Chapter 26

Anthony

“Real nice, Joey.”

I want to kick my own ass for all of this shit.

I didn’t expect him to be happy when we saw each other again, but I sure as hell didn’t expect hostility. Knowing I totally fucked this entire situation up, I turn to leave. I also never expected to feel his hand catch my elbow before I can open his bedroom door.

“Tony.” The single word is a whisper. It’s a balm to my injured ego, and of course, my dick takes notice of his warm touch.

“I didn’t want things to end up this way.” When I turn and look at him, I notice the anger that’d been so clear on his face has morphed into something altogether different.

“Me either,” he mutters before stiffening his back once again.

“You have nothing to worry about with Dave.”

Huffing, all I can do is shake my head. This guy has no damn clue, and right now I don’t give a shit if I’m betraying a confidence, I can’t let Dave snake his way into his bed tonight. I don’t give a damn if the guy hooks up with girls, his suggestive comments and teasing with Joey is enough to make me reevaluate Dave’s sexuality. Joey is hot as fuck, so why should it surprise me if another one of Jon’s friends wants to take a ride on the other side?

“Dave is like a brother to me.” I glare, my eyebrow hiking up as high as possible. “Minus the fact that he’s as straight as they come, I’m like a brother to him. He wouldn’t try anything like that.”

“Brother? So does that make Andi like a sister to him?” I mimic. “He doesn’t see her as a sister. If he gets in that bed with you, you’re going to wake up with a dick pressed against your back, or someplace even worse.”

As he swallows roughly, I delight in the way his nose scrunches up in disgust before he can stop the reaction.

“Dave saying he’s ready to cuddle is more like a threat,” he explains.

Hell, I know I’m threatened by it.

“He says it every time he stays over,” he continues. “It really means he wants me to grab clean sheets and blankets for the couch, or he’ll sleep in here. He’s lazy and figures if he threatens to sleep in my bed, then I’ll make the couch up for him.”

Letting his words work their way into my head, I just watch him, lips tingling with the need to kiss him.

“He hasn’t slept in my bed since we were kids.”

And the unease is back.

It must be evident on my face because he chuckles. “He really doesn’t see me that way. Straight, remember?”

I remember the way he hugged you earlier and the way you felt comfortable enough to lay your head on his shoulder.

“He jacks off to Andi.”

Fuck, the secret’s out.

I don’t feel even a little sorry for letting it slip through.

“Gross. No, he doesn’t.” He takes a step back, holding his hands up. The response would be comical if it weren’t for the topic of conversation.

Cocking my head to the left, I watch him before nailing the fact home. “He climbed out of the Jacuzzi and rubbed one out in your damn bathroom before rejoining us on the damn patio.”

“Did you?”

“What?” The question catches me off-guard.

“Did you jack off to Andi?”

“In your bathroom? Hell no.”

“When you got home?”

“No. I’m not a fucking pervert.” I shake my head.

“Did you jack off to me?”

I shake my head again.

“Not even once?”

“No.”

The number of times the image of him in that speedo came to mind while I was alone…and now I’m getting hard.

“I don’t believe you,” he challenges with a smirk on his face. “Besides, what’s your point? You’re only proving that he’s into chicks. Andi is sexy as hell. I’m not surprised Dave finds her attractive.”

“He’s a pervert. If he’ll jack off in your bathroom, there’s no telling what he’ll try with you.”

He’s smiling, and my irritation begins to simmer.

The teasing is a much better place to be than the object of his anger, but the change is giving me whiplash, especially since we’ve moved on to something my body has such a visceral reaction to.

“Why don’t you believe me?” I have to clear my throat when the single word cracks in the middle. My brain didn’t even process the last thing he said because I was too busy watching his mouth as it moved.

“You jacked off in my bathroom.”

“Not that day,” I insist.

“But after that.”

How can I lie about it when I found him waiting in the hall when I was done?

“I was under duress,” I mutter, hating the way he’s turned the tables from Dave’s deviant behavior to my own.

“Duress?” His laugh rushes over my senses.

“We’d kissed that day.”

“I remember.”

I wonder if my cheeks are as flushed as his are.

“I couldn’t go out there with your brother in that condition.”

His smile grows wider. “Condition?”

“Your lips make me hard,” I confess.

“Kissing them?”

