Page 58 of Inevitable
“I interviewed for the position of a summer intern,” Ezra said. “I highly doubt it gives me any grounds to become a stuck-up douche. At least not yet.”
Bas stepped closer. “But you’re planning on it?”
Ezra rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m already scheming how to drive past you in my Lamborghini and splash you while driving through a puddle.”
“You’ll be such a dickhead, but the joke’s on you. From now on I’ll be wearing a scuba suit whenever it rains. Rubber from head to toe.”
“I haven’t even gotten the job yet, so that Lamborghini might not be happening in the near future. Unless you know somebody who wants to give a mostly unemployed college student a free Lamborghini?”
Bas started laughing, and Ezra smiled, glad to see Bas so happy. It was becoming a regular occurrence, and Ezra was starting to get used to the fact that he couldn’t seem to get enough of Bas.
The toes of Ezra’s shoes touched Bas’s as Ezra shuffled closer until they were practically nose-to-nose.
“Hi,” he said softly and tilted his head to the side a bit.
“Hey,” Bas replied, and his smile widened before he captured Ezra’s mouth.
It was a short kiss, just a quick press of lips against lips, but it still managed to make Ezra’s heart thrum in his chest loudly.
“How did it go?” Bas asked as he grabbed Ezra’s hand, and they started walking toward Porter station.
“The woman who interviewed me seemed to like me well enough. The interview was supposed to last for an hour, but we were talking for, like, ninety minutes, and then she introduced me to a couple of people I’d be working with closely. I mean, that sounds good, right?”
“Sounds like she’s ready to hire you.”
“Shhh. Don’t jinx it.”
Bas laughed as he squeezed Ezra’s hand.
“Not jinxing anything. I’d hire you in a hot second, and I’m an excellent judge of character.”
“You’re biased, so that doesn’t count.”
“Nope, I’m just… smitten,” Bas said, and the way he glanced at Ezra almost coyly as he said it made Ezra’s insides feel like they were floating on a cloud of cotton candy.
He wanted to reply in kind. Say beautiful words to Bas that were already inside Ezra but still felt too fragile for the light of day. Words that he could maybe whisper under cover of darkness at night but lacked the courage to let out right then.
So instead, Ezra pulled Bas to a stop and kissed him, hoping he managed to put every one of those feelings inside that kiss and make Bas realize that he wasn’t alone in this. That Ezra was there, too, if maybe just a tiny bit scared still.
When they finally ran out of air and separated, Bas looked dazed, and Ezra was sure he had the same dopey smile on his face he saw on Bas’s.
“Yeah,” Bas said as he licked over his lips like he was trying to gather the last of Ezra’s taste from his lips. “That’s… really excellent news.” He swallowed and dragged his hand through his hair. “Awesome.”
Ezra grinned as they continued their trek.
“We should go out and celebrate,” Bas said after a while.
“I told you, I haven’t gotten the job yet.”
Bas tutted and shook his head in mock disapproval. “So cocky. Not everything is about you, Ezra.”
“It isn’t?” Ezra gasped, playing along, which earned him a nudge of Bas’s shoulder and another dazzling smile. Ezra loved when Bas was happy. His smile seemed to brighten the whole world.
It was fucking terrifying how quickly Bas and Drew were carving themselves into Ezra’s heart. It was way too easy to dismiss the life lessons he’d learned the hard way, but he refused to think about it right then.
“Maybe I’ve received good news as well? Ever thought about that, huh?”
“And what is this good news of yours?”