Chapter 8 Seth
SETH
Seth spent his day off in a horny, shameful daze.
What. The hell. Had he. Been. Thinking?
Well, he knew what he’d been thinking. He’d been thinking that an earnest, gorgeous boy had been asking Seth to be his first kiss and that it would have taken buckets more self-control than Seth had ever possessed in his life to say no.
But he’d meant it to be…quick. Simple. A generous peck, perhaps. Soft lips and no tongue. Definitely not making out and grinding on the couch like Seth had reverted back to teendom himself.
But then Riley had pounced. Again. Only this time he hadn’t been attacking Seth in his driveway with his freaky panther ways.
He’d been attacking Seth’s mouth with his freaking panther tongue.
And it had been sloppy and a little clumsy and still hotter than it should have been, and Seth had just wanted to show him how it was done.
He hadn’t realized how quickly Riley would learn, was all.
Seth should have. He really should have. Riley was too damned observant, and Seth knew that very, very well. He should have realized Riley would take to kissing like a duck to lascivious waters.
Riley had copied Seth’s demonstration perfectly, and then he’d seemed to make it a personal mission to find out every single move that might make Seth whimper and moan.
Seth paused on the trail he’d been trudging along, pressing his hands to his overheated cheeks as he leaned against a tree.
He was out of breath far beyond what he should have been for the turtle-slow jog he’d been running.
All it ever took was a week off from putting his paces in to feel like he’d never run a mile in his life.
There were birds twittering around him, apparently as grateful as Seth was for a break in the rain.
Although, overall, there was less wildlife than Seth might have expected.
He could have sworn there had been more squirrels running around here when he’d first moved here. Maybe they migrated in the winter.
Yes, dummy, that’s what your main concern should be right now: the local squirrel population.
Seth scowled down at his feet. It was better to think about long-tailed rodents than about that kiss. About the way Seth had let Riley press him down to the couch and cover Seth with his body. The way Seth had been this close to letting Riley do whatever else he’d wanted.
How many more of his firsts would Riley have wanted Seth to take?
Seth already knew the answer, somewhere deep in his bones.
All of them.
Because underneath his loner status, Riley was…
sensual. That was the only word for it. Seth could see it in the way he ate and drank, and in the way he carefully ran his fingers along the books he brought into Seth’s bakery.
And definitely in the way he watched Seth with not-so-secret, feral intensity.
He was a young man with big appetites, and for some reason all his hunger was focused on Seth.
It was disorienting, to say the least. Seth was cute. He knew that much. Men had never kicked him out of bed or anything, especially when he was being a little flirt. But they didn’t, like, yearn for him either.
He’d had two serious relationships, one monogamous and one less so. They’d been sweet and tender and had ended easily, without anyone’s heart breaking too badly. And Seth had entertained other, less serious dalliances with equally cute friends that had never turned into anything more.
So Seth wasn’t some great catch, some once-in-a-lifetime hunk. He’d never turned someone’s life upside down just by existing. Riley just…didn’t know any better.
That was the thought that had stopped Seth when he’d been lying there on the couch, his legs wrapped around Riley’s hips, his hands trapped above his head in Riley’s hold.
When Seth had been so close to letting Riley undress him and suck more hungry kisses into whatever bit of skin he wanted.
The thought had run through Seth’s head that if Riley hadn’t grown up so isolated, he’d have realized from the get-go that Seth wasn’t anything special, and he’d regret giving Seth so much undivided attention.
So Seth had stopped him.
Seth kicked at the dirt on the trail, annoyed with himself. It wasn’t like him to be cock-blocked by low self-esteem. He liked himself. He liked the way he looked, even. But he was just being a realist. Wasn’t that supposed to be a good thing? Both feet firmly planted on the ground and all that.
Being a scaredy-cat, some inner voice taunted.
But that wasn’t true at all. There was a difference.
This was a small town—no doubt Riley hadn’t been exposed to too many men he was attracted to, especially if he was…
particular. Possibly demi, from what he’d told Seth.
His pool had been too small for him to really get a sense for what his options were.
Well, whatever. It wasn’t like Seth had heard from Riley today, anyway. They didn’t have each other’s numbers yet, and it wasn’t realistic to expect Riley to just show up at Seth’s doorstep out of the blue, even if that did seem to be a very Riley thing to do.
