“That you’re desperately in love with me?” He smirks, shifting his weight to drag the bouncy swell of his ass against my thickening cock.
My lips part on a quiet groan, and I wrap my other arm around his middle to hold him against me.
“Yes,” I growl. “But I thought you already knew that.”
He cranes his neck to bring his face close to mine, leaving just an inch of space between our mouths, that smirk on his lips begging me to taste it.
“I had a feeling, but I wanted to hear you say it.”
I bring my hand up to grip his jaw, feeling the roughness of his stubble under my fingers and the way the muscle in his jaw softens like he’s already preparing to surrender to me. A ripple of heat moves through me, pooling in my gut.
“I’m fucking desperately in love with you, Alessio.” I catch his lips in a rough kiss, swallowing the groan he feeds me and grinding my hard cock against his ass. “That wasn’t what I wanted to confess though.”
“I’m listening.” His damp lips glisten under the colorful, strobing lights.
“I’m the one who messaged you to tell you that The Ghost hangs out here. I wanted to see you again so I could find out where the Morettis stood on the Sleepless Reaper issue. That was my excuse, anyway. I think I really wanted to see if the chemistry we had that night at your apartment was just about the circumstances or if it was real.”
He chuckles. “Wait, how did you even know I used that forum or what my username was?”
“I saw you on your laptop browsing through it before you jerked off using the glove I left you.” The memory of that night makes my cock twitch and my balls tighten.
Alessio’s eyes darken and a less subtle tremor runs through him that culminates in a moan.
“You were on my fire escape spying on me?”
“Yes,” I say shamelessly.
“You’re such a creep.” It’s not a complaint, it’s a compliment. If that wasn’t obvious from his tone, it would be in the way he strains his mouth towards mine again.
I’m in the mood to tease him now though, to make him ache for it before I take him home and work off all this adrenaline the fun way. Instead of kissing him, I give a rough bite to his bottom lip, savoring the surprised gasp he lets out. Then I let go of my hold on him and leave him scrambling after me to join the rest of the guys at the table.
Sparrow left space for us at the end. I let Alessio slide in first, and I take the last spot. Everyone already has a drink in front of them, and there are two more waiting in the center of the table, presumably for us.
Orion sits forward and nudges the glasses towards us, but I shake my head.
“Thanks, I’m good though.”
“They’re both seltzer with lime,” Dante assures me. “I watched the bartender pour them to make sure he didn’t fuck it up.”
A surprising feeling of fullness blooms inside my chest, making it hard to breathe for a few seconds. I know he’s been making me mocktails every week, but there’s something about the gesture that hits me hard. I take the glass and slide the other one in front of Alessio. I’ve told him numerous times over the past month that he can drink if he wants to, but he insists that he’d rather not.
My eyes wander around the table as I take a small sip, and the fullness in my chest expands. A few months ago, I was completely alone in the world, and I thought I liked it that way. It was easier, I can’t deny that. It might have been lonely, but it was less scary. I have things to lose now; friends—or at least people who are becoming friends—a brother,Alessio. My throat tightens and I take another sip of my drink to try to clear the lump in it.
I think I was right before. Feeling alive hurts more than letting yourself be a ghost. I was wrong too though. I don’t thinkyou get used to it and I don’t think you’re supposed to. I think it’s the price you have to pay to have things worth living for.
Alessio leans in a little after taking a sip of his own drink.
“I’m desperately in love with you too, by the way,” he whispers, and his words manage to loosen the lump in a way the drink didn’t.
“I know.” I kiss him again.
The too-much feeling is worth it for this.
ALESSIO
Spettro slides his hand up the inside of my thigh as he leans across me to chat with Sparrow, making me squirm subtly in my seat. He’s been toying with me for hours, touching me just enough to keep my cock hard. The leather harness drags against my skin in a tease that’s almost as delicious as his baiting touches, and the silk of my panties cradles my full, heavy balls. If I thought it would get me anywhere, I’d whisper in his ear, begging him to take me home and fuck me until my voice is hoarse from screaming his name. But the smirk on his lips every time I twitch or shudder tells me he’ll take me home when he’s good and ready and not a second sooner.
So I give in to the sultry torture, surrendering to the aching want in my gut and the constant throb in my needy cock.