Instantly, renewed heat rushed into my face, and I broke eye contact. Clearing my throat, I gestured at the phone again. “Let’s get started.”
Anthony unlocked the screen and erased everything he’d written. Then he handed me the phone. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“Okay, well. Let’s start with what you’re looking for.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but halted. His cheeks were still ruddy, so I could guess what he was hung up on.
I offered what I hoped was a reassuring smile. “I’m not gonna judge.”
“I didn’t think you would. I just…” He laughed, wiping a hand over his face. “God, I feel like such a tool.”
“Nah. It’s always intimidating to put yourself out there.”
“Seriously.” He took a deep breath. “I’m, uh… Okay, so, I’m bisexual. Pansexual, really, but…” He waved a hand. “Open to anybody, basically.”
I nodded and went to enter it, but the screen had gone dark. After he’d unlocked it again, I updated his preferences. Beneath that, there was a section for more explicit preferences.
I turned to him. “You can fill this part in if you’d rather not dictate it to me.”
Anthony nodded and took back the phone. He spent a minute or so going through the various options. I focused on the hockey game while he did that, both so I wouldn’t make him self-conscious and so I could catch my own breath. This wasn’t the first time I’d helped someone put a profile together when I’d have been more than happy to jump their bones. It could be an exercise in frustration, but it wasn’t that bad.
Seriously, dude. Get a grip.
“Okay.” Anthony shoved the phone back at me. “I think that covers everything.”
I took it and scrolled to the next section, but not before a few of his checked boxes caught my eye.
Vers bottom. Condoms (non-negotiable). Love oral (giving and receiving). Low/no kink.
God help me. I was a top through and through, and the thought of riding Anthony’s gorgeous, sculpted ass had me—
Focus, Miller. Not a good time to get a hard-on.
I shifted a little. “Okay, so… This part’s your ‘about me.’” I turned to him, poised to ask if he had any thoughts, but that was when I realized he’d leaned in closer. To see the screen over my shoulder, of course, but still… Just like that moment in his car before we’d taken the critters out for a walk, we were suddenly close. Really close.
His eyes flicked up to meet mine, and from that quiet hitch in his breath, he’d noticed the lack of space between us, too.
He drew back slightly and focused on the screen. “I, uh… For the bio…” He swallowed audibly. “What should I put?”
My mind… went blank. “Um.” I sat up, subtly trying to put a fraction of an inch more space between us. “It’s… you know, your personality. What you’re looking for. Like do you want—” My teeth snapped shut.
Anthony turned to me, forehead creased. “Want… what?”
It was my turn for a hard swallow. “Are you looking for a partner? Or…?”
Understanding dawned. So did some renewed color. “Oh. Right.” He flicked his gaze back to the phone. “I’m… I don’t need a relationship right now. I don’t think I could handle—” He blew out a breath and shook his head. “I just want to get laid.”
There was no hiding the way those words made me squirm. Not with him this close to me. Especially not when my arm brushed his.
I tried like hell to pretend I’d just been getting comfortable, though. “Okay. That’s… Yeah. You just broke up with someone, so…” I nodded sharply and stared at the blank text box on the screen. “So we can just put…” Fuck. I couldn’t think when I was this close to him. Least of all when I was trying to think about getting him laid.
“I guess… um…” He took a breath as if he needed to collect himself. “I could just say I’m fresh out of a relationship? Looking to, uh…” He squirmed. “To…”
The words “blow off steam with some hookups” were on the tip of my tongue, but they evaporated the instant I met his gaze. His expression was full of shyness and uncertainty, but there was something else there. Something smoldering in those deep brown eyes.
We both stilled. For long seconds, we stared at each other. Breathing, but barely. Was his pulse pounding as hard as mine was?
Anthony broke eye contact, and disappointment folded my stomach in on itself. Damn. For a second there, I’d thought we might—