Geekspeak: Bounce Rate

Definition: The percentage of visitors who enter and exit a website from the same page, without clicking through to additional pages.

Jesus, Henning, what the fuck were you thinking?

He hadn’t been thinking, that was the problem. Same thing that had happened with his dad on the ladder—Alex had ignored the possible consequences because he’d wanted to get his rocks off with his boyfriend, and his dad had paid the price. Another five minutes, and Gideon would have paid the price this time—humiliation at the least, maybe losing a job he really needed too, all because Alex had gotten pissed about that fucker Haynes and had wanted to stake his claim.

If he hadn’t heard the crew returning, hadn’t come to his senses enough to bail before he gave in to the lure of Gideon’s touch—

He staggered and had to steady himself against the bare drywall while he tried not to hyperventilate. Thank God we dodged that bullet.

Since he couldn’t face Manny or the crew with his dick straining at his fly, he retreated to the john. He splashed water on his face and stood with his hands braced against the counter, the water dripping into the sink.

Jesus, Gideon had tasted good. Felt good in Alex’s mouth. Not just good. Fucking awesome. The way he’d come apart and turned nearly boneless, nearly collapsing into a puddle.

If they’d had even one more minute, Alex could have finally taken Gideon in his arms.

He raised his head and met his own gaze in the mirror. His lips were a little swollen, but otherwise nothing in his face showed that he’d fallen over the edge for a guy so far out of his league that . . .

That he’d never have looked at me twice if I’d given him the choice.

When Alex made his help with the project contingent on those three fucking dates, he’d forced Gideon’s hand. How much of an asshole did that make him? He’d basically paid Gideon to spend time with him, although the coin was labor instead of cash.

His dad would have grounded him for a month if he’d done anything like this back in high school. “You help someone because it’s the right thing to do, not because of what you’ll get out of it.”

Although Ned would never know how badly Alex had fucked up, Alex could imagine the disappointment on his face. He couldn’t let his dad down, not now, not ever.

He took a deep breath and pushed off the counter. Okay, he could do this. He’d let Gideon off the hook—no more obligatory dates. He’d help with the project with nothing expected in return.

But, damn, he didn’t want to take the fucking high road this time.

He dried off and tracked Manny down near the new staircase. Tommy and Dave were installing the last of the handrails.

“Hey, Manny, this looks great.”

“Yeah. Boys did a good job. But then they always do, or I wouldn’t have ’em on my crew.”

“Do you know when the vinyl’s being delivered for the server room?”

Manny scratched his belly, squinting at the ceiling. “Not until next week, I think. Why?”

“The IT guy needs to assemble the racks for the machinery. Be a little tight for him if he can’t do that until then. Think we could manage to set up a staging area for him?”

“He ask you to do that?”

“No. But makes sense, right? According to the master schedule, the consultant expects him to do eighty percent of the work on the last day.”

“Damn consultants,” Manny muttered. “Bastards’ll steal your watch to tell you the time. There’s a spot directly across from the server room. Drywall’s done. Underlayment’s in place. It’s slated for carpet, though, so it’ll be free until after the vinyl’s down in the server room. He can use that.”

“Thanks, man. I’ll go clear it out.”

“I’ll come with you. These clowns don’t need me here.”

As they moved the construction debris out of the staging space, Alex couldn’t help glancing through the big rectangular hole in the server room wall where the window would be.

Hoping for a glimpse of your crush, you pathetic moron?

Taking the high road might be good for his soul, but as far as his heart went—not to mention his balls—it sucked.

Gideon finally printed out the network diagram. Yay me. I managed to focus for an hour. Postorgasm euphoria could do that for a guy.

“Hey.”

Gideon’s head snapped around at that velvet voice. Alex stood in the doorway cutout, and Gideon wanted to run to him and glom onto him like a starfish on an oyster.

But before he could launch himself, the foreman’s head popped up over Alex’s shoulder. Bile burned in the back of Gideon’s throat. Had they been discovered? Was the foreman about to kick his ass for debauching his crew on the jobsite?

“Um . . . yeah?”

Alex jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “We’ve cleared a space across the hall for you to stage your server racks.”

Gideon blinked. “You did?”

The foreman shifted a toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other. “Yup. Put ’em together in there. We’ll help move ’em in here once the floor is laid.”

“Wow. Thanks.”

“No problem.” He saluted and disappeared.

Gideon took a tentative step forward. “Alex—”

Alex pointed at the papers in Gideon’s hand, not meeting his eyes. “Hey, is that for me?”

“Oh. Sure.” Jeez, had Alex gotten in trouble with his boss? Where had all his bravado gone? The flirty teasing? The heated gaze? Had he changed his mind about the dates? Gideon’s stomach curled in on itself, but he conjured up a facsimile of his usual attitude. “An hour of uninterrupted time and voilà. C’est la network diagram.” He presented it with a flourish.

