Page 26 of Out of Nowhere

Dex was awarded with one of Seo-jun’s full-on smiles, and his heart jumped. He was quickly getting addicted to them.

“Whoever invented those doors deserves a smack in the head,” Seo-jun said.

“Right? I get claustrophobia in them. I always think the door will get stuck, and I’ll run out of air, trapped in glass like—a bug in a jar or something.”

The sound of Seo-jun’s throaty laugh brought goosebumps to the surface of Dex’s skin.

“I’ve had that experience—where someone stepped into the space with me, so you aren’t the only one who’s accidentally done it. I thought they were going to mug me or feel me up or something. New York City scared me when I first moved there,” Seo-jun said.

“I’m sure that guy thought the same of me.” Dex took a sip of water, thinking back to that moment when the guy had turned to look at him. He suddenly recalled the guy had been a cute, young, Asian wearing a baseball cap.Hey, could it have been—but, no. There were millions of people in New York City. Still, he liked the idea that Seo-jun could have been the man Dex had spent a few moments in time with in a revolving door.

“What about you?” he asked Seo-jun. “What’s something embarrassing you’ve done?”

Seo-jun considered as he stirred a packet of sugar into his coffee. “My mother once caught me trying on her lingerie.”

Dex lost his grip on his glass, spilling water all over the table. Grabbing for a napkin, he sent his silverware clattering to the floor.

Grabbing Dex’s wrist, Seo-jun held it for a moment while Dex stilled, his pulse beating so hard, he was sure Seo-jun felt it under his palm.

Seo-jun mopped up the water with his other hand before releasing Dex’s arm. The waitress hurried over with another bundle of silverware and picked up what Dex had dropped.

“I’ll bring you another water,” she said.

“That’s okay. The coffee’s enough,” Dex said, face burning. Turning back to Seo-jun, he said, “Well, there’s another embarrassing moment to add to the list.”

Looking amused, Seo-jun shook his head. “My fault. I over-shared.”

Dex couldn’t help but grin. “The visual alone did me in.”

As they ate and chatted, Dex relaxed. It was nice sitting there having a conversation they didn’t have to yell over, like they’d had to in the club. The food was good, and Dex’s headache was beginning to fade. Since the moment he’d danced with Seo-jun, the night had taken on the feeling of a date. Which it wasn’t, of course, but Dex could pretend for a moment that two men, whom fate had brought together years ago in a revolving door, had somehow found each other again, like in some crazy romance novel.

Chapter Sixteen: Seo-jun

“What the fuck?”

When Seo-jun pulled through the gate, all the lights were on in the mansion, and, even through the closed car window, he could hear music playing from inside. “Why are the sprinklers on at this time of night?” he asked, looking out at the drenched lawn.

“Oh, crap!” Dex opened the passenger door and jumped out before Seo-jun had come to a full stop and ran for the house.

Every single light in the house is on, Seo-jun thought when he walked in a moment later, wincing at the blasting music assaulting his ears. Clamping his hands over them, he barely managed to side-step the Rumba as it whirred past. Movement to his left had him swinging that way to see Jase and Colt hurrying up the stairs from the lower floor.

“Turn off that music!” Seo-jun yelled, hands still covering his ears.

“Don’t you think I fucking would if I—“ Abruptly, the house went silent, the last couple of words Jase shouted echoing in the marble-floored foyer.

“Oh, thank God,” Colt said, rubbing his eyes. His blond hair stuck up everywhere and the pair of gym shorts and blue tank he wore were damp and wrinkled like he’d been through a rinse cycle and someone forgot to throw him into the dryer.

“What happened to you?” Seo-jun asked him.

“I was having a late work out in the gym when the sprinkler system in the ceiling suddenly came on. Fortunately, it was only in that room, or we’d have bigger problems.” He looked at his watch. “That was at least two hours ago.”

“The sprinklers were on outside when we pulled up,” Seo-jun said. “With all the lights on and the blaring music, it looked like you were having a party.”

Jase made a sour face. “Believe me, we weren’t.”

“I’m really sorry,” Dex came hurrying from down the hall. “I don’t know what set Gary off. He’s only supposed to activate to his name followed by a command.”

Gary, Dex’s virtual assistant.

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