“Where are you?”
“The Holiday Inn near Canal Street. It’s kinda noisy.”
“I can imagine. Is that where clowns go these days?”
“Nah, it was just the cheapest room FFP could find without dumping us at the worst B&B in the world. They like to look after us a bit when we’re back on home turf.”
Rhys sat up and reached for his well-nursed glass of vodka. “Do you have your own room?”
“Yes.”
“Are you there now?”
“Yes. Why? You gonna FaceTime me something freaky?”
“Do you want me to?”
Jevon chuckled dryly. “If I have to answer that question, then we’restilldoing it wrong.”
“Right.” Rhys swallowed more vodka. “Hang on a sec.”
He swiped at his screen until the FaceTime option came up and made the switch. Jevon connected the call, and his sunshine smile filled the screen.
Rhys’s heart jumped. Missing Jevon was his normal these days, but he hadn’t realised how real it was until he saw Jevon’s face. Locked eyes with him. Heard his voice. Rhys touched the screen, like he could reach through the glass and feel Jevon’s warmth against his fingertips. “Hey.”
“Hello. How’re you doing over there?”
Rhys rolled onto his belly. “Lonely, naked, and a little bit drunk.”
“Me too.” Jevon chuckled softly and flipped a lamp on beside him, treating Rhys to a clearer view.
He was naked.
And hard.
And so fucking beautiful Rhys wanted to cry, among other things.
The other things were less embarrassing. He licked his lips, heat already pooling in his groin. “What have you been up to tonight? Have you been down Canal Street?”
“A bit. My mate Jean was trying to hook me up with a go-go dancer.”
“Oh yeah?” A flash of unearned possessiveness rippled through Rhys. “How did that go?”
Jevon tilted his head sideways. “It didn’t. Despite the spell you cast over me the night we met, random hook-ups aren’t my thing... even if I did have a clue what I was doing.”
“You know what you’re doing.”
“Do I?”
Jevon’s easy smile was clouded with insecurities that had no right to be there. The desperate need to touch him, to soothe him, caught in Rhys’s throat, but all he had was a vodka-loose tongue and the truth. “I’ve never been with anyone who makes me come like you do.”
They weren’t the words of wisdom he’d imagined himself saying, but the desired effect was the same. Jevon’s grin widened, chasing away shadowed doubt. “I love watching you come. I dream about it.”
“Yeah? What are we doing?”
“Fucking... sometimes, but mostly just stuff we’ve already done. I like looking back at it—looking back at you.”
“You could look back at me while I fuck you.” Rhys snaked a hand beneath himself and squeezed his dick.