Chapter 16
B RANTLEY STARED AT his reflection in the bedroom mirror and told himself to stop overthinking.
Stop overthinking and worrying about the couple of lines he could see on his forehead and around his mouth.
He should start focusing on the fact that the man he’d wanted to come home for nearly a decade was waiting for him out in his living room.
The same living room that man had pinned him to the wall of this morning. Shit .
He glanced at his phone, which was sitting on the bedside table, and thought about calling Jordan for a minute, but he shoved that thought aside because he’d be stuck on the phone for far longer than he wanted to be.
Come on, Hayes, he thought, giving himself a final once-over. You’ve got this. You’re the same man you were back then. Just with more…character. And with that, he forced himself to walk out the door and down the hall.
As he came around the corner, he spotted Daniel standing at the sliding doors, his hands inside his pants pockets as he stared out at the night sky. The lamp was casting a soft glow around the room, and when Daniel heard him and turned, Brantley nearly swallowed his tongue.
Damn. The man standing in front of him was both familiar and a complete stranger. A sexy stranger, but…wow.
Daniel had always been beautiful, but dressed in a lightweight grey suit and white shirt that had been left casually unbuttoned two down, he looked every inch the successful attorney he’d become.
It was a side Brantley hadn’t seen until this very minute, and Daniel was so heart-stoppingly handsome that he took his breath away.
The other thing that was both new and arousing was that damn haircut. Brantley was so used to thinking of Daniel with the long hair that it was always a shock to see him with it short.
That by no means made Daniel look weird, as he seemed to think.
In fact, the short hair on the sides only enhanced his cheekbones, and that full set of lips that Brantley had always enjoyed sucking and biting whenever he got the chance.
And the longer spikes on top, which had been styled back with some product, still had the natural blond highlights in it, reminding Brantley that the sophisticated man standing in front of him was still the same Daniel he used to know.
He realized he’d been staring and probably needed to say something, but honestly, How am I supposed to even think after being faced with all of that?
Seeming to understand his predicament, Daniel walked across the living room, stopped opposite Brantley, and brought a hand out of his pocket to finger the collar of his shirt.
That was when Brantley caught sight of that leather strap around Daniel’s wrist again, and he wasn’t sure why, but it added to the sex factor too.
“You look,” Daniel started, and then bent to put his mouth to Brantley’s ear, “so fucking handsome. Jesus, Brantley.”
The cool, fresh scent of Daniel’s cologne made Brantley want to run his nose along his neck, but he turned his head and caught hold of the heated eyes locked on his instead.
“How am I supposed to sit across from you and eat?” Daniel asked.
Brantley ran a tongue along his top lip and then lowered his eyes to the open collar of Daniel’s shirt. He wanted to kiss him there.
“Especially if you keep looking at me like that.”
Brantley raised his eyes and then finally found his words. “I can’t believe you’re really standing here. I swear, sometimes, I think I’m dreaming.”
The wide smile Daniel used to flash at the drop of a hat appeared, and it made his heart ache.
“I promise you’re not dreaming. Not tonight, professor,” Daniel said as he trailed a hand down Brantley’s arm to lace their fingers together.
Though the words were supposed to be a comfort, they hit with the same force as a sledgehammer smashing through every one of his dreams. Because no matter how good an illusion this was, it wasn’t real.
DANIEL SENSED THE change in Brantley almost instantly as he pulled his eyes away from his and made the excuse of having to find his keys. He was running. Daniel had seen this behavior in him before, when he’d first pursued Brantley, and he wondered what had triggered the response now.
When he’d first seen him standing in the living room, Daniel had taken a minute to really enjoy him before he’d gone over to him.
And fuck , he’d liked what he had seen.
Navy-blue pants pressed and fitted as Brantley always wore them, and a light pink shirt tucked in at his trim waist. His rolled-up sleeves were sexy as hell, and yeah , it’d been difficult for Daniel to keep his hands off him when he’d finally been close enough to touch.
But now… Now, Brantley was busying himself checking that every door in the house was locked, which was totally unlike him, considering he was so meticulous about everything he did.
