Page 10 of Tastes of Him

She followed, dark eyes assessing me. I knew that brain of hers was probably going a mile a minute, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to like what she was going to say. Between her and Cameran, they would make an excellent interrogation team. It wasn’t a matter of ‘good cop, bad cop,’ more of a ‘let us both hit you with the truth of your existence until you fold.’ If the two of them ever decided to take over the world, I would gladly surrender instead of attempting to fight back.

The sound of the shower turning on caught both of our attention, and when she glanced back at me, her lips slowly parted in a smile. “Never mind. I think I know what’s going on.”

I rolled my eyes.Damnit, Cameran has already rubbed off on me with that habit.“I’m pretty sure you don’t.”

“So, Sean didn’t show you his tattoo? Because I’m pretty sure Cameran mentioned that he should.”

I frowned. “What? When?”

Julie raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything. I watched her walk over to the kitchen and open the fridge. She grabbed a bottle of water and shut it before leaning on the door and observing me.

“You like him, right?”

Uttering a denial didn’t even cross my mind. Clearly, doing so was pointless now. “Yeah.”

She nodded and pushed off the fridge. “Good. He likes you too.” Her dark hair tumbled over her shoulders as she walked over to me. “You should probably just come clean…explicitly.”

“I thought I already had,” I mumbled, glancing back toward my bedroom. I could hear the faint sound of water running through the closed bathroom door. “He’s not taking the hint.”

Julie shrugged before walking back toward the room she was sharing with Cameran. She glanced over her shoulder at me as she opened the door. “So, stop hinting.” I didn’t get a chance to respond before she walked into the room and shut the door behind her again.

Silence save the sound of running water met me. I wasn’t exaggerating when I mentioned Sean not taking the hint. I thought I had always been fairly straightforward with my feelings toward him. But maybe not. I leaned back against the couch and looked up at the ceiling.

“Maybe having him in bed with me is a chance to…” I trailed off. The whole thing sounded creepy as fuck. I wasn’t trying to pressure Sean into shit, and I sure as shit wasn’t trying to coerce him into something he might not want. He wasn’t just some random person. If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have hesitated to jump first and ask questions later. No. If things went south, that could damage his and Cameran’s relationship not to mention their business. I couldn’t risk her losing her best friend because I came on too strong.

Decision made, I walked into my bedroom and grabbed a pillow from the bed and the extra blanket from the foot of it. By the time I heard the bathroom door open again, I had made my nest on the couch and was in the process of getting comfortable.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

I turned around and nearly lost my goddamn resolve when I saw Sean standing there in nothing but a towel wrapped low around his waist. I knew he took care of himself and still ran a few miles a day when he could, but I wasn’t expecting to want to lick water off his fucking abs. I kept the apartment relatively cool thanks to a fan, and when I focused in, I could see his dark nipples pebble slightly as the air floated over them.

“I—”

“I told you I would take the couch if you needed me to.”

“No,” I said, nearly choking on the word when a bead of water started a slow meander down his arm. Never had I wanted to be a drop of water so much in my life. “It’s fine. I plan on staying up for a bit and watching some television before bed, but I’m sure you’re probably tired.”

“Roderick.”Fuck.Apparently, I had a kink for him saying my name. I quickly spoke up to keep him from making me discover any other long-buried kinks his voice might unearth.

“It’s fine, Sean. Really.” I smiled wide, hoping to get one in return, but Sean’s lips were pressed in a flat line, and the spark that had been in his eyes before he went to shower was nowhere to be seen. My smile slowly fell, and I wondered if I had just royally messed up. “Sean?”

He shook his head before spinning around and walking into my room. I winced when the door shut with a thud, and I was left wondering if I had somehow fucked this up already.

CHAPTER SIX

Sean

Iground my teeth as I watched Cameran and Julie walk ahead. Three days of Rod sleeping on the couch had made me irritable as fuck. The past two mornings, I had woken up to him already gone, a note on the bedside table telling me what time he’d be back and to take the spare key if needed. I knew he had a good reason, but it still left me short and moody. Never mind the fact that it had started raining our first night here—apparently deciding to match my mood—and not stopped since.

“I hate this fucking state,” I murmured as I turned a corner to keep them in my sight. We had been spending our days picking an area to explore before meeting Rod back at his apartment at night. He had been generous in taking us to dinner even though we knew he was probably dead on his feet, but even with my prodding, every night when we got back, he would shower and then crash on the sofa, his long legs hanging off the edge. Sleeping in his bed and being surrounded by his scent was comforting in a way I tried not to look at too closely, but it was still infinitely frustrating given I was sleeping there alone.

We have never shared a bed before, so why am I so angry about it?I knew the answer even if I didn’t want to say. I wanted to see what would happen with him there beside me. I had to know if the way he’d stared every time I took my shirt off before going to the bathroom was for more than just curiosity’s sake. If it were anyone else, I would do my usual thing and just go for it instead of dallying around like some prepubescent sending notes asking, ‘do you like me, yes or no?’

“You alright?”

I looked up, startled to realize Julie and Cameran had stopped walking and were staring at me with dual looks of concern.

“What?” I scowled to cover my surprise and walked over to them like I had no cares in the world. ‘Fake it ‘til you make it’ had always been my philosophy, and I wasn’t going to let go of it just because they wanted to talk about feelings. “I’m fine. Why are y’all looking at me like that?”