After shutting the refrigerator door, I twisted with the beers held at my chest, almost bumping into Grey. He was so close…I focused on his plush lips, my mind reeling with the last time I’d watched him come. The woman, I couldn’t remember her name, had been blowing him. She didn’t swallow, and his come had landed on the back of my hand while I’d toyed with her nipples. I’d licked it off when he wasn’t looking. Fuck, Tex—what have you put in my damn head?
“Uh, can I have the beer?” With the edge of his mouth curling, he wrapped his hand around one beer, the touch of his warm fingers tingling up my arm, his gaze meeting mine.
My breath caught, and I startled. “Yeah, sure, man. Here.” I freed the beer as he took it. “Sorry, I zoned out for a minute.” With a faltering chuckle, I stepped away from him, my gaze flicking to Tex.
Twisted on the couch, Tex arched a brow, a smirk planted on his lips.
The fucker. He saw that. Grey and I would stay in the friend zone. Grey wasn’t queer, and I refused to lose his friendship over something so stupid. With a sigh, I snicked my beer can open and sipped it. “We were thinking of heading to a karaoke pizza bar tonight.”
“Yeah?” He leaned his ass against the kitchen counter by the sink. “Sounds like a good time.” He drank some beer. “I’ll go easy on these this afternoon then.” His gaze followed the movers bringing in his dresser, a modern piece with rich wood, the grain making lines across the drawers.
“What’s that dresser made from?” I’d never seen wood like that and, knowing him, it was hella expensive. I parked my ass against the counter, next to him.
“It’s rosewood.” He flicked an errant blond bang from his forehead. “My mother insisted on it because it’s very durable.” He chuckled as he drank more beer. “She thinks I’m hard on my furniture.”
“Are you?” I hooked a brow. I’d noticed nothing like that, but then we’d never lived together before.
“No.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe when I was a kid, but what boy isn’t hard on furniture?”
“Right?” I tapped my beer can on his and sipped it. “When do you expect you’ll be ready to go to the pizza place?” He’d unpacked quickly so far.
“I’d say by six.” He bumped off the counter and waltzed toward the hallway. “I better show them where to put the dresser.” As he passed Tex, he patted his shoulder. “Let me know if they say anything interesting about last year’s draft.”
“Sure thing.” Tex focused on the television.
A few hours later,I stood in the bathroom I shared with Tex, primping my dark hair and checking the lay of my grey shirt across my abs—fitted, but not too much.
Grey walked in behind me in a deep blue button-down with short sleeves, his gaze roaming my body. “You look great as usual, Malik.” He wrapped his arms around me from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder, his lips tugging into a warm grin. “The girls will be all over you.”
“Yeah?” I smiled at him through the mirror as I rubbed my fingers across the prickly skin over my top lip. “Should I shave though?” I didn’t want to give a girl a rash during a make-out session.
“Do you shave?” He freed a soft snort, squeezed me and then turned me around by my shoulders.
With a mock scoff, I said, “I don’t have much, but I do shave.” It was an ongoing joke between us. I hardly had any facial hair because I was part native.
“Let’s see…” As his face came close to mine, his tongue swiped across his mouth, and he brushed his finger against the skin of my mustache. “I don’t think it’s bad enough to shave, and when you get close, you can see it. It’s kind of attractive, if you ask me.” He raked his teeth across his lower lip. “Maybe you should grow it out and have one of those seventies porno mustaches. You know they’re coming back in style.”
As my pulse picked up speed, I choked on a laugh and shoved his chest. “Fuck off, I’m shaving it.” Rolling my eyes, I twisted around and grabbed my shaver from the drawer.
“Fine, don’t listen to me.” He slapped my ass. “Your ass looks fantastic in those shorts, by the way.” With a cackle, he left.
After takingan Uber to the bar, we piled out of the SUV and onto Mill Avenue, the late evening sun throwing orange and reddish hues across the cloudless sky. The street was bustling as usual with traffic crawling along the boulevard and young people strolling the sidewalks or on skateboards. I spied the pizza place inside a short brick building—the patio closed for the summer heat, and the inside glow from the windows spilling out. “There’s the place.”
Grey swiped his brow. “Jesus, Malik. You told me it was hot, but it’s almost nighttime and it’s still over a hundred degrees?” He huffed.
“Yep, get used to it. It won’t cool off until October.” Tex patted Grey’s shoulder with his big hand. “Let’s go inside where it’s cooler.” He lumbered toward the restaurant.
Setting my hand on Grey’s lower back, I guided him to follow Tex. All was good between us. The shit that had run through my head earlier had ceased.
Tex held the glass door open and waved us inside. “After you.”
I strolled in and eyed a booth toward the back. It would be quieter there, and we could talk. “How about back there?” I pointed toward it.
“How will the girls see us back there?” Grey pressed his lips together.
“But we can hear each other talk.” My chest tightened. He wanted to hook up with someone already? I’d wanted him to get to know Tex better.
“Yeah, okay.” Dipping his head, he strolled across the yellow floor with red paint splotches and sank into a booth with a black table and yellow cushions.