Touching them, looking at them, the memory of my thumb brushing over your nipple before I came to my senses.

“Yes, and if you don’t stop staring at mine, we’re going to be in another situation that may force me to stop by your bathroom before leaving again.”

Taking a step closer to him, I once again ignore the racing thoughts in my head telling me I’ve fucked this whole thing up enough, and kissing him right now, even though it’s the only thing I can think of, is a bad idea.

As if he’s the one coming back to reality, he holds his hands up when I take an additional step closer.

“What are we doing?”

“Besides fighting the pull to each other?”

“You feel it, too?”

Nodding, I attempt one more time to swallow down the lump in my throat.

“Are we over thinking it? Making everything more complicated than it has to be?”

Oh, it’s pretty fucking complicated.

How can he think clearly right now? I lost that ability the second I walked into his house and saw him in nothing but basketball shorts.

“It’s pretty complicated.”

“But does it have to be?”

“Are you asking that with a clear head?”

He answers no with a small shake of his head. “I’m not thinking clearly. It’s impossible when you’re near me.”

“I feel exactly the same way.”

“Your intentions were clear yesterday,” he reminds me.

“I was a total asshole yesterday,” I admit. “I almost turned back around in the living room.”

“But you didn’t.”

“You were already pissed, and I was angry about the mediocre comment.”

“You have to know I was just being mean. Call it a reaction to the way you were acting.”

“Still made me mad.”

“As did you fucking me senseless, then walking out like I was someone to conquer. Someone not worth your attention after the deed was done. My feelings were hurt. I wasn’t proud that I said it, but it seemed like the right thing to do in the situation.”

“I hate myself for it.” Why am I spilling my guts to him when there are so many reasons why what we’re doing can have negative consequences?

“Seems like we both have regrets about the way things went down.”

“Only what happened after.”

“Are you even gay, Anthony?” His face clouds as he waits for my answer.

“It’s complicated,” is my non-answer.

“Did you enjoy me last night?”

My cock thickens in response. His lip twitches when he notices it.

“You haven’t come out, have you?”

“It’s complicated,” I answer again.

His hands fall, and he takes a step closer to me. My body is thrumming at the possibility of touching him again.

“What would you change about yesterday?”

“Do you think it’s the right idea to hash through all of this?”

“Depends on what we plan to do with the information.”

“And how do we know what to do unless we talk about it?”

“Exactly,” he says with a shrug.

My hands scrape over the top of my head. I know what I want to be doing. What I wouldn’t have any hope of fighting if his brother and Dave weren’t in this house. Hell, if I keep standing here, seeing the outline of his erect cock with his scent invading my fucking brain, we may end up doing exactly that.

“I wouldn’t have left. I should’ve asked you to cancel your hot tub plans with Andi so I could spend more time with you.”

Tongue sneaking out, he swipes it over his bottom lip. My dick sees it as an invitation.

“So you could sleep with me again?”

“So I could worship your body the way you deserve.”

“You did a decent job the first time around.”

“Decent?” Smile wide on my face, I’m the one stepping closer this time.

“I figure that’s better than mediocre.” His smile matches mine.

“I’m drawn to you. I don’t even understand it myself. My body is on fire with just the mere sight of you.”

Two more steps and we’re only a breath away from touching.

“It must be contagious because I’m suffering from the same affliction.” The warmth of his breath on my neck as he peers up at me is enough to send chills of anticipation all over my body.

“Affliction?” Loving his choice of words, I reach up and cup his face.

“Isn’t that what you’d call it?” His head tilts, leaning into my touch.

“It means something we don’t want, something that you want to go away,” I explain. “I want you, and telling by the way your hard dick is pressing against mine, I’m thinking you want me, too.”

“But we can’t have each other.” He doesn’t say it like it’s a statement, but rather a challenge to the way we’ve been looking at this entire situation.

“What are we going to do about it?”

Pulling my hand from his cheek, I trace a single finger over his stubbled jawline and down his neck until my fingers find the nape. Naturally, they sink into his messy, dark hair.

Hissing, his eyelids flutter.

“So aggressive,” he chides before speaking again and rocking my world. “It makes me so fucking hard.”

“Fuck me,” I grumble before my lips meet his.

The bedroom door swings open. “Joey, I told yo—”