Page 17 of Mutual Obsessions

“Love pizza. I can’t wait.” I leaned forward and brushed my lips over Rykers, barely making contact. Tasting Ryker’s warm breath on my tongue as it grazed his plump bottom lip was life-altering—even to the undead.

I’ll kill you myself! Etienne was pissed and I was kissing Ryker DeWitt. Eternity didn’t get much better.

Chapter Nine

Ryker

Feeling Stephen’s soft tongue graze my bottom lip, I couldn’t help myself. I wrapped my arms around his lithe body and pulled him closer. His arms wrapped around my neck and the kiss heated.

An intense draw to him had developed during our time together. I was also drawn to Etienne, but I wasn’t slick enough to pull off a twin switch, that was for sure.

It was sort of perverted that I’d kissed Stephen’s brother—not successfully—just a few nights ago. What the fuck was I doing? I wasn’t the guy who ran around kissing random guys.

I slowly extracted my tongue from his mouth, scraping it on something sharp. “Ouch!”

“Oh, gods, I’m sorry. I have a chipped tooth I need to get capped. Are you okay?”

How fucking sharp could a chipped tooth be? “I’m fine. Just a little scrape.”

Stephen quickly took my mouth again. Our tongues swirled aggressively, and when he rubbed his rock-hard cock against mine, I nearly busted the zipper of my slacks.

Stephen ended the kiss, leaving me a bit dizzy. He seemed to sense it and grabbed my biceps to hold me steady. “Easy there.” His voice was a sexy growl, or that’s what my ears heard.

“I, uh, I must be tired. It’s been a long day, I’m afraid. Let’s get you home.”

I took his arm and handed him his cane. We walked the remaining few blocks to my house. It was dark on the street, but that didn’t affect Stephen.

He’d shown himself to be rather courageous, which blew me away. He’d stepped in front of that lunatic holding the knife, and in my opinion, he was damn lucky it hit his wallet instead of his gut. I’d thought I would have a heart attack.

“Do you look forward to leaving New Orleans?” Stephen leaned a bit closer to me as we walked toward the front door.

“Not really. Come inside and let me grab my keys. The house isn’t great. Some of my roommates are moving home or to the cities where they have jobs. Please don’t judge me based on how it—damn! Sorry.” I was an idiot! I knew he was blind, and why the fuck did I ramble like an idiot?

Stephen laughed, and it was damn attractive. “No worries. I understand completely. No offense taken at all. Are you planning to stay in this place? It sounds rather large.”

“You’re astute. It’s huge. It was a duplex before the owner made it into one large house. There are several bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, and a few bathrooms. It’s old and needs to be updated, but they rent it to us furnished for a good price. I don’t want to keep the place, so I’ll need to find an apartment, but I haven’t started looking yet. That’s on the agenda for next week, I hope.”

“Ah. Yes. I’m considering moving out of our house and getting my own place for more privacy. I haven't started looking yet either. Maybe we can look together?”

I remembered Etienne’s comments on privacy. “There are many things worse than a lack of privacy. Loneliness and loss can destroy a soul.”

“Won’t it be traumatic for you and Etienne to be separated? I mean, have you guys lived together your whole lives?”

Stephen stood near the front door while I grabbed my keys and two bottles of water. I’d noticed he hadn’t eaten anything at the restaurant, claiming he’d eaten before we went, but he did drink whiskey—which reminded me, I had too. I was guessing the scare had sobered me up, but I still wasn’t going to drive us.

“I’m going to call us a rideshare to take you home. I was drinking, so I can’t drive, but I’ll make sure you get home safely.” I noticed Stephen’s back stiffen. “It’s fine, really.”

“It’s okay, Ryker. I’m used to taking a car service, obviously. I look forward to our date tomorrow night. I know Etienne has plans with his girlfriend at the house, so I won’t hate not being there.”

That was news to me. I had no idea Etienne had a girlfriend. No wonder he freaked out when I tried to kiss him. “Damn. I feel horrible. I tried to kiss him, and he rejected me. I owe him an apology.”

I felt like an idiot. He’d been flirting, but then again, maybe that was just his personality?

A melodic chuckle caught my attention. “No worries. He’s still a bit confused about his sexuality. Anyway, I’ve had a wonderful time. I can’t wait for tomorrow night.” Stephen stood, and I took his arm and led him out of the house.

Luckily, a cab happened to drive by, so I held up my hand to flag it. “Here’s a taxi.”

Stephen turned to me, his glasses covering his milky eyes. “I can take a cab by myself, Ryker.” He reached into his pocket and handed me a rather fancy business card. “If you need to reschedule or something comes up tomorrow night, here’s my number. Call me.”

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