Page 28 of Stick By Me

“Okay.” He chewed his thumbnail, then sucked in a breath and patted the cushion next to him. “Come over here and sit with me. This is a date, right?”

“Yeah?” I shimmied out of my seat, then joined him on his, gliding my drinks to the other side of the table.

“There, that’s better, isn’t it?” He slid his arm over the back of the seat, behind me.

I edged into his side, his body heat shivering over me and waking my cock. “Yeah, this is much better.”

The waiter did a double take of us, then dropped off our food and left.

“Do you suppose the waiter was a little shocked?” Leo tore open his chop sticks, then poured soy sauce into a small bowl.

“Maybe, but do we care?” I mixed wasabi into my soy sauce with my wooden chopsticks. Leo probably wasn’t used to the odd looks you sometimes got with a gay date.

“No, I don’t care.” He chuckled. “Maybe he had his eye on you and was disappointed to see we were together.” He dunked a slice of salmon into his soy sauce mixture. “I know my brother was bullied some in high school, but he never let that shit get to him.” He ate his sashimi.

“Then don’t let it get to you.” Leaning in, I kissed his cheek. I should start showing him how great a real date with a guy could be.

“I won’t.” He ticked his head, then drank some sake. “This isnice, Archer.” He hugged me to his side. “I have to admit, being with you like this…well, it feels right.”

Turning my head, I gazed deeply into his brown eyes, the overhead lamp lighting up gold flecks in them. Warmth wrapped around my heart. “It feels right for me, too.”

Dunking a colorful roll into his soy sauce mixture, he said, “Truthfully, I thought about you a lot the last two weeks.” He popped the roll into his mouth.

“You did?” I fought to keep a smile from erupting over my lips. This date thing must be working.

“Yeah, I kept wondering what you were doing, and if you were thinking about me.” He held a roll to his face, turning it in his chopsticks.

“I was probably studying or practicing and yes, I was thinking about you.” I turned to face him and cupped his cheek with my hand. “In fact, I thought about you a lot.” Maybe more than was good for me. Leaning in, I pressed my mouth to his.

He parted his lips and snuck his tongue out to tangle with mine, slanting his mouth and deepening the kiss.

My cock tingled and my jeans grew tight. We shouldn’t make out in the restaurant. I broke the kiss.

He locked his gaze to mine. “You’re doing a number on me, Archer.” He put his forehead on mine and shut his eyes for a beat. “I want you to know that.”

My heart bloomed with emotion. Right now, none of the other bullshit mattered. I had him and maybe we could figure this out. “Good, because, well…same.” I lifted my head.

“Let’s eat up and go back to your place.” He drank down some sake. “I don’t care what your roommates think.” He adjusted his jeans.

I peeked down at his crotch. He was as hard as I was. Even better.

CHAPTER NINE

LEO

After parking on the street in front of Archer’s house, I met him on the front porch, my heart pounding in my chest. I was really doing this, hooking up with him. But it didn’t feel like a hookup, not after our date, not after keeping in touch while he was out of town and all the little check-in text messages we’d sent over the last few weeks.

He unlocked and opened his front door, swinging it slowly open, then peeked inside. “Looks like everyone is out or in their rooms studying.” He stepped inside.

I followed him in and shut the door behind me, my dick on high alert. I hadn’t thought to ask him if he topped or bottomed or what, and I hadn’t told him I’d never actually had anal with a guy. It didn’t seem like proper dinner conversation. I took a quick scan of their living room. There was an old green couch and matching chairs with oak tables and a wooden dinette that had probably been popular back in the 1980s. A lone lamp on one of the side tables lit the room. All hand me downs, probably.

Holding my hand, he led me to the left and down a dark hallway. Muffled rock music played from behind one of the doors. He ducked inside an open door and flicked on a nightstand lamp next to his bed. “Come in.”

I stepped inside. “Is this your room?” These guys were pretty quiet for being college boys, but then, I knew they had full days of classes, practice and workouts.

A soft click sounded as he shut the door. “Leo.” His throat dipped as he swallowed, his dark eyes wide under his wavy blond bangs.

“Yeah.” I walked to him and brushed my fingers up and down his arms, my dick swelling with anticipation.

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