Page 9 of Touch In Excess

“Fuck appropriate.” Skye settled his arms around Rami’s waist and tugged him close. His body was warm—Christ, it wasso warm. And he smelled like jasmine. Not the actual flower, but the kind that came in lotion bottles.

For some reason, the thought of Rami putting on jasmine lotion made Skye grin.

“That was nice,” Rami said after pulling back. He was hunched in on himself, and his body was tense, but he was smiling. It only lasted a second though. His gaze cut to the car, and his face fell at the sight of Avan.

He wasn’t an intimidating guy. Not like Stone or King. He had tattoos, but they were always covered by his long-sleeve shirts. He had short, shaggy hair and wore black-framed glasses and had a sort of nerd vibe to him.

But there was also something imposing about him. His expression was always stoic, his eyes deep-set and piercing. He embodied his sin in ways that Skye never quite felt like he did, and he radiated pride.

It tended to affect the people around him, and Skye felt a sudden urge to wrap himself around Rami to keep him from feeling nervous.

“His name is Avan. He’s one of my best friends. We work together,” Skye said carefully, hoping Rami wouldn’t ask just yet. He would tell him the truth when he did. He hated liars, and he wasn’t about to become one of them.

Rami turned to face him. ‘I’ve seen his picture before.’

Skye bit his lip to keep back his huge grin. “Honey, not to disappoint you, but Avan knows ASL.”

Rami blinked in surprise, then rolled his eyes. “I should have assumed if he’s your best friend.”

“It’s okay.” Skye could see Avan’s head turned to hide his laugh. “But we’ll have to give up secret conversations until we get to the restaurant.” He extended his hand and threaded their fingers together when Rami took it.

Pulling him to the car, he opened the back door and climbed in. Rami stood awkwardly, then dipped his head low. “You don’t want to sit in the front seat?”

“He’d rather sit with you. He’s tired of looking at my face,” Avan chimed in.

Rami slid in and frowned. “That’s weird. You have a really nice face.”

Skye held his breath to hold back a bubble of laughter, though he couldn’t keep himself from taking Rami’s hand again. He homed in on him, feeling for any kind of tension, but Rami seemed happy with the contact.

“Driver, to the restaurant,” Skye ordered.

“Fuck off,” Avan said with a laugh, but he put the car in reverse and backed out into the street.

Rami was quiet for the first couple of minutes, and then he turned to Skye and asked, “So, are you a prostitute too?”

It took Avan a second to right the car from his swerve after Rami asked the question. Skye’s ears were ringing, and his head was spinning from the shock, but it settled after a beat and didn’t turn into a whole vertigo spell. His throat felt thick, and he wondered for a second if this was a trap.

His friends had suffered from attacks in the past—Jet taking the worst of it from his client who turned into a violent stalker. But when he looked at Rami—really looked at him—his eyes were wide and curious.

He cleared his throat and managed to unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth. “Um.”

“I’m sorry. Was that the wrong thing to say? I’m not sure what the appropriate title for your job is.”

Skye took a beat, then said, “I guess that works. Technically. But our jobs are a little more complicated than prostitution implies.”

Rami’s face did something complicated, like he was processing Skye’s words, and then he nodded. “Okay. What do you call yourselves?”

“Sins,” Skye said.

Rami’s lips twitched, and then he laughed. “Because the seven deadly sins. I get it.”

“Are you a client?” Avan asked sharply.

Rami’s brows flew up. “Oh.No. No, I’m not…” His voice dropped to a whisper, and Skye had to read his words off his lips. “I don’t have that kind of money.” He looked ashamed, and Skye suddenly felt a rush of guilt.

“Avan’s only asking because we’re not used to people who aren’t clients knowing us. At least not the people who live outside of our neighborhood. And some of the guys have had stalkers, so we have to be cautious.”

“Oh. I understand that. People can be really invasive. They think if you work in the sex industry, they have a right to your body and you can’t have a say in what they take.”

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