Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Nate
I can’t say I regret the way I shut Ru up—his lips are the softest I’ve ever tasted in recent memory after all—but I hate jealousy.
It’s an ugly emotion that’s unworthy of me. I have nothing in the world to feel jealous about, so of course kissing him to stop his rambles about the handsome older man sitting with him was the only rational thing to do.
But then the lord went and surprised the hell out of me.
The second I pressed harder, the second I licked his lower lip to seek entrance he became putty in my arms. His lips parted, his back relaxed, and he threw his arms around my neck and let me take, take, take.
I could spend hours exploring his lips and his kisses, but sadly there’s an annoying alarm going off inside my brain telling me that I need to get back to the table and to my guys or else they’re going to come in here and see Ru.
And I don’t want them to see him because he’s mine.
I don’t feel like sharing, so sue me.
So, doing my very best to hide my reluctance, I lean back and breathe for a long moment. Ru stays frozen just as long, his eyes closed, his lashes lying beautifully over his high cheekbones, and his lips slightly parted.
Fuck, I want to kiss him again.
But right now I can’t.
So I get myself together, and I see realization—and is that mortification?—come into his eyes the second he opens them.
“Come by my room at ten,” I tell him in a hard tone. I don’t want to give away just how much I want him there.
His reaction, though, makes me think that maybe I failed at hiding my need for him. A full, perfect, pearly-white smile takes over his face and transforms it. My breath actually fucking catches at how fucking handsome he looks when he smiles.
The most inane thought passes through my mind.
I guess they do have good dentists in the UK.
I take another step back and try getting my balance back—mentally and physically.
His smile at my harsh tone has me suspecting that Ru might like someone to boss him around for once. And fuck it if my dick doesn’t strain against my cargo shorts at the thought of that extending into the bedroom.
But I turn without another word and walk out of the bathroom.
A server comes out of the kitchen five steps in front of me, and the sight of his strong shoulders and slim waist gives me the best idea ever—and a way to keep my friends from sniffing around my lord.
“What took you so long?” Seth demands with a frown as he looks up from the menu. The server I walked behind is filling our water glasses, and I send him a deliberately sexy smile while I have all my friends’ attention. He’s got one of those typical, perfect Australian faces, and the smile he sends my way tells me he’s appreciative and would actually be game if I made a move.
That’s a shame. I’d love to play with such a perfect specimen. Alas, I already have a hookup with a foreign man lined up.
No one says anything more on the matter, but they all have stupid knowing smirks, though, which means my mission has been accomplished.
I don’t know how, but I feel it the second Ru comes back into the room. His footsteps are impossible to hear since it’s carpeted, and there’s the general noise you’d expect in a busy restaurant, but I know he just walked past our table.
I make myself face forward and grab the menu.
Tony orders the lobster soup—he loves soup even in the scorching Australian summer—and everybody else gets steak, like normal people.
As soon as the server is out of earshot, the three of them lean in like hungry hyenas.
“Did you hook up with our waiter while you were in the bathroom?” Seth demands.
“Bro, you weren’t even gone ten minutes, that’s shit stamina,” Kit says, looking adorably worried for me.
“If we tip well is that like paying a hooker?” Tony wonders.
“No,” I answer him, but I feel like it’s probably a good answer to all three of them. They keep staring at me like they’re waiting for me to elaborate.
But I won’t.
I simply reach for my water glass and take a long sip.
They’re all still staring at me a minute later, so I sigh loudly and give them as much as they’re going to get in this instance.
“I think I’m going to pass on going out tonight.”
I get snickers and head shakes from them, then Seth probes.
“Bro, you’re never so secretive about these things.” He looks as confused as he sounds.
I shift in my seat. Yeah, that’s true. Normally I have no problem being disgustingly specific with the details of my hookups, but I don’t want to have to explain Ru to them. I don’t want to share Ru with them. Which is alarming...
But oh well, life goes on. It’s only this specific hookup I won’t tell them about. And who knows... maybe tomorrow, after I’ve had the pleasure of many naked hours with the lord, I’ll feel like sharing a bit more.
