Lahat ng Kabanata ng THE CHOSEN OFFERING: Kabanata 171 - Kabanata 180

Ruthless, irrational jealousy started whispering in Erik's head. Not only did Paul take away Ace from him, but now Ace was getting his friendship fix elsewhere too. Erik was being doubly replaced."Oh yeah?" Erik asked, his throat tight, trying desperately to mask his hurt."Yeah, we'll have to figure out a time to all get together," Ace said. "She loves playing matchmaker. I might have to sic her on you.""Great," Erik said with false brightness. Wow, absolutely the last thing I want right now. "So, the reason I called. Can you pull yourself away from your hot chiropractor for a night so we can catch up over dinner?"Ace paused, obviously weighing his options. Come on, don't make me beg, Erik thought."Um, of course, yeah," Ace said. "What works for you?""Tomorrow night?" Erik said tentatively. "I know it's a traditional date night, but it will leave you the rest of the weekend to crawl back into the boyfriend cocoon.""Yeah," Ace said slowly. "Let me check with Paul real quick."Er

Paul held his palms up, not quite touching his brother's chest. "Please, Steven, you've got it completely wrong," he said gently. "Holly and I are just friends – really good friends. She's been helping me with something." He lowered his hands, frustrated that he couldn't explain more fully. "I needed someone I could talk to, and you know what a good listener she is.""Helping you!" Steven barked out. "Oh, I'll bet she's helping you." He rakes his hand over his face and snorts. "And since when can't you talk to me about stuff? My whole life we've always told each other everything."Paul could see the hurt in his brother's eyes behind the fury on the surface, and it cut him deeply. "Not exactly everything," he muttered."And what a lame fucking excuse! 'I needed to, like, talk to someone.' I call bullshit! Tell me the truth, damn it!" Steven thundered.Something in Paul snapped. Steven was right – he was lying to him and he owed him some truth. And nothing was going to calm him down now

Tanner spun him around and pushed him up against the wall. Before Ace could protest, Tanner kissed him, hard and sloppy and bruising.Ace kept his mouth firmly closed and tried to squirm away, but Tanner was surprisingly strong. Ace could feel Tanner's cock rubbing up against his own.When did he get my zipper down?Finally, Ace was able to wrench his mouth away. "You need to get the fuck out of here!" he whispered angrily.Something caught Tanner's eye over Ace's shoulder. "Already got someone for tonight, huh? Interested in a third?" He snaked his hands down Ace's jeans. "What do you say, doc?" Tanner asked. "Wanna join us?"Doc? Ace spun around and saw Paul, red-faced and deadly still.Fuck. Fuck!Ace was frozen where he stood. It took long, precious seconds before his brain untangled the competing thoughts so he could speak."Paul," he began, "it's not –""I'm interrupting, clearly," Paul said, both sadness and anger in his deep voice. "You should have said you were expecting some

Steven downed another big gulp of his whiskey and coughed at the burn. "And after?" he asked. "It's been twenty years since high school. What scares you now?"Paul sighed again and sat down. "You.""You think I would kick your ass? Over this?" Steven's face twisted in pain. "That's how you see me?""No, of course not," Paul said. "I know I can take you."Steven shoved him lightly, but with a smile, which Paul was relieved to see. "Then what?" Steven said."I didn't want to disappoint you."Steven's mouth dropped open again. "Disappoint me?" he squeaked. "My big brother the doctor didn't want to disappoint me?"Paul rolled his eyes. "Come on, I've always known you looked up to me."Steven ducked his head, acknowledging the truth."I didn't want you to look at me any differently," Paul said. "So, adding everything up -- plus Mom and Dad and how they would react -- I figured it was safer to keep this stuff to myself. I was -- I don't know." He took another sip of his drink. "It was cowar

Erik sighed deeply, relief flooding his face. "Thank you. It's been making me sick."They sat and swung in silence as the early evening faded into a cool, clear night. Two friends together, but in a kind of limbo, both wishing things could be as they were before."So," Erik said, breaking the silence. "What's your plan for getting Paul back?"Ace turned and blinked. "You want me to get him back? Even after --" he gestured between them."I want you to be happy, Ace," Erik said. "I had just hoped you might decide one day you could be happy with me.""Erik --" Ace swallowed hard against threatening tears."Don't worry about it," Erik waved him off. "I'm not your type, I get that. I've known this for a long time." He leaned back in the seat and pushed them into a stronger swing. "I'd rather have you as a friend than not have you at all."Ace felt the tears well in his eyes. "I don't deserve you, you know that?" He pulled Erik into a hug."This is my burden," Erik joked through his own tea