“Would it be okay if I met them some time?” I pursed my lips. Shit, that didn’t come out right.
His breath caught and his eyes widened. “What do you mean? You want to come to a gig?”
I looked off toward the window, bracing myself, then focused on him. “What if we started dating?”
“Dating?” His brows twitched together for a beat. “I uh, yeah, I suppose we could do that.” He gnawed on his lower lip. “I have um, my friend is moving back here from Flag, so…”
What did that have to do with it? “The firefighter you told me about?” I inched closer to him, then wound an arm over him. “Come here.” As I rolled to my back, I pulled him into my side. There, that was better.
He rested his head on my shoulder and laid his arm across my chest. “Yeah, Ryder. He’s moving back and I need to spend some time with him.”
“So, are you saying you don’t have time to date me?” Shit, I’d really fucked this up. Maybe I was reading more into our hookups than was there.
“I don’t know.” He propped up onto an elbow and wound his gaze to mine. “I want to start dating someone. But I…” He swallowed hard. “I do like you, Archer. But when Ryder comes back to town?—”
“I get it.” With a nod, I breathed through the ache in my chest. There was something there between Ryder and him. “Ryder is straight, right?”
He dipped his gaze to my chest. “Yeah, he’s straight.” He blew a lock of bang off his forehead, furrowing his brows. “But I should start dating. All my friends have boyfriends now.” He ticked his head.
“Okay.” That wasn’t a great reason for us to start dating, but I’d take it at this point. What could it hurt? “So, maybe I can come to one of your shows?” I cupped his chin and turned his gaze to mine.
“Yeah, you can come to one of our shows.” He planted a kiss on my lips. “That would be fun.” He gave me a warm grin.
CHAPTER THREE
I’d gotten Milo to invite me to watch his band, Knot Me, play at a casino, but his best friend Ryder was supposed to be there. This would be a telling night. It might be our first and only date. Every time Milo talked about Ryder, his eyes lit up.
I strolled through the casino, past the humming slot machines and flashing lights and headed into a posh bar with white leather booths and chairs and a cool blue glow under the white marble of the bar that centered the room. My gaze caught on Milo, wearing a sequined crop top over some body-hugging silver shorts. The black of his panties rode up over his hips. God damn…he looked hot. My dick woke.
Milo sat at a few tables pushed together with a lot of other men and ate a fry, then widened his eyes and said something to the man next to him. He wiped his fingers on his napkin, then stood up.
A muscular man twisted in his chair and frowned as his brown-eyed gaze met mine under waves of long, dark bangs.
As I approached the table, I swept a grin across my mouth. “Milo, damn, you lookhot.” I held my arms out to Milo.
Milo fell into my arms, and I wrapped him up in a quick hug, then released him.
He kept one arm hooked around my waist. “Uh, Archer, this is my friend, Ryder.”
“Hi, Ryder.” I stuck my hand out. Yeah, I could see why Milo might like him. He was gorgeous.
Ryder stood up and shook my hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Archer.” He dropped into his seat.
My attention drew to Milo. “I seriously love this get up, Milo.” I ran my finger along the lace on Milo’s hip, then planted a long kiss on his lips.
Tenting his hands over his plate, Ryder stared at his food.
As Milo broke our kiss, he asked, “Have you eaten yet?” He kept his focus on me.
“I have, as a matter of fact.” I perused the table. “Are these all the guys in the band and their boyfriends?” What was wrong with Ryder? He didn’t look so happy all of a sudden.
“They are. Come on and I’ll introduce you.” Milo threw a glance at Ryder, pursed his lips, then twined his fingers in my hand and led me around the table.
After greeting everyone with waves and handshakes, Milo brought me to his end of the table, our arms winding around each other’s waists.
“Are you done eating, Ryder? Maybe we can all grab a drink at the bar,” Milo said.
“Yeah, sure.” Ryder wiped his mouth with his napkin, then stood up, flashing a thin-lipped grin at me.