Page 67 of Burn It Down

“Anything.”

Damn, I think my sister actually has the hots for my boyfr…fuck…my…friend.

“Grab a picture of us?”

My heart stops in my chest.

“Of course,” my sister replies. Too stunned to speak up, Cassie does it for me. “Dyl, hand me your phone. I’ll take one with yours too.”

“Oh, uh, sure.” The coy smile she’s wearing tells me she knows I’m dancing on the inside.

I stand with my feet shoulder width apart and clasp my hands together in front of my crotch, tilting my head slightly toward Jake, somehow managing to keep my expression neutral. To my surprise, Jake wraps his right arm around my waist and shoves his left hand in his pocket, a closed-lipped, confident, GQ smile on his face.

“Dyl, this isn’t your headshot for acceptance into the mafia. Relax. Mirror Jake.Smile.”

While slightly embarrassed, I appreciate her directing me to touch him more. When I wrap my arm loosely around his waist, he grips mine tighter, forcing me into his side.

Smile in place, I whisper through my teeth so only Jake can hear me. “You’re making this harder than it already is.”

“I disagree,” he whispers back. “It’s already as hard as it can get.”

Knowing he’s talking about his dick, a half-snort/half-groan escapes from between my lips.

Cassie snaps the photos on both phones and hands them back to us. I catch my dad leaning against the doorframe that leads to the kitchen and I recognize the concern in his eyes. I wish I could say it wasn’t warranted, but we both know it is.

“Have fun tonight,” is all he says.

Jake leans in to give Cassie a hug goodbye.

“God, you smell good, too. Why can’t straight guys give half as much of a fuck about how they look and smell? Hones—” she clamps her hand over her mouth as Jake turns to look at me. The only thing different on his features is the slight raise of his brows.

I hold my hands up. “Don’t look at me, she had you pegged way before I did.”

“Interesting choice of words,” he deadpans.

“Jake, it’s true,” Cassie starts. “I mean Dyl and I basically share a brain anyway, but we’ve had a lot of customers over the years and the only ones who look at my brother like you do, are, well, the ones who want to see him naked.”

“Cassie!” Our dad bellows, pushing off the doorframe, finally coming into the living room. “Have some class, woman.” Turning to Jake my father says, “Look, Jacob, we appreciate your situation is troubled at best. Your secret is safe with us and you’re always welcome here, but you need to figure out your intentions with Dylan before he gets his heart broken again.”

I can’t believe this is happening.

“Okay, I think we should go.” I flash a look of annoyance at my family before turning back to Jake. “That is, if you even stillwant me to go.” I know they’re only trying to help, but not only is this new, Jake and I are still trying to figure out what the fuck is going on without these two adding the pressure of a timeline.

Jake scrubs a hand down his face. “No, he’s right, Dylan. And of course, I still want you to come with me.” Looking back at my dad, Jake blows out a breath. “To be honest, sir, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, but the last thing I want is to hurt Dylan. This is new to me and at the moment, I’m unable to extricate myself from my current relationship so that I can pursue your son freely, but I’m determined to find a solution.

My dad nods, satisfied for the moment, and Jake and I head out to the Corvette.

“Jesus Christ, I’m sorry about that.”

“Exactly how many of your customers want to see you naked?” he grumbles, causing me to laugh.

“Don’t listen to my sister.”

“Well, she was right about me and I’ve been hiding it for years.”

“It doesn’t matter who wants to see me naked because no one’s going to,” I answer, trying to reassure him.

We open our doors and slide into the seats. Jake starts the car, but then leans over the barely-there console, supporting his body weight on his right elbow and cups my face with his left hand. “Since the cat’s out of the bag anyway and I have to behave myself the rest of the night, can I kiss you? Just once?”

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