Page 58 of Jacked
He blushes a little, still not looking up from his plate. I feel like I’m missing something, but I can’t put my finger on what. I run the question through my head again, but I can’t pick out any deeper meaning from it.
“Cool,” he murmurs.
“Cool,” I echo, scooting a little closer just so I have the excuse to lean against him, our backs against the lower cabinets, our asses going numb on the cold floor.
Nolan’s warning to guard my heart sounds in the back of my head again, but I think it’s already too late. AJ can break me if he wants to. I hope he doesn’t, but if he does, this moment will still be more than worth it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
AJ
“Hey,”I say in a low voice, sidling up next to Silas. It’s taken me three days to work up the balls to ask for some advice, and seeing Silas alone at the front desk was the final push I needed. As supportive as Butch and Fender have been, I think I’d rather get Silas’s calmer, more levelheaded input if I can.
“What’s up?” He looks up from the client paperwork he’s filing.
“Can I get your advice?” I lean my shoulder against the wall behind the desk and shove my hands into the pockets of my shorts.
Sweat isn’t busy this afternoon, but the comforting clang of weight machines in use and the steady whir of a treadmill nearby keep it from being too quiet.
“Advice?” Silas repeats, pushing the papers aside and swiveling fully in the chair to face me. It’s almost comical how big he is compared to the chair, like one wrong move might make the whole thing crumble underneath him. “You thinking about diving into strongman?”
That question draws me up short for a second. I actually hadn’t thought about that, but he’s shown me a couple of videos of the competitions, and it does seem pretty damn cool.
“Maybe, but that’s not what I wanted to ask about.”
Silas stares at me blankly for a second, and then a smile cracks over his normally stoic face.
“Ah. You’re looking for advice about gay shit.”
I snort a laugh. “Basically, yeah.”
“Alright, well, big disclaimer, if you’re looking for datingadvice I’m probably not your best bet. My sex life is the Sahara Desert at the moment.”
“Seriously?” I look him up and down, lingering for just a second on his thick thighs and the tattoos wrapped artfully around his muscled arms. He’s objectively hot. That I’m able to recognize that gives me a pleasant jolt of affirmation about my sexuality. Yeah, Slater does it for me big-time, and I like him on a lot of different levels, but my attraction to men doesn’t live and die with him.
Silas chuckles and scratches his beard, twisting the chair back and forth just a half inch either way with the rocking of his legs.
“Yeah, but I don’t think you came all the way over to the desk just to hear the sad details of my latest dry spell. So, are you wanting the finer points of anal sex or something else?”
I sputter a laugh. “I’ve had anal sex. You know that’s not exclusive to gay dudes, right?”
“I know that,” he says patiently. “I wasn’t sure if you did.”
“I’m good with that.” I still haven’t worked out if I’m only into giving or if I’d be open to being on the receiving end too, but that’s not something I need Silas to weigh in on. “It’s about dating. Like, actualdating.”
“You’ve got a date with Slater?” he guesses.
My stomach squirms anxiously. There it is, the thing that’s been bugging me for the past couple of days. “I asked him on a date… but I think I did it wrong.”
Silas frowns and strokes his beard again. “You think you did it wrong? How?”
“I don’t know, it just didn't seem like he got it, you know?” I shift my feet and pull my hands out of my pockets to cross my arms.
“I am obsessed with this.” Fender pops his head around the corner without warning, making me nearly jump out of my skin.
“Holy shit, were you lurking back there eavesdropping?” I ask with a laugh.
He ignores the question and slips past me so he can plant his ass on the desk with a grin. “Tell us exactly what happened so we can weigh in.”
