Chapter 26
Felix
The glass of ice water I chug at the bar feels heavenly on my dry throat. I’ll be hoarse for a week with the way I’ve been screaming. The band is taking a twenty-minute break, and we thought it’d be a good time to grab a drink.
“You want anything besides water?” Torren asks.
I do, but I also know he’s not drinking because he’s driving, and nobody likes to be the sober babysitter to a fool who’s shit-faced. “Nah—good with water for now.”
Torren and I crowd surfed for at least a few songs. I think. Honestly, it could have been longer, or even shorter—heavy metal, so it all just bleeds together in my opinion. Never in my life has my ass been grabbed that many times, and I’m not mad about it one bit.
It’s about time people appreciate this peach!
Torren leans against the bar, his elbows perched on the ledge, watching the scene before us and looking absolutely delicious. I tap his shoulder and slide my water his way.
“Thanks,” he says with his deep voice that makes my butthole twitch. He brings the glass to his mouth, and I notice how sexy Torren’s bottom lip is. It’s pillowy and smooth, with a rosy hue but still super masculine.
Not sure how long I’ve been staring at his lips, but the side-eye glance he’s giving me is conveying it’s been too long. I snap my eyes away, scanning the people mingling in front of the stage.
Torren slides the drink back to me, a wicked smile on his face.
“Oh, Felix,” he sighs.
“Sorry. I know…just friends.”
Torren nods, but I detect a slight melancholiness, and it gives me hope that maybe he wants us to be more than friends.
Don’t get your hopes up, Felix.
I can’t make a move and ruin things. Do I want to suck Torren’s face off right now?
Yes. But I also need a friend who actually gives a damn about me.
I’ve never really had any friends. My mom was the only person who really understood me, so I spent most of my time with her.
Even at Cornell, the people I met weren’t interested in really getting to know me.
Everyone was so wrapped up in their own ego that there wasn’t any room left for anyone else.
Tonight means a lot to me.
“Okay,” I say as I slap my hand against the bar.
“I promise I will keep this strictly platonic, Torren. No more staring at your perfect lips, and no more fishnets.” I say the last one with a laugh.
Of course, I was hoping he’d notice, but I honestly really like dressing this way and rarely get the chance to do it. “I’ll keep things chill. Friends?”
I give him my hand to shake, and he takes it with a chuckle and replies, “Friends.”
We shake on it.
But neither of us lets go.
I loosen my fingers, hoping it’s not me who’s locked us in place, but Torren’s hand doesn’t let go.
The lights above illuminate the side of his face, making his brown eyes glow like gold. He sighs again, his hot breath warming my face, and the urge to slant my lips with his takes over.
I close my eyes and inch closer, until the roar of the crowd pulls me back to earth.
The band reappears on stage, finding their instruments.
I look at Torren, and there’s a sad expression on his face. He takes a sip of water, then says, “Let’s hear the rest of their set.”
He leads me to the floor where the audience gathers, and I die a little inside. But I shake it off, because tonight has been incredible, and I refuse to let a failed kiss derail my good time.
Torren
This is painful. How did I ever think I could just be a normal human around Felix?
The man has plagued my thoughts and dreams since the moment I saw him.
I’m a fuckin’ idiot.
The band starts and, because I will never catch a break in this one life I have on this planet, they don’t begin the set with their normal, fast and heavy stuff.
Nope. It’s slow. Sultry. Sexy.
Felix sways his hips to the beat of the music as his hands caress his gorgeous body.
He’s lean, but I could set a drink on his ass, and I’m going feral looking at it.
His eyes are closed, and his arms elegantly travel up his body before reaching above his head.
They remain like that, giving me a view of his perfect torso.
His face is a vision of serenity as he continues to sway from side to side.
I’m entranced. Hypnotized.
I’ve been with a lot of really hot people in my life, but nobody does to me what Felix does.
He’s just…
Perfect.
My head is pounding from having to control everything I feel around him. Everything that’s bottled up inside, combined with the endless thoughts swirling in my head, creates a collision of desire and control that’s making me physically weak.
I make up my mind to go back to the bar and grab a whiskey to help me relax—just one won’t hurt— when I see a man approach Felix and dance with him.
Felix turns back to the man, then locks eyes with me.
The man pushes against Felix’s rear before wrapping his arms around his torso. He kisses Felix’s neck, whose gaze stays locked on me.
I look at Felix. He’s rigid. The fluidity of his movements is gone.
The man’s hands travel down Felix’s thighs. My eyes trail down to see those delicious legs being groped by someone else, and my body rebels.
I stomp toward the two of them and slide my arm between Felix and the guy rutting against him.
“He’s taken.”
The dude raises his hands in a placating manner and moves on.
Felix looks at me with a shocked expression. “I am?”
I fall into those green eyes and decide here and now that maybe this friendship of ours needs to evolve.
Yes, that’s precisely what needs to happen. Felix’s lips are too much to resist at this moment, and I can’t stand it anymore.
I tell my brain to shut the fuck up for once and let my body do the talking.
I lean in and kiss him. It’s not a collision of sexual frustration like it was in the sex club. We’re feeling. Discovering. A good kiss is like a dance of chemistry.
Felix makes startled mewling sounds, and it takes all I have not to fuck him right here on the dance floor. My entire body boils with desire.
I rip my lips away and whisper in his ear, “What if we were to add some benefits to this friendship?”
Felix looks at me, studying my face. “It was the fishnets, wasn’t it?”
“Brat.”
He laughs, the sound sending a warm sensation through my chest. “I find the idea intriguing,” he replies.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He says it like it’s a challenge—like he’s daring me to act on this suggestion.
So, I do.
“Let’s get out of here.”