“Thanks. Better get right on this. Wouldn’t want you to default on your contract.” He turned and headed toward the door.

What the effing eff? “Alex. Exactly where do you think you’re going?”

He paused, one foot over the threshold. “Told you. Have to get started.”

“I think you can spare me two minutes to discuss the little scene we so recently played out in this very room.”

Alex stared at his feet, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. “I . . . I’m sorry about that. You hadn’t done anything to deserve it.”

Gideon blinked. He didn’t deserve what? The kiss? The blowjob? Alex? “I don’t understand.” His voice sounded small to himself. Uncertain.

“Yeah. I know. My fault. If I—”

“Alex!” The foreman’s voice echoed in the hall. “Where the fuck are you? We need help with this scaffolding.”

“Gotta go.” He brandished the papers. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you posted on the progress.” Then he was gone.

Gideon stared at the empty doorway for a full thirty seconds. Was this a fiendishly clever ploy of Alex’s, an about-face to keep Gideon off-balance? Was he backing off from their deal? What was he sorry about?

He fisted his hands in his hair. “Gah!”

One way or another, before the night was over, he was getting some freaking answers.

When Alex returned to the server room with a pair of stacked sawhorses, Gideon was fussing with his printer, his back to Alex, shoulders about level with his ears.

Yeah, if that doesn’t tell you that you made a big fucking mistake, don’t know what will.

He needed to level the playing field. Let Gideon know he wasn’t on the block anymore. They could just be a couple of dudes on the job. Helping each other out, same as anyone else on the crew.

Yeah. In a pig’s fucking eye. He unstacked the sawhorses. “Hey.”

Gideon jumped at the sound of his voice. Great. “Um . . . yeah?”

Alex nodded at the sawhorses. “Help me lift that plywood up here?” Alex could do it himself, of course, but— Ah, why deny it. He wanted to talk. Maybe convince Gideon that he wasn’t so bad. Yeah, and someday those blind pigs will learn to fly.

“Uh . . . sure.” Gideon wiped his hands on his jeans—don’t think about what’s under those jeans—and walked over to take the other end of the plywood sheet, helping Alex settle it on top of the sawhorses. “What’s this for?”

“Temporary worktable. Now that I’ve got your diagram, I’ll run your cable tonight.” Alex took his cut list out of his pocket and slapped it on the plywood. “Sorry I’ll be in your space.”

“No. No, it’s fine. Besides, I’ll be, you know, over there.” He nodded at the staging area. “Thanks for that. It really helps. I’ve got half the stuff put together already.”

“Good job.” Alex winced. Bad choice of words. “I’ll try to stay out of your way.”

Gideon crossed his arms. With his hard hat tilted over one eye and his tool belt hitched over one hip, he looked like a promo for construction porn. Alex’s dick punched at his fly. He turned away so Gideon wouldn’t see it, but Jesus.

“What is wrong with you? You blow me and—”

“Maybe keep your voice down? Unless you want everyone to know about that.” Alex picked up his list and pretended to study it, but Gideon stomped over to stand at his elbow.

“Fine. But you know, it happened. Whether you pretend like it didn’t or not.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“Apology so not accepted. If you think—”

“Listen. I was wrong, okay? I shouldn’t have forced you into dating me. Let’s just . . . call it good.”

Gideon blinked at him. “God, did my dick taste that bad?”

“You know it didn’t. But you don’t have to put out for me to help you. That’s not how this should work.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Is that so? Exactly how is this—whatever this is—supposed to work, then?”

Alex sighed. “The way it should have been in the first place: You ask me for help; I give it. No strings.”

“But what if I want strings?”

“You?” Alex forced a chuckle. “You don’t. You never want strings, remember? Two dates and done, that’s your rule. My bad that I tried to force you to break it.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Gideon lifted his chin in that killer princess attitude. “I’ve decided it’s a stupid rule that’s outlived its usefulness. I’m making a new rule: No nonreciprocal blowjobs. Violations are subject to a two-for-one penalty.”

This time, Alex’s grin was spontaneous. “I’m not seeing a real deterrent there.”

“It’s not supposed to be a deterrent, damn it.” Gideon planted his hands on his hips and glared. “That’s the whole point.”

Did this mean Gideon didn’t resent him? That he might be okay with dating Alex for real? Don’t jump the gun, Henning. But it deserved a conversation, right? For the first time since the blowjob, Alex was able to meet Gideon’s gaze dead-on.

“Listen, we’ll talk after the shift’s over, okay? Meet me by the service elevator and we’ll ride down together.” Alex tossed the list back on the table. “But at the moment, I’ve gotta get busy. If I don’t get this done tonight, Manny’ll have my balls for doughnuts.”