As Brantley brushed by him to go to the sliding door, Daniel finally took hold of his arm and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Brantley shook his head, about to deny it. But Daniel brought a finger up to his lips and asked again, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
He narrowed his eyes but let him go. “Okay. Have it your way. But if I did anything?—”
“No, Finn. It wasn’t—” Brantley lowered his eyes, putting an end to the discussion.
Daniel bit back the demand that Brantley tell him what the issue was. But if Brantley didn’t want to share, then who was Daniel to force him? They were each dealing with their own issues when it came to them , and he sure as fuck wasn’t ready to lay his out just yet.
“All right. Well, if the house is safe from all the rampant burglars in this high-crime neighborhood, are you ready to get going?”
Brantley’s lips twitched, and Daniel held his hand out while aiming his most charming smile at him.
“Come on, professor. Let me take you to dinner.”
WHEN THE TWO arrived at The Waterhouse, they were led out onto the deck that overlooked the ocean. For a Sunday night, the place was busy, but that wasn’t much of a surprise considering that the kids would soon be on summer vacation and tourists were starting to arrive.
As they settled into their seats, the waiter took their drink orders and then left them to look at the menus. Brantley kept stealing glances of Daniel over his dinner menu, and the third time he raised his eyes and Daniel caught him, he winked.
Heat rushed to Brantley’s cheeks like a damn teenager as he dropped his gaze back to the food selection. What the hell is the matter with me? Daniel had him acting like a schoolgirl with a crush, and all because they’d gotten dressed up and gone out on a date?
No, it wasn’t just that.
It was the restaurant Daniel had chosen.
Their favorite seafood restaurant. The one they used to order out from every Friday to eat on the beach.
It was the look in Daniel’s eyes whenever they found his.
That direct stare that held the hot promise from the morning and had a tendency to strip Brantley wherever he was standing—or, in this case, sitting.
And finally, it was the way Daniel was now lowering his menu, leaning across the table, and licking his damn lips that all melded together and made Brantley’s skin feel overheated.
“You okay over there?”
Brantley reached for the water on the table and brought it to his lips. As he took a sip, Daniel glanced around the restaurant.
“I’m fine.”
When Daniel’s eyes came back to his, he raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Listen, if you’re uncomfortable to be seen with me?—”
Brantley’s eyes widened. That thought had never even occurred to him. “Trust me,” he said, and then shifted in his seat. “That is not the problem I’m having with you.”
That got Daniel’s attention, because he lowered his eyes over Brantley again as if seeing him for the first time, and sat back with a grin. “Well, then.”
“No need to be smug about it.”
“Are you serious? Of course I’m going to be smug.
I’ve been sitting over here since we left your place thinking you didn’t want to be seen in public with me.
But that’s not the problem at all, is it, Brantley?
” Leaning forward again, Daniel lowered his voice and asked, “Just how much are you enjoying this?”
It was insane that sitting in a restaurant with Daniel, ordering a meal, and being able to freely be with one another was having such an effect on Brantley.
But damn…it really was. And hell, he wasn’t above thinking what he knew everyone looking at Daniel right then had to be thinking—his date was hot.
“A lot.”
Daniel glanced at his mouth, and Brantley sucked in a breath.
“How much is a lot?”
He was about to answer when the waiter stopped at the table to take their order. Daniel quickly told him that they were still deciding and could he come back later, without so much as looking in his direction. Then he asked again, “How much is a lot, Brantley?”
Brantley cleared his throat at the laser-like precision with which Daniel was focused on him. “Enough that I’m glad for the table and the long cloth covering it.”
Daniel groaned low in his throat as he drummed his fingers on the table, and Brantley caught that strap of leather on his wrist again.
“When did you get that?” he asked before he could stop himself.
Daniel’s gaze moved to the leather, and he fingered the wider part, which rested on the top of his arm, before looking back at Brantley. “The day I left.”
As that little piece of information drifted between them, Brantley sensed that there was more to it, but he was also smart enough not to push when it was clear Daniel wasn’t ready to share. Luckily for him, the waiter reappeared.
After they’d finished ordering, he decided that it was time to start getting to know the man across from him, and the best way to do that was to ask some basic questions. Questions he hadn’t dared ask—until now.
“So I have to ask. How do you like living in Chicago?”