Riley would probably appear at the bakery sometime later this week, and they would resume their weird, sexually charged friendship, and the kiss would be forgotten, and that would be that.
Seth picked up his trudging again, unwilling and unable to wipe the scowl from his face..
If he was going to be miserable anyway, he might as well get some cardio done while he was at it.
Seth let himself into the bakery Tuesday morning determined not to dwell on who may or may not be visiting that day. He put on bright, bubbly, early 2000s pop, donned his apron and his headband, and got to work.
By the time he made it to the front of the shop to start setting up for the day, he’d almost succeeded in keeping his mind focused solely on work. Almost.
Still, Seth wasn’t surprised to see a shadow lurking on the other side of his bakery door.
Although, if it wasn’t shock, Seth really didn’t want to speculate on why else his heart sped up like that at the sight.
What was a little shocking was that it wasn’t Riley waiting outside but two immaculately dressed, unbelievably beautiful women.
One was pale, tall, and statuesque, with a waterfall of dark hair and a velvet wrap dress clinging to her frame.
The other was dark-skinned and petite, wearing a puff-sleeved gingham number that Seth would have loved to repurpose into an apron and headband for himself.
They were holding hands, and neither was wearing a coat, despite the chill in the air and the promise of rain.
“Um, hello,” Seth said after he’d unlocked the door and peered outside, biting back his disappointment that Riley wasn’t lurking somewhere behind them.
It hadn’t seemed right to leave them standing there without a word, though, not when neither of them was wearing appropriate outerwear. “I’m so sorry, but I open at six.”
The taller beauty made an exaggerated face of dismay, red lips pursing. “Oh, but don’t tell me we got the time wrong! I could swear Riley told us you opened at five thirty.”
“Riley?” Seth gave the duo a startled second glance, putting two and two together. “You’re…Riley’s moms?”
They barely looked old enough for the title, although if Riley was adopted, Seth supposed it didn’t much matter.
And Riley had told Seth once that his moms were the two most beautiful women in the world.
Seth had thought at the time that it had been the exaggeration of a devoted son. But now that he’d seen them…
Seth realized both women were gazing at him with matching expressions of wry amusement. He stopped his gawking and stepped back from the door. “Come in!” he said hurriedly. “If you don’t mind me finishing up while you sit.”
“Oh, not at all,” said the pretty gingham-clad one with a blinding smile.
Seth had learned their names from Riley, but he wasn’t sure who was Sybil and who was Daphne.
“You really must forgive us for showing up early. I woke up with a hankering for pastry and decided we had to indulge straightaway.”
Seth nodded absently, taking down the chairs from one of the tables and gesturing for them to have a seat.
They must have been early risers, considering they were both decked out with flawless faces of tasteful makeup and hair that could have been in shampoo commercials.
Now Seth kind of wished he’d thrown on some bronzer, or at least a swipe of mascara.
He wasn’t exactly presenting himself at his best.
“Can I get you something hot to drink?” he asked, surprised that neither one was shivering after standing out in the cold. “Coffee or tea?”
“Aren’t you a dear?” the tall brunette cooed. “I’ll have a coffee, and my darling Daphne will take a tea, thank you.”
That confirmed who was who, at least. The taller woman was Sybil; the petite one was Daphne. Seth hustled to get them their drinks.
When he returned to their table, mugs in hand, Daphne was gazing around with open admiration. “My, it looks wonderful in here! So bright and yet…cozy. Warm, I’d say. I’m very impressed.”
“Oh, um, thank you,” Seth murmured, more awkward than he should have been with the praise. Normally he took it in stride—he was proud of his little bakery and wasn’t the type to wave aside compliments with false modesty—but his customers weren’t usually this…gorgeous and sophisticated.
Meanwhile, Seth was fighting the urge to ask after Riley’s whereabouts. Something about these two made him think the question wouldn’t be mistaken for casual.
As he began stocking his display cases, Seth realized his fingers were trembling. It wasn’t just the surprise of meeting the parents unexpectedly—not that he and Riley were dating or anything, only—
Well, whatever.
It wasn’t just that though. It was also a certain…tension in the air. Seth tried to untangle its source as he got things settled and the two women murmured between themselves.