Page 78 of Kismet

“I know, I know. It’s not like that, or whatever it is you insist on saying. But… it kind of is. The way you guys are around each other—”

“Is friendly.”

“Riiiight. He can’t take his eyes off you, Stone. He’s looked over here at least four times in the last fifteen minutes.”

Rolling my eyes, I scoff. “He has not.”

“Yes, he has. C’mon, let’s head outside now. I want some s’mores.”

I dry my hands before we all make our way out back. The backyard of this place is enormous. It’s gotta be almost as big as the entire first level of the inside.

Mak is getting the firepit started and Julian is turning on the music. With the sun setting, the sky is a glowing cotton candy mix of pinks and oranges. I turn my attention to Cash and Kylie. They’re both still chatting with Cyanide and Doc. Doc has his arm around Kylie’s shoulders. They’ve been flirting all afternoon, and it’s been funny as hell to watch.

He normally doesn’t give any chick the time of day. He’s a very serious guy, so seeing him laugh and joke with them is endearing. Plus, it seems like Kylie has taken a liking to him too.

She’s nice, and I’ve yet to see her not smiling. I can see why Cash is friends with her. He said they met back at WSU, and they used to hang out all the time together with his old roommate—and ex-boyfriend—Xander. He’s never mentioned Xander being his ex, and I sure as shit am not going to bring it up. That would be an admission of my internet stalking, and I’m good with all that.

Cash’s head turns toward me, a smile splitting his face as he catches me watching them. Without another word to them, he gets up, sauntering toward me, and I can’t peel my eyes away from him. I’m still amazed that he even agreed to come tonight. I really didn’t think he would. This is different than at work, and it’s different than grabbing drinks during the week. This is my territory and my people, and he said yes anyway.

And everyone loves him. He’s so naturally extraverted, always making friends easily. There’s never any awkward shyness. It’s like he fits right in here, and it makes me feel much better than it should. It doesn’t matter if he fits in here, because we can’t ever be anything more than this… friends. He’d never allow that. I hurt him once, and I can’t see him allowing me in again.

He stops when he’s about a foot away from me, his eyes glassy and his cheeks flushed. “What’re ya thinking about?”

His question throws me off. “Why do you ask?”

“Because you have this serious face on… your serious professor face that I haven’t seen for years. So, what’s on your mind, Dean Philips?”

His eyes darken when he asks me that, and my pulse races in my ears. There’s something so sensual about the way he says my name, and it never fails to heat my blood.

“I was just thinking how easily you fit in here.”

“You think so?” He lifts his solo cup up to his lips, and when his Adam’s apple bobs on a swallow, my gaze tracks the movement, causing my mouth to water. Fuck, what I’d give to run my tongue along his throat, sink my teeth into his neck, and make him cry out with a mix of pleasure and pain so good it’d make his cock twitch in his jeans.

Nodding my head once, I reply, “I do.”

The night air crackles around us, and the tension is thick—almost suffocating. A brazen need washes over me, curling around every limb before taking root deep inside me, and it’s all I can do to not reach out and grab him.

“Well, I’m glad you invited me.” His deep, smooth voice comes out husky, and my dick takes notice.

“I’m glad you decided to come.”

We sit in this intensifying bubble together, where we don’t say anything, don’t make any move to separate or get closer. We simply just exist together. And I feel something between us shifting even more as we do.

His tongue dips out, wetting his lips, before he says four words that threaten to knock me off my feet. “Show me the upstairs.”

My pulse soars, the sound almost deafening in my ears. “You’re sure?”

He tugs that damn bottom lip between his teeth as he nods his head once, starting toward the back door. With a racing heart and shaky limbs, I turn on my heel to catch up with him. If I thought the air was thick before, it’s got nothing on how I’m feeling now.

I can’t let myself get lost in thoughts of whatthisis, and what it could mean. I need Cash in any way he’s willing to let me have him.

Nobody is inside as we walk through the back door, and like two men on a mission, we make a beeline for the stairs at the end of the hall. Neither of us speaks, but the energy between us says everything that needs to be said. This is years of tension, years of longing, years of desire, all unleashing between us.

As soon as my feet hit the top of the stairs, he’s on me. His body crowds mine as he shoves me against the wall, lips descending on mine with fervor. It has beenyearssince my lips have felt the pressure of his, but it’s like no time has passed. His lips mold to mine—move with mine—like they’re meant to be there. My lips part and his tongue dips inside, tasting me quickly, before he breaks the kiss, stepping back.

For a moment, I’m worried he’s putting a stop to this already. But then he looks at me, eyes dazed and hooded, lips glistening, and says, “Take me to one of the rooms, Stone.”

Don’t gotta tell me twice.

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