Page 17 of Touch In Excess

“You’re going to deprive us of firsthand gossip?” Jet asked, his tone offended.

Skye laughed and pushed away from him. “You’ll get plenty, and you know it. But, um…I want this, you know? For myself? Just for a little while.”

Jet’s face sobered, and he reached for Skye again. “Come back here. I need cuddles, and Taylor has a migraine.”

Skye settled against him again and let out a happy sigh. “Does that make me wildly selfish?”

“Wildly? No. Normal levels of selfish, which you’re allowed to be. You do know that, right? That you’re allowed to be selfish?”

He did know. Of course he knew. Skye was hardly the most moral guy of the group. He had a bad temper and didn’t care much for strangers. He wasn’t ever going to be the first person to smile at someone in a grocery store line, and he only held the door open for people so he didn’t get dirty looks after he let it slam shut.

But he didn’t always feel right about focusing on himself. He knew it was likely because of his job. He spent so much time being paid to ensure that one person’s needs were being met far above his own that sometimes it bled into his life.

That was a hard line to draw in the sand, he realized. Especially because unlike the others, he hadn’t dated in so, so long. He’d almost forgotten what it was like to have a life outside of the Tower walls.

“You’re quiet again,” Jet said.

Skye took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, turning his head to the side to look at the stars through a gap in the tree line. “Sorry. I was just thinking about how easy it is to forget that I’m a whole person outside of work.”

Jet’s arms tightened around him. “I know how you feel.”

Of course he did. All the Sins did. Even the ones who’d fallen in love sometimes forgot they were allowed to take time for themselves. That was probably the hardest part about the job. At least, for Skye, it was.

“How do you and Taylor do it when it gets all muddled for you?”

Jet hummed softly, stroking a touch up and down the top of Skye’s arm. “When I get lost, sometimes he has to come find me. But he’s been really good at navigating those moments. He’s also learned when to back off. When a client is too much, he used to get a little pushy and insert himself into my space. I think he thought that he could replace them with himself—with someone I loved. That was our biggest growing pain.”

Skye didn’t think that would be his issue with Rami—assuming it would get that far. He was jumping way ahead, considering they hadn’t had a second date yet.

“I just need to remind myself that this isn’t a race. I don’t need to catch up with all of you.”

Jet tipped his face down, smiling. “Is that what you’ve been thinking?”

“No. Not…not really. Well, maybe a little,” he amended. “But the truth is, I wasn’t expecting to meet anyone. I was on a run, and the next thing I knew, I was upside down in his front yard, and there he was.”

Jet laughed. “That’s how it seems to go. I was bored and decided to walk the mall, and the next thing I knew, I wasposing as Daredevil for some kid I’d never met. I didn’t expect love to come on the heels of that little trip.”

“But here you are,” Skye said softly.

Jet leaned down and kissed his temple. “Whatever this ends up being, you’re going to be okay. You know that, right?”

“Yeah. Trust me,” Skye said, “I’m not worried about that. I’m happy here. But it would be nice if it turned into something. Even if that something isn’t a happily ever after.”

But he was lying. The words were acrid on the edges of his tongue. He really liked Rami. It felt special. He was feeling almost possessive, and he knew that if things fell apart after they really got started, he’d be entirely and completely crushed.

“So you met a guy,” Skye said to Hen, leaning over his desk.

Hen raised a brow at him, his head tilting, making the glitter on his eyelids sparkle in the light. “I met a guy?”

“Hypothetically,” Skye said. “Say you met some guy. A really hot guy?—”

“I have a guy,” Hen said.

Skye groaned. “Work with me here.”

Hen’s eyes widened, and then he laughed. “Sorry, honey. Go on. I met a guy.”

“A very hot guy,” Skye clarified again. “He’s not like most people you’ve been on dates with. You tried dinner once, but you ended up making out in the park instead because neither one of you wants to just sit at a table and eat.”

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