Page 14 of Ox

I laughed, snagging it back from him. “Yes, and don’t judge! I love hot food.”

“I’ve never tried it before,” he said as I handed him his bowl. He watched as I doused mine with the flavorful red stuff.

“You want some?” I posed, just as I was about to pop the first delectable bite into my mouth.

Ox paused, his eyes narrowing a little. I’m not sure why, but that look caused my girly parts to stand up at attention.

“You don’t think I can take it?” he teased, but there was a hint of a challenge to his words that didn’t go unnoticed.

My voice was a little breathy when I said, “I think you can.”

Ox leaned forward and I gently fed him the spicy popcorn. As his lips sealed around the morsel of food, I felt them slightly kiss my fingertips and I immediately became drenched.

As he chewed, he never tore his gaze away from mine. “It’s good,” he said, licking his lips clean of the salty residue.

I twisted the top off his beer, trying to break the tension between us. “Here,” I said, shoving it at him. “I’m not sure what kind of beer you like, but I had a few of these left over in the fridge and my friend really seems to like them.”

Ox frowned as he looked at the expensive beer like he’d never seen it before. And he probably hadn’t, as it was from a small, local brewery that made seasonal batches of all their products.

“A friend?” he posed, taking a tentative swig.

“Yeah, my friend Kenny is really into microbrews. I’m not picky, but he practically lives for trying local breweries,” I explained.

“Kenny your boyfriend?” Ox posed, not bothering to beat around the bush with his question.

I blushed and shook my head. “No. He’s just a friend.”

Ox glanced at my breasts. “A gay friend?”

I burst out laughing and popped the top of my own beer, needing to cool down for some ungodly reason. It wasn’t hot out, but this man definitely had the ability to make me sweat.

“No, he’s not gay,” I said, swallowing a sip of the hoppy brew.

“Does he come over here often?” Ox pressed, his blue eyes narrowing a bit.

“Not lately.” In fact, Kenny and I had a falling out recently when he’d tried to kiss me and I’d told him I didn’t want him to. Needless to say, my “friend” had given me the silent treatment after that. Hence the beer still residing in my fridge.

Ox’s brow lifted. “He try to get into your pants or something?”

My cheeks warmed at his perceptive question. “Something like that,” I admitted.

“I can’t blame the guy,” he said without a hint of a smile. “He had to try and shoot his shot.”

“We were friends,” I explained.

“Babe,” he said with a pointed look, “you can’t look how you look and expect a straight man to just want to be your friend.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. “I just didn’t feel that way about him.”

Ox finished his beer and placed it on the coffee table. “How many of these did the poor bastard leave behind? I actually kind of like this stuff.”

I giggled and headed back to the fridge to bring back the rest. “He left behind a six pack. Enjoy!”

“I’ll drink this one in his honor,” he teased, screwing off the cap.

“Ready for the movie?” I was actually looking forward to watching it. It had been a hot minute since I’d last watched Newsies, and it was once something I used to loop on repeat.

Ox extended his bowl of popcorn in my direction and gave it a shake. “Why don’t you hit me with some more of that hot sauce. It goes well with my beer.”

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