The Father of My Best Friend 1

Chapter 1

The Father of My Best Friend

Kai had no idea why he agreed.

Ryan’s text had been casual, almost throwaway:

My parents are dragging me to the lake house this weekend. Mom’s being weird about “family bonding.” Come with me so I don’t die of boredom. Please.

Kai should have said no. He had assignments. He had a part-time shift. He had a very healthy fear of spending three days in a house with Ryan’s disgustingly attractive father. But Ryan was his best friend, and Kai was weak. So he packed a bag, climbed into the passenger seat of Ryan’s car, and spent the two-hour drive trying not to think about the last time he’d seen Alexander Hale.

The lake house sat on a private stretch of water, all dark wood and floor-to-ceiling windows. Elena Hale greeted them with warm hugs and the smell of something baking. Alexander was in the kitchen, sleeves rolled up, pouring coffee. He looked up when they walked in, and Kai’s stomach did that familiar, traitorous flip.

Alexander was forty-six. Tall, broad-shouldered, silver threading through dark hair at the temples. The kind of man who looked like he could fix a car with one hand and ruin someone’s life with the other. His eyes, sharp, grey, landed on Kai for half a second longer than necessary.

“Kai,” he said, voice low and even. “Good to see you again.”

“Mr. Hale.” Kai’s throat felt tight. “Thanks for having me.”

“Alexander,” he corrected, almost gently. “You’re not twelve anymore.”

Ryan snorted and punched Kai’s shoulder. “Come on, I’ll show you the guest room. Try not to drool on my dad.”

Kai kicked him. Hard.

The first day passed in a blur of swimming, grilling, and Elena’s relentless cheerfulness. By the second afternoon, Ryan and his mother decided they needed “supplies” from the nearest town, wine, more ice, something pretentious for dinner. They left around three, promising to be back by seven.

The house went quiet the moment their car disappeared down the long driveway.

Kai tried to read. He tried to scroll. He tried everything except the one thing he really wanted to do. Eventually the heat and the silence won. He locked the guest room door, opened his laptop, and pulled up the folder he kept carefully hidden under three layers of misleading names.

He was already half-hard when the first video started. Two men, one older, one younger. The older one had silver at his temples. Kai’s hand slid into his shorts without conscious thought. The wet sound of the actors on screen mixed with his own quiet breathing. He stroked himself slowly, eyes half-lidded, imagining it was Alexander’s hand instead of his own.

He didn’t hear the door open.

He didn’t hear footsteps.

He only realized he wasn’t alone when a low voice said, very calmly, “That’s not the kind of homework I expected you to be doing.”

Kai’s heart stopped.

Alexander stood in the doorway, arms crossed, expression unreadable. The door had never been locked, Kai had only thought he’d locked it. The older man’s eyes flicked from Kai’s flushed face to the laptop screen, where a man was currently being fucked open on camera, then back to the obvious tent in Kai’s shorts.

Kai scrambled to close the laptop, nearly knocking it off the bed. “Shit, I, I’m so sorry, I didn’t, I thought you were,”

“Gone with them?” Alexander stepped inside and shut the door behind him with a soft click. “I decided to stay. Needed the quiet.”

Kai’s face burned so hot it hurt. He couldn’t look at him. Couldn’t breathe properly. His cock was still hard, traitorously pressing against the fabric, and there was no way to hide it. A thin wet spot had already formed on the front of his shorts.

Alexander walked closer. Slow. Deliberate. He stopped at the edge of the bed.

“How long?” he asked.

Kai swallowed. “What?”

“How long have you been watching men fuck each other and thinking about me?”

The words landed like a hand around Kai’s throat. He finally looked up. Alexander’s eyes were darker now. Interested. Dangerous.

Kai’s voice came out small. “A year. Maybe longer.”

Alexander exhaled through his nose, almost a laugh. “Jesus.” He reached down and closed the laptop properly, setting it aside. Then he sat on the edge of the bed, close enough that Kai could smell his cologne, something woodsy and expensive, mixed with the faint clean scent of his skin. “You’re twenty-one.”

“Yes.”

“And you’ve been jerking off to the idea of your best friend’s father.”

Kai’s ears rang. He nodded once, miserable and hard and aching.

Alexander’s hand landed on Kai’s thigh. Warm. Heavy. He didn’t move it higher. Just rested it there, thumb stroking once over the soft inner skin. Kai could feel the heat of that single touch all the way up his spine.

“I walked in here,” Alexander said quietly, “and saw you with your hand down your shorts, watching a man who looks a little like me bury his cock in a boy who looks a little like you. And instead of being angry, all I could think was that I wanted to finish what you started.”

Kai’s breath stuttered.

Alexander’s fingers tightened slightly. “Tell me to leave. Tell me this is fucked up and you want me to go downstairs and pretend I never saw anything. I’ll do it.”

Kai’s mouth was dry. His pulse was everywhere. He looked at the older man, the father of his best friend, the man who had always been polite and distant and completely off-limits, and whispered, “Don’t leave.”

Something shifted in Alexander’s face. The careful control cracked.

He leaned in and kissed him.

It wasn’t soft. It was hungry, claiming, the kind of kiss that said

I’ve been thinking about this too

. Kai made a broken sound against his mouth and opened for him immediately. Alexander’s tongue slid in, tasting him, coffee and something darker. One large hand cupped the back of Kai’s neck to hold him there while the other slid higher up his thigh, fingers brushing the edge of his shorts.

When they broke apart, both breathing hard, Alexander’s voice was rough. “On your back.”