Page 9 of Just Between Us
I should say no but it’s cold and it’s still pouring rain outside. I can hear the wind over the music, and I don’t want to brave the elements whilst tipsy and having a crisis about finding my boss and his partner hot.
I should say no.
“That’s okay,” I say. “I can call an Uber.”
Levi looks confused. “Why would you do that when we’re offering?”
The Uber would be expensive, and I’d be drenched by the time I got to the nearest station. I should refuse their offer, but I don’t. I tell myself it’s because I don’t want to spend more money than necessary or catch a cold, so I nod. Once. Then again.
“Yeah, that would be great. Thank you.”
I thank God my flat with Jenna is only about a fifteen-minute drive from here.
Cole’s lips turn up in a smile and he slides off the stool, before holding out his hand to Levi who follows. It’s interesting to see. Levi does not strike me in any way as the kind of guy who needs help to get off a bar stool. He’s over six feet tall, and he looks like he works out plus he’s covered in tattoos.
There’s nothing dainty about him but from the two times I’ve seen him around Cole, he doesn’t seem to mind that Cole grabs his hair or neck or holds out his hand to make sure he doesn’t fall off a bar stool.
It’s sweet.
A swirl of jealousy runs through me but I’m not sure who I’m jealous of exactly. Cole or Levi? I shake my head as we head out of the bar and into the rain. Connor waves at us as he rushes to his Uber.
“I parked just down here,” Cole says, taking Levi’s hand and walking down the street. Levi shoots me a look and like a puppy I follow behind, letting the rain pelt me. Maybe it can clear my mind.
Cole’s car is a black Mercedes G-Wagon. I can’t see it in the rain, but it still looks customised, the lights casting a glow over the street when he unlocks the doors.
Kenny loved cars. He always talked about buying himself an expensive one like this. I pause, I rarely think of Kenny. I buried him somewhere in the back of my mind but sometimes he rears his head, always there to remind me of the scars he left.
“Kai?” Levi’s voice is gentle.
My eyes snap to him and he’s looking at me. Cole is holding open the door for me. I shake my head.
“Uh, thanks,” I say quickly, sliding into the plush leather of the car.
A wave of a similar scent to Levi’s hits my nose. I fight the urge to breathe it in. They smell the same.
I tell Cole my address, trying my best not to sound nervous. I don’t even know why I’m nervous, but I am and it’s annoying as hell. I’m not the nervous type at all and I know I need to get it together, but I don’t understand what’s been going on in my head since I met Levi. It’s like I can’t string a single normal thought when he’s around. Add Cole to the mix and I’m basically useless.
When they drop me off, I rush upstairs, desperate for a shower. Jenna is sitting on the couch, watching a Netflix show. She glances up at me as I slip off my shoes.
“Why do you look like that?”
I frown. “Like what?”
“All flustered like.”
I swallow thickly. Is it that noticeable? But I relax, telling myself Jenna knows me better than anyone. Of course, she’d notice this.
“I think I’m just cold. I need a shower.”
“I made dinner!” she shouts as I head to the bathroom.
“Thank you!” I call back but I don’t think I can eat anything tonight. My stomach is twisting and turning.
When I finally stand under the shower, I let the scalding hot water run down my body for a good five minutes. I close my eyes and like the rebel it is, my brain takes me back to Mulligans, to Cole and Levi.
Images of Cole gripping the hair at the back of Levi’s head and kissing him softly flash before my eyes. Images of Cole looking at me with those jade-coloured eyes, like he could read everything I was thinking have my head spinning, and I barely notice as my hand moves from my stomach and down to my dick.
I let out a quiet hiss as I grip it. I haven’t jerked off in a while, but everyone needs a release, I reason. Yet when I picture them kissing each other, I know I’m positively fucked. I explode in my hand, letting out a choked moan.