Vision Quest by A.F. Henley; Kelly Wyre Read Free Book Online Page A

the fuck your reasoning is behind it."
    Blaze's grip softened, and he eased the pressure on Arik's arm. "We good?"
    Arik nodded, frowning in disgust at the resulting squish of liquid litter under his cheek. He rose when Blaze released him, and reached for the paper towel dispenser. Instead of stepping away however, Blaze put his arms around Arik's waist and just stood there while Arik mumbled and scrubbed his face.
    He waited until Arik balled up the paper towel and punched it through the swing top of the wall mount garbage. "Now. Do you want to talk about what happened at mini golf?"
    Arik snorted. "Nope."
    "How about why you think it did?"
    "I think that's pretty obvious." Arik turned to face him, forcing Blaze to take a step back. It was a short-lived moment of space. As soon as Arik settled his ass against the counter, doing his best to ignore the slow seep of water transferring from the surface to his slacks, Blaze moved forward again.
    "Look," Blaze reached up and began to fiddle at adjusting Arik's shirt: collar, shoulders, smoothing fabric and fall. "I don't know what's going on any more than you do. I am not responsible for what you've seen, and I can't tell you what to do about it. What I do know, is what I've already told you—I'm here for you. Of course, if you want to tell me to fuck the hell off and get out of your life, I can't stop you. I won't stop you. So you tell me. With the limited information that we have about each other, with this..." Blaze paused, drew his hand up Arik's chest and rested all five fingertips on the side of Arik's neck.
    Instantly a charge lifted the fine hairs on Arik's skin into goose bumps. His eyelids fell. Everything from hips to lips wanted to surge closer to Blaze's body.
    "... this attraction," Blaze continued. "Tell me how I can help you. What do you need? Should I just stumble along like a puppy and wave my tail when you look over?"
    Arik couldn't stop the grin. "You do have a smoking hot tail."
    Blaze smiled. "And then there's that. I mean, if it's just a comfort thing you're looking for, that's fine, too."
    Arik stopped resisting the urge to put his arms around Blaze's waist. He lowered his chin and looked at Blaze until he drew Blaze's gaze up. "Nice sentiment. But it makes no fucking sense, Blaze. Why? Under what circumstance would a good-looking guy offer servitude to someone whom he barely knows, for tasks he has no understanding of, for pretty much open-ended, undefined purposes?" Arik shook his head. "Nobody is that nice. What's in it for you?"
    He watched something fall in Blaze's expression. But whether it was something as impenetrable as a wall, or as easily brushed aside as a curtain, Arik had the feeling only time would tell. And that was a disconcerting thought. Because if Blaze had demons of his own that he was battling, just exactly how much of Blaze was there left for the man to give?
    Arik startled himself with the question. Was that what he wanted? Was that what his head was thinking? Less than twenty-four hours after Arik had met the man, was he really actually asking himself if Blaze was going to be around for the long haul? Arik shook his head and gritted his teeth. No wonder he couldn't get anyone interested in a date. Christ. He might just as well start looking to build his cat collection now. Apparently he was going to be a very lonely, very pathetic old man.
    "You're not going to answer that are you?" Arik asked.
    Blaze tapped his shoulder. "Trust me, Arik." He stepped away, held out his hand, and Arik took it. "At this point in time that's the last thing you want me to do."

blaze
    The drive back to the hotel and convention center was taking longer than the drive to the putt-putt course. Or, at least, it seemed that way. The silence in the car was deafening, traffic was heavier, the stereo was off, and neither man had enough interest to hit buttons and find a decent station on satellite radio, too lost were they in their own thoughts.
    Hand-in-hand,