Cheetos, pretzels, chips, a couple liters of Coke, and a Netflix gift card: one at a time, Kyle plopped the items in his arms onto the register belt.

He was almost bouncing on his toes with excitement. Kyle hadn’t had a good movie night with River in months, and this was his reward for nailing the meeting. It was always cheap, since River bought the rum, and good for a memorable night.

Not that he and River had ever tried to Netflix and chill—they actually watched the damn movies. They usually made fun of them the whole time. Sometimes they turned on closed captions so they could try to read the dialog along with the actors in funny voices and make each other crack up.

Kyle shuffled along in the line, keeping his eyes on the items on the belt while he daydreamed.

Neither he nor River paid for a Netflix subscription every month. They took turns buying prepaid gift cards when money was good, then let the subscription run for a month at a time, binge-watching it when they had it.

This month was gonna be great.

Kyle stepped ahead when it was his turn, pulling out his debit card while the cashier did a great job not commenting on the particular combination of items he’d chosen.

He didn’t expect the declined message that came up on the screen once he entered his PIN, or the carefully measured neutral look of the cashier when she told him his card had been declined.

Shit. I got my PIN right, I know I did. That doesn’t make sense. I still have money in this account, don’t I?

He wasn’t sure. His back-of-hand math failed him in the moment as he patted his pockets for cash, already knowing he didn’t have enough. His cheeks burned.

A warm voice near his ear said, “Add this to the transaction, please. I’ll pay for it.” Someone passed the cashier a scarf to scan.

“Oh, no. It’s fine,” Kyle started to tell the cashier. He turned to look behind him at the generous stranger, and the cashier paused, looking between them.

It was Nic.

Nic nodded at the cashier to signal her to carry on, and the cash till beeped behind him.

Kyle’s chest tightened and he bristled. He didn’t need Nic to do anything for him, and if this was Nic’s way of trying to get in favor with him… well, he wasn’t dating the guy because he’d bought him things.

This was his reward for acing the meeting, anyway. It didn’t mean as much if someone else bought it for him.

He didn’t have any other plan to pay for these things, but he couldn’t let Nic have him over a barrel. No, it was an overreaction. He knew it was.

“It’s…” he trailed off, then clenched his jaw. They were starting to cause a scene, and he didn’t need to make it any bigger. The line behind them was watching, and shame was already burning his cheeks.

He barely held his tongue until the transaction was over, then grabbed his bags and stalked out of the Target. He still had trouble getting a deep breath.

He didn’t have to do that. I shouldn’t have let him. I didn’t deserve it.

Kyle didn’t look, but he could feel Nic by his side and then behind him, tailing him out to the corner of the building.

“I’ll pay you back,” was the first thing Kyle said as he turned to face Nic, leaning on the side of the building.

Nic had a hand in his pocket, the bag dangling loosely in his other hand as he shrugged. Fifty bucks clearly didn’t mean much to him. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing,” Kyle disagreed.

Nic eyed him, his expression wary, then nodded slightly. “Yeah. Sorry. I meant, it’s not a big deal for me. I’d have done it to any stranger in line.”

That made him feel slightly better, if not much. “And I thought I was easy,” Kyle deadpanned.

Startled, Nic broke into a grin as his cheeks turned pink. “Oh. Um. I mean. Not… done it to.”

Kyle snorted with amusement, then unlocked the back seat of his car to toss the bags inside. He slammed the car door and strolled back over to Nic, whose blush was fading now. “I’m not gonna Netflix and chill with you, if that’s what you’re hoping.”

“That wasn’t my intention.” Nic licked his lips, and Kyle noticed him trying to keep his gaze on his face.

It was a compliment, as far as Kyle was concerned. He’d only worn tight jeans and a clingy pink t-shirt, but Nic still couldn't hide his interest. It didn’t help him believe Nic was doing it for kindness and not sex, though.

“Oh, really?” Kyle smirked. “You’re not looking for the sugar daddy lifestyle?”

Nic scowled, his annoyance clear. “No.”

Kyle was weirdly pleased to get that reaction out of him—he wasn’t sure why. Maybe he liked seeing Nic lose control. Oops. Shit. Pull back. “Then why not let me pay you back?”

“I don’t… I didn’t…” Nic breathed out a quick, annoyed snort and folded his arms as he looked at Kyle. God, he looked even hotter with a scowl on his face, his expression simmering in… what? Need? Desire? Annoyance? “You’re stubborn as fuck, you know that?”

“Guilty. A very stubborn fuck,” Kyle retorted, dropping his voice. I can’t stop myself. I want him too much.

“If you’re worried about my intentions, take the damn gift and walk away.”

Instead, Kyle took a step closer, resting his hand on one of Nic’s tightly-folded arms. The heat between them crackled nearly audibly as both of them caught their breaths. “I appreciate it, but I don’t need anyone’s help.”

Nic tilted his head, pushing away from the wall. Their lips were just inches apart. “Never said you did.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

Their hands tangled in each other’s hair at the same moment, and Kyle pushed Nic into the wall hard. Their bodies crushed together, hard planes of heat angling against each other.

The soft growl that escaped from Nic’s throat made Kyle get hard instantly, pressing into his hip while pushing his own thigh against Nic’s hardening dick.

Hot, wet, and all teeth, their lips crashed together. They bit, sucked, and pressed against each other’s lips until Kyle could barely think straight.

Kyle swore he could hear Nic’s heart hammering, but that could have been his own. His skin tingled with his need to feel Nic’s skin against him, under him, burning with him once more.

They stumbled apart seconds later—it must have been seconds, but the heat between them had made it feel like minutes.

Shit. Kyle had not meant to kiss the guy. His signals were getting too mixed even for him.

“I’m still fucking paying you back,” Kyle told him and yanked open the car door.

“Isn’t that what that was?” Nic half-grinned, and the sight of him freshly-kissed, hair messy, hand sliding into his pocket to adjust himself…

Fuck. Kyle had to back off now if he wasn’t going to end up in bed with the guy again.

“It’s nothing,” Kyle told him with a smirk he knew would be maddening, then slid into the driver’s seat, closed the car door, and prayed the car would start.

It did. He couldn’t resist a peek as he pulled away. Nic was still slumped against the wall in the rearview mirror, smoothing the wrinkles out of his shirt and finger-combing his hair back into place while licking his reddened, full lips.

Thank God for tight jeans, or Kyle’s boner would have hit the steering wheel.