting to engage in further conversation with the bank manager, Tabansi took a wide berth around the other man and headed straight for the three men that he'd come to see.
    CHAPTER 6
    Maddock watched as Tabansi walked towards them, the young man's steps measured and hesitant. He looked at them shyly before looking away again, though he continued to walk toward them.
    "Jordy, are you sure that he wants to be with us?" he questioned the younger man. Maddock's heart pounded in his chest as he watched the man who was the center of his deepest desires walking toward him, hips swaying gently. Maddock felt his cock harden and throb behind the fabric of his workout shorts and he swallowed back a groan.
    "I'm positive. You should have seen his face, Mad. He looked like he wanted to beg me to ask him to be our coração ," Jordy informed him with a grin. Turning back to look at Tabansi as the younger man walked over and stopped in front of them, Maddock drew in a shuddering breath. The heady smell of Tabansi's scent, something that was a mixture of his cologne and his own natural body chemistry, washed over his senses and Maddock groaned softly.
    "Are you okay, Maddock?" Tabansi asked.
    Ignoring the twin grins on the faces of his partners, Maddock merely nodded at the young doctor, smiling gently. He inhaled sharply at the sight of the younger man's answering smile and turned away quickly. He had to get himself under control. It would do him no good to pounce on the young man without letting him make an informed decision about wanting to be with them or not.
    "So, do you know what area of your body you want to work out or are you just going to follow us around?" He asked, wincing at the harshness of his tone.
    Maddock heard Taggart's gasp, Jordy's groan of dismay and knew that he'd probably ruined their chance to be with Tabansi right there. Disappointment swept over his body and he felt his face burn with embarrassment. Turning back towards Tabansi, sure that the younger man would be walking away from them, Maddock was stunned when the doctor laughed instead.
    "I'm probably really cramping your style, huh?" Tabansi questioned him with a raised eyebrow. Maddock shook his head, slightly dazed by the younger man's reaction to his rudeness. "I don't really have to work out much. One of the perks in being a coração is that we don't usually tend to grow as big as the rest of you or really have to worry too much about gaining a lot of weight. I usually work out just to sort of maintain what little muscle I have."
    Floored at how much the doctor had revealed about himself in just that small bit of time, Maddock nodded stupidly and swallowed thickly. Gesturing with one hand, Maddock led the smaller man towards the