Page 18 of Gin & Sin

“Whoa. Really? How did that happen?”

“He texted me last night to check on me.”

Theo puts his hand over his heart. “Aww. That’s adorable. So he’s sweet too?”

Shrugging, I sit back in my seat. “No idea. He’s nice enough. He understood where I was in my journey and respected it.” I clear my throat as my stomach flutters with memories. “We decided to have a no-strings-attached thing.”

Theo’s brow creases. “What do you mean?”

“Like friends with benefits, except we’re not really friends. Maybe we can be.”

“Ohh. You’re not dating, just hooking up?”

“I’m not ready to date, and I don’t think he’s the type. I want the experience and he’s okay with that. I’m not sure why he wants to mess around with a guy who has no clue what he’s doing, but I’m not gonna talk him out of it.”

“Pretty sweet deal. Will you go out on dates or anything?”

“I don’t think so. I’ll just call him to come over I guess.” I bite my bottom lip for a second. “Is that weird or is that normal?”

“Normal. Did you get on PrEP and buy condoms like I suggested?”

I nod. “Yeah. We didn’t talk about it last night.”

Theo tilts his head. “What did you do then?” He gasps slightly. “Oh no. You didn’t get so caught up you skipped the protection?”

“No, nothing like that. We did stuff that didn’t really require it.”

He looks confused for a second, then thankfully, understanding washes over his features. “Cool.”

A part of me wishes we were closer and I could tell him how weirdly affirming it felt to have a man’s hands all over me, or the way his cock in my mouth felt so right, as if I’ve been waiting my whole life to feel that way during sex. Maybe I have been.

“You’re thinking,” Theo says. “I can always tell when you get lost in your head.”

I chuckle. “You got me. I was recalling things. It was… a good experience for me. Very validating.”

His features soften and he reaches across the desk to put his hand over mine, squeezing gently. “I’m happy for you. I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through realizing all of this, but it’s impressive how you’re just going for it. You met a nice guy too. That helps.”

“Thanks. Your encouragement helped a lot. I was nervous as hell last night, but I think I got tired of wondering how it would feel. I wanted to know.”

“Welcome to the wide world of queer sex and love.” He pats the desk. “It’s fun here.”

“So far so good.”

After Theo leaves, it’s obvious that no more work is getting done today. Once my office hours are over, I pack up my things to head home, practically vibrating with excited energy for what’s to come later tonight.

Once I’m home, I lie on my couch, staring up at the ceiling with images of Kit’s body in my head. If I try hard enough, I can remember what he smelled like—a soft cologne mixed with the scent of laundry soap and something else I can only describe as man. Does testosterone have a scent? Is it unique to Kit or have I just never noticed that men smell like worn leather, rich earth, and fall leaves? Even his sweat smelled good to me.

I don’t know, but I know I like it and I definitely want more of it.

SEVEN

KIT

Every timethe door opens and the cold air pushes back some of the heat inside, I immediately hope it’s Stewart, even though he gave me no indication that he’d be coming in tonight. Plus it’s still early. The bar is pretty busy for a random weeknight, and we’ve all been running trays from the kitchen to the dinner crowd. We’ve still got two hours before the menu shifts to apps only, the DJ starts up, and the drinking crowd starts to replace the diners.

“Fucking hell,” Ridley says, slapping my shoulder as he stops beside me. “This is the busiest we’ve been for dinner so far, I think.”

“Wren’s food is gaining attention. There’s nothing better unless you head back to the city.”

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