Read Online Brad's Bachelor Party by River Jaymes - Free Book Online

with her.”
    “Well, I’m not,” Brad shot back. “I’m in love with you .”

Chapter Ten
    As if he’d been decked, Cole sucked in a sharp breath. Brad couldn’t blame him. He was feeling sucker punched himself.
    Shit.
    He wanted to take the words back, but he couldn’t. He wanted to say they were a lie, but they weren’t. Which meant he was royally screwed.
    For a full five seconds Cole stared at Brad with a mix of disbelief and accusation. An exasperated disgust soon replaced both. His friend pivoted and strode away, stopping to stare out at the night beyond the sliding glass doors. Shoulders and back tense, Cole remained silent, his breath heaving in and out as if he couldn’t breathe fast enough. Or maybe he was about to explode from the force of his anger.
    Brad felt ready to detonate as well.
    Love.
    Jesus. After all the women he’d dated—and the number was considerable—love wasn’t a concept he’d ever considered before, much less understood. The feeling of being in over his head was overwhelming. And why Cole? Why now?
    When Cole finally spoke, the words sounded as if they’d been dragged over gravel.
    “You are such a fucking idiot.”
    Brad’s lids grew wide. Because, while Brad pretty much agreed with the statement, Cole rarely swore. Brad was quite sure the cool-headed brainiac had never used the F bomb in his life. So, okay, clearly it was Brad’s fault. He’d just admitted he had… feelings for his best friend. His best man . But in his defense, he hadn’t really known until now. Or maybe he’d known but hadn’t been able to admit it until right this moment in time. Or maybe he hadn’t just been living the philosophy of that long river in Egypt; he’d fucking set up camp on its shores.
    Brad closed his eyes and dragged a hand down his face, the feeling of being screwed settling deeper.
    Tonight as he’d stood with the wedding party and thought of the words to have and to hold , all he could think about was holding Cole. And when Brad had contemplated till death do you part , which had seriously wigged him the hell out, all he’d known was that he didn’t want to be apart from Cole.
    “ Such a fucking idiot,” Cole repeated.
    When Cole finally turned to face him, anger present in every tensed muscle, Brad realized his confession had really flipped a switch in his friend.
    “You won’t get much of an argument out of me,” Brad said. He wasn’t excited about listing out all the ways he was an idiot.
    There weren’t enough hours in the rest of his life.
    “But you’ve chosen to hang out with me for the last twelve years, Cole.” Brad deliberately ignored their years apart because, as far as he was concerned, they’d been a mistake. “So what does that say about your taste in friends?”
    Cole slowly tipped his head, and the tension rose tenfold. Maybe now was a bad time for Brad to hide his nerves behind sarcasm delivered with a flippant tone. Especially with Cole so pissed off and all.
    But the panic was rising higher. The more he considered the truth, the more he realized his future happiness was tied to Cole. And the thought was scary as hell.
    “Say it.” Though Cole’s words came out low, there was fury infused in every syllable. And any affection he might feel for Brad was nowhere near his expression. “I want to hear you say it out loud.”
    Sensing this shit storm was approaching ground zero, Brad swallowed hard. “Say what?”
    He’d already gone girly and used the L word. Wasn’t that enough?
    Cole slowly advanced on him, the look on his face almost predatory. “I want you to ask me to fuck you.”
    Jesus. H. Christ.
    Brad sat his butt on the back of the couch, hoping to hide the fact that his legs had just given out. Considering the physical aspect of their newly forged relationship was a heck of a lot easier than dwelling on the emotional. Or the fact that he was set to marry a woman he didn’t love.
    The knot at Brad’s throat, the noose around his