I was terrified he was in a mood because of me. My first reaction when he’d walked into the gym that morning, his mouth set in a straight line and only a grunt for a greeting, was that he’d changed his mind. That he’d seen the insanity of it and decided I wasn’t worth it or was too much trouble.
I knew it was ridiculous—we’d seen each other at home that morning and nothing had been “off,” but I wasn’t above the occasional intrusive thought. If something had changed, it wasn’t likely to happen in such a short amount of time, but I was about to explode if he didn’t speak up. I would have rather known if he’d had a change of heart.
He’d come out of his room dressed in a navy-blue suit and a light-blue collared shirt for dinner with my parents. His shirt magnified the blue in his eyes to a color that was almost neon. We hadn’t had much alone time during the week—both of us working longer hours trying to get our respective businesses back open after the freeze. There hadn’t even been a lingering touch or word spoken that was out of the ordinary for our friendship. But when he’d walked out, straightening his cuffs and stopping to glance in the mirror out in the living room to smooth his hair back down, emotion sat heavy in my stomach. And so did desire.
“Light’s green,” he said. Effectively startling me from my thoughts. And the sound of his voice in the silent car didn’t do anything for my anxiety. It was like it was taking on a physical form, crawling over my skin and embedding itself behind my eyes.
And when I thought I truly could not take anymore, Josh sighed.
“Just ask.”
I stopped at another red light and the last one before we turned into Amanda’s apartment.
“What?” I asked, my voice sounding foreign and quiet to my own ears.
“Ask the question that’s making you all jittery. I know it has to be something, so just ask it or say it.”
“You seem upset, and I can’t help but think it’s because…” I took a deep breath and tried to dig deep for that confidence I usually had, yet it was nowhere to be found. “Because you’ve changed your mind or something… about us.”
My hands threatened to break the damn steering wheel with the force I was gripping it.
But then he laughed. Turning, I gawked at him. It was the exact opposite reaction I was expecting.
He continued laughing, and I hated that I really enjoyed the sound. Finally, the light turned green.
With one final chuckle, he said, “You’re a little conceited.”
My jaw dropped once again. “What the hell does that mean? I’m trying to figure out what the fuck is wrong with you. How does that make me conceited?”
“Because, of course, you think it has to be about you. That you are the only thing in my life that would affect me so much that I was in a bad mood. But, just so we’re clear, there are other things going on that don’t have to do with you.”
“You’re a fucking dick, you know that?”
And he snickered, followed by a slow shake of his head. “Sure, you keep telling yourself that. At least I know you like my dick.”
His statement was true, which meant heat warmed my neck and colored my cheeks.What the fuck?I couldn’t remember the last time I’d blushed. But one mention of his cock and I was like a thirteen-year-old girl.
“Is that your roundabout and insulting way of telling me that it isn’t me that’s upset you and that we’re totally fine?” I asked. And when he was about to answer, I added, “And that you like my dick, too?”
Slowly, his eyes closed. And he wanted to look annoyed, but his tongue darted out and licked his upper lip. He wasn’t annoyed at all—he was likely thinking about what my dick would taste like or what it would feel like in his mouth. At least that’s what I was telling myself.Goddid I want that to happen. And soon.
I’d had a taste of him while locked in Amanda’s apartment—together, both he and Amanda had jerked me off while she rode my face. And I’d returned the favor a little while later. But that little taste wasn’t nearly enough—I needed more.
“Yes, that’s what I’m telling you.”
A lightness filled me, and total relief was on the horizon until I realized there was still something else bothering him. “But you don’t want to talk about what’s really going on then?”
I pulled into a spot near Amanda’s place but hesitated before hopping out of the car, giving Josh the opportunity to start talking.
“Sam called me this afternoon… she knows about the three of us. And she wasn’t necessarily happy about it.”
“How?” The three of us had only just decided that we were together—no one else knew.
He sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair, messing up the perfectly placed strands. “Travis, her fiancé, works out at RG Fitness. Apparently, there’s been a rumor going around for a while that there was something between us,” he said, motioning between the two of us. “And I guess the rumor was strong enough to get back to him. She called me and asked about it. I didn’t feel like I had another choice but to tell her the truth.”
I nodded and made a mental note to try to keep up better with the rumor mill. Some of my employees were worse than teenagers.
“What’d she say?”