Page 86 of In Plain Sight

13

LUKA

The panic setin as soon as my orgasm started to fade.

What had I done? What hadwedone?

I’d spent the last few hours in my apartment freaking out and trying to figure out what I was supposed to do now that I knew Zander and Nice were the same person.

That I’d unknowingly sexted with not only my friend, but my coworker.

I knew I had to tell him, even though a part of me wanted to just delete my profile on Kinksters and pretend like Nice/Zander hadn’t taken me apart and brought me to my knees with just his words. To ignore how we’d listened to each other come or that I’d shared stuff I’d never told anyone.

But I couldn’t do that. Zander wasn’t just some guy on an app. He was my friend. And more than that, we worked together. There was no way in hell I could show up to the shop on Monday and pretend everything was fine when it felt like my entire world was crumbling around me.

I didn’t even remember making the decision to come to Zander’s house. One minute I was pacing across my living room and wearing a hole in my carpet, and the next I was hurryingdown the path that connected his street with my parking lot. There was no plan for when he opened the door; I just needed to see him.

“Luka?” Zander’s soft voice broke through my thoughts before I could start spiraling again.

“Hmmmm?” I pressed my face against his neck, not quite ready to face reality.

Strong hands rubbed circles over my back. “Are you okay?”

I let out a choked laugh. “I have no idea.”

“Do you want to come in for a bit?” He tightened his arms around me in a reassuring hug.

I nodded against his neck.

He pressed a kiss against my temple. “Whenever you’re ready.”

With a sigh, I reluctantly pulled away from him. I wasn’t looking forward to this conversation, but it needed to happen.

We took a moment to put our dicks away, then Zander motioned for me to follow him into the house.

I glanced around, taking in the small space as we walked through a short hallway that held a coat closet and what I assumed was the door to the garage. Beyond that was a staircase that led to the second floor and what looked like a living room, only it was set up like a library with bookshelves, reading lights, and big, squashy chair.

Past that was a small dining room that was empty except for a pool table and another living area that had a couch, a coffee table, an easy chair, and a TV. A door in the living room opened up into the backyard, and another door led to a kitchen.

There were a few paintings and several black-and-white photo prints on the walls, but other than that, there wasn’t much decor or personalization.

Zander paused when we were in the middle of the living area and raked a hand through his hair nervously. “Do you wantanything from the kitchen? I don’t have much, but I’ve got beer, wine, water, and soda.”

“Maybe some water?” I asked, feeling as shy as he looked.

“Have a seat.” He motioned toward the couch. “I’ll be right back.”

Still feeling completely off-kilter from my confession and the mind-bending orgasm I’d just had, I parked my ass on one side of his sofa while he went into the kitchen. A moment later he returned with two bottles of water.

He sat on the other side of the couch and handed me one.

We sat there for a good thirty seconds, toying with our water bottles and not looking at each other.

“I have no idea what to say right now,” I confessed.

“Me either.” He toyed with the label on his bottle, picking at it and smoothing the pad of his finger over the raised edge. The move didn’t seem agitated, more distracted. “Did you figure it out today?” he asked after a lengthy pause. “About me being…”

“Yeah.” I ran my nail over the tiny bumps in the bottle cap nervously. “When I sent Nice…you that meme.”

---