Page 35 of Promised Secret
He grabbed one of the stopwatches we had lying around to time the five-minute hugs. I watched Jones set the clock accordingly and wait until Dan came into my arms to start it.
“He’s plotting something, I just know it,” Dan rested his chin on my shoulder and muttered. His hot breath tickled the hair at the nape of my neck.
Our friends hooted and hollered, calling out for us to hug each other tighter.
“Looking hot!” Sam called with a snicker. “Literally and figuratively!”
“What’s going on over here?” a peppy voice asked.
I turned my head to see Atlas coming under the tent to where our friends were. Ryan filled him in. A stony-faced Hector followed at Atlas’ side.
Hector owned the diner in town, and Atlas was the waiter he’d reluctantly hired. I was surprised to see them here together, since Hector rarely left the diner. I couldn’t remember the last time he’d closed it for even a morning.
“Making two large, sexy men hug? Sounds like my idea of a good time. Count me in!” Atlas piped up as he placed money on the table.
Hector followed suit, and I swore I saw a faint blush tinting his cheeks under his facial hair. He let out anawkward cough and commented, “For the kids’ playground.”
As if opening the floodgates, the people who had only been watching curiously earlier stopped by the table with their own contribution to the clock.
Carol accepted the money, looking almost giddy at the donations that were rolling in.
Jones beamed.
“Hear that? You’re now at an hour!” he hooted and adjusted the timer.
“Fuckers. They want us to melt into a pile of sweat,” Dan muttered, but his hold on me got even tighter. “Don’t worry, they’ll get bored eventually and leave. We only have to hang on until then.”
“Oh no, you don’t! Even if we’re gone, Carol will be here to make sure you do the time. Isn’t that right?” Jones said with his nose pointed toward the sky.
Carol nodded enthusiastically. “We can’t cheat them out of their hard-earned donations,” she said, eyes peering at Dan and me.
A shiver ran through me from her gaze. I could practically see dollar signs in her eyes as she looked at us like she was seeing the next big moneymaker.
My instincts were proven correct when, at the next second, she started broadcasting this as an event, explaining to the passing audience that they could extend the time of our hug by making a big donation.
I didn’t think anyone would care to donate to such aridiculous reason. I mean, who wanted to see two men hugging?
Apparently, I either knew nothing about what people wanted, or this was some weird small-town quirk, because suddenly Dan and I were on the clock for two hours.
Our friends, those evil bastards, were cackling off to the side of us. Jones gleefully added time to our stopwatch. Frederick was busy hugging the donors who weren’t laughing at our expense, but I still caught him shooting a smirk our way.
“Don’t worry. I’ll leave an empty water bottle here in case you need to piss,” Jones said so very unhelpfully.
“I hate you,” Dan hissed. His arms tightened around me, and the movement caused his head to nuzzle against the crook of my neck.
I stifled the moan that wanted to escape me at how his hands wandered around my back.
I was suddenly very aware of howintimately Dan was pressed against me. My skin ended where his started.
This close, I could smell the scent of the medicinal herbs that seemed to have seeped into his skin from all his years of studying TCM. That mixed with the sweat and heady scent that lay underneath had me feeling almost lightheaded.
The heat was the only explanation for why my heartbeat kicked up. Or the blood that was quickly rushing downwards.
My body stiffened. I looked out toward the crowd that was still watching us to remind myself that we were surrounded by our entire fucking town, and Icould notget a boner right now.
“You okay?” Dan’s question tickled my ear.
Another shiver passed through me as his hand slid down my spine.