Speaking of... I can’t stop myself from looking back at him. I try to make it seem like I’m only looking around—maybe even searching for the cute waiter—but all thoughts of being inconspicuous go out the window when my gaze clashes with Ru’s seemingly displeased frown.
A smile starts to take over my face. It was going to be a smug one, but Ru snaps his attention back to his date .
The thought leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
I turn back to the table and grab my glass of water, and down half of it. Then I realize Seth’s giving me his questioning glare from across the table.
I look down and ignore it.
Nothing to see here.
Over the next hour and a half, I listen to my friends make plans for the night during a truly spectacular dinner, and as always, I laugh at their antics.
These guys are my ride or dies, and yes, they can be very overbearing and more than ridiculous on occasion—which is the reason for the whole secrecy thing—but they’re like my brothers, and I love them.
Unlike them, I don’t have any brothers, only a sister, but they’ve assured me on multiple occasions that our relationship is not unlike how they get along with their brothers.
Seth, for example, has an older brother who he loves but who’s as different to him as oil and water.
Kit has two little sisters—who he’s sure will make him go gray before we reach thirty—and a little brother who bothers him constantly if you believe him. Tony is the middle child, with an older sister and a younger brother.
They’re all close to their siblings in age, and in all things really. They’re also ready to start working in the family businesses, and have never needed to take time away from their families to figure out how to tell them they’re not like them.
I have thought a time or two how none of them have taken the time to question the path that their families have laid out for them, that maybe they’re just going with the flow to keep the peace. But at the end of the day I know them better than that.
They’re excited about this next part of their lives and can’t wait to be adults or whatever.
It’s not until we’re back in the van on our way to the hotel that Seth finally speaks up.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come out tonight?” he whispers from next to me.
“Yeah, man,” I say carelessly and scoot down lower in the leather seat. I smile at him, trying to convey excitement—but not too much—and relaxation. “I’m going to hang out with you guys until you’re all pimped up and ready to go, then I’m going to my room to have a way better time than any of you losers will.”
The heckling starts then, and I smirk to myself. They are a bit predictable, but I still love them.
* * *
It’s nine forty by the time the guys finally leave for the rooftop bar where they’ll get a few drinks, and I hurry my ass over to my room.
It took longer than usual for them to be ready because they decided on a gay club for tonight, which I have to say had a bout of envy growing in my gut, but then I remembered Ru’s coming over and it magically disappeared.
But since they all took so long getting ready, I had a lot of time to think, and to mentally plan for tonight.
The anticipation of what Ru’s going to be like in the bedroom is killing me. It’s like lava running through my veins and reminding me of how fucking amazing it is to be alive.
I have a strong feeling that he’s going to be way less stuffy and controlled once I rile him up enough, and I can’t fucking wait. But I also got to thinking about the logistics of it all.
I’m vers all the way.
I like almost anything when pleasure is involved, and I’m not exactly shy when my dick is hard. With that in mind, I haul ass into the shower and prep myself as fast and as thoroughly as I can while I count the seconds.
At nine fifty-five I’m mostly dry, with a towel around my waist and sitting on the edge of the mattress.
It’s a bit ridiculous how intently I’m watching the sliver of light under the door of my room, but my breath actually stops when I see a shadow cast over it.
I wait for the knock to come, and don’t even bother to look at the time. I’m scared I’ll miss the knock for some stupid-ass reason.
I know I’d hear it but?—
The shadow disappears and I deflate completely.
I do look at my phone then and see it’s ten on the dot.
I look back at the door suspiciously, and the shadow comes back, then leaves, then comes back. I lose count of how many times it happens, but after five minutes I have no doubt that it’s Ru debating on when exactly to knock—and sadly maybe he’s debating whether he should .
I stand at the thought, figuring I could just open the door and ask him directly what the fuck is going through his brain and if he’s coming in or not, but then, at ten-o-seven, the knock finally comes.