Page 21 of Rough Heat

“No,” Josh said, keeping his hand on Leo’s chest but taking another step away. “Fuck, sorry, we weren’t actually planning on doing anything.…We just wanted to spend time with you, really.”

Leo snorted out a laugh. “I mean, I was fully part of initiating that. If you guys wanna have sex, of course I can—”

Damon cut him off. “No, it’s okay. Uh, shit, I totally got carried away. Your neck…”

Damon’s hand fell away as Leo lifted his, pressing against the sore skin. The ache made a shiver run through him, eyelids fluttering, but he kept himself together. “It’s okay. I said yes.”

Damon seemed uncertain but didn’t argue.

Josh took a deep breath, letting it out with a wobbly smile. “How about we cool off? We still need to make this lasagne. I’m kinda starving.”

Leo nodded, grateful for the out. He couldn’t make sense of why he’d freaked out while kissing them, why his body had become weirdly overwhelmed, his heart racing too hard to handle.

It took a while for the awkwardness of trying to will away boners to dissipate, but by the time they were constructing the lasagne, they were back to teasing each other gleefully.

Leo watched Damon complete the last layer. “A lot of béchamel, huh?”

Damon shrugged, shooting Josh a look. “This one is obsessed. Whenever we go to a restaurant, he asks if the lasagne has béchamel and refuses to eat it if it doesn’t.”

Josh scoffed. “Well, why would you do that to a lasagne? Huh? Defiling it like that…”

Leo laughed. “O-kay. I actually make mine with a cheese sauce.”

Josh groaned dramatically. “That’s perverse. What’s wrong with you?”

“Cheese is good,” Leo defended.

“Béchamel is superior. You’ll see.”

The truth was, the lasagne turned out delicious. Leo couldn’t help but make a pleased noise at the first forkful, even though it was just on the side of too hot. “Shit, this is good.”

Josh smirked. “Told ya. Don’t doubt me again.”

Leo nodded sombrely. “Never again. I don’t even know another dish that uses béchamel.”

“Oh,” Damon butted in, “I make him this thing which is literally just puff pastry filled with béchamel. I mean, it has cubes of ham, but it’s mostly béchamel.”

Josh closed his eyes and moaned. “And it’s delicious.”

Leo hummed. “I’ll make that for my sister, see what the verdict is.”

“You close with your family?” Josh asked.

Usually, Leo had a prepared answer—enough to satisfy the client without giving too many details. A ‘They’re all right. Family, you know? How about you?’ People loved to talk about themselves—it was the best way to change the subject.

This time, though, Leo found himself being more honest than usual. “Just my sister, really. Mom died when I was young. Don’t really get along with my dad.”

“That’s cool you have your sister,” Josh said. “We’re both single children, so we don’t know anything about sharing.”

Leo smirked a little. “I mean, you guys seem to share just fine to me…”

Josh blushed. “Okay, shut up. You’re just easy to share with, is all.”

Now it was Leo’s turn to flush. “Oh, yeah? Thanks.”

“Don’t get a big head about it. What’s your sister like?”

“Oh, she’s…protective. Kind, but tough. Incredibly smart—she’s a lawyer. Public defendant.”

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