Page 72 of Still Bruised
Jude
Meet me in the alley beside the shop at 9 tonight. Your next payment is due.
Foster grinned and tossed his phone and the roast onto the seat beside him before glancing back at the shop. He pulled away, ready for the sun to go down.
Jude saton the bottom step, glancing at his watch for the hundredth time. Nine-twenty-five. Where was Foster? He’d seemed eager to pay for his sins, so what was taking him so long? Jude rose and opened the front door, peeking out. There stood Foster, his back to Jude.
“Foster,”Jude whispered hotly.
Foster spun and cocked his head to the side.“Oh.There you are.”
“Why didn’t you knock?”
Foster closed the gap between them. “You said to meet in the alley, so I waited in the alley. I’ve been standing here for thirty minutes.”
“Did you not see the door?”
“I didn’t know whose it was. You might’ve had a tenant or something,” Foster replied.
“Or something.”Jude rolled his eyes and stepped back to let Foster through. “Upstairs.”
On Foster passed, Jude glanced outside to see if anyone was watching before closing the door and following him up. His view the whole way was that fine ass and two muscled thighs. He had to remind himself he was pissed and to not let Foster’s vibe cause him to forget.
After sleeping over—by accident, of course—he’d wanted to establish some boundaries. Boundaries Foster seemed to leap over with barely an attempt. Waiting two weeks to ride that cock again had been torture, but he’d wanted Foster to understand that Jude controlled when and where. If he’d rushed back into Foster’s bed, he’d have looked weak.
No way was he going to look weak.
Then the fucker had shown up, and he’d lost his willpower completely.
They were supposed to fuck onhisschedule, not Foster’s.
Foster whistled once upstairs. “Nice place.”
“Thanks.”
“You live alone?”
“I do,” Jude replied.
Foster scanned the living space. “I noticed the shop got a major upgrade since the last time I remember being there. It looks really great.”
Jude eyed him. “Asking if I lived alone was pertinent to your task. The rest isn’t.” He searched Foster’s face, irritated by the hint of a smile there. “Nor do I care about your opinions of me or my property.”
The hint of a smile was soon gone, and Jude felt a bit guilty for being harsh. He reminded himself once more not to let Foster wriggle under his skin. Just because Foster appeared eager to get to know him, they werenotgoing to be a thing.
It was sex and sex alone. Nothing more.
“Wecanbe civil with one another, can’t we?” Foster asked.
“Stay in your lane and there’s no reason for unpleasantness. Cross the line and you’ll be corrected.”
“Noted,” Foster murmured. He searched Jude’s face. “You shaved.”
Jude scrubbed at his bare chin. “I’ve been lazy. It was time to get it cleaned up.”
“I like it,” Foster whispered. “I enjoy being able to see your handsome face.”
Jude clenched his jaw, hating how that statement affected him.
